Tag: William Hill

AGA, NFL May Have More in Common Than It Appears

Posted on | by Jill Dorson

 

As the House Judiciary Committee Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, Homeland Security and Investigations prepares to host a hearing on Thursday titled “Post-PASPA: An Examination of Sports Betting in America,” a question comes to mind: As key sports betting stakeholders, including the American Gaming Association, individual states and lawmakers, casino operators and others push back against a “federal framework” for sports wagering, while the NFL and several other pro leagues lobby in favor, do the two sides have anything in common?

It appears they do.

And, according to AGA senior vice president of public affairs Sara Slane, the two sides have more in common than you might think. In fact, Slane thinks the professional leagues, the NFL in particular, and her group are “90 percent aligned.”

 

Read more AGA, NFL May Have More in Common Than It Appears on SportsHandle.

William Hill And IGT Partner Up, Look to Dominate Sports Betting Connected to US Lotteries

Posted on | by Brett Smiley

The post William Hill And IGT Partner Up, Look to Dominate Sports Betting Connected to US Lotteries appeared first on SportsHandle.

Displaying assurance in their Rhode Island alliance and the probability that many states will operate sports betting through current lottery operations, IGT Global Solutions Corporation, a wholly-owned subsidiary of International Game Technology and William Hill U.S., a subsidiary of William Hill revealed Tuesday they have entered into a multi-year agreement to offer U.S. lotteries a full service solution for sports betting.

In late August, the Rhode Island Lottery chose IGT and William Hill to jointly run its sports betting operation under the state lottery umbrella. IGT, the long-time lottery contractor in Rhode Island with brick-and mortar offices in Providence, is using its sports betting platform with William Hill serving as risk manager.

Rhode Island Lottery officials project that sports betting operations are not expected to be up and running at the state’s two casino locations until mid-November, well into the NFL and college football season.

Read more William Hill And IGT Partner Up, Look to Dominate Sports Betting Connected to US Lotteries on SportsHandle.

Breaking Down the William Hill-Eldorado Resorts US Sports Betting Partnership

Posted on | by Brett Smiley

The post Breaking Down the William Hill-Eldorado Resorts US Sports Betting Partnership appeared first on SportsHandle.

In a surprise announcement late Tuesday, William Hill and Eldorado Resorts jointly revealed they had reached a wide-ranging partnership agreement through which the British-controlled bookmaking giant would operate all the major regional casino company’s sportsbook operations in the U.S., and that Eldorado would take a 20 percent stake in William Hill’s U.S. operation, as well as a minor stake in the company’s worldwide operation.

Word of the deal was first reported by the British news outlet Sky News. Soon after the Sky News report, an official statement was released to the media.

William Hill and Eldorado are calling the agreement “a nationwide partnership for digital and land-based sports betting and online gaming in the United States.” William Hill now becomes Eldorado’s exclusive partner in the provision of digital and land-based sports betting services as well as online gaming. The online gaming element to the deal is apparently a new wrinkle in William Hill’s U.S. business model, which had previously focused strictly on sports wagering.

Wide-Ranging Partnership Between William Hill and Eldorado Resorts Puts Bookmaker Into 11 States for Mobile and Retail Sports Betting

FanDuel Sportsbook And William Hill Mobile Apps Soft Launch in NJ

Posted on | by Brett Smiley

Both FanDuel and William Hill debuted their online sportsbooks this past weekend in soft launch phases as the NFL regular season kickoff nears on Thursday, Sept. 6. These trial launches came after the companies received authorization to run a five-day testing period by the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement, according to the Associated Press.

During the trial phase, Sports Handle was able to deposit and observe the FanDuel Sportsbook web platform, but was unable to download the mobile app. The William Hill mobile/online sportsbook is currently operating only on Android for now and was not available for download during a period of “restricted opening hours.”

The post FanDuel Sportsbook And William Hill Mobile Apps Soft Launch in NJ appeared first on SportsHandle.

West Virginia Ready for the Crush of Sports Betting’s Opening Weekend

Posted on | by Jill Dorson

Whether it’s been hiring and training new employees, testing software or making everything “just so,” it’s been a busy few weeks at the Hollywood Casino at Charles Town Races. The casino is set to be the first in West Virginia to open for sports betting. The sportsbook will open Saturday, the first day of the first full weekend of the college football season.

NFL legend Joe Theismann will place the state’s first bet, following in the footsteps of Dr. J in New Jersey and Willis McGahee in Mississippi. The plan is for an “opening ceremony” at the sportsbook at 11 a.m., followed by the first bet.

