Vintage Las Vegas Gets A Modern Touch From Derek Stevens

With the U.S. sports-betting market dominated by a handful of large commercial operators, Las Vegas casino owner Derek Stevens believes there is a profitable future for a smaller player in the market.Shortly after the U.S. Supreme Court allowed states to legalize sports betting in 2018, Stevens was in the early stages of developing Circa Resort and Casino, downtown’s first from-the-ground-up casino in nearly four decades.Ahead of opening the property that features a three-level Circa Sportsbook, his company launched Circa Sports, which includes a mobile sports wagering app.Stevens has since taken Circa Sports outside of Nevada to Iowa and Colorado, where the business is mobile-only.Early next year, he plans to launch mobile and retail sports in Illinois as part of a deal with Full House Resorts, which is building a $500m casino some 40 miles north of Chicago in Waukegan.Stevens discussed the future of Circa Sports and the challenges of operating a casino coming out of a pandemic and now in the midst of the highest inflation rate in four decades.