Chris Boline
When it comes to the popularity of sports betting in Washington state, things truly continue to be on the rise. Since things first opened, we have seen more and more casinos welcome sportsbooks and kiosks for people to take advantage of. Now, even more good news is in for people in the state, as Washington now has 10 legal in-person sportsbooks for people to visit whenever they feel like placing a bet.
Just recently, the ilani Casino located in Ridgefield, Wash., opened its proverbial sports betting doors for people in the Tri-Cities to enjoy. While most of the sports betting attention in Washington is in the Seattle area, the Tri-Cities and eastern Washington is also big when it comes to sports. College football is big in eastern Washington, with people always checking the NCAAF betting odds for teams like the Washington State Cougars and Eastern Washington Eagles.
This is no question the good folks over at the ilani Casino are fully aware of, which is why they’re excited to now offer sports betting. With the casino now moving forward with their plans, it’s obviously going to bring in a ton of people to their location. Not only that, but this is also going to help people in the area make their bets. Now, they won’t have to travel far and wide to make wagers.
“This new offering is another exciting amenity for our guests, as well as an opportunity to draw in new visitors from the region and beyond,” ilani President and General Manager Kara Fox-LaRose said in a recent interview. “We expect this feature will generate greater economic revenue for the region as well as cultural opportunities as a wider audience is introduced to ilani and the Cowlitz people.”
People can bet on sports at 10 casinos in Washington state, including the one in Ridgefield. https://t.co/62q8cnJ8lL
— The Daily News (@the_daily_news) December 4, 2022
Washington sports betting continues to bring in impressive betting numbers
The good news for the Ilani Casino is that Washington sports betting continues to bring in impressive betting numbers. Across the state, for the 10 casinos in sports betting business, there’s been an uptick in betting. This past month alone, the results of the World Cup have been great to see. While the official numbers haven’t been released yet, several casinos have reported that they’ve been packed for games and bets have been flying across the board.
This makes sense for Washington, as there’s a ton of soccer fandom in the state. With the Seattle Sounders having so much success over the years, plus the Portland Timbers nearby in Oregon, the love for the sport has never been this high. With the United States playing so well in the World Cup – despite being eliminated by the Netherlands in the Round of 16 – it let to more and more people making their way to nearby casinos.
And while watching the games, this of course meant that they checked out the best odds through the best World Cup betting sites and then made in-person wagers as the spots they visited. This is surely going to continue the rest of the tournament, as the quarterfinals are coming this weekend. Although the USA is no longer in it, futures World Cup bets are coming in, with Brazil and Argentina receiving plenty of betting support from Washingtonians.
It will be interesting to see the final results of World Cup betting, but you can fully count on things being head-turning. All of that success is only going to be promising for the ilani Casino, as they have full belief that their sportsbook and betting kiosks will prove to be successful. Once baseball season arrives too, you know that people will be ready to go all-in on betting the Seattle Mariners, a club which made the postseason this past campaign for the first time since 2001.
Football betting will be huge for the ilani Casino in Ridgefield
Outside of World Cup action, there’s no question that football betting will be huge for the ilani Casino in Ridgefield moving forward. Why? It’s simple, whether it be in Seattle, the Tri-Cities or the southern part of the state, the support for the NFL’s Seahawks is through the roof all over the state. People are always going to be checking the NFL betting odds on a consistent basis to see what the oddsmakers think about the Seahawks each Sunday during the regular season.
As things stand, the Seahawks are in the hunt to make the postseason. While they don’t have super high Super Bowl betting odds, this team still has what it takes to surprise some people in the playoffs if they’re able to make it in. If that does happen, then there’s going to be a ton of wagers made on this team led by Pete Carroll. Look for Geno Smith to keep playing well too in this case.
All in all, the timing for the ilani Casino to debut sports betting was perfect. Not only is the World Cup bringing in a lot of attention, but the football season is going to provide a lot of new and returning visitors as well. We’ll see how the casino does in its first few months, but expectations surely will be high.
The @dkm14 game winner called by the one and only Steve Raible! #ProBowlVote pic.twitter.com/4Izv3SFsCC
— Seattle Seahawks (@Seahawks) December 6, 2022
