It’s a bit of a sorry state of affairs that New Jersey is the only US state to currently allow betting to take place on virtual sports. Out of 50 states, just one of them allows its people to place wagers on such. However, that could soon change if Oregon manages to add it to its catalogue. With things being the way they are in the world, countries are losing revenue, and it’s necessary to try and counteract that in some way.
Major sports aren’t operating for the time being, so why wouldn’t virtual sports prove to be just as popular in the meantime? Oregon’s sports betting market has taken quite the hit, and while regulators have worked exceptionally hard in a bid to pass legislation for more obscure sports to be offered within, this has yet to make much ground. Instead, they have moved on to something altogether more alternative.
And that alternative is known as virtual sports betting. The suggestion for this to be introduced was made to the Oregon State Lottery Commission just last week, and another meeting is supposed to take place on Friday, June 26. Should lawmakers manage to get their own way, then the commission will readily approve virtual sports betting at that second meeting.
While the State Lottery Commission is responsible for regulating the sports betting industry within Oregon, they have actually partnered up with SBTech for the launch of its mobile app within the state. Therefore, it’s likely that they would turn to the same company to get virtual sports betting incorporated into its offerings swiftly.
How to Move Forward with Virtual Sports Betting
A temporary administrative order has already been outlined which states the need for virtual sports betting in Oregon, which warns that without this, customers won’t remain engaged in the SBTech mobile app, known as Scoreboard. That would cost Oregon millions of dollars, and while lawmakers would usually have to get a new bill passed before any changes can be made to sports betting rules in Oregon, that temporary order allows virtual sports betting to be added without any sort of formal ruling.
There are already multiple sites around the world that incorporate virtual sports betting into their platforms. You only need to look at the site Nostrabet to locate one that allows members to wager on such. Many different platforms are reviewed by that website, allowing you to locate one that suits your own personal betting needs, although it doesn’t specifically mention ones that cater to the state of Oregon, as virtual sports betting is not yet available within.
Oregon has seen its worst month of betting handle throughout April, though. Sports betting was introduced there in October of 2019, and prior to the shut down of this year, the state was seeing growth in its popularity. This was especially true of the Scoreboard app from SBTech. But losses of $450,000 have been reported for the month of April where sports betting is concerned, for obvious reasons. Naturally, that’s a loss that they aim to recover, and if virtual sports betting is allowed to become active, it stands a chance of doing that.
