Caesars Entertainment’s retail sportsbooks have been desired locations to place bets and watch games during March Madness long before online sports betting grew across the U.S.
The mobile and retail operator believes its long-running relationship with fans and evolution in offerings during college basketball’s three-week men’s and women’s tournaments has positioned Caesars to be a continued destination in the digital age.
“I think just creating a more robust and wholistic experience for the sports fan and the sports bettor is one thing that we’ve really evolved on over the course of the last few years,” Kenneth Fuchs, SVP and Chief Operating Officer at Caesars Digital told Covers on Wednesday. “Promotionally, we’re leaning in and we understand what fans want.”
This year, that comes in many different ways. Fuchs said Caesars’ promotions extend beyond basic bonus bets.
The sports betting company is engaging with its customers through a Final Four sweepstakes contest, where every $10+ parlay or Same Game Parlay wager on college basketball until March 30 earns each participant one entry for a chance to win two tickets to the Final Four and a three-night stay in San Antonio.
There’s also the unique $500,000 Parlay Madness promo where participants who place a $5 parlay, Same Game Parlay, or Super Parlay have a shot at $100,000 jackpots throughout the next few weeks.
Caesars has other promos and what Fuchs called a “best-in-class” app to attract customers during one of the busiest events on the sports calendar.
“We know people are going to bet the tournament, but I also think it’s about having fun with it and giving people a little bit of something different promotionally than just the standard profit boost or bonus bet that you see all year round,” Fuchs said. "We’ve really tried to be creative with the offers that we have.”
Magic of March
Caesars understands that the NCAA tournament, which begins Thursday, is a special event.
“As a fan, you love to have a cheering interest in what you’re betting on and I don’t think there’s a better event in the world than March Madness for that type of excitement where you’ve got this rolling energy for 12 hours a day for days on end,” Fuchs said.
He believes the Super Bowl and World Cup are the only other sporting events that compare, but those don’t have the number of games in a short time mixed with so many dramatic moments and the ability to get hooked on a team.
“We’re really proud of the work our team has done on our app experience and there really is no better place to watch games than one of our sportsbooks,” Fuchs said. “We have more locations than anyone in the country. When you’ve got the types of venues that we have in New Orleans and Atlantic City and in Las Vegas on the Strip, it’s really an amazing and kind of magical sports moment in the calendar and we love being at the center of it.”
$3 billion wagering event
The American Gaming Association estimates that March Madness will generate $3.1 billion in legal wagering. Between the men’s and women’s NCAA tournaments, sportsbooks are constantly having to add more features and markets to keep up with the growth of betting around the U.S.
“We pride ourselves on having the broadest markets available and deepest, most breadth available,” Fuchs said. “You’ll be able to bet on all aspects of the game from tip until buzzer.”
That comes through standard pre-game spreads, totals, and parlays, but Caesars has stepped up its SGP. Live betting has become a huge component of the tournament, allowing bettors to wager on a last-second basket. Fuchs said the technology “was flawless” during the Super Bowl with so much activity on the app at one time.
This year, Caesars is offering more unique prop markets, like what round the first No. 2 seed will be eliminated and total tournament wins by a conference. Bettors can wager on the total sum of the Final Four seeds and even pick between two teams which one wins more March Madness games.
“I think you’re seeing this broadening of awareness around the sport and how you can bet it,” Fuchs said. “As people get more familiar with sports betting, more familiar with the mobile products, the excitement just continues to grow around the tournament every year.”
Player prop wagering, where permitted, is another way bettors are ramping up March Madness action, and that includes the women’s tournament.
The game has grown exponentially, highlighted last year by star Caitlin Clark. The rise of stars JuJu Watkins and Paige Bueckers this year has Caesars expanding its women’s tournament offerings.
“You see the popularity of the women’s game so we’ve made sure to add a lot of depth and breadth to what we offer to make sure it’s on par with what we offer for men as much as possible,” Fuchs said.
Responsible Gaming
March Madness coincides with Problem Gambling Awareness Month, making it a great time of the year to highlight responsible gaming, Fuchs said.
“We really believe in the entertainment around sports betting, but you have to be able to provide support and resources to those that need it and Caesars has long been the industry leader in responsible gaming,” Fuchs said.
He added that Caesars was the first commercial casino company to launch a responsible gaming program in 1989.
“Today we make sure our players are aware of all of the resources. We enforce and enhance the 21+ gaming policy across every product, every location that we have regardless of where it is or what it is,” Fuchs said. “We provide a lot of tools within the app experience as well so you can set limits that you want to apply to you.
“We take it very seriously. While the vast majority of players are there to have fun and have some entertainment, it’s something that’s very important to continue to invest in terms of the tools, resources, and an enterprise approach to responsible gaming, not just mobile sports betting.”
