DraftKings Sportsbook Announces Launch Date, Oregon Sports Betting Takeover
Sports bettors in Oregon have been waiting with bated breath for months to revamp the state’s only legal online sportsbook. That’s now officially just days away, with the launch of DraftKings Oregon imminent.
With the takeover of the Oregon Lottery‘s Scoreboard app, sports betting in OR will feature the same wide variety and huge volume of wagering markets that DraftKings customers in other US jurisdictions enjoy. That will also include some sweet promotional action amidst the upcoming NFL playoffs.
DraftKings Oregon blazing a trail
According to a press release, DraftKings will take over sports betting operations for the Lottery on Jan. 18. There are a few things that current Scoreboard customers should know about the change.
First, you will have to create an account with DraftKings. DraftKings will not simply migrate your customer data from Scoreboard into its app/website. At the same
time, any funds you have sitting in your Scoreboard account right now will transfer over.
To ensure that happens, you’ll need to ensure the information you use when you sign up with DraftKings matches with what’s on the books for your Scoreboard account. So, for example, you’ll need to sign up with the same email address you use to log into Scoreboard.
Starting Jan. 18, you will no longer be able to deposit funds or place wagers on Scoreboard. All that action will be on DraftKings in OR. Scoreboard will remain operational if you need to view your account history or should you wish to withdraw funds over the next six months, though.
If you have any bets open on Scoreboard when the transition occurs, those wagers will remain open until DraftKings. For instance, if you have a future bet on the Portland Trail Blazers to win the 2021-22 NBA Finals, you’ll still have that same bet pending at the same odds on DraftKings.
What will and won’t change for Oregon bettors
Perhaps the most significant benefit of the transition will be the ability to place same-game parlays on DraftKings. Scoreboard did not offer that feature. Besides that, bettors will find many more frequent and more valuable promotions on DraftKings as compared to Scoreboard.
As an example, DraftKings is currently offering $280 in free bets to new customers who place a successful $5 moneyline wager on one of the NFL’s six wild card games. More veteran customers can have their risk covered up to $10 in a same-game parlay for NFL Wild Card Weekend.
DraftKings will follow its predecessors’ lead here in terms of college sports. While there is no law in OR banning wagering on college sports, the OR Lottery has decided not to make such markets available. For that reason, DraftKings won’t offer any college sports markets in OR.
While this comes in time for the divisional round of the NFL playoffs, it’s actually resulted in months of work. DraftKings and the Lottery have been teasing at this for months.
How Oregonians got a new scoreboard
The story begins in June 2019, when the Lottery gave a contract to handle its online sports betting operations to SBTech. In December of that year, DraftKings made plans to acquire SBTech. Fast forward five months to that acquisition are becoming final.
At the same time, DraftKings began talking to the Lottery about how best to proceed. The Lottery board gave its approval to the change in August of 2021. Since then, there had been rumors, and it looked like a DraftKings launch in Oregon would eventually happen. It was just a matter of what that would look like and when.
All those questions now have answers. Bettors in OR will get the same DraftKings product that bettors across the nation enjoy. For them, that upgrade is probably very welcome.
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