 

The goal had been for all five of West Virginia’s sportsbooks to open simultaneously, but only the Hollywood Casino is ready and as such will go down in the history books as  accepting the first legal sports bet in the history of the Mountaineer State.

First Weekend of WV Sports Betting Promises to Be Hectic. William Hill Will Operate WV’s First Sportsbook at the Hollywood Casino.

West Virginia becomes the fourth state since the Supreme Court struck down the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act in May to open for sports betting. Delaware was the first in mid-June, followed by New Jersey and Mississippi. Pennsylvania and Rhode Island also have legal sports betting. Pennsylvania approved its temporary regulations earlier this month, and has yet to approve any sports betting licenses, while Rhode Island sportsbooks are expected to open for business later this fall.

The Hollywood Casino is a Penn National-owned casino/resort that is joining forces with William Hill to operate the fully regulated sports betting market under the auspices of the West Virginia Lottery.

With An Expansion of Legal US Sports Betting As More Sports Betting Legislation Passes, Which Operators Will Reign Supreme? Handicapping the Field.

The sportsbook will feature nine betting stations and dozens of wide-screen televisions. The race to open has been frenzied and exciting.

“I can’t tell you how many calls and questions I’ve gotten about the sportsbook, when it’s going to open,” Erich Zimny, vice president for racing and sporting operations at Hollywood, told the Charleston Gazette-Mail earlier this week. “It’s nice to have this amount of buzz and excitement going on.”

To read the rest of this post, visit SportsHandle using the link below:

West Virginia Ready for the Crush of Sports Betting’s Opening Weekend

Legal Sports Betting In The U.S.: The British are Coming! The British are Coming!

Posted on | by Brett Smiley

The post Legal Sports Betting In The U.S.: The British are Coming! The British are Coming! appeared first on SportsHandle.

Historians now say Paul Revere never said it, but currently, at least in the world of expanded legal sports betting, it’s certainly true. But, just why are British-controlled betting companies making their presence so widely felt in the new U.S. sports betting marketplace?

According to insiders and industry observers speaking to Sports Handle on the condition of anonymity, U.S. gambling companies lacked the experience or the personnel to handle what will be a huge undertaking. Even the largest U.S. casinos operators, despite the general feeling that PAPSA, the law limiting sports betting largely to Nevada, would be ruled unconstitutional, seem to have been caught somewhat off guard by the U.S. Supreme Court decision in the New Jersey-led Murphy v NCAA.

Unlike this country, where bookmaking was regarded as shadow and largely illegal activity, in Britain and most of Europe, sports betting and bookmaking remain part of the societal fabric. It may take years for bookmaking, even as it becomes legal in state after state, to lose some of the social stigma associated with it.

The New Era of Legal Sports Betting: Las Vegas Is 10 Years Behind, Opening Pathway For British Operators

legal betting sites us british operators

As one industry insider told me, “How many people in the U.S. have trained for this career path? Anyone with bookmaking knowledge works for an illegal offshore, outside of that you have Vegas properties that are 10 years behind versus Europe.”

He also noted that “in-play” betting in the U.S. (often called “trading” in Europe), regarded as the major growth area of sports wagering, lags significantly behind Europe where trading floors operate as nerve centers at every bookmaking operation.

Only William Hill, the British-controlled bookmaker appeared ready to spring into action when the PAPSA decision came down in early May. However, William Hill, under the able and farsighted leadership of Joe Asher, is not a casino company in the U.S.  In Nevada and now in other jurisdictions, its business model generally calls for leasing casino space, remodeling the facility, sharing a portion of the profit and little of the risk with its landlord.

For this reason, the company was able to quickly move into Delaware where it already had the legal parlay card franchise through that state’s lottery, via its partnership with Scientific Games. In New Jersey, the company developed a close relationship with Monmouth Park, the thoroughbred track that bore all the expense and did all the heavy lifting that resulted in the PAPSA ruling. William Hill is also now operating in Atlantic City at the Ocean Resort Casino.

It seems the large U.S. casino titans readily gave lip service to the concept of being ready for sports betting. However, after the May ruling they apparently were forced to scramble to get their sports betting operations going. That resulted in new market entrants in non-Nevada states seeking out European groups to access proven wagering platforms, experienced computer programmers, and even some executives to manage the operation.

