Circa Sports’ Silverton Casino Sportsbook Plans Gearing Up

Article ByDavid Weir

November 3, 2023

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Posted in: Nevada Gambling News, US Gambling News, US Sports Betting News

Circa Sports is set to expand its Las Vegas operations by taking over the race and sportsbook at Silverton Casino Lodge starting from January 1, 2024.

The Nevada Gaming Control Board recommended Wednesday that Circa be approved for a license to operate at Silverton.

Circa Sports is a growing presence among Nevada retail sportsbooks out of its base at the Circa Resort & Casino on Fremont Street in downtown Las Vegas.

Silverton Casino Lodge is one of the Nevada casino venues known as a locals casino, because it is situated some four miles south of the main Las Vegas Strip casino resorts.

“It’s a project we’ve worked on with the Silverton for quite a while,” said Derek Stevens, Circa’s cofounder and CEO.

“This will be another satellite sportsbook within the state. The sportsbook would include a substantial renovation of the property and be an investment on our part. We plan on hiring all of the individuals, and they’ll be Circa Sports employees.”

Board Thrilled to Approve the Application

The current sportsbook at Silverton is run under Caesars Entertainment’s William Hill brand. It will undergo a significant renovation under Circa’s management.

A temporary sportsbook will be operational in time for college football bowl games, with a permanent setup expected before the popular March Madness NCAA basketball tournament.

Daurean Sloan, Circa’s chief compliance officer, told the Board meeting that the temporary venue will have two kiosks and a supervisor. The full venue will offer three kiosks and a staffed betting station, as well as other upgraded sportsbook amenities.

Gaming Control Board Member George Assad was enthusiastic about Circa as an operator, which he expressed before the meeting.

“You’re a plus for the entire state and certainly for the downtown area, and I’m more than thrilled to approve this application and watch you succeed with your expansion of Circa Sports throughout the country,” he said.

Circa’s Growth and Future Prospects

Circa Sport has been quietly making a name for itself in Nevada, while slowly growing across the U.S. in markets it deems favorable.

It already operates the largest retail sportsbook in Nevada at its flagship Circa Resort venue, which includes a dedicated section for the Sports Gambling Hall of Fame.

It recently joined the ranks of Kentucky online sportsbooks in the second-newest U.S. market, after Maine sports betting launched today. It also offers sports betting in Illinois, Colorado and Iowa.

In Nevada, this recent expansion comes hot on the heels of a record-setting number of entries for the Circa Sports Survivor Series, which sees thousands of players compete to pick winners each NFL week in a knockout tournament.

The addition of Silverton Casino’s sportsbook to its portfolio, which includes venues in downtown Las Vegas and Henderson, as well as a sportsbook at Legends Bay Casino in Sparks, underscores Circa’s conservative yet effective expansion approach. The operator is now the third-largest sportsbook by market share in Nevada.

However, there was one event in 2023 Circa may want to put a line under and forget about. In June, more than $1.1 million was stolen from its flagship Circa Resort & Casino venue by someone impersonating the casino’s owners. The perpetrator turned out to be Erik Gutierrez Martinez, 24, who was described by prosecutors as a “bag man” for a wider criminal conspiracy.

Last week, he was sentenced to a year in jail over the theft, after police discovered nearly $800,000 in stacks of cash at his flat, many of which still had Circa stickers on them.