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The logistics of sportsbooks facilities

This is an excerpt from Managing Sport Facilities 5th Edition With HKPropel Access by Gil B. Fried & Matthew Kastel.

FACILITY FOCUS

SPORTSBOOKS: THE NEW VENUES FOR GROWING REVENUE

One of the biggest sport-related marketing pushes since 2018 has been sports wagering. As of 2023, 37 states and territories in the United States were allowing sports wagering. This has led to some significant ties between leagues and sportsbooks, such as FanDuel and DraftKings.

In September 2021, Footprint Center, home of the NBA’s Phoenix Suns, opened its sportsbook in conjunction with FanDuel. Since the venue is located in downtown Phoenix, it can take advantage of foot traffic in addition to the fans who come to watch the Phoenix Suns play. The venue is open 7 days a week regardless of whether a game is being played, and there is an entrance associated with the arena as well as a street entrance. The venue is over 7,000 square feet (650 sq m) and was part of a $245 million arena renovation effort. FanDuel operates the sportsbook, which has five betting windows, a betting window inside a private VIP room, 25 self-service betting terminals, a 35-foot-wide (11 m) video wall with 40 televisions, and 70 seats for watching the various games. The arena’s concessionaire, Levy, runs a small food and beverage service, including alcohol sales. The Phoenix Suns provide security coverage and venue cleaning services (Muret, 2021).

Similarly, in May 2021, the ownership group of the Washington Capitals and Washington Wizards opened an 18,000-square-foot (1,672 sq m) Caesars Sportsbook (CZR) inside Capital One Arena in Washington, D.C., to create additional revenue for the arena (Schafer, 2021). The sportsbook allows the arena to operate 365 days a year. This might sound like a great opportunity, and it is for revenue generation. However, there are other concerns that need to be examined when a sportsbook designed to be open all the time is part of an existing sport venue. An arena such as Capital One Arena could have around 230 event days a year. During the dark days, when a venue is closed, cleaning, repair, maintenance, and construction work can occur. When the venue is open every day, all year round, there is more wear and tear on the building, which will reduce the building’s useful life. Some of the added operational costs could include more electricity and utility usage; the need for more employees to work security, concessions, betting windows, and the front door; more custodial needs; and more wear and tear on HVAC systems.

This chapter explores some of the facility management issues that could arise from having a sportsbook inside a venue. Special attention is given to people who run such venues and the issues they have faced since bringing in a wagering establishment.

Monumental Sports & Entertainment (MSE) found-er and CEO Ted Leonsis stated the intent of the sportsbook at Capital One Arena was to provide “a data-driven, technologically advanced environment in a beautiful, approachable space with fine dining options provided by Chef Stefanelli [that] will further enhance the indelible memories we create nightly at Capital One Arena, and draw even more visitors to our historic downtown D.C. neighborhood” (Caesars Entertainment, 2021).

According to the media release by Caesars:

The two-story, 18,000-square-foot venue features 17 betting windows and 12 self-service betting kiosks…. Visitors will enjoy a premium game-day experience whether they’re attending a Capitals or Wizards game or watching out-of-town games in the sportsbook….
More than 100 television screens adorn the sportsbook, including four positioned on all sides of a jumbotron that hangs from the ceiling in the center of the venue that is a replica of the one inside Capital One Arena at center ice/center court. A custom, 1,500-square-foot LED screen wraps the entire facility….
There is also a broadcast studio that will be used to host live television and radio shows, as well as two VIP areas and a private dining and entertainment space. Design elements pay homage to the history of sports and local professional teams, including baseball stitching incorporated into the staircase railing, vintage lockers featured in the main bar, local sports memorabilia throughout the space, and sketches of local arenas printed on the ceiling (Caesars Entertainment, 2021).

More Excerpts From Managing Sport Facilities 5th Edition With HKPropel Access

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