Arkansas is joining the growing ranks of legal online sports betting states but will be the first set to go live without any major national customer-facing brands. Saracen Casino Resort Chief Market Officer Carlton Saffa spoke with Wagers.com about the BetSaracen sportsbook app, the state’s regulatory structure and what comes next for Arkansas sports betting.
Establishing an online sportsbook is never simple, even when partnered with a national brand. What has it been like essentially building one from the ground up?
“We wanted to build something that could compete with the national brands. And when I say compete, you know, either head-to-head or just the quality you might expect if you’ve used one of the national platforms in another state. And so we began about 18 months ago looking at this process. And I can’t tell you how many vendor interviews we’ve had between RFPs, RFIs, and then just solicitations. I think we’ve just about burned up Zoom talking to everyone in the world in this business. It’s involved trips to Las Vegas to visit with data providers and marketing guys. If there are sports companies out there that we haven’t visited with, I apologize, because I felt like we talked to them all.”
BetSaracen is working with a wide range of leading gaming tech, financial, data and other providers. What are some notable company partners for the Bet Saracen app?
“We’ve selected a real who’s who of companies assisting us out with this from platform development to lines, to promotions, to even using a partner in the customer service space who is specialized in this area so that you’ll get, Grade A customer service in the app chat, email, phone support and the like.”
“I’m tickled pink to tell you that we partnered with Amelco. Amelco’s work in Florida was incredible and we hired them to build our app. They’re just first-rate. And the product it’s everything I had hoped for and more. We’ll also use Sportradar for lines and PayNearMe for payment processing, which is a huge pickup with their network of retail locations plus their ability to onboard.”
Where are you in the launch process and when may bettors expect to be able to start wagering?
“It’s verification of some payment processing stuff, crossing the T’s, dotting the I’s. And even last week I’ve had some back and forth with Amelco about the final steps for uploading the app onto the Apple and Google stores. So everything on our end is done. Gaming Laboratories International (GLI) also has to give its blessing to everything you do. And I am anxiously watching my email inbox for the thumbs up from GLI on our payment processing, identity verification and the high sign from Visa for that as well. But from our end, we’re done; I’m on Google, Apple and Visa’s timelines right now. And we expect that to be any day.”
Arkansas is the first state to require third-party sportsbook operators to split 51 percent of revenues with a partner casino. National operators including DraftKings, FanDuel and BetMGM, which typically negotiate around 5 to 15 percent revenue splits with partners, opposed this requirement and seem unlikely to enter the state, at least for the foreseeable future. You and officials from Arkansas’ other two open gaming facilities (Oaklawn and Southland) supported it. Walk us through your rationale behind backing the regulatory structure.
“When we passed casino gaming in Arkansas with Amendment 100 (in 2018), the people of Arkansas, with an initiated act and overwhelming vote at the ballot said, ‘we think we should have four casinos in Arkansas. And we think these casinos should do the following things, be in the sports betting business, be in the cards, business, be in the slots business, et cetera, et cetera.’ But what they did was they created a competitive marketplace, a limited license, competitive marketplace at four licenses, three of which are open and live. One of them is one heck of drama in all it’s still going on. So in the spirit of that amendment, we believe that the people said the casinos are the ones booking the bets, and they’re the only ones that can book the bet.”
“And we felt very strongly that what that meant was that the casinos should have the most skin in the game. And I used the word skin a little cautiously because to us sports betters, that means something else. But when I say skin in the game, I’m not talking about multiple skins, I’m talking about the majority position and the profit of it. In other words, certainly, you could delegate this off to a vendor. The argument that we made and what I firmly believe though, is that even if we can elect to do business with a national vendor or decide not to do business with the national vendor, it is so important that the Arkansas entity maintain a majority position in bets booked under its license, that this goes beyond a private sector business decision. And as I said to the racing commission, I believe what Saracen should do is my decision. What Oaklawn should do is Oaklawn’s decision. What Southland should do is Southland’s decision. But this matter of keeping a majority position, that the casinos must maintain a majority position in their sportsbooks.”
There were legal concerns about this requirement raised by the sportsbook operators but state officials and lawmakers are confident it comports with all necessary laws. Explain some of the legal reasoning behind the structure.
“There are a couple of questions asked about the private sector dictating contracts. We pointed out in a few instances where we already do this in our rules with casino wagering. And then a couple of places in life where this is normal, like the limitations on legal fees, whether you love them or hate them that’s normal, that’s dictating a private sector, contract pharmacy, benefits management, a bunch of other wonky stuff. And while it may be legal to hand your license over to a national brand and say, ‘here do this for me, and when you’re done send me a percentage’ we don’t believe that’s in the spirit of what folks wanted.”
What is your relationship like with the national sportsbook brands?
“The national operators are good guys. We talked to all of them. I mentioned earlier, I think we talked to every sports betting company there was. And, in that line, we talked to a lot of the big boys on Zoom because initially, we had a significant interest in doing business with these national operators. They bring a lot to the table. It certainly would’ve been easier to do business with them rather than go through this process of Easter egg hunting the absolute best subcontractors we could find globally.”
Arkansas law permits Saracen, Oaklawn and Southland as well as the fourth facility set for Pope County to have two online sportsbook licenses apiece. Would you consider using your second skin on a national brand?
“We will never say never, but for the second skin available to each casino, to access it, you need to go to the racing commission and make your case for why it is necessary. Saracen believed one skin per property was sufficient that it would get the job done. And just like we focus all of our attention on our one poker room to provide a great experience. We wanted to focus all of our attention on one app to provide a great experience. And, and that’s what we intend to do. But you never say never in business; always and never are very dangerous.”
For more of our interview with Carlton Saffa check out the latest edition of the Wagers Wonks podcast.
