Two new retail sportsbooks have opened in downtown Las Vegas casinos this year. Both of the new spaces fit their respective casino floors.
Boyd Gaming’s Fremont Hotel and Casino opened a FanDuel-branded sportsbook as part of a property expansion. Caesars Sportsbook opened its first downtown Las Vegas retail location inside Downtown Grand.
While these are newly branded sportsbooks, neither offers different odds than the previous locations.
Caesars Sportsbook at Downtown Grand
The new Caesars Sportsbook replaces the original William Hill sportsbook that has been operating since 2007 when Downtown Grand opened. This is the only downtown Las Vegas location for Caesars Sportsbook.
Aside from the physical space, bettors won’t see many changes. Caesars owns William Hill, and both have the same sportsbook menu.
One major change is that bettors can receive Caesars Rewards points when betting on sports at Downtown Grand. The sportsbook does not offer Grand Points like the other games in Downtown Grand.
In addition to a new brand name, the sportsbook has moved into a new location within the casino. The old space near the lobby will become something new in the future. The sportsbook is in the old high-limit slot machine room near the cashier on the opposite side of the casino.
Inside the new non-smoking Caesars Sportsbook are four cocktail tables, each with seating for four people. There are also a few leather chairs for individuals in front of the wall of video screens.
The video wall is large enough to show eight games at a time. There’s probably enough space on either side of the video wall to show another four games or have larger screens.
There are another four cocktail tables just outside of the sportsbook. These have a good view of the five screens above the entrance to the new sportsbook.
Altogether there’s seating for less than 40 people inside and outside the sportsbook.
The Caesars Sportsbook inside Downtown Grand is open daily from 8 am- 9 pm. Players can place wagers with a human at the counter or one of two kiosks.
Anyone looking to place a pre-game wager of $2,000 or an in-play bet of $1,000 or more must present a Caesars Rewards card.
Downtown Grand is continuing to update the casino floor. A new electronic table game pit will soon be located next to the existing live dealer games.
FanDuel Sportsbook at Fremont Hotel and Casino
Boyd Gaming recently completed an expansion at Fremont Hotel and Casino up the street from Downtown Grand at the Fremont Street Experience. The expansion of the property includes more gaming space and a new food hall.
In addition to the new FanDuel-branded sportsbook, there is a slew of new slot machines. The new food hall has plenty of new quick-serve dining choices, including a new Dunkin Donuts outlet.
Frequent visitors of the Fremont will remember this is the only Dunkin Donuts inside of a downtown Las Vegas casino. This east coast transplant had to grab a cup of the good stuff before heading out.
The Fremont sportsbook has two sections. One side has a bar with 12 multi-game machines, cocktail tables, chairs, and TVs to watch the games. The other side is all sports with tables, a betting counter, and a handful of kiosks.
In total, the sportsbook has a total of 12 tables and seating for about 60 people. This sportsbook is still operated by Boyd Gaming and has the same odds as other Boyd Las Vegas casinos.
FanDuel does not set the odds for the Fremont sportsbook at this time. As a reminder, the FanDuel app does not work anywhere in Nevada.
The cocktail tables are available by reservation for those who bet at least $50 or have a Boyd Rewards Emerald card or better.
On the bright side, the bar has 16 beer taps and offers boozy slushy drinks to gamblers. Unfortunately, these video poker machines offer paytables similar to the Vegas Strip. There are better games elsewhere in the casino, according to vpFREE2.
Sportsbooks in downtown Las Vegas
While these sportsbooks offer new brand names, the odds are still the same as in previous incarnations. There was a time when one sportsbook operator was overseeing the sportsbooks in multiple downtown Las Vegas casinos.
Today, there are a variety of sportsbook brands in downtown Las Vegas, including:
- Boyd Gaming – The Cal
- Caesars – Downtown Grand
- Circa Sports – Circa, The D, Golden Gate
- FanDuel – Fremont
- Golden Nugget
- Station Casinos – El Cortez
- William Hill – Binion’s, Four Queens, Plaza
While there are seven sportsbook brands inside the downtown Las Vegas casinos, only five offer various odds.
Caesars owns William Hill. Both sportsbook brands have the same betting menu in Nevada.
FanDuel is only a brand change at the Fremont. Boyd Gaming still operates the sportsbook, kiosk, and mobile sports betting app. Online and mobile bettors can use the Boyd Sports app. The FanDuel app does not work in Nevada at this time.
This could change in the future. FanDuel operates sportsbooks at multiple Boyd Gaming casinos outside of Las Vegas.
Station Casinos operates the sportsbook inside of El Cortez. A new Station sportsbook will open in February inside the Wildfire Casino, currently under construction east of the Fremont Street Experience.
Circa is home to the flagship sportsbook for the company. The locations inside The D and Golden Gate are considered satellite sportsbooks.
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