Puerto Rico Gaming Commission OKs sports betting at Casino Metro
The Puerto Rico Gaming Commission authorized the second sports betting operation on the island, at the Casino Metro at the Sheraton Hotel Convention District in San Juan, the agency’s interim director Jaime Rivera-Emmanuelli said.
Prior to Casino Metro, the Gaming Commission granted a license to Casino del Mar, at La Concha Renaissance Resort in Condado, which opened last week as the BetMGM Sports Book Lounge, as News is my Business reported.
“The growth of the [sports] betting industry, which currently is carried out in person from two casinos, benefits the tourism industry and contributes to the island’s economic activity, to the extent that it represents an additional entertainment alternative that strengthens the tourism offer,” Rivera Emmanuelli said.
“Our responsibility is to ensure that bets are placed in a regulated and supervised manner and that gaming centers are safe and of excellence. This way, with each company that the Commission evaluates and authorizes to offer these new game modalities, jobs and income are generated for [government] coffers.”
Casino Metro General Manager Ismael Vega, meanwhile, told News is my Business that “We’ll inaugurate our sports betting operation today, and we do so on the right foot, hand-in hand with a giant of the casino and sports betting industry [Caesars Entertainment].”
He said Casino Metro has invested some $2 million in the new sports betting room.
Meanwhile, Gaming Commission’s Sports Betting Bureau Director Eric de la Cruz said Casino Metro complied with the requirements and internal controls required by law and regulations, which cover the aspects of security, segregation of employee duties, operating rules, among others.
“It’s been a collaborative process,” he said. “The casino managers have been very cooperative. They enabled a space inside the casino for players, they have kiosks to place bets and they [set up] the ticket writer’s service.”
To place bets, the player must register and create an account with the operator, he said.
In the case of Casino Metro, the company that supplies the technology platform is Caesars Digital Puerto Rico, a subsidiary corporation of Caesars Entertainment.
De La Cruz said before the end of fiscal year 2023, the Gaming Commission hopes to be able to authorize online betting from technological devices such as cellular phones and computers.
Rivera Emmanuelli said the Gaming Commission is still evaluating several sports betting licenses requested by other entities in different areas of the industry.
