Mobile Sports Betting in Arkansas Set to Launch in Time for March Madness

• Arkansas Mobile Sports Betting Rules Pass Final Committee, March Launch Set
• Rule Allows 51% of Sports Betting Revenue to Stay with Arkansas Casino Operators
• Rules Face 10-Day Waiting Period, Mobile Betting Set to Launch by March Madness

Arkansas Mobile Sports Betting Rules Pass Final Committee, March Launch Set

Get ready, Arkansas gamblers, because placing wagers on sports is about to get a lot easier for you now that the Arkansas Joint Budget Committee (JBC) has just approved the set of mobile sports betting rules it was reviewing, the last stop before implementation of an online market.

The Arkansas Joint Budget Committee accepts the rule review subcommittee’s report on mobile sports betting.

Mobile sports betting can launch in Arkansas in 10 days, which is ahead of March Madness.

— Bennett Conlin (@BennettConlin) February 22, 2022

Up until now, Natural State bettors had to place their sports bets in person at one of the state’s three existing casinos – the Oaklawn Racing Casino Resort, the Saracen Casino Resort, and Southland Casino Racing – but with the final approval of new mobile rules, all that changes.

The process of going mobile in Arkansas has not been swift, as we recently reported, but now that a mobile market is in the state’s future, expect the overall handle to increase substantially, last year having generated $67.7 million worth of in-person gambling action there.

But one factor could prevent outside operators from wanting to partake in Arkansas’ new mobile market, and that is the revenue share plan that these rules establish.

Rule Allows 51% of Sports Betting Revenue to Stay with Arkansas Casino Operators

With Arkansas casinos now greenlit to offer an online betting option, one of the first challenges is to figure out which mobile sportsbook app to utilize, the options being to strike a deal with an outside operator with an existing betting app or else create one of your own.

What could keep outside companies from wanting to participate in Arkansas is the 51% revenue share number, meaning the retail location that is partnered up with an outside sportsbook would receive over half of the proceeds generated.

In most states where mobile sports betting is legal, regulations grant the casinos between 5% and 15% of the proceeds, so the 51% rate in Arkansas has turned some heads and could keep major outside operators like DraftKings and BetMGM from wanting to take part since that makes it tougher for them to turn a profit.

That could leave it up to the casinos to create and launch their own sports betting apps, which Saracen Casino Resort will do with its BetSaracen app, their Chief Marketing Officer Carlton Saffa telling the press:

We’ve been working on BetSaracen for a year, so today’s vote is exciting for us and for Arkansas. We will launch BetSaracen, an Arkansas born and bred, first-class mobile wagering app, before March Madness.

Getting set up before that popular NCCA basketball tournament begins was a major goal here.

Rules Face 10-Day Waiting Period, Mobile Betting Set to Launch by March Madness

Now that these rules have been approved, a 10-day waiting period will take place before those mobile betting apps can begin taking wagers.

This means that by the first week of March, the Arkansas mobile betting market can officially launch, timed perfectly to happen before March Madness, the NCAA Final Four tournament that starts on March 15-16 in Dayton, Ohio.

With sixty-eight college teams being gradually whittled down to one champion, it’s the perfect opportunity to see how the new Arkansas mobile sports betting apps will operate, and a chance for residents to start betting on games from the comfort of their own couches.