William Hill to run betting lounge at Prudential Center

When the New Jersey Devils choose the ice, fans will have the choice of watching their game in addition to other live games from a lounge area which looks and feels just like a sportsbook.
As part of being a team sponsor, sportsbook operator William Hill will have its name on a Prudential Center sofa where games can be watched on more than 20 screens with chances boards showing the menu of gambling options across all sports.
Since the NHL isn’t comfortable with the venue being a real sportsbook where bets can be placed at windows and kiosks, William Hill US CEO Joe Asher told ESPN that company ambassadors will assist bettors in downloading William Hill’s gaming program. The space has been converted and rebranded quickly, but there is currently no opening date.
Odds will be exhibited not only within the sport couch but also on the team’s 4-story scoreboard. The lounge will be available for each and every event in the place, including concerts. That is a lot of exposure, as Billboard rated the venue 10th on earth on its own Arena Power List earlier this month.
“Our aim has always been to create Prudential Center the house of sports and entertainment in New Jersey, but finally our mission is to make the most dynamic fan experience in the market today, and the William Hill Sports Lounge will play a role in amplifying enthusiast experience here,” said Hugh Weber, president of the Devils’ ownership team, Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment.
William Hill, which operates more sportsbooks than any other business in the nation as a result of its 108 locations in Nevada, has been competitive in New Jersey since May, if the Supreme Court allowed states to make their own decisions concerning sports betting after ruling that portions 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 started at Monmouth Park racetrack on June 14. But competition is fierce within the state, which can be projected to surpass Nevada in sport betting manage and earnings.
Daily dream sites DraftKings and FanDuel, armed with a nutritious database, were among the first to launch programs on which lovers could bet as long as it had been done within state lines. FanDuel followed with its very first sportsbook at the Meadowlands, on the grounds where the New York Jets and Giants play, that started a month after William Hill’s racetrack location surfaced.
“We are spending a significant quantity of marketing dollars in New Jersey,” Asher said. “It is going to be quite a competitive and costly landscape for the next few years. A think a lot of organizations in the space feel the need to push hard in the state as a testing ground to prove they can be anywhere. In a sense, it’s like the Iowa caucuses in politics”
Even though New Jersey is one of five states that has legalized sports gambling — combined with Nevada, Delaware, Mississippi and West Virginia — it is the weakest state. In the first four months following sports gambling was legalized, New Jersey took in $336.6 million in wagers, as stated by the state’s Division of Gaming Enforcement.
“I stated that, when fully mature, the New Jersey sports gambling market would double that of Nevada,” Asher said. “It’s early days, but I could see how much that is being conservative.”
William Hill is now one of eight companies offering mobile gambling on devices within the nation.