There is no denying it, the first weekend of March Madness is one of the most highly anticipated sports event of the year. In fact, one could argue the energy felt that weekend is greater than even that felt from the championship game. We all know the axiom; where there’s sports, there’s gambling. With the growth of mobile sports wagering with William Hill and Station Casinos, many are wondering when giants Caesars and MGM Resorts will offer the same services.
For opening weekend, hundreds of thousands of tourists poured into the city looking to get their gamble on, and while some were inside establishments with no mobile wagering options, they were forced to wait in rather long lines. Some argue this is a terrible business practice, as waiting in the line for so long takes time away from the customer being able to spend money on other amenities inside the casino. Furthermore, it gives the appearance of not being technologically savvy, and inconveniencing guests.
Perhaps the casinos figure if someone can place a bet through an app on their smart phone, it may not give them the incentive to come through the door in the first place. 26 Las Vegas Strip casinos have sports books, but only six offer mobile betting. Two of the six are run by William Hill, while the other four are run by CG Technologies. One of William Hill run sports books is located inside the Riviera, which will close May 4.
William Hill entered the Nevada Market in 2012 and put up kiosks throughout the city in smaller casinos and dozens of PT’s Pubs and smaller taverns on the Golden Gaming route. In 2013, however, the Nevada Resorts Association convinced state legislature to give the axe to wagering and account creation on the kiosks. William Hill did find a loophole to allow deposits in the kiosks for betting on the mobile apps, but creating an account can be a bit of an inconvenience.
MGM plans on introducing mobile wagering sometime later this year, which could add an additional 10 casinos on the strip with mobile wagering.
