As retail sports books in Pennsylvania await the coming of online sports betting, the state lottery is filling the gap with wager offered on virtual sports and car races.
According to a report on the PennBets website, the Pennsylvania Lottery’s Xpress Sports program is now at more than 1,000 retail lottery locations across the state. Players receive betting slips for virtual football games and car races displayed on TV monitors. Launched last August, Xpress Sports is available to anyone 18 or over, compared to 21 or over for wagers on live sports.
While PennBets reports that Xpress Sports is contributing “very minimally” to the lottery’s overall profit picture, the game is the subject of a lawsuit filed by Pennsylvania’s land-based casinos, who view it as unfair competition for bettors by a system with minimal operating costs.
