New Caesars Sportsbook at Chase Field allows baseball and betting to coexist

PHOENIX — During Derrick Hall’s baseball life, he’s savored the joy of winning division titles. He was moved by the sight of roaring home crowds and found deep satisfaction in creative business strategies.

In fact, the Arizona Diamondbacks President and CEO calls them points of pride.

Hall paused to survey the scene that lured so many Diamondbacks fans out of the afternoon heat and toward his creation — the Chase Field Caesars Sportsbook retail betting venue.

“I love this, and I’m proud of it,” Hall said while giving a tour of the new facility last week.

He marveled at the liveliness of the 22,300-square-foot, two-story structure layered by big-screen televisions, betting screens, bars and a Guy Fieri restaurant.

In the light of his new facility, Hall was also struck by how far Major League Baseball has advanced.

“When I started in this game, I was so anti-sports betting. It was just taboo. You didn’t even talk about it,” Hall said. “We were ingrained to stay away from it.”

OPENING: Caesars Sportsbook at Arizona Diamondbacks’ Chase Field officially open to public

It has been more than 100 years since the notorious “Black Sox Scandal” of 1919 left eight players — including “Shoeless” Joe Jackson — excommunicated from the game for helping fix that year’s World Series, and more than 30 years since baseball handed its all-time hits king Pete Rose a lifetime ban for placing bets on his Cincinnati Reds.

Everything changed, of course, when the Supreme Court in 2018 struck down the federal ban stopping states from offering sports betting.

Now, bookmakers and baseball executives are business partners.

“As soon as the Supreme Court ruling came down, we were able to lead the way,” Hall said. “I hired a consultant even before it was being legalized. We were talking to legislators, we hired lobbyists, interviewed (sports betting) operators.”

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Hall’s vigorous approach to embracing the powerful linkage of MLB to betting was rooted in his prior success moving the Diamondbacks’ spring training home onto Arizona tribal casino land.

Residing at the state-of-the-art Salt River Fields at Talking Stick since 2011, the Diamondbacks (and Colorado Rockies) have played at the first U.S. professional sports training facility to be built on tribal land. The venture was funded without taxpayer dollars.

By breaking through baseball’s prior thinking that long sought a firewall between the national pastime and gambling, Hall was well-positioned to guide his organization toward a rapid union with the legalized billions of dollars now flowing nationally in sports betting.

“We all just sort of woke up and realized it’s good for the promotion of our game, and now I can’t imagine us not having it,” Hall said. “It’s such an important element of fan engagement and overall game experience. It’s good to keep our fans active and entertained, (and) the league — everyone — has been very supportive and helpful through all stages.

“We know our fans are going to bet. Why wouldn’t you want to control it, monitor it, regulate it, tax it and accumulate the data?”

State leaders created a new compact with the tribes, granting them the ability to offer Las Vegas-style table games.

In exchange, sports betting books could also be placed at Chase Field, the Phoenix Suns’ Footprint Center (where FanDuel Sportsbook has existed since September) and the Arizona Cardinals’ State Farm Stadium, home of the coming Super Bowl 57 that will be equipped with a BetMGM book.

The state’s first sports bet was placed last year at a Chase Field betting kiosk that pre-dated the book’s grand opening earlier this month.

“It’s been a true partnership,” said Hall, a former Dodgers communication executive who’s watched his former home state move ploddingly toward rival November ballot sports-betting measures.

“Californians are asking us about what we have here and our mobile betting app, and they’re telling us they’ll start coming here now instead of Vegas, to take in some games and bet,” Hall said. “It’s good to know we’re going to be attracting them until they have legalized gaming, so we say to them, ‘Come to our sportsbook, watch a game, have a mini-vacation,’

“Our state’s going to get revenue it didn’t have before, which is great. The operators are going to do well and make money. And they’ve made a guarantee to us with upside.”

