‘This is everything to me’: DraftKings, Foxwoods team up for one of a kind sports betting experience

The DraftKings Sportsbook at Foxwoods had everything needed to make a sports fan feel at home.

Even before the official grand opening ceremony got underway Wednesday afternoon.

Located right in the middle of the Great Cedar Casino at Foxwoods, the DraftKings Sportsbook was littered with representation of all sports and leagues. From the Patriots to the Buccaneers to the New York Giants, Vegas Golden Knights, San Francisco 49ers, and Boston Celtics, the jerseys, hats, and hoodies of teams across all leagues served as the reminder of the possibilities and options that come at the location primed to catapult Connecticut's jump into legalized sports betting.

"This is something extremely special for us and it was a very challenging book to open," Foxwoods Resort Casino president and CEO Jason Guyot said. "It's a sportsbook, it's a racebook, it's a restaurant, and so many other things to our guests.

"As we went through the development process, just looking at where the right location was, we wanted it center property. We wanted it to be the highlight of the resort as we go through this next phase of the evolution of Foxwoods, now with sports betting and iGaming here live in Connecticut, and after about a month and a half of two months of very happy with the initial results, and we're looking forward to having that grow."

"This is everything to me," former NBA center and 2008 NBA champion Kendrick Perkins, on hand for the event and a Celtics bettor by the end of the conference, said. "This is good for my soul. They got more TVs than Best Buy here."

A 12,000 square foot, two-floor experience, the visual of The DraftKings Sportsbook is headlined by a 50-by-30 foot LED screen on the first floor bar side. Supported by eight smaller televisions below it, the gigantic can display four screens at once or serve as a truly humongous screen for those all-eyes-here sporting events.

For Foxwoods, it's a bit like putting a stadium in the middle of their resort.

"Really, there's not going to be an experience like it," Guyot, wearing a Rob Gronkowski jersey and beginning his press conference with a 'Gronk Spike' that nearly sent a football to the second deck of the bar, offered. "It's almost having a big screen from a stadium in a 12,000-square foot bar. It's unbelievable."

The stadium feel comes with both standing room and seats available to patrons as well.

In addition to about 250 tables, the DraftKings Sportsbook at Foxwoods will feature plenty of standing room options, and with bets able to be made using the DraftKings Sportsbook mobile app, at 16 kiosks within the DraftKings Sportsbook, live betting windows at the back of the bar, and over 40 kiosks in total at the resort.

Bettors won't have to fret about outdated odds, either, with some of the TVs on location running constant lines and updates.

The DraftKings experience at Foxwoods will also feature VIP areas both the downstairs and upstairs, and comes with an eclectic menu of top-notch stadium selections, 12 beers on draft, and countless bottle options.

"The flavor is a kind of bar style with an upscale bar and really signature burgers," Guyot explained. "[Burgers] are one of the best items on the menu, but salads, we have apps, [and] we even have the hotdog selection. We're trying to have a little bit fun, do a little bit different, but our culinary staff have done an amazing job."

(If you're looking for potential favorites, the chefs hit a home run with the deep-fried BBQ ribs and the flavorful turkey-apple-cheddar panini, as well the 'brownie overload' on the dessert menu.)

Located less than two hours from Boston and three hours from New York City, there's no secret that its location is one that will be driven by a rabid sports market looking to put more than their rooting interests on the line when it comes to their teams.

"You know, when we take a look at how passionate sports fans are in the Northeast, you couldn't have asked for a better location," Guyot acknowledged. "And not even for locations just regionally, but also the location within the resort. Easy access to come in and out right next to the heart of the entry of the resort and that just makes it easy for everyone to come enjoy."

With revenue levels close to pre-pandemic levels, the DraftKings and Foxwoods partnership is one that all sides are hoping will only grow from here, and with both sides looking to play the long game in the world of sports betting.

"It's a long game and we're barely in the first inning," Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation chairman Rodney Butler said. "We're just going to keep making the product even better for the consumers of the state of Connecticut and integrating it with this today here on property.

"It's just going to continue to build on that ecosystem that we've created."

But it's one that should make sports fans feel right at home from the first inning to the final out.

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