William Hill Mobile Sportsbook Launches in Virginia

Article ByStan Fox

February 8, 2021

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Posted in: US Sports Betting News, Virginia Gambling News

The William Hill app went live Wednesday in Virginia, becoming the fifth operator to launch in the newly established sports betting market. Other four sportsbooks operating in Virginia that went live January 21 are FanDuel, DraftKings, BetMGM, and BetRivers. Virginia is launching a gradual induction of sportsbooks in the state since the state went live less than two weeks ago.

The UK-based bookmaker that was acquired by Caesars Entertainment last year is available from anywhere in the Commonwealth of Virginia, offering a seamless experience for bettors to place a sports wager. William Hill is already live online in New Jersey, Nevada, Indiana, Iowa, and West Virginia.

William Hill’s Offerings

William Hill presents the app built on its proprietary platform, offering Virginia sports lovers an extensive and deep array of markets and wager types, including live in-play betting. In a press release, Kenneth Fuchs, President of Digital for William Hill US, said their Virginia app offered football fans over 1000 ways to bet on the NFL game Sunday, with many more exciting wagers to follow throughout the Superbowl and many other sporting events. The Caesars-owned sportsbook app provides an easy and secure registration process and a broad selection of options to deposit and withdraw funds.

William is allied with the city of Danville, one of the five state jurisdictions seeking to build a retail casino. The UK-based company will be the second platform tethered to a casino to launch in Virginia behind BetRivers (Portsmouth), which launched last week.

William Hill Continues to Expand in the US Market

William Hill continues to expand its US market access following an agreement with Las Vegas-based Caesars Entertainment agreed to acquire the British company for around $3.7 billion in September last year. The historic deal allows Caesars to capitalize on William Hill’s US assets in order to become one of the largest gaming-entertainment companies in the nation.

William Hill US landed on the Mid-Atlantic region in 2020 at the globally renowned Capital One Arena, becoming the first operator to provide sports betting inside a US professional sports complex. Additionally, the Caesars-owned company is also the official sports betting partner of the Washington Wizards, Washington Capitals, and the Washington Mystics.

With the Virginia launch, William Hill now extends its market reach to as many as ten US jurisdictions (New Jersey, Nevada, Colorado, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Virginia, West Virginia, and Washington DC). Additionally, it also powers the trading serves for the Rhode Island Lottery mobile app.

Five Operators Licenses Issued So Far

Virginia finally went live on January 21 following an extensive regulatory process after the state legalized sports betting in 2020. As of now, only mobile sports betting is available, with land-based sportsbooks to follow in the future.

More than two dozen operators have applied to the Virginia Lottery, which is responsible for issuing licenses. So far, the lottery has awarded only five sports betting operator licenses. Under the existing law, the lottery can issue eight more licenses for a maximum of 12 licenses. Of the available licenses, five are tethered to and reserved for licenses that have paired with one of five to-be-built casinos in Virginia. However, licenses awarded to pro franchises don’t count against the cap.

The New York-based FanDuel, the first online sportsbook to launch in Virginia, has partnered with the Washington Football Team. After FanDuel’s exclusive opening day launch, DraftKings was the second to go live January 24 in Virginia. BetMGM and BetRivers followed three days later. Among the operators believed to have applied for the Virginia launch but yet to receive the official nod are Barstool Sports/Penn National, WynnBET, and PointsBet.

Casinos to Open in 2022

When state lawmakers regulated sports betting in April 2020, the Virginia Lottery was authorized to devise sports betting guidelines within a strict timeline. The regulatory authority was also tasked with formulating regulations for casinos. Under the law, the casino regulations must be issued by April 2021.

Bob Fontaine, deputy general counsel, put forward an overview of emergency casino regulations. Now the public-comment period will follow after finalized regulations are rolled out later this year. The authorities plan to open the first casinos in the state by next year.