Deryk Engelland placed the first bet at the grand opening of Caesars Race & Sportsbook at The Resort at Summerlin.
The former Golden Knights defenseman and Original Misfit, who is not allowed to bet on the NHL in his role as special assistant to team owner Bill Foley, bet $40 on the Raiders to go 5½ wins next season at Tuesday morning’s ribbon-cutting ceremony.
“You want to keep it local,” Engelland said in the space formerly known as Rampart Casino. “Not being able to bet on hockey makes it easy to ride the Raiders over.
“They were supposed to be a .500 team last year. Bringing in a new coach, they’re going to want to get out of the gates early. I think it’s a good play.”
Executives from Caesars and The Resort at Summerlin feel their new partnership is a good fit for the first Caesars Sportsbook location to open in Summerlin.
“The Caesars brand in Summerlin, from a sportsbook perspective, will be additive for both parties,” said Eric Hession, president of Caesars Digital. “We know that the customers that we have up in Summerlin that are connected to us on the Strip don’t always want to come down to The Strip to bet or make a deposit. They’ll be able to come here now because it’s so convenient.
“They’ve done a great job with the property and put in a ton of capital, so we felt it would really fit with our brand and there will be a very good synergy.”
Hession said Caesars made a significant investment of more than six figures in the renovated 6,000-square-foot sportsbook, which has a new odds board and video wall and will add a 360-degree LED wraparound video screen in the expanded sportsbook bar before the football season.
There is also new furniture in the book and 20 new sports betting kiosks in the casino.
“We’ve been working on all of our different amenities and looking at different gaming amenities,” said Michelle McHugh, vice president and general manager of The Resort at Summerlin. “We went out for proposals and we were blown away by what Caesars presented to us, what they are adding in terms of technology investment in our race and sportsbook and what they can bring in different betting options.
“We thought it was a really good option for our customers and Summerlin residents to have another option for their sports betting.”
For the first time, players can now complete in-person registration for the Caesars Sportsbook mobile app at a Summerlin location. New users will receive $350 in bonus games, through daily $50 wagering matches, when they sign up for the Caesars app at The Resort at Summerlin.
“We’ve had discussions with books in the past to rebrand or launch with another brand and they’ve chosen the William Hill brand (owned by Caesars), which is fantastic,” Hession said. “Rampart felt when they changed their name to The Resort at Summerlin that switching to the Caesars brand was the right way to go.
“Will this be the last? I’m pretty sure it won’t be. … We’re invested in the local market and we see the value associated with those local customers.”
Contact reporter Todd Dewey at tdewey@ theplayerlounge.com. Follow @tdewey33 on X.
