Caesars Entertainment has officially opened its Caesars Windsor full-service sportsbook, marking the first sportsbook of its kind in Ontario. 

Located in front of the Legends Sports Bar within the Caesars Windsor casino resort, the sportsbook allows players to watch sports, wager on their favorite teams in a site with ‘large-screen TVs, state-of-the-art sound, dedicated seating for unparalleled views, and fan-favorite menu items’. 

It is a move that stakeholders hope will make Caesars Windsor able to keep up and compete with its US counterparts, with Canadian casinos not fully recovering from the pandemic in the same way as south of the border. 

Speaking with CBC Canada on opening day, Windsor West MP Brian Masse said: “It’s definitely going to help. There’s no way that we could compete with the United States having less products and services.

“This ultimately brings them back into this sphere of competition. And thankfully with the lower dollar, perhaps it gives us an opportunity to renew some of the advantages that we have for tourism.”

Sports betting kiosks will be available 24/7 on site, whilst the main sportsbook will be open from 10-12 AM each day offering food and beverages during those hours. 

The project has been praised for its work to boost the region’s economy and increase the number of local jobs. 

Asked about jobs at the newly opened sportsbook, the casino’s CEO, Kevin Lofret, told CBC: “There’s a couple of dozen working in the facility itself, but really what it does is it drives traffic into the building, so you’re going to see more employment of whether it be cocktail servers, bartenders, dealers, things like that because it’s an amenity that draws people in.” 

“They might come in, place a bet, watch a game, but then they’ll go visit the gaming floor or restaurant.”