Spokane Tribe Casino opens its sportsbook

Spokane area residents looking to wager on the Super Bowl are in luck.

The Spokane Tribe Casino opened Caesars Sportsbook at its property Thursday, allowing patrons to place bets on a variety of sporting events and competitions.

“We are fortunate enough to be open on what is going to be the busiest (sports betting) day, which is the Super Bowl,” said Javier De La Rosa, general manager of the Spokane Tribe Casino. “We expect to be busy the next four days with a new type of clientele – the sports bettors.”

The casino’s sportsbook is operated in partnership with Las Vegas-based Caesars Entertainment Inc.

Financial terms of the partnership were not disclosed.

Caesars Sportsbook at the Spokane Tribe Casino offers a live-betting counter and self-service betting kiosks, in addition to the Grill, a quick-service restaurant that opened about two months ago.

The Spokane Tribe chose to partner with Caesars Entertainment to bring a sportsbook to the region based on the entertainment company’s extensive experience with operating casinos, De La Rosa said.

Caesars Entertainment operates more than 50 casinos nationwide.

“We wanted to be part of a larger partnership in the sports betting world,” De La Rosa said.

The Kalispel and Spokane tribes were granted federal approval in September to allow sports betting on tribal grounds.

Northern Quest Resort & Casino opened its Turf Club Sports Book in December in partnership with London-based IGT.

Caesars Sportsbook is part of the Spokane Tribe Casino’s more than $30 million expansion unveiled in October.

The expansion doubled the size of the casino’s floor to more than 40,000 square feet of additional gaming space. It also brought a larger nonsmoking gaming area and dedicated poker room.

It’s too soon to tell how much revenue the expansion has generated for the Tribe, but there has been a noticeable increase in visitors, De La Rosa said.

The expansion is the second phase of the Spokane Tribe’s $400 million economic development plan that calls for a hotel, convention center, dining, retail stores, entertainment center and a cultural center on the 145-acre site on U.S. Highway 2.

“As we look toward the completion of our first phase of expansion, this partnership is an important component for us as a growing casino,” Carol Evans, chairwoman of the Spokane Tribe, said in a statement.

Caesars Sportsbook is also opening at Muckleshoot Casino in Auburn and Chewelah Casino, which is the Spokane Tribe Casino’s sister property.

Chewelah Casino is holding a ribbon cutting ceremony Friday at 1 p.m. for its new sportsbook, featuring an appearance by former NBA and Gonzaga University basketball player Rob Sacre.

“Partnering with three tremendous casinos for our expansion into Washington state is a big moment for Caesars Sportsbook,” Eric Hession, co-president of Caesars Digital, said in a statement.