William Hill to run betting lounge at Prudential Center

Whenever the New Jersey Devils choose the ice, fans will have the choice of watching their game in addition to other live games out of a lounge area that appears and feels just like a sportsbook.
As part of becoming a team sponsor, sportsbook operator William Hill will have its name on a Prudential Center sofa where games can be viewed more than 20 screens with chances boards displaying the menu of betting options across all sport.
Since the NHL isn’t comfortable with the site being a real sportsbook where bets can be placed in windows and kiosks, William Hill US CEO Joe Asher told ESPN that business ambassadors will help bettors in downloading William Hill’s betting app. The space is being converted and rebranded quickly, but there’s currently no opening date.
Odds will be displayed not only within the sport lounge but also on the group’s 4-story scoreboard. The lounge will be available for each and every occasion in the venue, including festivals. That is a lot of exposure, as Billboard ranked the venue 10th on earth on its Arena Power List earlier this month.
“Our aim has always been to make Prudential Center the home of entertainment and sports in New Jersey, but finally our duty is to make the most lively fan experience in the industry now, and the William Hill Sports Lounge will play a role in amplifying enthusiast experience here,” said Hugh Weber, president of the Devils’ ownership group, Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment.
William Hill, which operates more sportsbooks than every other business in the nation thanks to its 108 places in Nevada, has been competitive in New Jersey since May, when the Supreme Court allowed states to create their own decisions concerning sports betting after ruling that parts of the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act of 1992 were unconstitutional.
The company became the first operator of a sportsbook at the country when it opened at Monmouth Park racetrack on June 14. But competition is fierce within the state, which can be projected to surpass Nevada in sports betting manage and revenue.
Daily dream sites DraftKings and FanDuel, armed with a healthy database, were among the first to launch programs on which fans could wager so long as it had been performed within state lines. FanDuel followed up with its first sportsbook at the Meadowlands, on the grounds in which the New York Jets and Giants play, that started a month later William Hill’s racetrack location surfaced.
“We are spending a considerable amount of advertising dollars in New Jersey,” Asher said. “It will be a very competitive and expensive landscape for the next couple of years. A think a lot of organizations in the space feel the need to push hard at the country as a testing ground to prove they could be anywhere. In a way, it is like the Iowa caucuses in politics.”
While New Jersey is now one of five states that has legalized sports gambling — combined with Nevada, Delaware, Mississippi and West Virginia — it is the fastest-growing state. At the first four weeks after sports betting was legalized, New Jersey earned $336.6 million in wagers, as stated by the nation’s Division of Gaming Enforcement.
“I stated that, when fully mature, the New Jersey sports betting market would double that of Nevada,” Asher said. “It’s early days, but I could see how much that’s being conservative.”
William Hill is now one of eight firms that offer mobile betting on devices inside the nation.