Political betting was introduced in West Virginia last week in a surprise but was canceled within an hour. The short-lived betting offering gave bettors hope but eventually left them high and dry.

What went wrong?

Bookies were allowed to offer political betting markets in the state last week. According to new emails found by The Intelligencer and Wheeling News-Register, the permission was offered for only an hour and then rescinded.

The new leaked emails were exchanged between officials at the lottery and representatives from sportsbooks. One of the emails was written by Erich Zimmy, the Vice President of Racing & Sports Operations at Hollywood Casino at Charles Town Races. The company has a partnership with DraftKings. The email was addressed to David Bradley, the deputy director of Security at the West Virginia Lottery.

Zimmy wrote,

“Submitting this request for an offering separately since it’s a little different than the draft one, but both us and DraftKings would like to explore the possibility of offering political props on major elections markets.”

In simple terms, Zimmy wanted permission to create a political betting market to help boost company revenue. He emphasized on bringing gambling revenue back to the state, which was otherwise moving to offshore sportsbooks. Bradley also received emails from John Sheeran, the director of risk and trading at FanDuel. He replies to both individuals that the possibility of such betting has been discussed.

The confusion began on April 7

Both FanDuel and DraftKings, alongside BetMGM, received a greenlight to launch a political betting market on April 7. The idea was to help fill the gaps created by a lack of sports betting options in the state. FanDuel then immediately went ahead and released an official press statement. It highlighted a new partnership with the West Virginia Lottery to offer legalized political betting in the state. It focused on providing a regulated market that comes with all the necessary protections to keep the users safe.

Governor Jim Justice, whose family owns The Greenbrier, objected to the political betting stunt and even called the situation “humorous.” BetMGM and DraftKings could not publicize the matter in time because of which they were saved and FanDuel was the only brand left to clarify the confusion. The company simply rescinded the press release and took it off its newsroom, later issuing a statement that while the Lottery has accepted political betting, the brand was asked not to make the deal public yet.