Earlier this week, it was announced that the Seneca Resorts & Casinos properties located in Western New York will be ready to accept sports bets in just a few weeks. While the start is imminent, an exact date to begin has yet to be announced. The time frame to begin is reliant upon the completion of sports betting lounges at the three casinos.
Getting Ready
Currently, the Seneca Niagara Resort & Casino located in Niagara Falls, the Seneca Allegany Resort & Casino of Salamanca and the Seneca Buffalo Creek Casino of Buffalo are all working on creating their sports betting properties.
The casinos are busy training personnel in how to handle sports betting services and have already hired new gaming employees. To operate their sports betting retail locations, the Seneca Resorts signed a partnership deal with the Kambi Group.
Once the sports betting lounges are open, players will be able to place their wagers on professional sports games in the football category, soccer, basketball and many other sports. The betting kiosks will have real time boards so players can keep up with content in real time. The kiosks will run 24/7 to allow players to place sports bets at any time on-site.
For the New York casinos, sports wagers can only be placed in the casino lounges. A bet can be built on a smartphone, but the QR code to do so only works in the lounges. The odds will be determined for the wager when the bet is placed.
Seneca Gaming CEO Holly Gagnon commented on the new sports betting facilities by stating: “We know Buffalo is a sports town. And, we know it is a very passionate sports town. That’s why we are bringing the lounges to the casinos.”
Reports suggest the facilities will open on staggering dates as construction is completed. Official dates should be expected in the coming weeks.
Sports Betting Deals
As mentioned, Seneca Resorts signed a deal with the Kambi Group to operate their platform for sports betting. The operator also signed a deal with the Buffalo Sabres hockey team as their official sportsbook sponsor. The Sabres were announced as a partner to the Seneca Nation just after the group announced a Seneca Sports Lounge for the KeyBank Center. They also are partnered with the local NFL team, the Buffalo Bills.
Sports betting in the region will help to attract new customers to the casinos operated by the Seneca. Until the properties open for sports wagering, the closest option for betting is the del Lago Casino and Resort which is located in Waterloo.
It is expected that sports betting will be very popular in the region and the Seneca’s should do well with their operations. However, the late start might not bode well for revenues as the facilities will miss the NFL season which is a big money maker. Hopefully, the operations will be up and running by the time March Madness arrives and there will be some indication as to how popular the option will be in the state.
