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THE SUNDAY SANTAN SUN NEWS | AUGUST 15, 2021
GAMBLE
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bricks, mortar and cashiers as they court both seasoned and amateur bettors on everything from professional games to fantasy sports to less popular competitions such as cricket, rugby and Swedish soccer. “You are correct in that betting alone does not do it,” said Dominic Orozco, chief strategic marketing officer for Gila River Hotels & Casinos. “It’s an amenity thing that we wanted to make sure we capture wholeheartedly,” Orozco continued. “It was something that we felt is an additional amenity to support …all the gaming things that we have. We felt that we had to take this to a different level and not just offer betting.” While the three GRIC casinos combined are devoting 15,000 square feet of space to sportsbooks – two thirds of that at Wild Horse Pass Casino – each will be offering its own unique physical environment to attract bettors who want more than the thrill of a wager. And while the tribe and BetMGM will be ready to offer online wagering on Sept. 9, Orozco said it likely won’t be until November that betting parlors themselves will be completed though some retail service will be on site. Commercial gaming revenue nationwide reached a record $13.6 billion in the second quarter of this year, the American Gaming Association said last week. With nearly $24.8 billion generated to date for 2021, the association said
Wild Horse Pass Hotel & Casino will have two areas up and running by November where people can place bets on sports games but also enjoy what promises to be an “immersive” and “encompassing” experience, developers say. (Special to SanTan Sun News)
this year is on track to overtake 2019 as the “the highest-grossing year ever for commercial gaming revenue. And 2019 saw revenue totaling $43.6 billion. The association also reported that sports betting in the second quarter declined by 8 percent to a mere $888
million because of “a quieter sports calendar,” but also said: “The first half of 2021 has already generated more sports betting revenue ($1.8 billion) than all of 2020 ($1.5 billion).” Within the next five years, that total annual revenue from sports betting is
projected to quintuple nationwide. Gila River Hotels & Casinos has teamed up with one of the big gorillas of sports betting. See
GAMBLE on page 6
