On Thursday, BetMGM became the first sports betting operator to allow Nevada registrants to cross state lines into other legal markets and wager through a single digital wallet.
Practically speaking, that means customers who've registered for a BetMGM mobile account in Nevada can travel to neighboring Arizona or any of the 27 other North American jurisdictions (including Puerto Rico and Ontario, Canada) where the operator is live and place bets without any undue regulatory or financial friction.
“We’re proud to lead the charge in Nevada with a single account and wallet that simplifies and elevates the betting experience,” BetMGM CEO Adam Greenblatt said in a press release. “Our players can now immerse themselves in the excitement of MGM Resorts’ Las Vegas destinations or statewide while seamlessly continuing to place wagers in other BetMGM markets.”
New Nevada customers can sign up by downloading BetMGM's mobile app, going through the requisite verification steps, and completing their registration in person at one of the company's nine retail sportsbooks on the Las Vegas Strip. Those are located at the MGM Grand, Park MGM, Bellagio, ARIA, Cosmopolitan, Mandalay Bay, New York-New York, Luxor, and Excalibur.
“They still obviously have to go through the sign-up process on property and sign up in Nevada like always," Matt Prevost, BetMGM's chief revenue officer, told the Las Vegas Review-Journal. "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.”
When traveling to another jurisdiction, users will receive a pop-up message upon opening the app, which will prompt them to switch to their account to the BetMGM market where they are currently located. Nevada customers who download the app are currently eligible for a first bet offer of up to $250 in bonus bets.
Prevost also told the R-J that he expected competitors like Circa and Caesars to follow in BetMGM's footsteps, adding that the innovation "may actually be a benefit to the state of Nevada in the form of incremental revenue and incremental taxes."
