William Hill U.S. will operate the first sports betting venue inside a U.S. sports arena through a deal announced Thursday with Monumental Sports & Entertainment, owners of the Capital One Arena in Washington D.C.
The Las Vegas-based company will build a sportsbook inside the arena, home to the NHL’s Washington Capitals, the Washington Wizards of the NBA, and the WNBA’s Washington Mystics, pending regulatory approval. The sportsbook will be operational when the arena is not is use through a sports bar that is attached to the facility.
During game days and certain in-arena events, ticketed and non-ticketed fans will have access to the sportsbook. The sportsbook also will be open on non-event days. William Hill’s mobile sports betting app will be available to sports fans for wagering inside the arena during games, as permitted by the Washington D.C. regulations.
“This sports book will be a flagship venue for the industry and will serve the sports fans of the Washington D.C. area unlike any other,” William Hill US CEO Joe Asher said in a statement.
Monumental CEO Ted Leonsis said this year his goal was to put a sportsbook inside the arena, which is near Washington D.C.’s Chinatown and is adjacent to the city’s busiest Metro stop. He purchased a tavern adjacent to the arena to convert into a sports bar.
During a discussion at the American Gaming Association’s Sports Betting Executive Summit in March, Leonsis said he wanted to transform the 20-year-old arena to a full-time entertainment facility. The sportsbook, which will span multiple floors, will be open daily and accessible to the public from F Street.
“Through this partnership, we are thrilled to enhance the fan experience with innovative gaming opportunities and transformational dining and culinary options not just on event days, but year-round,” Leonsis said in a statement.
“Getting out of the gate is very important. Everyone is watching what we do,” Leonsis said in March.
William Hill, which operates regulated sports betting in 10 states for casinos and racetracks, was the winner of a request for proposal process. It was believed there was heavy interest in the flagship arena wagering facility from the sports betting industry. Leonsis is an investor in DraftKings while MGM Resorts International operates the MGM National Harbor across the Potomac from Washington D.C. in neighboring Maryland and is an advertiser at the Capitol One Arena.
Financial terms were not disclosed.
With several states considering regulations that would allow legal sportsbook to operate inside sports stadiums and arena, most notably Illinois, where the state’s new sports betting regulations could see a sportsbook inside Wrigley Field, home of the Chicago Cubs, and Soldier Field, which is the home stadium of the Chicago Bears.
Asher said the Washington D.C. facility could become a case study on how legal sports betting can co-exist inside professional sports venues.
“It’s amazing where we have gone in just a short time,” Asher said, recalling how the sports league opposed the legalization of sports betting. “This deal sets a new benchmark for how the industry will serve fans and how fans engage in sports.”
On Wednesday, William Hill announced a partnership with the NBA in which the company became an authorized sports betting operator for league. As part of the agreement William Hill has the right to use official NBA betting data and league marks across its mobile platforms and in its sports books. The company has a similar deal with the NHL.
To date, 13 states, including Nevada’s legacy market, have launched sports betting operations through casinos, racetracks and mobile wagering applications since the U.S. Supreme Court struck down the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act in May 2018 in a landmark ruling.
Another five states and Washington D.C. could launch legal sports betting by the end of the year. Six other states have active legislation or ballot initiatives in place.
The city of Washington D.C. legalized sports betting last December, making the nation’s capital the first U.S. jurisdiction without casinos to authorize sports books. However, the city has yet to enact the activity.
Howard Stutz is the executive editor of CDC Gaming Reports. He can be reached at hstutz@cdcgamingreports.com. Follow @howardstutz on Twitter.
