Oregon Lottery Commission Approves Switch to DraftKings

The Oregon Lottery Commission has given the green light to replace the existing SBTech platform with DraftKings’ dedicated sportsbook. As a result, moving forward, the Oregon Lottery will use a sports betting experience that is predicated on DraftKings’ best practices across the United States. 

However, before the implementation may be completed, there will be a waiting period during which the technical specifications of the switch will be discussed. Lottery executive director Barry Pack explained that the organization has been interested in moving its full-scale solution from SBTech’s Scoreboard to DraftKings’ quickly-evolving iGaming and betting product. 

Scoreboard was the go-to solution for Oregonians for the past three or so years. However, Pack is confident that the switch will benefit the end customers as well. “There are a number of business benefits in terms of simplifying some of the structure, and there are player benefits as the experience will be improved on the new platform,” he added. 

Switching from SBTech to SBTech 

Interestingly, DraftKings’ own sportsbook platform is powered by SBTech, after the operator decided to replace Kambi with the former. Essentially, Oregon Lottery will still be working with SBTech, although indirectly. 

Pack does not expect the switch to cause a significant dip in revenue. The only significant hindrance is that Scoreboard users will now have to sign up for a DraftKings account, which could lead to poorer first-quarter results due to fewer people willing to re-register or even turning away when they found out that they have to set up new accounts. 

However, Pack is also confident that the improved experience will reap greater benefits in the long term. “The DraftKings platform is more familiar to US bettors. The SBTech platform is more similar to a European design,” Pack explained in a statement, revealing that Oregon is playing on the strengths of DraftKings’ uniquely USA-focused experience.

Oregon Lottery Chugs Along with Decent Results 

There has been no significant pushback from the Oregon Lottery Commission on the matter of the transition. In fact, all four members were in accord. Scoreboard’s revenue in July hit $2.2 million in July, and the total month saw $18.2 million in total sports betting handle. June marked as a lightly better overall month for the state, with $2.8 million collected in the month.

Anticipating the switch to a full-scale sports betting platform in Oregon, DraftKings decided to pull out its daily fantasy sports operations from the state.