William Hill has now opened their sportsbook at Capital One Arena. The arena is home to the Washington D.C. Wizards NBA team and Capitals NHL team.
They will operate out of the box office as they continue to work on the permanent location inside the arena. It will be open seven days a week, from 11 am to 11 pm. Seven betting windows and none kiosks will be open for bettors.
William Hill has said that they will be following the CDC guidelines during this pandemic. Employees will be wearing gloves and masks while also providing hand sanitizer.
This will be the first sportsbook that is inside a sports arena in the country. They plan on having the permanent indoor location done this fall.
“Bringing fresh and innovative experiences to fans is core to our mission at Monumental Sports & Entertainment, and we are so proud to partner with William Hill to bring this new dimension to the Washington Metropolitan region,” Jim Van Stone, president of business operations and chief commercial officer for Monumental Sports.
There won’t be any seating available at this temporary location. T.V.’s will be above the betting windows that display the odds.
There will be an opening ceremony on Monday, where several season ticket holders will make the first bets!
First to Make the Move
It seems this has been the year that sports teams are beginning to accept the relationship with sports betting. This is something that never could’ve happened years ago.
D.C. is the first to make this move, but it’s doubtful they will be the last. If they succeed with this location, William Hill and other sportsbooks will be looking to get involved with different areas.
Permanent Location
It will be exciting to see the permanent location when it opens. Hopefully, COVID-19 slows down, and the next hockey and basketball seasons can begin with normal capacity.
The William Hill sportsbook will be located in a former restaurant inside the Capital One Arena. It will be open for professional games in the arena. This is also home to the Georgetown Hoyas, but it will be closed during their games.
“It’ll be what I think is the most immersive sportsbook-restaurant experience anywhere the country,” said David Grolman, president of retail operations for William Hill U.S. “We’ll have T.V.s throughout, great lounge seating up on the second floor, and we hope that the restaurant itself will serve as a first-class restaurant, not just a place where’d you go to get wings.”
The only negative part of this location will be that the court or rink will not be visible from the sportsbook. It would have been nice to watch the game from the sportsbook, but that might’ve created too large of a crowd that stuck around.
This is exciting for the D.C. area as well as sports fans across the country, and could be a great addition to many stadiums and arenas in the U.S. Who could be next?