The new sportsbook inside the Park MGM doesn’t look much like a traditional sportsbook.
The space resembles a well-designed sports bar, where fans can watch televised games from plush booths or high-top tables, order food and beverages, and bet on the action from their mobile devices.
Only this locale is tucked inside a resort on the Las Vegas Strip.
“The way people enjoy sports has changed dramatically,” said Scott Butera, president of MGM Resorts International’s interactive gaming division. “Even in a stadium or arena, someone doesn’t go just to watch the game. You want to be in a social setting.”
The casino company teamed with United Kingdom-based GVC Holdings to launch Roar Digital nearly 18 months ago as a U.S.-based interactive wagering platform through BetMGM. The company has evolved to include retail and/or digital operations in four states.
The fifth state for BetMGM will happen Wednesday when Michigan launches sports betting at the MGM Grand Detroit.
The betting counter at BetMGM at Park MGM/Photo via Las Vegas Sun
Last week, Roar Digital rolled out the BetMGM brand on the Strip, which will ultimately include seven MGM-operated resorts in addition to Park MGM. The rebranding includes more than 100 betting kiosks, allowing customers a new option for placing sports bets.
“Nevada is a big deal,” said Roar Digital Chief Marketing Officer Mark Prevost. “Getting BetMGM here in Vegas is core to our brand.”
The Park MGM space is a model of what Roar Digital plans to bring to MGM properties around the country. While the location has a sports bar feel, the giveaway is the sportsbook counter at the front entrance, complete with several large electronic reader boards displaying the latest odds.
Nevada’s sports wagering regulations allow for retail on-site sports betting and mobile wagering. Gaming regulators in January approved Roar Digital’s license and MGM turned over operations of their sportsbooks to the joint venture.
Butera said the giant casino sportsbook “is becoming a bit of dinosaur,” but retail elements are needed in Nevada. Customers have to initiate their mobile sports wagering app at a casino.
“We wanted to create the ultimate sports betting experience,” Butera said. “We’re bringing customers a great property experience.”
Prevost said the easy-to-use kiosks allow sports gamblers to place a wager “without the pressure” of having a line formed behind them at the ticket counter.
“We know consumers like to take their time placing a wager,” Prevost said. “Ultimately, most consumers will gravitate to mobile wagering.”
Last month, Nevada gaming regulators broke out mobile sports wagering, saying the activity accounted for 49% of all sports bets during January.
Michigan is next
The launch of sports betting in Michigan allows Roar Digital a market entry from Day 1. However, initially, the state will be retail sports betting-only; mobile wagering is expected to launch by the start of football season in the fall.
BetMGM sports betting kiosks inside the MGM Grand Detroit/Photo via Detroit News
In anticipation, Roar Digital last month installed two rows of sports-betting kiosks at MGM Grand Detroit, just outside the property’s Moneyline Sports Lounge near the casino’s hotel entrance. On Friday, Michigan formally approved Wednesday’s launch.
“That property is in the heart of Detroit, near all the sports venues,” Prevost said. “We’ll have all four major professional teams within a block of the property. We’re putting a lot of effort into Michigan and we believe the focus will be on MGM Grand.”
BetMGM is in New Jersey at the MGM Resorts-operated Borgata in Atlantic City, both retail and online. BetMGM also operates an online “skin” with Pala NJ Online Casino, which is owned by Southern California’s Pala Band of Mission Indians.
BetMGM also operates the retail sportsbook at MGM’s Beau Rivage in Biloxi, Mississippi, and runs online sports betting in West Virginia at The Greenbrier, the state’s privately owned resort and casino.
Through an agreement with Boyd Gaming, BetMGM has an online skin in Indiana with the company’s Belterra casino. Prevost said the company is working on launching an online skin with Boyd in Iowa, but the app may not be live until 2021.
Roar Digital partnership
MGM and GVC each invested $100 million to launch Roar Digital in 2018. Since the partnership began, MGM has been active in creating partnerships with sports leagues, teams, and other businesses.
In October, MGM Resorts and media giant Yahoo announced a partnership agreement geared toward mobile sports betting that will utilize the Roar Digital mobile platform and reach “the widest possible audience” of U.S. sports fans. MGM also has a partnership with Buffalo Wild Wings.
Prevost said Roar Digital, which is headquartered in Jersey City, New Jersey, now has more than 200 employees.
After GVC reported earnings last week, Eilers & Krejcik Gaming analyst Alun Bowden, who is based in the U.K., said Roar Digital “wasn’t a meaningful contributor” in the fourth quarter but was gearing up for 2020. The analyst said the company “has the building blocks in place” to expand into new markets.
“Management said it was still bullish about the opportunity and its potential market share,” Bowden told investors. “They are still targeting a 10% market share for New Jersey online sports, but stressed the make-up of the market in New Jersey should not be seen as a guide to the wider U.S. market.”
Howard Stutz is the executive editor of CDC Gaming. He can be reached at hstutz@cdcgaming.com. Follow @howardstutz on Twitter.
