After a long odyssey, the Nevada Gaming Commission (NGC) voted unanimously January 26 to approve the U.K.-based bookmaker Betfred for licensure in the state, allowing the company to set up shop before the Super Bowl in early February.
The company will operate the sportsbook that has stood vacant inside of Virgin Hotels Las Vegas since it opened in March 2021. The Mohegan Tribe operates the property’s casino.
According to CDC Gaming Reports, Joe Hasson, general manager of the Mohegan Sun Casino, said during the NGC hearing that the necessary equipment is already in place, it just hasn’t been installed and formatted.
Over the course of the hour-long hearing NGC members questioned Betfred executives, including founder Fred Done, about previous fines the company amassed in the U.K. for shortcomings related to responsible gaming and anti-money laundering (AML) regulations.
“We ask a lot of hard questions and sometimes the way those questions are answered are defensive,” said NGC chair Jennifer Togliatti, as reported by CDC. “The way you answered those questions speaks to your character. You’re an open book. You accept responsibility for mistakes. You move forward and make changes. That’s what regulators like to see.”
The reasons for the delays, which lasted almost two years, are still largely unclear. Generally speaking, the pandemic has been blamed for much of the holdup, but that is not believed to be the sole cause.
In any case, an existing venue at Virgin called Money, Baby was forced to close in June as a result of the delays—the venue was promoted as a sports bar-nightclub mash-up, but with no sportsbook, the club fell flat. All’s well that ends well, however, and all parties involved are eager to make up for the lost time.
The bookmaker was founded in 1967 by Done and his brother, Peter, following England’s victory in that year’s FIFA World Cup. Betfred now has 1,400 shops in the U.K. alone, in addition to other international holdings.
Commissioner Oganna Brown told Done that he and his company have “come a long way,” and said that she was “pleased you’re finally getting licensed and growing a business here in Nevada.”
The company’s foray into the Nevada market will be retail-only, at least for the time being. Mobile wagering is likely to be ready by the fall, and there is no timetable for when the company will start accepting horse racing wagers, if at all.
The Silver State now becomes the 10th U.S. jurisdiction for Betfred, joining:
- Ohio
- Pennsylvania
- Maryland
- Arizona
- Colorado
- Louisiana
- Iowa
- Virginia
- Washington
The company also has seven other launches pending in the following states:
- Oregon
- Kansas
- Indiana
- Alabama
- California
- Missouri
- Oklahoma
