Las Vegas gaming company Circa is expanding into Northern Nevada this year. The business is set to collaborate with Olympia Gaming in a new casino at The Outlets at Legends, in Sparks. Through the agreement, sports wagering brand Circa Sports secured the opportunity to operate a sportsbook at the property, to be constructed just east of Reno.
Olympia Gaming is targeting a summer opening for its new venue at the upscale outlet center in Nevada, reports Reno Gazette-Journal. The opportunity would provide Circa, which operates the world’s largest sportsbook in its Circa Resort & Casino in Las Vegas, with a new location in which to expand.
“We are thrilled to partner with Olympia Gaming to introduce our brand to a new part of the state,” said Derek Stevens, Circa Sports CEO. “We look forward to bringing an incredible sportsbook to the property.” Terms of the deal between Circa and Olympia have not been disclosed.
The executive further said the company is excited to partner with Olympia on the new property given Legends Bay’s status as the first ground-up casino in the Reno-Sparks area to be built in 30-plus years. “We loved the opportunity to put our first Northern Nevada Circa Sports retail location in this property,” he told the cited source.
Rendering for the Legends Bay Casino in Sparks
Circa Sports was first launched in 2019 at Stevens’ Golden Gate Hotel & Casino in Vegas, although since then the company has managed to expand its retail presence to five Southern Nevada casinos, and through mobile betting to Colorado and Iowa.
But an event that changed the course of the company was the opening of the sportsbook at Circa Resort & Casino in 2020, billed as the largest sportsbook in the world. It has become an attraction by itself, driving players to the state-of-the-art casino.
The property, which upon its debut two years ago became the first new resort in Downtown Las Vegas in four decades, has ambitious plans going forward. In March, the company announced it will be debuting 35,000 square feet of meeting and convention space, “the next phase in Circa’s evolution.”
However, the new Legends Bay Casino announcement proves Circa is also willing to look at other opportunities outside of its comfort zone. The project, which is 15 years in the making, is now “close to the finish line,” according to DeCourcy Graham, Olympia Gaming’s chief operating officer.
Circa Resort & Casino's sportsbook
“We initially started the planning in 2007, so watching the designs and concepts transform, evolve and go from paper to reality is a great accomplishment for the entire team involved with the project,” he said, according to Gazette-Journal.
RED Development, which developed The Outlet at Legends, expects to see a boost in business from the casino. “Shopping centers with casinos see an immediate and ongoing increase in sales, tenant retention and tourism traffic,” said Scott Rehorn, managing partner for leasing.
Integrated into the shopping center, and adjacent to the Sparks Marina, the resort will be located off Interstate 80. It’s an area that has much growth as of late, with new homes and new apartment complexes – Stevens defines it as “a hot spot,” which promises success for this new endeavor.
While neither Circa nor Olympia have unveiled details about the upcoming sportsbook, such as how big it will be, Stevens told Las Vegas Review-Journal it will be “a pretty good-sized book,” with a grill and steakhouse nearby and a food court.
“We’re going to run the book the way we run our other books. We’re going to take big bets, and I think we’re going to provide a lot of benefits to the sports gamblers of Northern Nevada,” Stevens told the cited source.
“The timing was right,” DeCourcy Graham told Review-Journal, noting Circa was looking to expand its sportsbook offerings while Olympia was seeking a new amenity for its customers up north. “To have something different for the consumer in that market we thought was an important amenity versus having a typical leased-out sportsbook, and it gives a choice when it comes to (betting) lines and contests and all the other aspects.”
Circa has also assured the new sportsbook will have state-of-the-art features also offered at its Las Vegas amenity, and that the new venue will also have access to the Circa Sports mobile app. It is also set to have synergy with the Legends Bay Casino’s gaming offerings.
