International Game Technology (IGT) has agreed a deal with Delaware North Gaming & Entertainment to power sports betting at its venues in West Virginia and Arkansas.
Under the agreement, IGT will provide its retail and mobile betting PlaySports technology to Delaware North’s West Virginia casinos Mardi Gras Casino & Resort in Cross Lanes and Wheeling Island Casino-Hotel-Racetrack in Wheeling Island.
The deal also covers the supply of retail sports betting services at the Southland Casino Racing in West Memphis, Arkansas.
IGT’s PlaySports division already powers sports wagering across 11 US states, including Oregon, Arkansas, Indiana, Iowa, New York, Pennsylvania, Mississippi, West Virginia, Rhode Island, New Jersey, and Nevada.
“IGT is a serious sports betting technology provider with a proven commitment to customer success, excellent global reputation, and a reliable, omni-channel sports betting solution for the US market,” Delaware North’s gaming division president Brian Hansberry said.
“We believe the IGT PlaySports solution will help us establish Delaware North as a preferred sports betting provider in West Virginia and Arkansas while enabling us to further reward our Lucky North Club members.”
IGT PlayDigital senior vice president, Enrico Drago, added: “We’re proud to add Delaware North to our growing list of US-based customers leveraging PlaySports technology to offer reliable, best-in-class sports betting experiences to their patrons.
“Delaware North can count on IGT’s experienced team and trusted technology to help build a sports betting business that can scale for the opportunities of today and the future.”
The agreement will see Delaware North re-enter West Virginia’s sports betting market. Delaware North had been operating its BetLucky brand in partnership with Miomni Gaming, but halted activities in March last year after a disruption to services.
Miomni had been running land-based, online and mobile betting services at the properties under a management services deal agreed in October 2018. However, an infringement dispute with fellow sports betting technology supplier Enterg Software Solutions hit the services, leading to the services being halted.
Delaware North went on to file a lawsuit against Miomni, accusing the supplier and also its chief executive Mike Venner of engaging in “an ongoing pattern of misrepresentation and bad faith” throughout the partnership.
However, in July last year, Miomni hit back at Delaware North, saying claims by the operator that it breached the terms of a joint venture agreement were entirely without merit. It has consistently stated that it could have relaunched sports betting had it been given the green light to do so by the operator.
Miomni said Delaware North failed to demonstrate that it is guilty of breaches of contractual terms set out in its original filing. It also said the US court lacked personal jurisdiction over Venner, who is a citizen of the UK.
Finally, the supplier said that the claims of fraud failed as they did not specify exact incidents or events that constitute such illegal activity, and were based on statements made by third parties. In May 2019 it also secured an injunction against its erstwhile partner Enterg, ordering it to disclose the existence of any ‘kill switch’ built into the Miomni platform.
iGB North America understands that the UK High Court last week ruled that Miomni was not guilty of wrongdoing throughout the agreement, according to sources close to the matter.