Launching a tribal sportsbook requires more than market access. It demands strategic leverage, legal clarity, and operational readiness, according to a panel discussion at G2E.
During “Lines, Limits, and Leverage: What it Takes to Launch a Tribal Sportsbook,” the panel broke down the components tribes need to succeed, from compact negotiations and technology partnerships to compliance frameworks and risk management, offering a roadmap for entering the competitive sports betting arena.
Dominic Ortiz, CEO of the Potawatomi Hotels & Casinos in Milwaukee, said they looked at the market and were able to craft their own strategies. Every tribe that wants to launch a retail sportsbook has to looking at the market and competition and understand what’s on the horizon.
“Tribes are trying to cram sportsbooks into an old café or breakroom with some TVs,” Ortiz said. “For us, we wanted to be the number-one sportsbook in the Midwest and we are. We’re doing over 30,000 bets on a Sunday. We took a 500-seat theater with 20 years of history, ripped out the mezzanine, and went bold. We fought to build that venue and it’s epic.”
Ortiz said creating experiences is what he sees as the future the sportsbook: dining and omnichannel.
“We want to create a venue that keeps them coming back and retail and digital are moving at a fast pace,” Ortiz said. “Prediction markets and sweepstakes are muddling through the web and we try to define what we need to be next to compete against them long term.”
Jonathan Edson, senior vice president of business development with FanDuel, said what will change over time is that more jurisdictions that legalize online sports betting will create omnichannel experiences, which already exist in states like New Jersey and Pennsylvania.
Bryan Hayes, senior vice president of gaming operations for Foxwoods Resort Casino, said the omnichannel component is important. At their sportsbook, guests wager on their phones with digital sports betting and igaming. They also play blackjack on their phones.
“Having all those components come together is the future when looking at our guests,” Hayes said. “We built a brand new 12,000-square-foot sportsbook with a gigantic video wall for 225 people.”
Foxwoods partners with DraftKings, while the Mohegan Sun partners with FanDuel in Connecticut.
Edson said the most important item in the sportsbook is the guest and every tribal casino has to decide what’s the best experience for them. Having a brand with a reputation means customers know what to expect.
“Every tribe needs to know what their guest experience looks like and whether a national brand fits into it,” Edson said. “For the Potawatomi in Milwaukee, there’s a reason to build around your own brand. There are also economics to consider.”
Ortiz said that whether to partner with a national brand is a big question that tribal leaders and operators face.
“Tribes have to look at what the market is offering and understand that the path forward could be co-branded with a commercial operator. Or it could be just the opposite. Each tribe has to look within their state, their market, the other tribes and understand where they want to be.”
Tribes also need to push for exclusivity when it comes to digital with their state lawmakers, just like they have with bricks-and-mortar casinos, Ortiz said. Be careful of the contract you sign and get smart people around you in negotiating them, he added in advising the tribes in attendance.
Hayes said they were looking at igaming from a different perspective. They launched with DraftKings in 2021.
“You need to understand what you want for yourself. For us, DraftKings and FanDuel have more than 70% of the market. They’re the two giants in the market and what they do, they do very well. For us, DraftKings worked well. They’re in Boston in our backyard and fit for us. They had the same vision as we did. We were locked into their entrepreneurial spirit. Being able to leverage all that marketing spend across the entire country was big for us. We could have gone it alone, but we don’t have that power backing a launch of sports and digital gaming in the state. It wasn’t our expertise and we decided to go with a company that drives a lot of it.”
