Oregon Says Yes to Sports Gambling

By all indications, it looks like Oregon is set to allow its resident to bet on sports by the start of the 2019 NFL season. The legislation has been passed, and the Oregon Lottery commission is ready to have bookmakers in position to roll out the state’s sports betting product by sometime in the month of August.

The Oregon Lottery, which was selected to regulate the sports betting market, has decided to select an off-the-shelf software sports betting product as opposed to having a software company build a proprietary product. The renowned sports betting software developer SB Tech has been chosen to provide the appropriate software platform.

It’s noteworthy that mobile sports betting will be the first option to go live. Much of the decision to move in this direction was prompted by the increasing popularity of mobile gambling as well as the fact it’s easier to roll out and control. In the weeks and months following the state’s mobile sports betting platform going live, gamblers will be able to make deposits and place bets through sports betting kiosks and lottery retailers. All sports betting platforms are expected to be in place by the end of the year. 

As a reminder, sports bettors will have to make their deposits in person through designated deposit facilities. Should the Department of Justice and the courts decide it’s okay to fund gambling accounts with wires or debit/credit cards, those options could be made available to gamblers in the future. 

In the initial list of sports betting options, bettors will be able to place straight bet wagers (single event), parlays (single bet with multiple events) an in-game wagers on live action. Early on, in-game wagering will only be available through the mobile sports betting platform due to the logistical issues related to trying to make such bets through a kiosk or lottery operator. There is a chance stand alone sports books will enter the picture sometime next year. If so, bettors should be able to place in-game wagers through those facilities. 

With the state’s pension fund struggling to meet obligations, legislators are expecting a nice flow of tax revenues from its sports betting facilities. In the first years, projections are calling for just over $35 million in sports betting revenues times the effective tax rate. In subsequent years, the state is looking at somewhere in the neighborhood of $100 in sports betting revenues, which would provide a nice little tax boost for the state’s coffers.