The space at Virgin Casino in Las Vegas set aside to be a sportsbook will be taking a bet soon after two years of waiting.
On Thursday, the Nevada Gaming Commission (NGC) approved Betfred for a sports betting license in the state, paving the way for the operator to start taking bets at the venue.
While the name of the casino is Virgin Casino, Virgin actually only operates the hotel. Mohegan Sun is the licensed operator of the casino floor, while Betfred will handle the sportsbook.
Betfred founder Fred Done was on hand for this week’s meetings with the NGC and Nevada Gaming Control Board (NGCB). Both groups spent some time vetting a range of legal issues the company’s many verticals have dealt with over the years. In particular, the groups were concerned about pending litigation involving TradeFred in Australia.
Betfred failed to disclose the TradeFred lawsuit and admitted it was because the company “cut and paste” the sports betting application they put forth in Pennsylvania and submitted it in Nevada, forgetting to update the information with that latest lawsuit.
Other than the TradeFred incident, both the NGCB and the NGC were impressed with the operator, particularly the squeaky-clean backgrounds of the company’s key players. Accordingly, the company was approved to launch in the Silver State.
While the initial focus will be on opening the brick and mortar sportsbook at Virgin Casino, Betfred did note plans to launch its online app in Nevada sometime before the start of the 2023 football season.
Nevada is now the 10th state where Betfred is authorized to operate. It joins Ohio as the second new state for the brand in 2023 so far.