Boomer’s Sportsbook is continuing its rapid expansion across Nevada, receiving preliminary approval for two more locations, reaching a goal set by founder and president Joe Asher when he launched the company last year.
Asher has said the company aims to operate 20 branded sportsbooks across the state by the end of 2026. The recommended licenses in Dayton and Virginia City would add two locations to its network.
“These will be kiosk-only and will be numbers 19 and 20,” Asher told CDC Gaming. “We have 17 today. We expect to get the Nye County approval for Jim Marsh’s Longstreet Inn in Amargosa Valley next week, so that will be 18.”
The licenses to operate locations in Dayton and Virginia City were expected to be granted final approval by the Nevada Gaming Commission at their November 19 meeting. Asher confirmed that both locations would open the day after they obtain NGC approval.
The Nevada Gaming Control Board (NGCB) waived appearances by Asher and other Boomer’s executives at their meeting on Wednesday, approving their licenses on their consent agenda.
NGCB members’ decision to place the licensing request on their consent agenda reflected their confidence that Asher and other company executives would not pose reputational risks to Nevada’s gaming industry.
Boomer’s is like Asher’s first business when he launched Brandywine Bookmaking in 2008. The company operated more than a dozen sportsbooks, including a window on the Las Vegas Strip at the former Riveria casino, under the brand name Lucky’s Race & Sports.
The business was acquired by UK-based William Hill in 2012. Along with Brandywine, the British bookmaker also purchased American Wagering and Cal Neva for approximately $49 million.
Asher told CDC Gaming that he learned a lot from his Brandywine experience that helped in launching Boomer’s.
“First, the mechanics of starting a company and having the confidence that I could do it,” the veteran bookmaker said. “It’s important to have a great team and the right business partners.”
Asher said it’s also important to have a lawyer working at the outset, given how much legal work is involved, as well as a clearly defined business plan and the right capital structure.
“Those are some of the things I learned with Brandywine and Lucky’s way back in 2008 that were still very important in 2024/2025 when we started Boomer’s,” Asher said.
When asked how the sports business has changed between opening Brandywine and Boomer’s, Asher said the most notable change is mobile wagering.
“Sports betting apps didn’t exist in Nevada back in 2008 and now that is the majority of the wagering,” Asher said. “In-play betting was only in its very early stages back in 2008 and now it’s a big part of the business. The betting propositions have greatly expanded.”
He said the quality of the product is so much better today. How bookmakers reach customers is also very different, given the role that social media plays in society.
To open a mobile account in Nevada, a customer must go into a physical sportsbook to sign up. Mobile wagering accounts for more than 70% of all sports bets placed in the state.
Asher has been very clear that Boomer’s is a Nevada-only business, leaving opportunities to be licensed and operate in other states to the likes of BetMGM and Caesars Entertainment.
“I think it’s a big advantage for us,” he said. “We don’t have to worry about what’s going on in some other state and spend time traveling there. We get to focus on one state, the state in which everyone on the team lives, so we know the market and what matters to locals.”
Asher added that he believes focus is important, with Nevada being such a diverse state.
“I was in Tonopah and Hawthorne earlier this week and will be back in Reno, Dayton, Virginia City, Amargosa, and Elko in the coming weeks,” he said. “I’d much rather go to those places than travel across the country for business. It has an added benefit of allowing me to spend more time at home with my family.”
Looking forward, Asher said in 2027 the company will be focused on continued expansion in Nevada, both with new sportsbooks and by attracting new customers.
“We offer a really good product for customers, so we’ve just got to continue to get the word out and earn their business,” Asher told CDC Gaming.
