How Legal Sportsbooks Inside Stadiums Has Become The Norm

• Legal retail sportsbooks in major sports stadiums are becoming more popular and are seeing success in the few months they’ve been open despite being in a pandemic.
• Since August, different major US sports teams have partnered with sports betting operators to begin offering their fans a sports betting experience while at the sports venue.

LAS VEGAS – As legal sports betting is exploding in the US, the next thing that is sure to expand are the legal sportsbooks inside of the sports stadiums.

Of course, the majority of the retail sportsbooks in the country are inside of casinos and have given sports fans a great sports betting experience with multiple TVs playing the games, but having a sportsbook inside a stadium elevates the experience.

There are many professional sports stadiums that span across the US sports leagues that have recently added retail sportsbooks to their venue. There are more expected to come in 2021 and sports fans are wondering if their favorite place to watch their team is next to get a sportsbook.

Where Are Some Of The Stadium Sportsbooks

In August, the Capital One Arena in Washington D.C was the first major professional sports venue to open a retail sportsbook in the United States. This historic deal with William Hill U.S. opened the door to the unique integration of a sports environment and legal sports betting.

Another NHL team was able to receive a retail sportsbook in their arena when BetRivers partnered with the Pittsburgh Penguins to build a BetRivers Sportsbook Lounge inside of the PPG Paints Arena for Penguins fans. That venue is expected to be completed in 2021.

DraftKings is also slated to open a sportsbook in the Chicago Cubs stadium, Wrigley Field. This will likely be the first Major League Baseball field to welcome betting on the property.

“An increasing number of sports fans want to integrate sports betting into their game experience, and we’re excited to be one of the first to engage in developing a retail sportsbook at a professional sports venue,” said Crane Kenney, President of Business Operations, Chicago Cubs.

A big issue with these retail sportsbooks that were opening up in sports venues this year is that America is in the midst of a pandemic that has changed the ability to have normal amounts of in-person fans at these many locations.

Before the NFL season began, the Las Vegas Raiders announced that there would be no fans allowed in the new almost $2 billion dollar stadium that featured the first-ever NFL stadium sportsbook.

The Raiders postponed their stadium opening ceremony due to the coronavirus pandemic concerns but once Allegiant Stadium, which is located in the gambling capital of the world, allows a full capacity of fans the revenue from sports betting could be huge.

How Successful Have Stadium Sportsbooks Been?

So far the sportsbooks that are located inside of these stadiums have seen large amounts of success despite the COVID-19 pandemic. The temporary set up for the sportsbook at Capital One Arena received over 113,000 bets that totaled $12.2 million dollars in the month of September.

“The success of the William Hill pop-up sportsbook has exceeded our expectations, and we’re excited to create the next phase of the sports fan experience with our permanent location inside the Capital One Arena,” said David Grolman, the president of retail operations for William Hill U.S.

With the growing success of sports betting around the country this year, it is extremely likely that many other stadiums will look to bring sportsbook operators to their facility but it will most likely spike once fans can fully return to arenas and stadiums.

Is College Football The Next League To Get Sportsbooks In Their Stadiums?

Along with the other major professional sports, it seems likely and almost inevitable that college football will be next to bring the legal sportsbooks to their stadiums.

College football similarly to other professional leagues has had to deal with a loss in revenue because of the coronavirus on top of fan attendance being down well before the pandemic. It is only a matter of time before the league looks for ways to increase revenue and integrating sports betting could be a huge reward.

The Colorado Buffalos athletic department has already partnered with PointsBet for things such as in-stadium signage. The next step might include full-blown sports betting. The Denver Broncos stadium already has two sportsbook partners in Betfred and BetMGM.

The major teams in college football are very important in the sports betting industry, In fact, Nevada sportsbooks predicted that they could lose around $50 million if college football did not play games this year.

Sports betting officials know that a loss of the college football season would be devastating to the industry so college football teams are in perfect positions to be the next to strike up sports betting deals and eventually add in-stadium sportsbooks.

News tags: Allegiant Stadium | BetRivers | Capital One Arena | Chicago Cubs | College Football | Crane Kenney | David Grolman | Las Vegas Raiders | MLB | NFL | NHL | Pittsburgh Penguins | William Hill US | Wrigley Field