Genius Sports Granted West Virginia Sports Betting License

Sports betting data and media group Genius Sports announced last week it received a permanent sports wagering license from the state regulator in West Virginia.

Permanent Sports Wagering Permit

Following the decision from the West Virginia Lottery Commission, Genius Sports, which stands at the vanguard of the wagering industry in the US while state regulators review their position on the practice, is now operational across 13 US jurisdictions.

“Genius Sports is fully committed to supporting the development of, and operating in, regulated territories in partnership with fully licensed sportsbooks. West Virginia remains at the forefront of liberalization in the U.S. and one of the most proactive proponents of legalized sports wagering.”

Mark Locke, CEO, Genius Sports

The sports wagering license will now allow Genius Sports to supply its award-winning official data, streaming, and marketing solutions to power lotteries and sportsbooks in West Virginia, the 5^th state to legalize and regulate sports betting following the federal decision to overturn the ban in 2018.

“I’m honored that we have been awarded this license to provide our industry leading services in the Mountain state, and that our sportsbook partners will continue to utilize our solutions to help them thrive in this rapidly growing market.”

Mark Locke, CEO, Genius Sports

Busy on All Fronts

Since the start of 2021, Genius Sports has been busy on many fronts, starting the year with acquiring online sports betting supply licenses in Michigan and Virginia, and an expansion of its strategic marketing alliance with FanDuel to develop tailored social media, TV and other betting content for the sports betting brand.

In February, Genius Sports entered into an exclusive data partnership deal with Superstar Racing Experience (SRX) to power betting offerings on a wide range of split-second markets on each race of the trusted partner of NASCAR.

Later in the month, the sports betting data supplier teamed with WynnBet to allow the sports betting brand of Wynn Resorts to tap into its LiveData and LiveTRading services, and launched the new Ice Hockey LiveStats Solutions to provide NCAA members with more accurate and detailed data and statistics from ice hockey matches and events.

Genius Sports then went on to become an official sports betting partner of Major League Rugby (MLR) to gain the league’s exclusive sports betting data and streaming rights. But the biggest coup achieved was the sports data deal with the National Football League (NFL) to become the official data distributor of the league.

In the meantime, Genius Sports completed the transaction to merge with the special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) dMY Technology II first announced in October 2020, and go public on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE).