Nevada Sports Betting Grows, Despite Nationwide Legalization

Even with multiple states legalizing sports betting since the Supreme Court ruling last year, Nevada still tops the list for sports betting destinations in the United States.

Despite all of the headlines about legalizing sports betting, wagering still only accounts for around 1% of the total revenue for a casino.

But that doesn’t mean that the market doesn’t have to room to grow and several of Nevada’s new casinos are gearing up for major expansion of sports betting to accommodate the excitement.

Casino owner Derek Stevens, owner of the new Circa Hotel and Casino in Downtown Las Vegas, has recently unveiled his latest project, Circa Sportsbook.

Stevens believes that the move toward sports gambling in other states will make Las Vegas a bigger destination for betting due to the amenities and atmosphere of the city.

“What (the Supreme Court decision has) done, it just increased sports wagering,” said Stevens.

“It’s certainly not something that hurts Las Vegas, handles are up, I think sports betting is just now out of the shadows.”

The casino’s new sportsbook first introduced an app called, Circa Sports, that allows visitors or residents to make bets with their phone from anywhere inside Nevada.

“In combination with working with our app, we’re pretty happy with how our app has been developed and I think a broad range of menu items is going to separate Circa a little bit,” Stevens said.

With new construction like the Circa Sportsbook, Las Vegas continues to see growth when many experts dismissed the state’s potential after the Supreme Court decision.

What are Other Ways that Nevada Sports Betting is Growing?

Sportsbook operator William Hill has seen a surge in hiring in recent months, attributed largely to the excitement around nationwide sports betting.

The operator is one of the bigger companies in the market due to their premium app that has given William Hill an edge when mobile gambling entered the market in Nevada.

“It’s created opportunities to grow into other marks, which has led to hiring more people here in Las Vegas,” said Joe Asher, CEO of William Hill.

“I mean, we’ve had to move into an entirely different building because we’ve been hiring so fast, we’ve had nowhere to put people.”

Another way that sports betting is becoming more legitimate in Nevada is the recent agreements between casinos and popular sports networks.

Caesars Entertainment announced last month a new partnership with ESPN, widely considered the largest brand in sports media in the world.

The agreement calls for ESPN to build a studio set in Caesars’ LINQ Casino and Hotel, located in Las Vegas, for their show, “Daily Wager.”

In turn, ESPN will use Caesars’ odds and information in their programming to promote the company.

“For us, it’s about adding context and storytelling to the odds, to tell the stories that sports fans want to know about,” said Chris Holdren, Chief Marketing Officer for Caesars.

Although sports betting has become more talked-about around the country, in Nevada, the market remains a small slice of a larger pie.

But due to its’ glitz and charm, Las Vegas will continue to be a highly sought after destination for sports betting that could provide growth for Nevada’s overall numbers for many years to come.