A hand-picked group of Ohio sports bettors is getting an opportunity to be among the first in the nation to test drive the new mobile wagering platform from Fanatics Sportsbook. A company spokesman confirmed this week that a “small group” of Ohio customers has joined those in Tennessee who began beta testing in March.
The company built its proprietary, in-house platform based on Amelco source code and has plans to beta test the platform for several months. The goal is to get feedback from users and integrate it into the platform that will ultimately be released to the general public — though the company has not said when that will be.
Fanatics Sportsbook opened its first brick-and-mortar location at FedEx Field in Maryland in January, but it has not announced a mobile go-live date there. The company is also licensed in Massachusetts, but it did not launch on the universal start date in March and did not indicate when it might go live there.
Goal is to offer ‘best product and experience’
Stakeholders are anxious to see what the Fanatics Sportsbook platform will look like and what it will offer, but the company has kept its design and plans mostly under wraps.
According to a company spokesman, the beta testing will mirror that of other technology companies, in that Fanatics Sportsbook selected groups of existing, experienced users in Ohio and Tennessee with the intention of getting meaningful input about the functionality of the platform.
“We started this journey with the goal of developing the best product and experience for sports fans,” a Fanatics Sportsbook spokesman told Sports Handle at the time the Tennessee testing started. “We are incredibly excited to work with our customers, get their feedback, and deliver the product that sports fans deserve for our public launch later this year.”
Fanatics Sportsbook is partnered with the Columbus Blue Jackets for its Ohio digital platform and with both the Blue Jackets and Cleveland Guardians for brick-and-mortar sportsbooks.
Since the Jan. 1 universal launch in Ohio, nearly 20 platforms, including the three biggest by market share in the U.S. — FanDuel, DraftKings, and BetMGM — have gone live in the state.
Photo courtesy of Fanatics Sportsbook
