On the surface, the operations, practices and procedures of wagering on sporting events in Las Vegas sports books has not changed significantly over the past 30 years. Sports books are still largely dimly-lit dens nestled in a corner of a hotel-casino property. They still cater to a specific niche of patrons. They still account for a mere fraction of the casino's overall take. They still carry somewhat of a stigma of being a 'members only' club for bettors who study sports, sports terminology, injuries, percentages, odds, lines and numerous other elements that a typical slot or table game player might find confusing or overwhelming.
But thanks to technology advances like the Internet, satellite and cable television, more people have become familiar with--and interested in--sports betting. Online sports wagering sites took in billions of dollars from around the world last year alone, and despite the recently implemented Internet Gaming Regulatory Act outlawing Internet wagering in the United States, many Americans continue to gamble on sports online. Illegal bookies also operate somewhere in every state. So how does this translate for business at the legal Las Vegas books?
According to Robert Walker, director of race and sports for MGM Mirage's Nevada properties, it hasn't.
'Sports betting has really stagnated in the last few years,' Walker said. 'I don't know, with what's going on right now, if it will get any better or stay the same. My guess is that it's probably as good as it's going to get right now.'
Save for a few events, such as the Super Bowl, World Series, major golf championships and the NCAA's March Madness, sports books rarely pull in significant money. Weekends are decent for play, but weekdays can often prove tough, especially if it's a slow period for sporting events.
Walker said sports books have really evolved into more of an amenity for casino properties rather than a central point of gambling--especially for properties on the Las Vegas Strip that cater more to tourists than local casinos, which can build a core of loyal sports bettors.
Nevertheless, several of MGM Mirage's Strip sports books have been remodeled, combining state-of-the art technology with upscale design. And new forms of technology that aim to add excitement and ease to the sports betting process could lure new players and begin to expand the appeal of sports betting to wider audiences.
Updating the product
When Station Casinos opened its $925 million Red Rock Resort & Casino last year in the west Las Vegas community of Summerlin, one of the touted features was its state-of-the-art sports book. At its core are technologies aimed first at improving the overall bettor's experience, such as three massive screens for viewing games or for use as completely digital scoreboards provided by Kelley Technologies.
There are also 200 smaller, 15-inch screens throughout the sports book, and each race seat in the book has its own private plasma display. Some of those seats act as interactive personal terminals, which allow bettors to wager from their seats.
So well received has Red Rock's sports book been with customers that Station has since overhauled its sports books at Green Valley Ranch Resort & Casino and Santa Fe Station Hotel & Casino with the same technologies.
'The video display capabilities at these three projects is really superior, in my opinion, to anything in the marketplace. What we provide is gigantic video walls that are the size of these rooms, and these rooms are huge,' said Art Manteris, vice president of race and sports book operations for Station Casinos.
Manteris noted that there has been some downsizing of sports books on the Strip in recent years. 'These projects go 180 degrees contrary to that direction,' he said.
'What the technology provides for is the ability to configure the display however you choose, in terms of live video presentation or odds or other data displays. So in other words, we can make the room primarily data for wagering information, odds displays and so forth, or we could make them large video screens or cut them up into multiple variables anywhere in between.'
Walker said MGM Mirage has recently carried out renovations of its sports books at MGM Grand and the Excalibur, adding high-definition screens and improved betting functionality and comfort for the customers. The MGM Grand renovation also added state-of-the-art sky boxes inside the sports book, which can cater to private gatherings.
Walker said MGM Mirage books have been using LED technology for its screens and boards for years now, and will likely continue. But automated betting --Interactive Player Terminals from Las Vegas Dissemination Company--will soon be available at several of the company's properties.
'We're going to get 10 at the Mirage, and most of our books will put in five to 10 to start with,' he said. 'The great thing about that is you can bet at the terminals, similar to what you'd have at a racetrack. You can bet from your desk without having to get up. It's account wagering basically.'
Walker said MGM Mirage sports books' back-of-house operations have also been aided by technology improvements from Computerized Bookmaking Systems (CBS), a subsidiary of American Wagering Inc. CBS, which provides the core betting technology for many Las Vegas sports books, has kept ahead of the curve of technology advancement in recent years, Walker said, automating the betting processes and procedures. 'It's also good for the 'what ifs'--the analysis we do on certain scores and where certain numbers fall. Those are instantaneous now, but no one would realize that out front. But it's something that's very important to us, and that's the CBS upgrades that they do and their software enhancements.'
One key example, Walker said, lies with parlay cards.
'The way it used to be until this year is that we'd have to post the games, and then you'd have to go in and manually post the parlay cards. That would take forever and invariably you'd miss a game or two because you're just putting win/loss in those cards. Now, that's instantaneous. So when you post the score of a game, it automatically posts the parlay cards. People that have parlay cards can cash them right away. That's a huge customer convenience. How it's impacted us in the back end is that it's reduced the mistakes dramatically. If we post the game right, we post the parlay card right, and there have been times where that has not been the case.'
Another back-end system, PrimeLine[TM], offered by Progressive Gaming, utilizes a Windows-based operating path.
'It was originally a VirtGame product when we acquired them,' said Brandon Knowles, vice president of game technology for Progressive. 'It's a race and sports book administrative software system that allows the operator to quickly and efficiently manage the books.'
Technology expanding appeal
Over the past year, Progressive has garnered a significant amount of attention for one of its other sports betting technology products. Rapid Bet Live[TM] is a system that allows bettors at special terminals to make in-game bets, or 'proposition bets,' on sporting events. As a form of account-based wagering, bettors deposit a sum of money with the sports book, get a password and can then access Rapid Bet Live[TM] terminals, choosing to wager on a wide array of specific bets such as 'which team will score first,' 'who will lead at halftime,' or 'which player will score the last goal or point.'