In new sports betting states that now have legal, real-money online casino games and online sports betting such as New Jersey, the casino giants were already using European-controlled companies’ software to operate online, so it made sense to further expand these kinds of relationships to include sports betting. The major casino companies remain on a mission to aggregate all of their customers’ betting activity, that now includes or will include sports betting, onto one online platform for advanced player tracking and subsequent marketing.

This is at the core of this new “British Invasion.”

The betting platforms currently used in Nevada apparently were unable to fill the needs of the major gaming companies, so they were compelled to look abroad.

Euro Operators Ready

paddy power betfair fanduel group merger and will combines us sports betting operations

As another industry insider explained, “The Euro operators are offering a turnkey sportsbook solution – platform, data, risk. The US brick-and-mortar locations – be it casinos or racetracks – have limited expertise in sports betting, such that a turn key solution is attractive to them. Many are signing short term deals though, or deals with an out clause, such that as they gain experience, they can add their own layers of risk management, data, personalization, etc.”  

He continued, “The Euro guys are ready whereas some of the home grown guys are not, with exception of William Hill.” He also relayed that Scientific Games (Las Vegas-based but with a major European presence) is still working on their U.S. version of their “Open Bet” platform. IGT (now headquartered in London instead of Reno) still has programming issues. “So by process of elimination, the Euro guys are winning a chunk of the business,” he said.

Sharing the sports betting risk for the U.S. casino giants may also be a major issue prompting them to join forces with the experienced now deep-pocketed European counterparts. The spate of mergers by British-controlled bookmakers such as Ladbrokes with Coral and GVC with Paddy Power and BetFair among others, have made these bookmaking entities stronger than ever before. This strength has allowed them to swoop in to quickly compete with William Hill, the company that did not consolidate with another firm, even though William Hill has had a U.S. operation far longer than anyone else.

Although many projections pegged the U.S. sports betting market in be in the many billions of dollars and perhaps the world’s largest in five to 10 years, many of the large U.S. casino companies may not have taken these figures seriously. Apparently, now they do and are moving swiftly to access the profits that may be available.

To do this, for most, means taking in an experienced partner, so expect the “British Invasion” to continue as more states open legal sports betting markets.

The British are already here.

[Also See: William Hill Penetrates Mississippi Sports Betting, Teases Much More]

The post Legal Sports Betting In The U.S.: The British are Coming! The British are Coming! appeared first on SportsHandle.

Get a Grip: The Week in Sports Betting & Sports: MGM, NBA, FD, DK, MS, WH, Boyd, Abbreviations!

Posted on | by Brett Smiley

The post Get a Grip: The Week in Sports Betting & Sports: MGM, NBA, FD, DK, MS, WH, Boyd, Abbreviations! appeared first on SportsHandle.

It’s information overload everywhere, and there’s not time enough to sleep and eat and stay fully apprised of what’s happening on this crazy blue dot of ours (two out of three ain’t bad).

Here’s the weekend Sports Handle item, “Get a Grip,” rounding up top stories in sports betting and gaming, and the world of sports at large. You may have missed them, and they are worth reading.

Mississippi Sports Betting Officially Launches at MGM Properties; Historic MGM-NBA Deal; Lots of Other Deals and Abbreviations; William Hill Sportsbook Footprint to Grow and Weekend Reads.

This past week brought a steady pour of news and happenings, which we will attempt fully but succinctly recap here (certain to miss a few items).

Let’s begin at the beginning of the week: MGM Resorts International (MGM) kicked things off by announcing that its sportsbook at the Beau Rivage Casino in Biloxi, Miss. and Gold Strike in Tunica, Miss. would be off and running on Wednesday, marking the beginning of legal sports betting in Mississippi. Some more about the events and a couple images:

 

For more on the Magnolia State, read about the atmosphere and strategy at other Mississippi properties in interviews with the sportsbooks managers at the Horseshoe Tunica and the Golden Nugget Biloxi.

A good segue to William Hill’s Friday announcement that it has deals (pending regulatory approval) that will take its sportsbooks into 11 of the other Mississippi casino properties. The company has also partnered with one yet-to-be-named West Virginia casino and teased a larger partnership that would put it into 14 more states.

Now back to MGM for the news on Tuesday of its partnership with the National Basketball Association. Yes the NBA has an “official gaming partner.” It’s a rumored 3-year, $25 million deal that will have some flexibility, but at the outset, will allow MGM to use the league’s “official” data for its sports betting products/materials. MGM will also have use of the leagues’ trademarks for odds boards, signage, marketing materials… really this is more of a marketing arrangement.

