Retail outlets both launched Monday

Circa and FanDuel have opened retail sportsbooks in Las Vegas and Illinois respectively, just in time for the Friday tip-off of March Madness.

Jeffrey Benson, sportsbook operations manager for the new Circa-branded satellite sportsbook at the off-Strip Tuscany Suites and Casino, shared the news of the Monday opening on Twitter:

The Tuscany facility is the first Circa Sports outlet outside of Derek Steven’s hotel-casino properties in downtown Las Vegas.

Stevens has big expansion plans for growing his sports wagering brand Circa Sports across Nevada and the US, calling the March 15 opening of the sportsbook at Tuscany “the next step”, according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

Meanwhile, over in Illinois

Also on March 15, FanDuel announced the opening of its new retail sportsbook at FanDuel Sportsbook & Horse Racing – formerly known as Fairmount Park Racetrack – in Collinsville, Illinois.

The New York-based operator opened its second Illinois sportsbook to the public at 1:00pm CT on Monday. Building anticipation three hours ahead of the launch, FanDuel Sportsbook & Horse Racing posted a tweet featuring Baseball Hall of Famer Ozzie Smith, who would later place the first bet at the facility:

Keith Wall, vice president of retail for FanDuel Group, called the Collinsville launch “a special project for us because our name isn’t just on the sportsbook, it’s on the track itself.”

Illinois opening also marks FanDuel’s 17th US retail sportsbook

The Illinois opening also marks FanDuel’s 17th US retail sportsbook and comes on the same day it launched its second New Jersey brick-and-mortar sportsbook at Bally’s Atlantic City Casino, just in time for March Madness.

Sportsbooks primed for success

Both Circa Sports at the Tuscany and FanDuel Sportsbook & Horse Racing in Illinois are ready to take bets on America’s most celebrated annual sporting event. The first round of March Madness, the NCAA Division I Mens’ Basketball Tournament, tips off at Hinkle Fieldhouse basketball arena in Indianapolis, Indiana on Friday, as Florida play Virginia Tech.

Stevens told the Las Vegas Review-Journal that he expects a “strong next few months” for business followed by an “off-the-charts” second half of the year. The Circa CEO’s views coincide with crowds returning to the Las Vegas Strip in their thousands over this past weekend, ahead of capacity for large gatherings in Nevada increasing to 50% on Monday.

With Vegas’s sportsbooks and casino resorts also experiencing an uptick in demand ahead of March Madness, Stevens’ assertion that “Las Vegas is coming back, and it’s coming back pretty robustly” seems very much in the cards.