The absence of Major League Baseball, however, won't go unnoticed. Murray said he expects horse racing and mixed martial arts to draw people out to sportsbooks this weekend given the 152nd Belmont Stakes and UFC fights on Saturday. “We see guests so many times throughout the course of the day, week, month, year, so we do know their names. “That's really the biggest part,” he said. Esposito likened Sunset Station's sportsbook to “Cheers,” the 1980s-era sitcom about a Boston bar. The changes didn't appear to dampen enthusiasm for their reopening: Shortly after Sunset Station unlocked its doors June 4, a patron made a beeline to the sportsbook and wagered on Korean baseball, he said.įor many, the sportsbook isn't just about placing bets - it's a hub of socialization.

Station Casinos took similar health precautions in its fleet of sportsbooks, said Chuck Esposito, race and sportsbook director at Sunset Station Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas. And employees will use tongs - a touchless distribution method - to give face masks to anyone who wants one. Partitions separate guests from tellers at the ticket counter.ĭecals on the floor instruct patrons where to stand in lines to keep distance. The Westgate Superbook, for instance, removed more than 100 chairs to keep 6 feet between them. Like the casino properties they inhabit, sportsbooks feature new configurations and signage to meet social-distancing requirements. “Nothing is more important for us than the safety of the guests and employees we're bringing back to the property.” “It gave us an extra two weeks to make sure we had all of our ducks in a row,” said John Murray, director of race and sports at Westgate.

Others have gradually reopened since then, including the Westgate SuperBook in Las Vegas, which opened Thursday along with the entire casino-resort property. Some sportsbooks welcomed back patrons as soon as casinos were allowed to reopen June 4. Now, the familiar hum of activity inside these sports-viewing meccas is returning despite a coronavirus-altered athletic landscape. They're the place inside casinos where cheers spontaneously erupt as fortunes change based on stunning athletic feats and, in some cases, buzzer-beating strokes of luck.īut for nearly three months - a time period normally marked by March Madness, the debut of Major League Baseball and professional hockey and basketball playoffs - all was quiet in Nevada's sportsbooks.

Station casinos sports book