Circa Sports Could Add California to Expansion List

Posted on: October 11, 2024, 03:31h. 

Last updated on: October 11, 2024, 03:31h.

Todd Shriber @etfgodfather Read More
Expertise: Financial, Gaming Business, Mergers and Acquisitions.

Circa Sports is taking its usual pragmatic, thoughtful approach to expanding into new states, but a surprise jurisdiction is on the company’s radar: California.

Circa Sports
Circa Sports owner Derek Stevens at one of the company’s sportsbooks. He said the operator would be interested in running a retail sportsbook in California. (Image: Jeff Scheid/Nevada Independent)

In an interview with The Las Vegas Review-Journal, Circa co-founder and CEO Derek Stevens said if the Nevada neighbor approves sports wagering with an in-person registration requirement, Circa would jump at the chance to open a brick-and-mortar sportsbook in the most populous state.

Of the states that currently offer mobile sports wagering, Nevada stands out — arguably for the wrong reasons — because it requires bettors that want mobile accounts to enter casinos to fill out paperwork. Other states don’t have that mandate and experts believe it’s harming sports betting revenue in Nevada.

Stevens told The Review-Journal that if California adopts a model similar to Nevada, it’s possible that retail sportsbooks in the Golden State could be significant jobs creators while driving “massive investments.” Circa Sports is currently operational in Colorado, Illinois, Iowa, Kentucky, and Nevada.

How Circa Sports Could Look in California

Should Circa Sports eventually have a footprint in California, it’d almost assuredly be via a partnership with a tribal gaming entity. Native American tribes control that state’s casinos and have gaming exclusivity compacts with the state.

At the Global Gaming Expo (G2E) in Las Vegas earlier this week, California Nations Indian Gaming Association (CNIGA) Chairman James Siva noted it’s possible sports betting could find its way onto the 2026 ballot, but he also said 2028 appears more likely. He added tribes in the states are eyeing sports betting as a potential prelude to iGaming.

In the interview with The Review-Journal, Stevens didn’t mention how Circa Sports would approach working with tribal operators in California. However, it is a necessity in that state.

Circa has a couple of things going for it in California. First, the operator enjoys a decent of level brand recognition there. Second, and more importantly, Circa Sports was not involved with the group of commercial operators that pushed a 2022 sports betting ballot proposition that ran afoul of California tribal gaming groups. The tribes easily vanquished that initiative and it was viewed as damaging to those companies’ relationships with the tribes.

Circa Expansion Could Follow Tech Plans

As is the case with many rivals, Circa Sports is bringing its technology stack in-house — a process Stevens acknowledged is taking longer than he’d like. He told The Review-Journal it could take another year before it’s completed and that would be the point at which the sportsbook operator mulls entry into new states.

Aside from the aforementioned interest in California, Stevens didn’t mention what states Circa Sports could next enter.

The operator has consistently said New York isn’t appealing due to its sports wagering tax structure. On the basis of favorable taxes, Arizona could be a candidate for Circa expansion as could Michigan because it’s Stevens’ home state, but the company hasn’t commented on either of those possibilities.