Betr’s real-money sportsbook product is live in Virginia, the company announced Wednesday morning. The sports betting operator has now launched in three states, as it’s also operational in Ohio and Massachusetts.
Betr is the 15th operational mobile sportsbook in Virginia, entering the state’s legal sports betting market thanks to a license availability made possible by Golden Nugget’s exit. Betr received the license in March.
“We are thrilled to continue expanding our online sports betting business by launching in Virginia just in time for the NFL season,” Joey Levy, founder and CEO of Betr, said in a statement. “Virginia will be the final state where we launch V0 of the Betr Sportsbook, before rolling out our V1 Sportsbook product in existing and new states next year.”
In addition to revamping its sportsbook, Betr recently launched Betr Picks, a “fantasy experience” available in over 20 states. Betr Picks allows users to pick up to eight player props with no pushes and “higher payout multiples” as the number of picks increases. Both of those exist in addition to Betr Media, which leans on influencers like Betr co-founder Jake Paul to create engaging sports content.
Struggling to gain traction?
Despite internal optimism about Betr’s future, the operator’s early financial results leave questions about the company’s outlook.
Betr reported a July mobile handle of $155,582 in Massachusetts, by far the lowest of any of the mobile sports betting operators in the state. Fanatics Sportsbook, which was in a beta testing phase, generated a handle of $2.3 million during the same time period.
In Ohio in July, Betr reported a mobile sports betting handle of $313,280, which was the lowest of any Ohio operator. During that same time period, DraftKings reported a handle of $116 million.
Still, Levy isn’t concerned about Betr’s lack of market share in the near future.
“Short term, we are 100 percent not playing the market share game at all … If we were to play the market share game, we would probably be out of money by now,” Levy told Sports Handle in June. “If I were an investor in Betr, I would be very skeptical of [a market share focused] strategy.”
Future goals
Levy is pleased with Betr’s in-game betting product — live betting was Betr’s original focus — but wants the platform to cater to more than just live bettors in future years. Betr’s retooled sportsbook product is expected in the first half of 2024.
Levy recently wrote a letter to his team about PENN Entertainment forming a partnership with ESPN, which will take Barstool Sportsbook out of the sports betting space.
“So while we are gaining a competitor in ESPN BET, we are also losing a more relevant competitor in Barstool Sportsbook,” Levy wrote. “This further positions Betr as the brand in this category for the 21–34 year old demographic.”
During his lengthy letter, Levy sounded confident about Betr’s long-term growth potential with an improved product. That product won’t yet be available to Virginia customers, but they’ll be among the first to have access to it in 2024.
