• 4 months ago
Transcript
00:00All right, this one caught me a little bit by surprise.
00:05Kentucky Downs adding a new sports betting operator, and Jim, it's a sports betting operator
00:11very popular in Las Vegas.
00:14It's Circa Sportsbook.
00:16And the reason why I guess I find this a little fascinating, Jim, is because Superbook, which
00:20was exclusive out of Las Vegas, ended up pulling some of their books, their sponsorships and
00:26partnerships in different places in the country.
00:28Why has Circa decided to jump into Kentucky?
00:31So Circa launched their online sports betting app in Kentucky about six or so, a little
00:38bit more than that, mid-May.
00:40They started taking bets in Kentucky online.
00:44So this has always really been part of the plan in opening up a retail bricks and mortar
00:51sportsbook in the state.
00:55As you know, Craig, the state allows the online operators to have agreements with racetracks.
01:02So Circa, they have their online licensing through Cumberland Run, which is a harness
01:10track, and now they're going to be opening a temporary sportsbook at Kentucky Downs next
01:16week.
01:17And I say it's temporary because I think they're trying to really capitalize on the start of
01:23football season and just get something up and running.
01:25All the regulatory hurdles have been cleared.
01:28So in speaking with some people there, they said, you know, the timing just worked out
01:32that football season's on the horizon and they want to be able to offer this.
01:36Now what I found interesting is that this is going to be the closest retail sportsbook
01:42to Nashville, which is a very popular market for Kentucky Downs and the attached casino
01:53there.
01:54So what they're hoping is that they're able to draw that crowd from Nashville, Tennessee,
02:00that is looking for a more traditional style of watching football and placing a bet on
02:06it and not being tied to their phone for the entire afternoon.
02:11So they do get a lot of business from that Nashville market, and Nashville, Tennessee,
02:18obviously has mobile sports betting, but there's no casinos in Tennessee.
02:21So this is certainly a draw for them, and as the horse racing fan that I am, I wanted
02:28to see how this all matched up with their race dates at Kentucky Downs.
02:32They have a short sort of boutique meet there.
02:35It only lasts seven days, but for them, two of those days will coincide live racing with
02:42NFL football opening night that Thursday, September 5th, there's live racing during
02:47the day at Kentucky Downs, and then all day Sunday, that's September 8th, week one of
02:52NFL, you'll have live racing there along with that full slate of NFL games.
02:59So that's Circa Sportsbook opening at Kentucky Downs next week.
03:04And then the more permanent, larger build out is expected sometime next summer.

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