In West Virginia, William Hill Releases First Sports Betting App

William Hill, a British bookmaker, has increased its presence in the US state of West Virginia by introducing its sports betting app there late last week.

With its Friday launch, West Virginia became the fourth state where local sports fans may access William Hill's betting app.

Bettors in West Virginia can now use William Hill's desktop and mobile websites, as well as its Android and iOS apps, to place wagers on a variety of sports. The bookmaker's digital betting service completes its West Virginia retail sportsbook.

In the fall of 2018, William Hill made its debut in the state by opening a retail sportsbook at Mountaineer Casino, Racetrack & Resort in New Cumberland. At the time, Eldorado Resorts, which is now Caesars Entertainment Inc., ran the facility.

Eldorado and Century Casinos, a rival casino operator, as well as the real estate investment trust VICI Sites, entered into an agreement in September 2019 to sell the casino and racetrack as well as two more properties. The three casinos' operating assets will be purchased by Century Casinos for $107 million, and its real estate will be purchased by VICI for $278 million.

Ahead of the new NFL season

With the start of the 2018 NFL season just around the corner, William Hill has released its sports betting app in West Virginia. On Thursday, September 10, the Houston Texans will play host to the reigning champion Kansas City Chiefs in professional football.

William Hill also operates a retail sportsbook at Mountaineer Casino, as was already reported. In order to assist stop the spread of Covid-19, the casino and racetrack were shuttered for nearly three months earlier this year, along with the other of West Virginia's gambling establishments.

Early in June, the properties were given the go-ahead to resume operations, with Mountaineer Casino being one of the first. Even though there are currently many safety precautions and regulations in place at the state's gambling establishments, during the course of the three months after their reopening, bettors have continued to place wagers at retail facilities. Betting handle quickly reached pre-pandemic figures, and revenue was returning at a good clip as a result of that and rising internet activity.

West Virginia now provides legal online casino-style gaming in addition to online sports betting. Midway through July, DraftKings, which already runs a digital sportsbook in the state, introduced West Virginia's first online casino. The rollout of a mobile casino app run by BetMGM came after that debut.

Thus, West Virginia became the sixth state where playing online poker and playing online casinos is accepted by local gamers. It is unclear how well internet gambling will do in that state, but financial data from other jurisdictions indicates that there is a sizable market for online poker and casino sites across the country.