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- BlueBet (BBT) shares drop after it withdraws its application for a Sports Betting Permit in the US State of Virginia
- The sports bet company says it was advised that the licences would likely be granted to operators which had experience in other states
- The withdrawal comes less than a week after BlueBet announced it had failed to secure a permit in the US State of Arizona
- BBT will be refunded all application fees and says it’s still focussed on securing permits in Colorado, Tennessee and Maryland
- Shares in BlueBet are down 17.8 per cent at $2.03 per share in morning trade
BlueBet (BBT) shares have dropped after it withdrew its application for a Sports Betting Permit in the US State of Virginia.
The sports betting company announced the news on Monday, the second time in a week it had failed to secure a permit in a US State.
BBT had tried to gain access to an online sports betting licence in Arizona, but revealed last week that it had been unsuccessful.
In this latest application, the company said it had been advised by the regulator that operators with multi-state experience were the preferred applicants.
Additionally, BBT said operators who have equity interest owned by Minority individuals or Minority-owned businesses were preferred.
Eighteen businesses applied for the five available permits, with BBT labelling the application process “exhaustive”.
The company will be refunded all of the application fees and said it was eligible to re-apply for a licence with the Virginia Lottery again in the future.
BlueBet is planning to focus on other states though, stating it would apply for permits in the US States of Colorado, Tennessee and Maryland.
BBT already has a permit for Iowa and said it was reviewing ten regions where sports betting was legal but not yet operational.
The company also argues that up to 40 US States legalising betting by 2023, and said it sees a lot of potential within North America.
Following today’s announcement, shares in BlueBet are trading down more than 15 per cent in morning trade on Monday.
At 10:49 am AEST, BBT shares were down 17.8 per cent at $2.03 per share.