Considering how much it costs buy naming rights for a stadium and how many casual bettors might be piqued by or attracted to the “official” status, that doesn’t seem a bad use of $25 million on a 3-year commitment. Some in the industry are displeased because the deal might legitimize the NBA and other leagues’ position that sportsbooks should use only “official” league data to grade wagers; yet, courts have held that sports scores and stats are public domain information and therefore not protectable.

Further on MGM — this week it announced a deal with regional casino operator Boyd Gaming. And now Boyd Gaming has a deal with FanDuel Group — with an eye toward establishing an online sports betting presence.

Back into the Northeast Corridor, DraftKings launched the first legal mobile sports betting app outside Nevada, with the app’s limited release (so far) in New Jersey. Here’s a first look at the nuts and bolts, here’s some background, and here’s some more discussion/review about its functionality as observed post-launch.

Some of its pricing? Not so good. CEO Jason Robins took to Twitter to defend the prices with a spreadsheet, then backed away and deleted the tweet.

Only in a week like this could another Atlantic City sportsbook opening get almost completely lost. But hats off to you, Harrah’s Atlantic City, now open for business after another Caesars Entertainment property in AC began taking wagers (Bally’s). (Read about Caesars Q2 earnings here.) (And MGM’s here while we’re at it.)

There was also a minor development in Pennsylvania, where sports betting things will remain in park until a new set of regulations surface around mid-August: Parx Casino outside Philadelphia will use GAN for its sports betting software/tech when the time comes.

Let’s dive into the remainder of the article with word from the pro leagues. NHL commissioner Gary Bettman, echoing MLB commissioner Rob Manfred’s position that sports betting companies are “free riders”:

“From our standpoint, we believe that that whether it’s our intellectual property or data, whether it’s video of our game, we have important assets,” Bettman said. “And if somebody is going to avail themselves or want to avail themselves of those assets in order to conduct their business, then we’re going to need to have a negotiation.”

There’s a big difference between video and numbers.

And finally, while the NBA appears to have softened its pursuit of the “betting right” and/or “integrity fee,” MLB lobbyists/officials are still pounding away, this past week at the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL)

“What we’re asking for, MLB and the other leagues, is a very small fraction” of money, Bryan Seeley, a senior vice president of Major League Baseball, told legislators at a forum on sports betting at the (NCSL) annual meeting. “We’re not looking to take money away from state tax revenues.”

Not looking — but willing! And as we know, fractions and specificity matters. Not surprisingly, the state legislators want states making decisions over sports wagering laws, not Congress, which is where MLB may bring its appeal.

The weekend reading and other most interesting and important articles in gaming, sports betting and sports.

cbs sports sports betting

CONVERSATIONS: Penn National Gaming pursuing deals with sports leagues [LV-RJ]

INTERPRETATION:  Colorado AG says state can legalize betting without amending constitution [Post]

MAYBE: Will New Hampshire bet on sports betting? [Fosters]

RATINGS: CBS sees ‘unbelievable upside’ as sports betting starts to grow [Bloomberg]

LET’S HOPE NOT: Why we won’t soon see a federal sports betting bill [JD Supra]

POSTURING: Q&A: NBA details its role in sports betting, ‘integrity fees’ & more [Action]

REVERSALS: Column: Bookies go from pariahs to partners in NBA deal [AP]

ALIGNMENT: Stars Group entering U.S. sports betting market with Resorts in A.C. [Newswire]

JOBS: Job fairs and opportunities at WV’s Wheeling Island Hotel-Racino [Intelligencer]

SOLD: Genius acquired by private equity firm Apax Partners [Bloomberg]

Elsewhere in the World of Sports:

BOLD MOVE: ‘Dodgeball’ director on how ‘The Ocho’ joke wrote itself [ESPN]

ALSO A BOLD MOVE: Illinois man charged after allegedly impersonating Wisconsin bar employee so he could watch Arizona basketball on Pac-12 Networks [Awful Announcing]

NO, REALLY: The Browns are the most interesting 0-16 team in NFL history [Ringer]

ESPORTS: Fortnite private coaching lessons for the opportunistic gamer [TBL]

HEALTH: Brian Dawkins reveals his career-long battle with depression [NBC Sports]

GET READY: Evan Silva breaks down every NFL team from a fantasy perspective [RotoWorld]

Tweets of Note (that may have nothing to do with sports):

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

ICYMI at Sports Handle:

What’s Up With DraftKings Sportsbook’s Very Juicy Mobile App Launch In New Jersey?

