Washington has taken a giant stride towards becoming the USA’s first State to introduce sports arena betting.
The probability of operating a sportsbook lounge within a sports arena became a reality this week with the announcement of a new partnership featuring William Hill.
The International betting giant is one of the top three sportsbook market leaders in New Jersey after FanDuel and DraftKings. Also, a major player in Nevada, it has more sportsbook lounges and betting shops across American than anyone else.
The other partner in the deal is Monumental Sport & Entertainment (MSE). The group owns the NHL’s Washington Capitals and the NBA’s Washington Wizards.
Together with William Hill, they plan to establish a sports betting lounge inside Washington DC’s Capital One Arena, home of the two teams.
Full-scale sports arena betting in Washington
William Hill does already have a lounge inside a sporting arena in New Jersey. It’s at the Prudential Center in Newark, home of the New Jersey Devils.
Punters can make mobile bets on their smart phones there, but it’s a hospitality lounge pure and simple.
The lounge William Hill and MSA plan to open at Capital One Arena will be very different. It will be a full-scale sportsbook lounge.
It will have cashiers windows and all the other bells and whistles that go together with the best of these luxury betting centers. The lounge will span multiple levels of the Arena and will be open seven days a week, regardless of whether matches are in play.
One of the driving forces behind the new partnership is Ted Leonsis, chairman, and CEO of MSE. Unlike many in the anti-betting brigade in professional sport, Leonsis has long been a strong advocate of it.
“Extraordinary experiences for our fans”
“Monumental is dedicated to bringing the latest technology and innovation into our arena,” he said in a press release. “We’d like to use it to deliver extraordinary experiences to our fans.
“We are excited to partner with William Hill, the industry leader in sports betting. We are hoping to become the first professional sports arena in the US to feature a sportsbook.”
No mention was made of the expected launch date of Capital One Arena’s sports-betting lounge. Nor was there any clarity on whether it would offer online betting as well as in-person wagering.
Sports-betting was legalized in Washington not too long after the nationwide ban on it was lifted in May Last year. However, the nation’s capital’s betting authority has been slow to get its ducks in a row.
New Jersey hit the ground running and within a month was seeing legal wagers. Washington’s move into sports betting is still limping along a year later – and with no launch date in sight.
