LAS VEGAS — I connected with Derek Stevens a few days after Memorial Day at LondonHouse on North Michigan Avenue. “Lookin’ out over this beautiful Chicago skyline right now,” he said.
The Circa owner had just tossed a ceremonial first pitch — a strike — at an Athletics game in West Sacramento, California, and he was visiting Chicago to conduct marketing business with the Cubs and Marquee Sports Network at Wrigley Field.
I aimed to discuss with Stevens the A’s maybe wearing the Circa Sports logo in -Vegas, BetBash V and guaranteeing $22.5 million in his three football contests — but constant Illinois tax hikes took priority.
In 2020, Illinois implemented legal sports wagering at a flat 15% operators’ tax rate. Last summer, Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker boosted that to 20%, with increments up to 40%.
Legislators clawed in for more flesh last weekend with a per-bet tax of 25 to 50 cents.
Why would Circa Sports, Caesars, DraftKings and others do business in a place with such shifting and unfriendly conditions?
“Changing the rules doesn’t make everyone all that happy,” Stevens said. “But the reality is when you raise taxes, you create alternate environments to flourish.
“With what’s taken place with sweepstakes and now exchanges [paying no tax], something has to happen with the legal sports operators. Why should legal operators pay anything in tax unless we’ve got support?”
How about zero, guv’nor?
Basically, an exchange connects someone backing Team A to bet against someone who likes Team B. Sweepstakes require no upfront costs to participate, but prizes can still be redeemed.
A ban on sweepstakes is in the state’s Senate executive committee.
“These exchanges and sweepstakes are doing an end-around,” Stevens said. “[They’re] simply sports gambling. There should be no exemption. These companies pay nothing in tax, and they’re paying nothing in problem gambling.
“Ironic, with all the problem-gaming discussions, that these are the groups that are causing the problems.”
“Alternate environments” welcoming constant Prairie State interference, taxes that are passed on to customers in myriad ways, include illegal bookies, who have run savvy Chicagoland activities for decades, and offshore outlets.
States have issued cease-and-desist orders to shutter such business in foreign lands. However, experts say they’re chameleons, able to easily and swiftly operate under other guises.
Stevens concluded that a fork in the road is imminent.
Take note, Pritzker.
“The states will lose all their tax revenue because the licensed operators will just make a shift,” Stevens said. “There has to be equity. Yeah, something has to give. Why would licensed sports operators bear 100% of the tax burden?
“It isn’t going to happen in the long run. States have to figure out, do you want some of the tax revenue or not? To go down the other path, it will go to zero.”
Courting the A’s
Stevens, 57, is a Michigander who, with brother (and silent partner) Greg, bought the Golden Gate in 2008. They bought more downtown Vegas property and opened the nearly 500-foot-tall gleaming-bronze Circa in 2020.
Circa Sports is their sportsbook, which has several satellites in the state and does business in Iowa, Kentucky, Colorado and, for now, Illinois.
The Golden Knights and Blackhawks wear the Circa Sports logo on their sweaters, and Stevens told me extensive talks with his hometown Red Wings did not result in a third NHL squad wearing it.
Signage for Circa Swim, the property’s play area of six pools and humongous video screen, flashes behind home plate for the ninth inning of Padres games in San Diego and A’s games in West Sacramento.
The Athletics land in Vegas in 2028, in a new dome where the Tropicana once stood, and Stevens is formulating extensive promotional plans with the franchise.
Perhaps the A’s will wear the Circa Sports logo on their sleeves? Currently, the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority (LVCVA) has a deal with the team to wear its emblem through ’27.
“The reality is, it’s too early,” Stevens said. “They could have come up with a deal right now, if they wanted to; we could have come up with a deal. I think [the LVCVA] would have the first rights to it.
“The best way to answer it, we’re a very sports-oriented casino and company, and we absolutely like to support the home teams, whatever that might be.”
Bigger, better
Circa’s grand ballroom is the climactic event for BetBash, which will stage its fifth iteration Aug. 12-15 on the property.
That Friday night, a black-tie dinner features the latest inductees to the Sports Gambling Hall of Fame, whose home is a Circa sportsbook nook.
Gadoon “Spanky” Kyrollos hatched the idea, a one-night event in Jersey City, and Stevens partnered with him to bring it west in 2022. That dinner can last four hours, and every second is to be relished.
Spanky told me last year’s model — with golf and poker tournaments, assorted panels, seminars and networking — struck the perfect chord. He dubbed it “the best sports-gambling conference in the world.”
“We feel we have the right formula, and we’re sticking with it,” he said. “We are proud of how far we’ve come; five open bars, 20-plus educational seminars, watch parties, a late-night scavenger hunt, speed networking.
“However, what makes BetBash so special is the people. Sports-betting enthusiasts from all around the world flock to Las Vegas to be better bettors. Without the people and enthusiasm, BetBash would cease to exist.”
Contest heaven
I asked Stevens about the $22.5 million in guarantees he’s offering in three NFL contests, and he thought of 2023.
“We were guaranteeing $8 million [in Circa Survivor], and I didn’t know if we could get there,” he said. “It got to $9.2 million. That gave us the confidence to take ‘last year’s actual’ and boost it a little bit last year to $10 million.
“To get to double digits, it would have been crazy to think … and it ended up with $14.2 million in entries. Blew it away. I never would have dreamed we’d be guaranteeing $15 million.”
Survivor contestants select a team to win outright; if it does, he/she advances but can’t use that squad again. Circa Million VII involves selecting five games per week against the spread, with a $6 million guarantee.
Buy-in for both is $1,000, and multiple entries are allowed.
The new Grandissimo, a high-price survivor offspring with a $100,000 buy-in, has a $1.5 million guarantee. Patron Ian Ritchie signed up within an hour of that window first opening two weeks ago.
One woman told Stevens that she long dreaded becoming a football widow every fall. Then her husband joined a Circa contest, included her, people started visiting the house with food and it became a block party.
She told Stevens, “You’ve saved our marriage, saved our family.”
Stevens paused.
“[People] do it in groups, everyone in the family, kids and parents, and it could be neighbors, buddies, everyone on your block,” he said. “Circa Survivor [brings] a lot of people together. That’s pretty awesome.”