Money Troubles Drive Illinois Rep to Schedule Two Sports Betting Hearings

Meet @Berryhorse29, A Compelling New Voice in Sports Betting Modeling And Information

The post Get a Grip: The Week in Sports Betting & Sports: MGM, NBA, FD, DK, MS, WH, Boyd, Abbreviations! appeared first on SportsHandle.

William Hill Penetrates Mississippi Sports Betting, Teases Much More

Posted on | by Brett Smiley

The post William Hill Penetrates Mississippi Sports Betting, Teases Much More appeared first on SportsHandle.

In a week of too much news to digest, William Hill US announced on Friday that it has signed partnership agreements with 11 Mississippi casinos for sports betting risk-management and technology services, with deals in the works in West Virginia and another that “would cover a further 14 US states.”

From the release:

Subject to regulatory approvals, William Hill will provide sports betting risk management services and its proprietary technology for both retail and on-premises mobile sports betting to the following casinos: Hard Rock Casino Hotel & Casino Biloxi, Island View Casino Resort (Gulfport), Palace Casino (Biloxi), Treasure Bay Casino (Biloxi) and WaterView Casino (Vicksburg), in addition to six other casinos in Mississippi. All properties are expected to be live by the end of August pending granting of licenses.

In a week thoroughly dominated by news by MGM Resorts International (NBA marketing/data deal, partnerships with Boyd Gaming and GVC), by DraftKings (in New Jersey, it launched the first legal mobile sports betting app outside Nevada), and more shaking and baking by FanDuel (deal with Boyd Gaming), this is a substantial development in the rapid grab for market share in the expanding legal U.S. sports betting market.

Legal Sports Betting States: William Hill US Penetrates Mississippi Deep With A Vastly Expanded Footprint Apparently In The Works.

 

(And also, MGM’s Beau Rivage (Biloxi) and Gold Strike (Tunica) debuted the first Mississippi sportsbooks on Wednesday, August 2.)

William Hill hit the ground running in the post-PASPA world on June 7 as the Delaware Lottery’s sports betting partner via its agreement with Scientific Games. Three racinos took wagers and registered a $330,000 handle on Day 1 with just baseball and some World Cup on the menu.

Then on June 14, the William Hill Race & Sports Book opened at Monmouth Park in Oceanport took the first New Jersey sports bets, about 30 minutes before the MGM’s Borgata did so in Atlantic City. William Hill is also now operating the sportsbook at the Ocean Resort (formerly Revel), which opened on June 28.

“We are now the early market leader in New Jersey where our mobile app will launch within weeks and we expect to be market leader in Mississippi with these eleven casino agreements,” said William Hill CEO Philip Bowcock. “The team continue to engage in discussions that cover a further fourteen states and they are doing a tremendous job.”

The company currently operates about 105 sportsbooks locations throughout Nevada. More from Friday’s news release:

In West Virginia, William Hill will provide retail and mobile/online sports betting to a soon-to-be-announced casino partner. William Hill US is also in advanced discussions with operators about deals that cover casinos in a further fourteen states in the US about similar sports betting agreements. 

The deals further expand William Hill’s US presence, which already includes sports betting operations in Nevada, Delaware and New Jersey and a race book in Iowa.  William Hill has also combined forces with IGT for the Rhode Island Lottery Sports Betting RFP.  If IGT is awarded the contract, William Hill will supply its operational expertise, risk management, and trading data to support the operation of sports betting in the state. 

Previously in West Virginia, the Greenbrier Resort announced a deal with FanDuel. Each of Penn National Gaming, Eldorado Resorts and Delaware North own three of the other four casinos to be licensed for sports betting in the Mountaineer State.

Those greater referenced negotiations (regarding 14 states) are likely with a regional casino operator such as Penn National Gaming and/or others.

This is a breaking news story and will be updated.

[Also See: Odds Shift in Race for Operator Dominance in Legal U.S. Sports Betting Market]

The post William Hill Penetrates Mississippi Sports Betting, Teases Much More appeared first on SportsHandle.

Get a Grip: The Week in Sports Betting and Sports

Posted on | by Brett Smiley

The post Get a Grip: The Week in Sports Betting and Sports appeared first on SportsHandle.

It’s information overload everywhere, and there’s not time enough to sleep and eat and stay fully apprised of what’s happening on this crazy blue dot of ours (two out of three ain’t bad).

