Sports betting first: App to allow seamless wagering across 29 states

It took several years of planning and multiple appearances before gaming regulators all over the country, but BetMGM, the sports wagering arm of MGM Resorts International, on Wednesday will debut a feature that no other sports-betting app in Nevada provides.

Beginning Wednesday, BetMGM customers will be able to wager seamlessly from one digital wallet in any state where MGM has a presence.

That means players signed up in Nevada can cross into Arizona and bet from their accounts once the customer registers there. And, those signing up in Arizona can wager in Nevada once they register — in person, based on Nevada rules.

Matt Prevost, chief revenue officer of BetMGM, said no other digital wagering app has that capability.

Prevost, based in New York, said he expects rival companies — such as Caesars Entertainment with William Hill, Circa and Boyd Gaming — will attempt to replicate MGM’s system.

“What this does is it enables our consumers who travel in from other states to seamlessly use their wallet while they’re in Vegas,” Prevost said in an exclusive interview with the Las Vegas Review-Journal. “They still obviously have to go through the sign-up process on property and sign up in Nevada like always. But this connects the entire experience for them as customers. We’ve been working on this for years. And, knock on a lot of wood, we’ve received regulatory approval and the technical delivery will happen this week.”

BetMGM’s nine retail sportsbooks in Las Vegas are at Bellagio, Aria, The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas, MGM Grand, Park MGM, Mandalay Bay, New York-New York, Luxor and Excalibur where customers must complete their registration after downloading the free app through Google Play for Android phones or the Apple Store.

Usable in 29 markets

MGM offers digital sports wagering in 29 North American markets including Arizona, Colorado, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Michigan, Mississippi, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Tennessee, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wyoming, the District of Columbia as well as Ontario, Canada, and the territory of Puerto Rico.

In 2022, MGM offered the first betting windows at sports stadiums with the NFL’s Arizona Cardinals at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, and Major League Baseball’s Washington Nationals at Nationals Park in Washington D.C.

BetMGM formed through a partnership between MGM and Great Britain-based Entain Plc., introduced a newly designed mobile sports betting app in Nevada in February that features an increased variety of Angstrom-enabled prop and parlay offerings along with digital deposits and withdrawals. Eilers & Krejcik, a research and consulting firm focused on the iGaming and sports betting industries, praised the app as “clearly the best product in Nevada right now.” In addition, several new product enhancements for the digital sportsbook are expected to enhance the BetMGM experience in time for the NFL football season.

Prevost said it’s unclear how much the technological change will lift MGM’s financial picture, but he’s confident the first-to-market feature will be warmly received by customers.

“I think it may actually be a benefit to the state of Nevada in the form of incremental revenue and incremental taxes,” Prevost said.

New customers in Nevada can download the BetMGM app and receive a first bet offer of up to $250 paid back in bonus bets, an offer only available in Nevada. Bonus bets can’t be withdrawn and expire in seven days. Existing users can check the promotions tab in their app for incentives such as parlay-boost tokens, odds boosts and other available offers. Players can also earn BetMGM Rewards points and tier credits by playing on BetMGM Sportsbook. BetMGM Rewards points can be redeemed for digital bonuses and MGM Rewards points.

“We completed this single wallet enablement in all other jurisdictions outside of Nevada last summer,” he said. “So this time last year, we had to go to each and every regulator and get this approved and we, for a variety of reasons, technical and from a regulatory perspective, saved Nevada for last.”

Contact Richard N. Velotta at rvelotta@reviewjournal.com or 702-477-3893. Follow @RickVelotta on X.