Downtown Las Vegas casino owner Derek Stevens has decided that the 2018 Global Gaming Expo is the perfect setting to announce the launch of his sports betting business.
Five months earlier, a U.S. Supreme Court decision allowed states to legalize and regulate sports betting. By the time G2E came along, six states had joined Nevada to offer legal sports betting.
Meanwhile, Stevens was in the early stages of developing Circa Resort & Casino, the first hotel-casino downtown to be developed from the ground up in nearly 40 years. Prior to the opening of Circa Sportsbook, the property’s showcase three levels, the D Las Vegas and Golden Gate sportsbooks became the starting point for Circa Sports, which includes a mobile sports betting app.
Circa Sports operates out of three casinos in downtown Stevens, with satellite operations at The Path Casino in Henderson, Off Strip Tuscany on East Flamingo Road and the recently opened Legends Bay Casino in Sparks. Given Nevada regulations requiring users to register in person, the location will allow Circa to increase signups for mobile sports betting.
Since then, Stevens has taken Circa Sports outside of the Silver State, with mobile-only businesses in Iowa and Colorado. Circa is affiliated with Wild Rose Casino & Resort in Jefferson, Iowa, and Century Casino in Colorado. He is affiliated with Cripple Creek.
Early next year, Stevens plans to launch mobile and retail sports betting in Illinois as part of Full House Resorts’ $500 million American Place Casino Resort in Waukegan, 40 miles north of Chicago.
With 31 states and Washington DC legalizing sports betting, Stevens sees a bigger playing field.
Other states do not have mobile registration requirements. Outside of Nevada, Circa competes with major sports betting operators (DraftKings, FanDuel, BetMGM, and Caesars Sportsbooks), which often represent his 80% to 90% of any market. .
Eilers & Krejcik Gaming analyst Chris Krafcik, who follows the sports betting industry across the country, said Circa Sports was able to differentiate itself from its competitors but carve out a market dominated by four major players. is not an easy task.
“We believe Circa has the potential to carve out a sustainable niche in Colorado, but the strategic lanes that most have their own right now will quickly become crowded,” he said. rice field.
Krafcik also said that, based on performance testing by the advisory firm, Circa’s mobile app “isn’t competitive with the top tier or even the middle tier of apps.[That’s]a big problem.”
But Krafcik said Stevens’ main selling point is his showcase sportsbook at the Circa Casino Resort, especially for customers in nearby states such as Colorado, which act as feeder markets to Las Vegas. I was.
“Circa has some potentially compelling levers to pull Colorado in,” he said. “We also expect Circa to come under pressure as more online sports betting brands begin to cater to a sharper, higher-end demographic.”
According to Stevens, Circa Sports is basically in the early innings of the first game of a doubleheader, especially as additional states, including major population centers in California and Texas, move forward with legalizing sports betting. ing.
This interview has been edited for clarity and length.
Are you satisfied with the nationwide rollout of sports betting since 2018?
It’s amazing to see the impact sports betting has on our networks, media, teams and leagues.
Launched Legends Bay Casino. How important was it for Circa Sports to be in northern Nevada?
I’ve wanted to go to Northern Nevada for a while and this is the situation where it all came together. It was a great opportunity for us to participate in our first new development from the ground up in Northern Nevada in a long time. Sparks has been excited about the place since he first saw Marina and wanted to create something special. (The sportsbook has a 10ft x 15ft Daktronics video board displaying live odds and his six large TV screens, multiple seating areas, and can accommodate 140 sports his bettors. )
Do you want Nevada to allow remote registration for sports betting?
That’s a rather complicated question. It’s a question with many levels. I stayed out of the fight. One thing I would say on the subject is how the different states played out. If the casino does not have registration requirements, it will limit future investments. As an example, we do not see significant investments in sportsbooks on properties in Colorado.
Let’s put it this way: If you have a remote enrollment in Nevada, you don’t have to invest everything to build a sportsbook like you did with Sparks, which created 15 jobs. So it’s kind of a complicated question.
How does Circa Sports compete with the big four?
I don’t know if you ever really thought we were competing with them. Hats off to FanDuel, MGM, Caesars and DraftKings. Clearly, FanDuel is a particularly dominant No. 1. This is like asking how you compete with a good restaurant chain with 500 stores. i don’t know that We just wanted to be able to compete in the market. I don’t view this as Coke vs Pepsi or Ford vs GM. I think there is room for a good sportsbook in every market. The way to survive and grow your business is to differentiate. I think our product is quite different from all the products just mentioned.
What are your thoughts on carriers spending so much on advertising and promotions to enroll their customers?
DraftKings’ marketing spend is pretty amazing, and I’m glad they’re spending so much on raising consumer awareness. Looking back over the last 4 years, let’s say 10 years from now, I think I’ve always respected DraftKings for helping create the industry. They are definitely looking for a large amount of customers. That’s not necessarily what Circa Sports is all about.
Is Circa’s goal to carve out a unique audience?
That’s exactly what we do, and I think it will become more apparent as time goes on. Everyone has different needs, so I’m not sure there is one sportsbook that will dominate from a consumer perspective.
fan duel is Fremont Sportsbook Branding Partnered with Boyd Gaming. What are your thoughts on FanDuel being downtown?
I think it’s wonderful. Boyd (who owns his 5% of FanDuel) has been under contract for some time. Again, I really don’t think they’re competing with us, and I don’t really think we’re competing with them either. That’s another scenario. This is like the hotel and casino business in Las Vegas. When people ask me how we compete with $4 billion in real estate, I just say we have a different business model. I don’t think we are competing with MGM or Caesars in the casino business. I see us as complementary. That’s how sports betting works.
what do you think about the two california sports betting Voting question?
We aren’t involved in this issue, but there are good points between what the tribe is pushing and what other groups are pushing. Whether or not you have a physical physical store (retail sportsbook) is a rather complicated question.
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