Barstool Online Sportsbook and Casino Launches Upgrade to Gambling Platform

Barstool has not had a great start to 2023, especially from a revenue front. Since the start of the year, the gambling brand has seen a decline in its online casino revenue and sports betting handle. In fact, the iCasino witnessed one of the largest losses among Michigan online casinos and was down 40% in betting handle between January and May.

As part of efforts to force an upward trend, Barstool Casino and Sportsbook announced a scheduled maintenance to its platforms on Sunday, July 9. The maintenance was to start at 9.30pm EST and lasted for about 72 hours.

Between Sunday, July 9 and Wednesday, July 12, all of Barstool platforms were inaccessible with players being unable to log in, place wagers or make withdrawals. The Barstool Sportsbook Help account on Twitter took to the microblogging site to announce the planned maintenance. Interestingly, this maintenance affected not only sportsbooks but also online casinos across the country.

During the downtime, existing progressive jackpots were paused until the end of the scheduled maintenance. However, games were resumed to the exact amount they were on at the start of the maintenance. New Jersey and Michigan linked progressive jackpot games were also temporarily deactivated in preparation for a system upgrade.

Other improvements came with the overall layout and security of the Barstool Sportsbook MI platform. Users on the iCasino and sportsbook can now log in with their email address as against the previous requirement for a username. In addition, bonus cash options were disabled and have been replaced with cashback promos, bonus spins and bets.

No technical changes affected the existing Responsible Gaming measures put in place by the platform. Any limits or exclusion on accounts were rolled over and continued after the planned downtime.

In 2021, Penn National Gaming Inc. acquired theScore, a Toronto media and gaming company, approximately a year after it secured ownership of majority shares in Barstool. Now, Barstool is working closely with theScore to bring important updates to its platform.

This partnership will not only improve the functionality of Barstool’s sportsbooks and casinos but is also geared at allowing the company to operate through its own proprietary platform. During the scheduled maintenance, Barstool Sportsbook worked on a migration from Kambi, its previous platform operator to a new technology owned by theScore.

It is expected that this move will offer a more reliable interface and user experience. theScore’s proprietary software also has immense customizable features and provides Barstool with the benefit of an in-house launchpad for its betting services.

“Over the last year, our team has been working hard to build a new and improved Barstool Sportsbook, loaded with additional features to upgrade your betting experience. The upgraded app will include fast load times, deposits and withdrawals, more markets and expanded player props, enhanced promotions, and more Barstool exclusives. Barstool Sportsbook also will be more deeply integrated with theScore App, allowing you to build your betslip, follow your betting activity and get live matchup markets all from right within theScore,” a statement released on the Barstool website read.

Since the completion of the upgrade, users have received emails informing them of the migration and how they can experience the improved interface, navigation. Although many customers took to Twitter to complain about the timing of the upgrade and downtime, the company is convinced that it would increase operational efficiency on the new Barstool sportsbook platform.

Switching to an in-house proprietary platform holds a lot of promise for Barstool, especially since it has faced major financial setbacks in markets like Michigan. CEO/President of Penn Entertainment, Jay Snowden remarked that having direct control over the features on its website and app affords the brand greater control and the flexibility to react to market trends.

“Having full control of our product roadmap will enable us to connect with our customers on a more personal level and quickly add new features and betting markets to the Barstool Sportsbook,” Snowden said.

The chief executive also expressed confidence that the new platform puts Barstool in pole position to rival DraftKings Casino MI, BetMGM, FanDuel and other notable names in the gambling industry. With the scheduled maintenance and migration now complete, all attention now shifts to customers who would hope to enjoy a better experience at the online sportsbook and iCasino.

Customers can reach out to the Barstool 24/7 customer support team in case of any questions or complaints.