Caesars Teams Up With Cavs Ahead of Ohio Sports Betting Debut

Caesars Entertainment Inc, home to Caesars Sportsbook, has inked a multi-year partnership with former NBA champions Cleveland Cavaliers. According to the new arrangement, Caesars Sportsbook and Caesars Entertainment are now the Cleveland Cavs’ official sports betting and casino partners. Following the announcement of the landmark deal, Co-President of Caesars Digital, Chris Holdren, stated:

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“We’re ready to welcome Ohio sports fans into the Caesars Sportsbook Empire while also making history with our second sportsbook at an NBA arena. Building upon our already established roots with Scioto Downs in Columbus, we’re excited to announce our partnership with the Cavaliers at an exciting time in their franchise’s history. As we prepare to launch sports betting in Ohio later this year, this wide-ranging partnership enables us to connect with the Cavs’ passionate and highly engaged fanbase. Caesars Sportsbook at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse will be a first-class venue providing an exciting atmosphere for sports betting and more.”

Partnership Forged Just in Time for Ohio’s Sports Betting Inception

True to Holdren’s statement, this partnership comes when Ohio, the home state of the Cleveland Cavaliers, is on the verge of achieving its sports betting debut. The Buckeye State’s sports betting regulation measure under House Bill 29 was passed by legislators and signed into law by Governor Mike DeWine in December 2021. So, as we speak, sports betting is legal, but bookmakers are yet to launch operations in the state.

As such, the Cavs - Caesars team-up comes in prime time for the leading gaming brand to take advantage of a market expected to perform well from the get-go. Besides the Cleveland Cavaliers in the NBA, there isn’t a shortage of nationally recognized competitive home sports teams for fans to wager on in the Buckeye State. Fans can also put their money on the recent Super Bowl finalists, the Cincinnati Bengals, NFL’s Cleveland Browns, MLB’s Cincinnati Reds, and NHL’s Cleveland Monsters, among other leading home teams.

The new partnership will see the Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse, the Cavs’ home arena, play host to an in-venue sportsbook by Caesars. The in-venue sportsbook is set to stand at street level in the northwest atrium of the arena. Its construction is set to commence soon, and upon completion, it will be open to both ticket holders and non-ticket holders. Caesars’ in-stadium sportsbook is planned to be fitted with huge TV screens, a full bar, windows for wagering, together with a VIP lounge and extensive menus.

Additionally, the newly penned deal will allow Caesars Entertainment access to the Cavaliers’ digital and broadcast mediums together with visible signage in all the Cavs’ home games. This will no doubt bring forth a great deal of success to Caesars, considering the large fanbase that the Cavs commands.

And while we may not see sports betting for some time in Ohio, systems are already in place to go. The new facility at the home of the Cavs is scheduled to open its doors in 2023, right when The Buckeye State is expected to debut online sports wagering. Industry observers have attributed the delay to the prolonged drafting of rules and regulations for the highly sensitive industry. In addition, the Caesars sports betting facility is planned to operate all year round and won’t necessarily be following the NBA calendar. Therefore, sports betting fans will be visiting the venue even during the NBA offseason.

Further proof of the preparedness of the sports betting launch in Ohio is the partnership of the Cavs with Fubo Gaming to become its official mobile betting sports partner. This deal will allow Fubo Tv viewers to follow matches live on the app and wager on matches via their devices

Caesars Continues to Blaze the Trail in the US Sports Betting Scene

The Cavs is not the only sports franchise that Caesars Entertainment has partnered with in the rich USA pro sports expanse. The gaming giant also has an in-house sportsbook at the Capital One Arena in Washington DC, home to the Washington Wizards. This DC sportsbook was Caesars’ first-ever retail sports betting venue at a professional sports arena. The company also has its footprint in Major League Baseball with the Arizona Diamondbacks. Thanks to this partnership, the sports betting leviathan will soon be launching another Caesars Sportsbook at the Chase Field in Phoenix, the Diamondbacks’ home stadium.

Caesars has also partnered with the NFL’s Indianapolis Colts, Buffalo Bills, and the Baltimore Ravens and continues to seek more deals to strengthen its position as a market leader. It’s worth pointing out that the trend of opening in-house sportsbooks with teams is increasingly becoming popular in the USA. The Phoenix Suns were the first NBA side to partner with a sports betting company to unveil an in-arena sportsbook after partnering with FanDuel in April 2021.