Tech Focus: Sportsbooks, Part 2 — Sports Venues Give Betting Parlors a Run for Their Money

Audio, video technology emulates that in the stadiums and arenas

Sportsbooks are popping up all over the place, including within major-league sports venues themselves, often (and optimistically) ahead of the changes in the state wagering regulations that would allow them to operate. For instance, the Draft Kings Sportsbook at Wrigley Field is considered a sports bar, pending changes in Illinois’s betting laws. Its audio and video are beginning to rival the AV tech found in the sports venues themselves. Here are a few of the more spectacular examples.

Click here for Tech Focus: Sportsbooks, Part 1 — Broadcast Sports but Bigger, Brighter, Louder.

Capital Arena Sportsbook

The Capital Arena Sportsbook was the first-ever sportsbook to open within a U.S. sports arena. Built in Washington, DC, by McCann Systems working with Caesars Entertainment, William Hill, and Monumental Sports & Entertainment, the two-story space checks in at 18,000 sq. ft. More than 1,400 sq. ft. of LED wraps the facility, more than 100 screens work the angles, 30 betting windows and kiosks offer live odds, and an outdoor LED ticker invites fans to take a chance. The signature piece is a custom, LED scaled scoreboard modeled after Capital One Arena’s main scoreboard. It hangs from the second-level ceiling and provides live content in the round. A custom user interface and preset layouts allow sportsbook staff to route and distribute live television feeds and betting odds anywhere in the space.

Caesars Sportsbook at Chase Field

Officially opened in June 2022, Caesars Sportsbook at Chase Field is the largest sportsbook at a U.S. sports stadium and has cemented itself as a downtown-Phoenix entertainment destination. At a massive 22,000-plus sq. ft., it houses two stories of sports betting and viewing, dining, and bar service, all featuring AV integration from McCann Systems.

Fans can roam the book freely and not miss a pitch, thanks to several dozen HD displays and zoned audio paired with video throughout the new flagship space. A custom interface helps staff choose AV options and is controlled from a hard-wired device on each floor or from five wireless iPads on each floor. With 1.5-mm LED elements, the main bar also snakes outdoors, where it flanks a massive LED screen from Absen. Seven additional 12 ft. 8 in. x 4 ft. 3 in. outdoor LED walls with 4.44-mm pixel pitch dot the terrace area.

Wynn Las Vegas Sportsbook

The Wynn Las Vegas Sportsbook is a nearly 10,000-sq.-ft. wagering palace that reopened at the Wynn Hotel after a four-month renovation by Technology West Group. Bettors are treated to AV at a truly Las Vegas scale. A 21-million-pixel (7,100 x 3,480 pixels), 1,500-sq.-ft. Silicon Core LED video wall stretching 137 ft. wide by 11 ft. high offers nearly 180 degrees of immersion. A continuously scrolling ticker at the base of the screen comprises eight 96-pixel-high segments with 1,920 x 1,080 resolution. The visuals are complemented by audio from Harman Professional brands JBL, Crown, and BSS (with some Meyer components); systems control via Crestron; and more than 40 21.5-in. Samsung touchscreens on which the sporting crowd place their bets.

Sportsbook at Circa Resort & Casino Las Vegas

Circa Resort & Casino Las Vegas claims the world’s largest sportsbook LED video wall, designed and manufactured by Daktronics and installed by integrator Coherent Design. The sportsbook experience features 78 million pixels to share all the information critical for bettors. It also shows live sports broadcasts and resort-relevant information and advertisements. Its entire six-display installation comprises 5,535 sq. ft. of digital real estate totaling 98 million pixels throughout the property, including an outdoor display measuring 41 ft. high by 135 ft. wide near the six pools at Circa’s Stadium Swim. Audio is 7.1 surround.