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Jake Paul-backed sportsbook Betr has announced plans to launch an online casino and sportsbook in Pennsylvania, and online sportsbooks in Colorado, Indiana and Kentucky this year.
The company announced the new plans this week, highlighting the market access deals (partnering with a company that operates in a state’s sports wagering market) that will make the anticipated launches possible.
The company’s confidence in its performance in Ohio and Virginia drove it to ink market access partnerships in multiple new states.
Betr first launched in Ohio, branding itself as a micro-betting site that catered to newer generations of sports betting. It quickly pivoted from micro-betting to traditional sports betting and Betr has faced its fair share of blunders over the past year.
Betr’s Pennsylvania online casino launch
Betr will work with well-known real estate and gaming firm Cordish Gaming Group to launch in Pennsylvania. The company will have an online sportsbook and will offer iGaming through the Betr Casino app.
Cordish Gaming Group’s President, Rob Norton, said his firm is excited to work with Betr. “Betr Casino will make a winning addition to the gaming options available to Pennsylvania players,” Norton said in a Betr Holdings, Inc. press release.
A Pennsylvania online casino presents a lucrative revenue opportunity for Betr. That being said, because those markets are among the biggest in the state, Betr will face ruthless competition from sportsbooks and online casinos with strong customer bases.
Joey Levy, Betr’s CEO, said:
“We are thrilled to announce our new market access partnerships for Sportsbook and the introduction of Betr Casino in 2024 ahead of our V1 Sportsbook launch…
The data we are seeing not only suggests that we are building a large and highly profitable real money gaming and media business, but that we are doing so by bringing new users into the category. We plan on replicating this playbook for Betr Sportsbook and Betr Casino.”
Betr’s sportsbook-only Colorado launch
The company’s planned launch in Colorado is a bit more complex than the typical launch. Betr will partner with Boulter Developments to release its sportsbook in the Centennial State.
However, it still has to be approved for a sports betting operator license and Boulter Developments now has an equity stake in Betr. Boulter Development’s Steve Boulter said the partnership with Betr was a “no-brainer”.
Boulter’s gambling venture with Betr isn’t its first; the company has a 15-year contract with Colorado online sportsbook ZenSports.
Kentucky launch with Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians
Betr partnered with the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians to launch sports betting in the Bluegrass State. The two entities know each other well; they’ve agreed to a market access partnership in Indiana, too.
Massachusetts sports betting not in Betr’s plans
Between its new market access partnerships and existing operations, Betr plans to launch its sportsbook in seven states by the end of the year:
- Colorado
- Indiana
- Kentucky
- Maryland (already applied for a license)
- Ohio (existing)
- Pennsylvania
- Virginia (existing)
Those launches will be based on a new sports betting platform that Betr is calling “V1.”
Missing from its list of V1 launches is Massachusetts. The company chose not to renew its temporary sports betting license in the state.
Betr explained that the cost of a license in Massachusetts was too high. The company believes it can get better value by using that money elsewhere.
“The company has also elected to not renew its temporary sports wagering license in Massachusetts, trading a 7 million population state for over 23 million in the net new states for collectively less economics than it would have required to renew in MA alone,” Betr said.
