Oregon’s Scoreboard App Struggles at Launch, While D.C. Betting Clears Legal Hurdle

After touting the Scoreboard betting app for months, the Oregon Lottery conceded that the rush of customers looking to register to use the program caused the website to crash, frustrating thousands of eager bettors.

Despite early troubles, over 7,000 bettors in Oregon were able to get their accounts up and running in the first 24 hours with Lottery officials claiming that over $300,000 was deposited over the first day of registration.

As bettors began to voice their frustration with the Scoreboard registration website, officials tried to tamper down the fervor on Thursday with pleads of patience.

The Oregon Lottery’s official Twitter account tweeted:

Hey Sports fans! What a night! With so many folks jumping on the registration pages, performance bogged down (as you might expect). The good news is that registrations are coming through and people are placing their first bets. Now is a great time to ge…https://t.co/ztGQaObu3K pic.twitter.com/eqXR8AEPGc

— Oregon Lottery (@oregon_lottery) October 17, 2019

After the smoke cleared from the original fires, Lottery officials stated that over 16,500 accounts have been set up and more than $500,000 had been legally wagered in the state.

Customers who did use the Scoreboard app to place bets feel that the state is giving them a way to bet legally without the worries of betting with overseas sites.

Saad Bennani told KATU Channel 2:

“There are always other backchannels, other underground ways to place bets, through a bookie or other underground websites online that aren’t legal. To have something like this where it’s legal and endorsed by the state, I feel more confident in my bet placing and getting my money back.”

Betting experts believe that betting in Oregon will continue to rise as the app’s problems are smoothed out and word-of-mouth about Scoreboard continues to move among social circles.

D.C. Sports Betting Gets Closer to Legalization with Court Win

While Oregon celebrates the launch of their Scoreboard app, D.C. Superior Court paved the way for the district to move ahead with their plans for sports betting as a preliminary injunction against the city’s decision to award a no-bid contract to a Greek gaming company to run wagering in the district was denied.

The lawsuit, filed by Dylan Carragher, a local software developer, contends that the city violated district laws by giving a no-bid contract to the gaming company, Intralot. Carragher’s attorneys contended that the no-bid deal prevented competitive bidding for the contract.

Judge John Campbell denied Carragher’s argument and struck down a temporary injunction against the city’s progress toward legalized sports betting. Judge Campbell did allow a lawsuit filed by Carragher to continue to work through the courts, although he expressed doubt that the suit would be successful.

When ruling, Campbell told Carragher’s attorneys, “We can spend all day asking whether the council should have done it, but it clearly and unquestionably was within the council’s authority to do that.”

A spokesperson for D.C. Attorney General Karl A. Racine was happy with the Judge’s decision and expressed optimism that the current lawsuit would be dismissed.

“The case will now proceed to the merits,” said Marrisa Geller, spokesperson for Racine.

D.C. will push ahead with its betting plans with the hope to launch sportsbooks and an online app within the next several months.