Turing Stone Casino and Resort is the Oneida Indian Nation’s flagship gaming resort.
Turning Stone Resort and Casino in Verona is partnering with Caesars Entertainment to open a sportsbook. The Oneida Indian Nation (OIN) owns Turning Stone, along with Point Place Casino in Bridgeport and Yellow Brick Road Casino in Chittenago.
OIN plans to call the new sportsbook “The Lounge with Caesars Sports“. To open the sports betting operation, the tribe will need a positive review by the National Indian Gaming Commission (NIGC) and the creation of New York state gaming regulations.
Ray Halbrittter, a spokesman for the Oneida Indian Nation’s, said of the partnership, “When it comes to sports betting, Caesars is in a class of its own.”
While MGM Resorts and William Hill US might argue that point, Caesars Entertainment is a major player in the United States casino and sports betting market. Caesars signed a strategic partnership deal with the lottery giant Scientific Games in July 2018. The partnership is designed to focus on mobile sports betting apps.
Oneida, Caesars Plan on NY Sports Betting
The biggest news might be that the Oneida Nation and Caesars Entertainment are confident enough in the legalization of sports betting in New York to announce such plans. Last year, attempts by departing State Sen. John Bonacic failed to bring passage of a sports betting legalization law.
The Oneida and Caesars are not the first to plan for legal New York sports betting. In August 2018, Del Lago Resort reached a deal with daily fantasy sports provider DraftKings on an online sportsbook.
In June 2018, Tioga Downs owner Jeff Gural signed a deal with Paddy Power-Betfair to operate a land-based sportsbook at the race track-casino in Nichols, if ever sports betting was legalized in New York. Gural and Paddy Power-Betfair already partner on the Meadowlands Racetrack and Sportsbook in East Rutherford, New Jersey.
Turning Stone Sportsbook & Casino
If the Oneida Nation gets the go-ahead from the NIGC and New York lawmakers, then it plans to open land-based sportsbooks at Turning Stone, Yellow Brick Road Casino, and Point Place Casino. After the Del Lago Resort was announced in December 2014, the Oneida Nation opened the Yellow Brick Road Casino to protect its customer base. In 2018, the tribe opened Point Place Casino in a nearby city.
Caesars Entertainment will contribute the bookmaker odds for the sportsbook. Oddsmaking is a highly skilled activity and hiring a competent team of oddsmakers is expensive, which is why it makes sense for the tribe to partner with a gaming company with its own team like Caesars Entertainment.
Besides contributing its finely tuned sports betting odds, Caesars plans to include the three New York casinos’ sportsbook betting in its rewards program. That means customers at Turning Stone, Yellow Brick Road, and Point Place can use their rewards in dozens of land-based casinos across the United States.
Caesars Entertainment Company Profile
While Las Vegas Sands, MGM Resorts, and Wynn Resorts can boast vastly profitable casinos in Macau, Caesars Entertainment is the largest owner of American casinos. The partnership should allow Turning Stone to draw New York customers who travel to resorts across the country.
Sports betting has a low margin, so the point is not to generate a lot of revenues from sports betting. In Nevada last year, sportsbooks accounted for only 2.5% of the gaming revenues across the state.
New York Sportsbook Revenues
Sportsbooks draw in many customers who would not otherwise visit a casino. That includes sports fans who want to place a bet on their favorite team, as well as millennial gamblers who like sports and prefer a form of gambling which requires skill.
Once sports bettors are in the casino, they might play blackjack, roulette, or slots. Or they might spend on food, drink, or hotel rooms. Sports betting thus creates a whole new database of customers, along with a marginal spike in revenues. New Jersey had over $1 billion in turnover in only 7 months of sports betting last year.
The question of who will sponsor a sports betting bill in New York is up in the air. John Bonacic was the state legislature’s biggest proponent of gambling over the past decade, so a new champion of sports gambling will need to be found in the coming months.