Here’s the weekend Sports Handle item, “Get a Grip,” rounding up top stories in legal sports betting and gaming, and the world of sports at large. You may have missed them, and they are worth reading. This is meant to be brief, so that’s it.

The Most Important Sports Betting Stories and U.S. Gaming of the Week

BEST BETS: Sports betting proponent Scott Van Pelt to deliver keynote address at Las Vegas convention [G2E]

DEALS: SBTech secures partnership with Golden Nugget casinos [Newswire]

INVESTMENTS: Ryan Howard and Philly-area investors betting on VSiN [Philly.com]

ENTERTAINMENT: The 13 best gambling movies of all time [TBL]

LINKS: On the appetite for wagering on golf and how PGA Tour stands to benefit [Golf.com]

KICKOFF: Despite Governor’s worst efforts, officials still on track for September rollout of West Virginia sports betting [WV News]

LIGHTNING: PointsBet’s unique sports betting site will launch in NJ [Crossing Broad]

BAD IDEAS: Don’t blame the Pirates for idea link gambling revenues to stadium construction (!) [Forbes]

Podcast of the Week:

Great listen with sports bettor and Gaming Today columnist Bill Krackomberger in his appearance on “Cashing Out” with Brock Landers. Krackomberger gives thoughts on the New Jersey sports betting scene ); on the FanDuel Sportsbook ticketing dispute at Meadowlands (in my opinion, overall it garnered overblown reactions to human error/misjudgment), anecdotes about William Hill bookmaking, thoughts on bankroll management and the importance of the best of the number as a key to betting successfully.

Elsewhere in the World of Sports

STAR POWER: With Tiger in contention, British Open delivers highest final-round TV ratings in 18 Years [Forbes]

COOPERSTOWN: Catching up with the Braves’ Dale Murphy and why he belongs in the HoF [ESPN]

THE SHIELD: College football’s pregame, including national anthem, offers better fan experience – so why won’t NFL follow it? [Yahoo!]

BREAKDOWN: Top 10 linebackers in football for 2018 (available for every positional group) [MMQB]

ANGER MANAGEMENT: UFC’s need for fresh faces, fighters and less of Notorious MMA [LV Sports Biz]

Amusing tweets of note:

 

ICYMI at Sports Handle:

8 Possible NCAA Betting Side Effects From Football Injury Reporting

Pennsylvania Sports Betting Game of Chicken Continues

In-Game Sports Betting Strategy: A Veteran Sports Bettor’s Observations And Tips

The post Get a Grip: The Week in Sports Betting and Sports appeared first on SportsHandle.

William Hill Opens New Jersey’s First Sports Book

Posted on | by Mitch Reames

The Supreme Court’s decision to allow states to handle sports betting opened the floodgates for established companies to expand their reach in the American market. One of the first is William Hill, a long running book based out of the UK. The company brings in over 2 billion in annual revenue and that number will only increase with American books outside of the 107 the company already runs in Nevada. You can read the whole press release below:

OCEANPORT, N.J. – Thursday, June 14, 2018 — William Hill, America’s leading sports book operator, today accepted New Jersey’s first legal sports wagers, officially opening its sports book at Monmouth Park Racetrack.

The historic moment was marked by the placing of the ceremonial first bets by Governor Phil Murphy.  Governor Murphy’s historic wagers were a $20 futures bet, placed at 7/2 odds, on Germany to win the 2018 World Cup and a $20 futures bet, placed at 40/1 odds, on the New Jersey Devils to win the 2018-19 Stanley Cup. Governor Murphy was joined onsite by State Assembly Speaker Craig Coughlin, former State Senator Raymond Lesniak, Dennis Drazin, Chairman and CEO of Darby Development, operator of Monmouth Park, and William Hill US CEO Joe Asher.

“We are excited to open for business at Monmouth Park,” said Joe Asher, CEO of William Hill US, America’s largest sports book operator. “Obviously, it’s a big day for us. A lot of people have worked really hard for a long time to make today possible and I am grateful for their efforts.”

Now open, the Monmouth Park Sports Book by William Hill offers a diverse sports betting menu that includes football, basketball, baseball, hockey, soccer, tennis, and more.  The complex features a 15-window main sports book, and an integrated sports bar, with over 40 HDTVs showing live sporting events and dynamic betting lines. The sports book is open seven days a week.

Customers visiting the Monmouth Park Sports Book by William Hill have 29 different ways to bet the 2018 World Cup opening game between Russia and Saudi Arabia (kickoff at 11AM ET) – the earliest sporting event available on today’s menu.