Caesars Entertainment has announced that it is about to start offering sports betting at its Atlantic City casinos. Online sports betting for New Jersey players will follow shortly.
Sports betting will be available at Bally’s Wild Wild West casino starting July 30 (today) and Harrah’s Atlantic City on Aug. 1.
There are no plans announced yet for a physical sportsbook at Caesars. But an NJ online sports betting site is likely to launch soon.
Caesars to introduce sports betting in NJ and Mississippi
The move is part of a wider rollout of sports betting at Caesars properties, which will include its Gulf Coast and Tunica properties in Mississippi. The company promises that further expansion of sports betting will follow wherever it becomes legal.
Mark Frissora, president and chief executive officer of Caesars Entertainment, had this to say:
“The recent Supreme Court ruling allows us to expand our sports betting digital and mobile offerings into new markets. We recognize that our customers expect exciting new experiences, which is why we will continue to offer new products through our mobile and digital platforms and inside our properties.”
NJ sports betting is already available in the state. The first sports bet under the new law was placed June 14 by Gov. Phil Murphy at the Monmouth Park racetrack.
Since then, a multitude of properties have gotten into the sports betting game including Borgata, Ocean Resort Casino, and the FanDuel Sportsbook at The Meadowlands. Bally’s Wild Wild West sportsbook opening today brings the NJ sportsbook list to five.
It is only six weeks since the first bet was placed, but in a sense, it is a surprise that Caesars was not one of the first to announce their market entry. Caesars already has sports betting at its properties in Las Vegas, so it might have been considered to be ahead of the game.
Caesars sports betting powered by Scientific Games
Caesars runs its sports betting in partnership with Scientific Games and is looking to reproduce the success it has had in Nevada:
“Over the course of the next nine months, Caesars Entertainment will be building out the facilities to create the same world-class sports betting experiences currently available at its properties in Nevada.”
Scientific Games’ CEO Barry Cottle is equally thrilled by the expansion:
“We’re thrilled to partner with Caesars to help them bring best-in-class sports wagering experiences to their players. With OpenBet, our powerful and robust sportsbook platform, Caesars will have a truly open platform and end-to-end product suite that delivers the very best and flexible solutions and has proven success managing the largest share of the world’s online bets, more than 2 billion online bets annually. Our SG Digital team is excited to help Caesars stay ahead of the game, as they work to expand their sports betting, digital and mobile offerings into newly regulated markets.”
The online sports betting product will be added to the Caesars Casino & Sports mobile app, which is available for desktop and mobile devices.
One differentiator that sets Caesars online offering apart from the competition is that online player rewards are completely integrated with the Total Rewards VIP program.
Players earn Rewards credits whether they play on or offline, and the crossover VIP scheme means that online players are offered special promotions that can provide prizes at the live casinos.
The New Jersey sports betting market is beginning to heat up. More competition should be good news for New Jersey players as there will inevitably be a dogfight for market share.
That means better deals and more bonuses for players — bring it on!