Cincinnati’s Great American Ball Park to Lose BetMGM Sportsbook

A general view of Great American Ball Park prior to a game between the Cincinnati Reds and St. Louis Cardinals in Cincinnati, Ohio. Photo by Emilee Chinn/Getty Images via AFP.

BetMGM is making a strategic shift with its sportsbook located at Great American Ball Park, the home of the Cincinnati Reds. Following their designation as the Official Betting Partner of the MLB team last autumn, BetMGM opened a retail sportsbook at the Reds’ stadium on Jan. 1 with the goal of leveraging their partnership to create a thriving sports betting hub.

The Ohio sports betting provider’s experiment was unsuccessful, but they will be opening a new BetMGM sportsbook in downtown Cincinnati after the Cincinnati Reds season ends. The new location will include the Nation Kitchen & Bar restaurant, an all-ages restaurant aimed at attracting more customers to the struggling sports betting business.

Only patrons 21 years old and above will have access to the sportsbook.

Matt Prevost, BetMGM’s chief revenue officer, expressed excitement about the expansion of BetMGM’s offerings in Ohio. He mentioned that partnering with the Reds and Nation Kitchen & Bar has allowed them to create a top-tier entertainment venue that they are eager to see filled with fans.

Reasons for the move

The change in location for BetMGM Ohio was primarily due to the lack of traffic and interest in the product at Great American Ball Park. Despite launching in Ohio on Jan. 1 along with other sportsbooks in the state, BetMGM struggled to attract users in the competitive Ohio sports betting market.

Based on monthly statistics, BetMGM is currently ranked as the least successful retail sportsbook out of 14 in the market. BetMGM Ohio is the only sportsbook in the state that has not yet turned a profit, with a total handle of $604,000 and a loss of $8,000 between January and April.

Remember that the top Ohio sports betting apps have generated over $1 billion in revenue for providers within just five months of being in operation.

BetMGM has had minimal impact on the impressive numbers seen in Ohio’s legal sports betting market, but it still has the potential to secure a top-three ranking among the best sportsbooks in the country.

Following a college baseball betting scandal at the University of Alabama, BetMGM at the Great American Ball Park required a reset in the Ohio market for online sports betting sites due to the unwanted attention brought to the brand.

Even though BetMGM appeared to take appropriate actions in response to the betting scandal, negative publicity continued to plague the company in the Ohio market.

The new location

BetMGM Underscoreg is relocating to The Banks in Cincinnati, near the baseball facility, to provide a more mixed-use experience for both the sportsbook and restaurant. The new location at Second Street and Joe Nuxhall Way, previously occupied by Galla Park, will offer a convenient and exciting destination for sports fans.

Doug Healy, Reds Chief Financial Officer, stated that the partnership between BetMGM and Nation Kitchen & Bar will create an exciting new destination in our bustling downtown. This collaboration will combine the top-notch food service from one of Cincinnati’s finest eateries with the premier sports gaming experience offered by BetMGM.

The BetMGM Underscoreg at Great American Ball Park will remain open until autumn and is projected to swiftly relocate to a new location in order to capitalize on the upcoming NFL betting season in Ohio, which is anticipated to be highly lucrative.

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Written By:
Perry Sandra

Perry Sandra and betting go hand-in-hand. Both are characterized by “odds”. Dave fancies himself as one of the most dedicated sports and pop-culture junkies around, to the chagrin of his family and friends. Following sports for 50 years and writing about it for 20, Dave hasn’t found a sport yet that can’t contribute to 2-3 straight hours of couch time. That search remains ongoing. As a good old Canadian boy, hockey is in Dave’s heart, as is curling sadly. But evolution is a real thing and that’s why football, baseball, and just about every sport on the planet has become a passion. Dave isn’t afraid to kill some time obsessing over politics or the far-too-frequent awards shows the consume the airwaves.