Looking to put a new twist on the traditional sportsbook, The Linq has placed technology front and center, giving fans the ability to conveniently place bets, order food and drinks, and play games on tablet computers.
The Book, a 6,000-square-foot betting parlor, features a full bar, slot machines, self-serve beer taps, and exclusive Fan Caves with televisions and video games. It opened Thursday and is open 9 a.m. to midnight daily.
Each party gets a tablet, which serves as the focal point of the experience. Patrons can order food and drinks from any Linq restaurant, control televisions, play augmented-reality games and bet live sports via the Caesars mobile app.
They can also take part in interactive promotions to win prizes such as team jerseys.
“Vegas has been known for large-scale sportsbooks where everyone sits in a row and everyone is watching the game facing one way,” said Christian Stuart, executive vice president of gaming and interactive entertainment for Caesars Entertainment, which owns the Linq. “This is a totally different take. It’s much more communal and social.”
Billed as rentable living rooms, 12 Fan Caves offer sofa seating with televisions that can show up to six games at once. The caves also include Xbox One systems so people can play video games.
The caves cost about $500 to rent, including food and beverage minimums, said Matthew Kengay, director of strategic development enterprise gaming for Caesars. (Fan Caves can be reserved by calling 702-370-7736.)
Although there is a full bar with countertop gaming, customers don’t have to wait for a bartender to fill their glasses. The Book has a 24-tap, self-serve beer wall with a lineup of brews featuring best-sellers and seasonal choices.
And fitting with the high-tech theme, drink coasters and napkins are printed with QR codes that can be scanned with a phone or tablet to open augmented-reality games.
For those looking for a quick bite, a full-sized food truck, Sticky Chicken, has been incorporated into the space, offering 10 chicken wing combinations and sandwiches.
“That’s from millennial research,” Kengay said. “Every time we asked a millennial if they could design food and beverage in a casino, every one of them unprompted said to add a food truck in the plan.”
With sports betting now legal nationwide, the Linq sportsbook will serve as a sort of lab to test new concepts and features, Stuart said.
“If we do something great and it’s a good concept, we can deploy it elsewhere and use it within our network,” he said.