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Encouraging early returns

Arizona’s two-game weekday series against the San Diego Padres June 28-29 drew 10,000 more fans than a similar series against the Reds earlier in the month. And a three-game weekend set against the Detroit Tigers June 24-26 had 5,000 more fans than a Cinco de Mayo weekend set against the division rival Colorado Rockies in May.

Hall declined to detail the financial specifics of the Diamondbacks-Caesars deal, citing a non-disclosure agreement, except to note, “It’s going to be a home run.”

Following a miserable 52-110 last-place showing in 2021, Arizona’s young roster found the bearings to start 21-21 before a rough few weeks leading up to the All-Star break.

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The Caesars’ money will foster the development of success, Hall says.

“Any increase of revenue is reflected by the product on the field. That’s where our investment will go,” he said. “There’s been so much excitement generated by this place — the players want to come over and look at it, their families are here. It helps create a more lively setting around the organization. And players like feeling that.”

In comparison to BetMGM’s retail book at Nationals Park in Washington, the Chase Field book boasts more than double the crowd capacity (at 400), and more than five times the square footage, with nine walk-up betting windows and 13 self-serve kiosks.

The Minnesota Twins have toured the book in advance of building their own, and the Chicago Cubs will have a DraftKings-backed venue in place next season.

“It’s amazing, I stop by here before every game now … it’s just sad it took this long to bring sports betting to life,” season ticket holder Pierre Hill said. “It’s very convenient to come out early, get in a couple bets and have some food.

“Betting adds a lot to the game. There’s a lot more reason to pay to attention to it instead of just walking around or sitting there drinking beers.”

A complicated history

Unlike the NBA, MLB is clinging to a remnant of its longtime discomfort with betting.

A retail sportsbook is permitted to exist on stadium property, but it cannot be located inside the gates. Unlike the back-and-forth betting of fans watching the Suns’ game, there is no in-and-out activity permitted at Chase Field.

But online betting apps work just fine while seated.

Hall contends the nation’s growing access to legalized sports betting contributed to MLB.TV’s reported record viewership into May, ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball increased ratings and Fox’s increased baseball coverage.

“Even if the score’s 8-0, you’re sitting there going, ‘Hmm, I can place a bet on this next at-bat, this next inning’ … And I’m convinced the overall engagement will be a shot in the arm, for sure,” Hall said. “It’s going to help our fan interest, our demographics and our overall attendance, as well. Regardless of the score, regardless of who you’re a fan of, you’re now part of the game, and you’ll want to go to more games.”

Caution remains, though.

Hall praised Caesars’ attention to responsible sports gambling ads and says he’s put players and staff through a battery of training to ensure they understand such activity remains a cardinal sin.

Even so, Hall admitted he nearly had a betting misstep last fall while mulling a Caesars “Southern California” themed parlay offering that would have had the user bet on the Rams, Chargers, Lakers and Dodgers to win.

“I was like, ‘Oh, that’s a baseball bet. That’s a Dodgers bet. I can’t do that,’” Hall said. “I feel confident the players and the front office and I know not to cross that line. No one wants to jeopardize their playing or front-office career by a bet. After all our training, I’m confident our people know the rules and will abide by them, especially the players.

“There’s no chance they’re going to put themselves in a bad situation to jeopardize any of this.”

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Hall said betting might prove an impetus for MLB to adopt balls-and-strikes replay challenges.

“I could see the automated zone being a part of our game really soon,” he said. “The umpires would still be on the field. One of the (minor-league) trials is to make it like the tennis system. The batter or catcher can ask to check the call – ‘Ooh, you missed that one’ – and the manager can check it real quick to reverse it or leave it.”

From the comfort of the sportsbook’s exclusive Champions Club Room that overlooks fans betting, dining and ordering a drink, Hall absorbed the satisfaction of feeling he’d advanced the game for his team’s fans.

“It’s euphoria, this feels just like a giant win,” he said. “The sense of accomplishment … this is like the first of its kind, and I don’t know if it’s ever going to be duplicated.”

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Diamondbacks’ sportsbook stands as ladder to baseball-betting merger

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