Saracen Casino Resort expects its sports betting mobile app to launch any day now.
“There’s a lot of pieces in place,” Carlton Saffa, Saracen’s chief market officer, told Whispers last week. The app is waiting on final approval.
The casino, owned by the Quapaw Nation of Oklahoma, spent about $1 million on the development of the app, Bet Saracen, which was expected weeks ago.
In early March, Saffa tweeted that its app is “ready and awaiting App Store and payment processor final approvals.”
Saffa said Saracen could have already offered mobile sports betting through a web browser, but it decided to wait until Bet Saracen could be launched on all platforms. “We have one chance to open, and I would rather be late and great, than late and partial,” he said.
Meanwhile, Oaklawn Racing Casino Resort of Hot Springs announced plans to launch its app in early August, according to Scott Hardin, a spokesman for the Arkansas Department of Finance & Administration.
Southland Casino Racing of West Memphis began offering online betting through web browsers on March 5 through Betly, the mobile betting platform run by its owner, Delaware North of Buffalo, New York.
On March 9, Android mobile device users could use an app to bet. In a statement that Hardin provided last week, Southland said, “We are continuing to work toward having the Betly app available for Android in the Google Play store, and for iOS in the Apple App store.”
Big Bets
Hardin said that March was a record month for sports betting in Arkansas. Wagers for the month were more than $10.6 million, beating the previous record set in October by $1 million. He attributes the launch of Southland’s online betting service and the Arkansas Razorbacks being in the March Madness tournament as the reasons for the increase in sports betting.
If you recall, the Arkansas Racing Commission approved mobile sports wagers in December and lawmakers gave final approval to the rule on Feb. 22.
Arkansas Sportsbook Betting, Q1 2022
Southland Casino Racing, West Memphis
|
|
JANUARY |
FEBRUARY |
MARCH |
Handle |
$3,666,792 |
$2,505,414 |
$2,776,691 |
Payout |
$3,151,049 |
$2,202,567 |
$2,505,526 |
Net Win |
$515,744 |
$302,847 |
$271,165 |
Mobile Handle |
|
|
$3,298,265 |
Mobile Payout |
|
|
$3,330,419 |
Mobile Net Win |
|
|
-$32,155 |
2022 Total to State for Sports Betting |
$67,047 |
$57,730 |
$47,802 |
Oaklawn Racing Casino Resort, Hot Springs
|
|
JANUARY |
FEBRUARY |
MARCH |
Handle |
$3,407,020 |
$2,128,246 |
$3,113,881 |
Payout |
$2,861,772 |
$2,126,737 |
$2,723,131 |
Net Win |
$545,248 |
$1,509 |
$390,751 |
2022 Total to State for Sports Betting |
$70,882 |
$196 |
$50,798 |
Saracen Casino Resort, Pine Bluff
|
|
JANUARY |
FEBRUARY |
MARCH |
Handle |
$1,702,120 |
$1,242,784 |
$1,497,664 |
Payout |
$1,581,776 |
$1,188,037 |
$1,335,557 |
Net Win |
$120,344 |
$26,645 |
$162,087 |
2022 Total to State for Sports Betting |
$15,645 |
$3,464 |
$21,071 |
Source: Arkansas State Racing Commission
Note: A correction has been made to this article referring to when Oaklawn was planning on launching its app.
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