Throwback Sportsbook Group Has Been Granted Approval by the Nevada Gaming Control Board

A “dream team” of oddsmakers and sportsbook industry types has banded together to form Boomer’s Sportsbook. The group is poised to launch its retail and digital operation in Nevada as soon as next month.

Prepare to Launch

Every sportsbook is operated by a casino corporation in the state of Nevada, but Boomer’s Sportsbook wants to be the exception to that rule. Joe Asher, formerly an executive with William Hill US and IGT, headlines a who’s who of celebrated bookmakers and oddsmakers who have come together to form Boomer’s Sportsbook.

“We are putting the band back together with some new pieces, like the Eagles at the Sphere,” Asher said, referring to the legendary rock band. “The old guys are teaming up with younger folks.”

Assuming the regulatory process continues to go well, the Nevada Gaming Control Board has already granted several of Boomer’s Sportsbook applications; the retail side will be housed inside three casino locations, including Commercial Casino in Elko, Ellis Island in Las Vegas, and Casino Valle Verde in Henderson.

Those properties are just the start for the upstart retail sportsbook, as company executives have stated they are in active discussions with other casinos and hope to have 10 Nevada locations within the first year of operation.

“We think there is room in the market for an independent operator … someone casinos can partner with for sports betting, but who is not a competitor to their core business,” Asher said during the regulator’s meeting on Wednesday.

“We know that we have a lot of work to do, but I feel good about where we are and look forward to getting Boomer’s open for business,” he said.

Old School Bookies

Joining Joe Asher in his new venture will be Nick Bogdanovich, an SBC Sports Betting Hall of Fame inductee who will be the head of trading for Boomer’s. Dave Grolman will serve as senior vice president of sportsbook and customer support operations, while A.G. Burnett, former chair of the GCB and current gaming attorney with the McDonald Carano law firm, will be the chief of compliance for the company.

Asher described the group he has formed as “without question, the most talented team ever assembled for a venture like this in the state of Nevada.”

IGT’s PlaySports platform and hardware has been chosen to run Boomer’s Sportsbook, which may eventually integrate parimutuel wagering depending on how things go.

A Dog, a Horse, and a Throwback Vibe Built Boomer’s

Asked how the name was chosen for the new venture, Ash explained it was named after a dog whose name was derived from a winning harness-racing horse. But the name is a bit of a double entendre, as the word “boomer” when used colloquially evokes a generation born between 1946 and 1964 and whose moniker indicates the onset of the baby boom after World War II.

In this case, it speaks to a generation who took wagers without the assistance of computers and whose craft was more art than science. Boomer’s Sportsbook seems to acknowledge this generation by promising to accept large wagers where others may not.

“Boomer’s will build a statewide footprint,” Asher said. “In some places, there isn’t much choice for consumers. In Elko, the only sportsbooks are William Hill. It will be good for customers to have another option.”