'For example, if you were to come to Las Vegas to watch the Super Bowl, you could literally sit down in front of one of the terminals and make a wager on just about every play that happens in the Super Bowl,' Knowles said. 'Of course, that might be a slight exaggeration. It is possible to do every play in the Super Bowl, but it's highly unlikely all bets will be offered. What is offered is usually bets that revolve around a drive outcome, so that it's not thousands of bets. Usually it's about 180 to 200 bets that are offered during a football game, for instance.'
Through the terminals, bettors can keep track of their wagers and their results, as well as their balance. Winnings can be cashed out at the sports book, or kept in the account to wager at a later point.
Rapid Bet Live[TM] began field testing at the Palms Hotel & Casino one year ago, generating significant buzz among sports book operators. Both MGM Mirage's Walker and Station Casinos Manteris said they have watched the tests with great interest.
'I think it's a neat product and a neat concept. Whether or not it will catch on and flourish in Nevada still remains to be seen,' Manteris said. 'A similar concept (Sports Action) was experimented with back in the '90s, and it was a little ahead of its time, and it remains to be seen whether or not the time has come. But I do like the concept and I do like the product.'
With the advent of wireless wagering, Progressive is now in the midst of field testing a wireless version of Rapid Bet Live[TM], which would allow patrons to wager via mobile devices on approved areas outside the sports book.
'In the Palms, for example, there is a great bar about 75 yards from the sports book. I think that would be a fantastic for having Sunday football games in there. I think it will happen,' Knowles said.
Meanwhile, Las Vegas Gaming Inc. has lent the possibility of expanding sports betting into the casino floor with its PortalVision[TM] product. Originally designed as a technology that would aid play of LVGI's Nevada Numbers keno-style game, PortalVision[TM] has opened up a host of add-on benefits to gaming devices.
The technology layers over existing slot machines and allows operators to deliver directed marketing messages or video (through AdVision[TM] and PromoVision[TM]) when the base games aren't in use. When players are at the machines, they can access gaming extras like Nevada Numbers (through SlottoVision[TM]) or wager on sporting events at the gaming device (via WagerVision[TM]).
'It's almost like a self-serving kiosk,' said LVGI's Chief Technology Officer Sam Johnson, who developed the patented technology behind PortalVision[TM]. 'They can have the same bets available as if they were to walk into the sports book. At the kiosk they're able to do what we call watch and wager. You make the bet on the slot machine, and they can watch the event and still be able to play the base game if they want.'
Johnson said LVGI partnered with American Wagering, which provides 80 percent of the technology to facilitate the operations of WagerVision[TM] from the back end.
'From an operator's point of view, I think one advantage is to put slot machines in the race and sports book to drive additional revenues, but I think even more so is the opposite--to be able to take race and sports and really expose it to a variety of customers that otherwise might not have been exposed to the race and sports book or might have been intimidated. So bringing that out to the slot floor is a big advantage,' Johnson said.
The entire PortalVision[TM] suite is in the early stages of being deployed at Treasure Island for beta testing, Johnson said.
Connecting through kiosks
Standalone kiosks have been utilized in some sports books as a way to maximize customer service during high traffic periods at the sports books. But opinions are mixed as to whether such kiosks have enough long-term value.
'We have had kiosks, but we took them out,' MGM Mirage's Walker said. 'We had kiosks for video racing, so you could go back and look at all the previous racing, yet we didn't have enough utilization of it. That's the problem we get into simply because we don't have the same players each day.'
But companies like American Wagering and Youbet.com have seen success with sports kiosks, and now another company, ISI Ltd., has entered the fray.
Through a partnership with American Wagering, ISI has brought 40 of its iSports Stands to 31 Las Vegas casino properties, including the Sahara, Silverton and Riviera hotel-casinos on the Strip and the Rampart Casino in Summerlin. The stands feature 17-inch or 19-inch displays on which a host of advertisers can reach potential customers, and coupons or handicapping picks can be generated and printed out.
'One of the most important features about the iSports Stand is that it can be open virtually 24 hours, seven days a week,' said American Wagering President Vic Salerno. 'Many sports books are not staffed 24 hours, so the iSports Stand kiosk provides bettors with the convenience of placing bets at any time, and the automated unit is as simple to use as a banking ATM. It also saves time for players who don't want to stand in line at the sports book.'
What's next?
As sports betting technology continues to advance, several operators and vendors alike said the next significant vehicle for growth could lie with the Internet.
In Walker's opinion, if online sports betting were to be legalized and regulated in the United States, it could do wonders for the entire sports betting industry.
'Right now, we have to book to people that are physically in our properties. Offshore operations can book to every single country via phone or the Internet. I wish we could have that ability and see it regulated and taxed. I think we've shown (the sports betting model) works here in Nevada.'
Progressive's Knowles said he could see significant opportunity in a potential tie-in between Rapid Bet Live[TM] and the Internet.
'This product is very suitable for online. They already do a similar type of product in the UK and (other) markets. We're not talking about changing the world; we're talking about changing the landscape of Las Vegas right now. If we get a chance to take it outside of Nevada, that would be fantastic. But right now we can't. Rapid Bet Live[TM] is based on intranet technology, so it is ready to go. It's got the user interface and everything. The bottom line is we'd have to adjust it to make it an end-user interface. Today the system is used by the operator who distributes the ticket to the user. We'd have to create a user interface for the public. It wouldn't be difficult, and we are talking about it currently.'
Already the Internet is utilized by Station Casinos, which six years ago created its Sports Connection, in which bettors have to open an account and deposit money at a Station sports book, but place bets remotely.
'This system allows guests in Nevada to bet by phone or the Internet,' Manteris said. 'We launched that about six years ago. It's popular and provides a competitive advantage.'
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