William Hill US Opens Temporary Sports Betting Venue in Washington DC

Operator William Hill US has set up a temporary sports betting location at Washington DC’s Capital One Arena.

A construction of a permanent sportsbook is planned and this temporary venue will provide self-serving kiosks and betting windows.

The First in the US

The place started accepting bets on Friday, July 31st…

…as it accepts college and professional sports wagers. The Capital One Arena now provides temporary space for sports betting and houses nine self-service kiosks. It is open from 11 AM to 11 PM, seven days a week.

Safety protocols are in place for the duration of current health crisis situation: bettors will need to socially distance and staff will wear masks and gloves.

The arena is home to two capital’s professional sport teams: NHL’s Washington Capitals and NBA’s Washington Wizards. This is the first arena sportsbook in the UKS and the first sportsbook as such for District of Columbia.

Sports betting launched in DC with a mobile app in June.

In Plans Since October

Ted Leonsis, founder of Monumental Sports and Entertainment, which owns Wizards, announced the partnership with William Hill in October last year and plans for multi-floor sportsbook inside Capital One Arena.

Monumental Sports president of business operations and CCO, Jim Van Stone, said in an official opening statement:

“Bringing fresh and innovative experiences to fans is core to our mission at Monumental Sports & Entertainment, and we are so proud to partner with William Hill to bring this new dimension to the Washington Metropolitan region.”

He added that William Hill is a globally-recognized brand that delivers excellence and is an industry leader in safe, responsible gaming while maintaining the highest levels of integrity. He praised the company’s qualities that are “consistent with our own values, and we look forward to inspiring even more visitors to our arena, where we take deep pride in fostering a sense of community.”

William Hill US CEO, Joe Asher, added:

“We are proud of our relationship with Ted Leonsis and his team at Monumental. They have been terrific partners, and we’re really pleased with how we have worked together to navigate through this challenging time.

We’ve come up with this temporary location as a way to allow our customers to bet on sports now that they are resuming, while we continue to work towards finalizing the permanent sports book, restaurant and bar concept we have always visualized.”

The official opening ceremony was hosted on Monday, with first-year season-ticket holders for Capital, Wizards and Mystics making the ceremonial bets.

Source:

“Capital One Arena ready to take cash bets at box office”, espn.com, July 31, 2020.