BetMGM Cincinnati Sportsbook is Relocating

Article ByDavid Weir

June 15, 2023

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Posted in: Ohio Gambling News, US Sports Betting News

BetMGM and the Cincinnati Reds Major League Baseball team are planning to move their struggling, jointly operated sportsbook to a new downtown location.

It is currently open in the Machine Room at the Reds’ Great American Ballpark.

The operators plan to move it five minutes away from the stadium to a venue on the corner of Second Street and Knuxhall Way in The Banks area of the city.

BetMGM Cincinnati has been the worst-performing of all Ohio’s sportsbooks in the past few months. It had a net loss of $38,000 in April, compared to the top-performing retail sportsbook, Hard Rock Cincinnati, which made $395K in revenue over the same month.

Controversial Venue

Not only is the ballpark sportsbook not doing well financially, but it was also the venue mentioned in a recent college baseball betting scandal. That resulted in the firing of several coaches and an ongoing National Collegiate Athletic Association investigation.

BetMGM was praised by regulators after the incident.

“BetMGM gave us substantial information that was credible enough for the commission to very quickly decide to cease all betting activity on Alabama baseball,” said Matt Schuler, executive director at the Ohio Casino Control Board.

The BetMGM sportsbook is one of just a couple of Ohio retail sportsbooks that is on the site of a major sports stadium.

That could easily have worked out as a big draw for foot traffic. However, because of Major League Baseball rules, the sportsbook wasn’t allowed in the ticketed entry area of the stadium.

That meant tucking the sportsbook away in the northwest corner of the stadium site.

Potentially adding to that lack of foot traffic is the Reds’ poor recent performance and low attendance. They are sitting at 24th out of 30 for average attendance among the MLB teams, and they have a losing record of 33-35 in the National League Central Division.

Mix those factors in with the Alabama betting controversy, and it’s not hard to see why BetMGM wants to move the sportsbook’s location.

Economic Driver

The new venue will be at the site of the former Galla Park Gastro, which unexpectedly closed in February.

Sources close to the Reds told WCPO 9 Cincinnati that the baseball team bought out the lease on the new site shortly before the Galla closed.

Meanwhile, BetMGM has expressed an interest in the Banks riverfront area since before legalization of sports betting in Ohio.

“Our vision would be, assuming we have access to the Type A license, we would partner with a sports book operator who would set up some form of a retail location situated down there on the Banks,” BetMGM’s CFO Doug Healy said to lawmakers in May 2021.

“A retail presence on that riverfront could be an economic driver that helps generate foot traffic, which further supports these businesses and these restaurants.”

Since legalization at the beginning of 2023, retail sportsbooks in Ohio have struggled to compete against the mobile market, no matter where they are located.

Dominant operator FanDuel brought in nearly $28 million in revenue in April, with second place DraftKings at $17 million.