- FanDuel’s retail sportsbook at Suquamish Clearwater Casino Resort in Washington State is now open.
- FanDual announced plans to open the sportsbook at Suquamish Clearwater Casino Resort in early October.
- Mobile sports betting in Washington State remains ‘TBA’.
FanDuel continues to extend their footprint across the United States with the announcement that they’ve opened a retail sportsbook in Washington State. FanDuel Group and Port Madison Enterprises–the commercial enterprise arm of the Suquamish Tribal Government–has announced the opening of the sportsbook at the Suquamish Clearwater Casino Resort. When the announcement that the sportsbook was in the works was originally made, FanDuel indicated a ‘late fall’ launch. At least they got the betting windows opened before the Super Bowl.
Sports betting went live in Washington State in early September with retail sports betting only, though mobile betting is supposedly ‘in the works’. In other words, they created a sports betting infrastructure that will provide few benefits to anyone and is all but guaranteed to underperform. The only mobile sports betting that is currently allowed under Washington State gaming law is geofenced to the individual property. That means the only place in the state where you can use, say, the FanDuel mobile app is in a facility with a FanDuel retail sportsbook aka ‘the only place in the state where you don’t *need* a FanDuel mobile app. They’re also subject to the ‘no bets on in-state college teams’ nonsense that most reasonable jurisdictions abandoned years ago.
Washington screwed up sports betting in yet another way–they failed to extend sports betting to the many commercial card rooms in the state. There are several dozen of these facilities throughout Washington State despite the concerted effort of the state government (no doubt at the behest of financial benefactors in the tribal gaming lobby) to run them out of business. They’ve been limited in what games they can offer, maximum bet size and the hours they can operate. They’ve also seen their tax rate increased from 5% to 20%. The bottom line is that they can’t offer slot machines, video poker, video lottery terminals or pulltabs aka ‘the most profitable forms of gaming’. Now they can’t offer sports betting due to the machinations of the powerful tribal gaming interests. If you’re not going to have mobile sports betting you’d think that the state would want to maximize the footprint of retail sportsbooks. Unfortunately, since Washington State only operates gaming as a way to enrich cronies and empower themselves politically that is not the case. At this point, Washington has followed the path of too many other incompetent and crooked state governments throughout the US.
At least with deep pocketed companies like FanDuel, BetMGM, IGT, etc. operating in the state there’s at least some chance that they can exert pressure on the powers that be to get sports betting done right. At the very least, they’ve got a vested interest in seeing to it that mobile betting becomes a reality in Washington State.
Here’s some more info on the new FanDuel retail location from the press release announcing its opening:
Just in time for the Super Bowl, the FanDuel Sportsbook is conveniently located just off the casino floor near the Agate Pass Deli and Seafood Bar. The new 2,086 square foot sportsbook features three live betting windows and twelve IGT PlaySports self-service betting kiosks. Sports bettors and customers visiting Suquamish Clearwater Casino Resort will be able to enjoy a FanDuel Sportsbook retail experience that fans in other states have grown to love, featuring an incredible game-day atmosphere with wagering options available across all major sporting events.
FanDuel will provide its proprietary risk and trading technology that leverages the IGT PlaySports platform to offer bets on all major U.S. sports, including professional football, basketball, baseball, tennis, MMA, soccer, golf, motorsports racing and more. Bets can also be placed on NCAA sporting events, however, bets cannot be placed on college teams located in Washington state.
Washington marks the 14th state where FanDuel offers retail sportsbook locations joining Arizona, Connecticut, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Louisiana, Maryland, Michigan, Mississippi, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia.
Greg George, Port Madison Enterprises Board President, is excited to see the new sportsbook up and running:
“The FanDuel Sportsbook has been a highly-anticipated addition to Suquamish Clearwater Casino Resort, which has enhanced our gaming offerings and provides an exciting amenity to our casino guests.”
Leonard Forsman, Chairman of the Suquamish Tribe, is pleased to get a new revenue stream for his community:
“The Suquamish Tribe is extremely proud to have added sports wagering to our gaming compact. With the launch of our sportsbook, revenue from sports wagering will help support the Suquamish Tribe’s important governmental services offered to both tribal members and the local non-tribal community.”
Ostensibly, the teams that Washington residents most want to bet on are the in-state pro and college teams. If the premise behind having sports betting in the first place is to bring additional revenue to the state’s Native American tribes maybe they should air a gripe about not being able to maximize their income by booking the teams that their customers want to bet on. Fortunately for players, there’s plenty of other options for betting Washington State college teams offshore and through ‘local bookmakers’.
To give the opening a local touch, FanDuel and/or the casino brought in a couple of Seattle Seahawks alumni:
To mark this momentous occasion of sports betting being legal in the state of Washington, NFL Legends Steve Largent and Jim Zorn teamed up once again to open the brand-new FanDuel Sportsbook at 4 PM PT and took part in a ribbon cutting ceremony. Largent placed the ceremonial first bet, a $20 wager (-198) on the Los Angeles Rams to win the Super Bowl. Jim Zorn placed a $20 wager (+166) on the Cincinnati Bengals to with the Super Bowl.
Keith Wall, Vice President of Retail, FanDuel Group, is just glad to get the retail sportsbook up and running:
“This has been a special project for us because it has allowed us to expand our retail footprint to the west coast. The Suquamish Tribe has been an amazing partner throughout the process and Suquamish Clearwater Casino Resort is an amazing property that everyone needs to visit for the stunning views, world class entertainment and now legal sports betting.”
At least Washington sports betting isn’t as bad as the lottery run nonsense in Oregon.
