CLEVELAND, Ohio (92.3 The Fan) – With sports betting legalized in the state of Ohio, the Cleveland Guardians plan to open their own sports book later this summer.
Because Major League Baseball prohibits sports book windows within the gates of its ballparks, but does allow mobile betting where legal, BetFanatics will open a sports book outside the right center field gate where the old New Era shop was located off East Ninth Street.
“We’re projecting middle of the season for that to be up and running,” Curtis Danburg, Guardians vice president of communications and community impact told 92.3 The Fan Thursday as the team’s annual ‘What’s new at Progressive Field’ event. “So obviously we have the mobile piece with Bet 365 up and running, but the in-person retail piece will be middle of the season.”
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Bet 365 was named the team’s official mobile sports betting partner.
In January, the Cleveland Cavaliers opened a two-floor Caesars sports book in the atrium of Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse.
Earlier this week NFL owners approved the operation of sports books inside NFL stadiums on game days. The Browns are exploring their options for the upcoming 2023 season at FirstEnergy Stadium.
The Guardians are coming off their 11th American League Central Division title since 1995 and the signing of All-Star infielders Jose Ramirez and Andres Gimenez the last two springs to long-term contracts which has brought a positive response from fans who buy tickets.
“We went up to just a few days before opening day last year to sell out and we were about three weeks out, and we were willing to announce our sellout,” Danburg said. “I think that's showing demand and interest, and again, everybody's waiting to see what the weather holds [early in the season].”
The Guardians, who are offering tickets for $20 or less for 95% of their home games this season, launched a $49 per month ‘Ballpark Pass’ subscription for standing room only tickets and they’ve already sold out for April.
“It probably exceeded our expectations. I mean, to sell out of our limited quantity in a week plus I think it was eight days we sold out, blew us away,” Danburg said. “You can make a reservation be on the waiting list for May, June, July as we move forward.”
More passes for May and the remainder of the season will become available April 26.
The team unveiled 40 promotional dates for the upcoming home schedule Thursday including Gimenez, Steven Kwan and Emmanuel Clase bobbleheads; a mystery gold glove day on May 13 for the first 10,000 fans commemorating gold gloves won by Shane Bieber, Andres Gimenez, Steven Kwan and Myles Straw last season; player replica jersey giveaways and free shirt Friday’s.
Kids fun days return on Sundays throughout the season along with a dozen fireworks nights, including two Rock ‘n Blast events August 4 and 5.
The Guardians special ticket packages that include special promotional giveaways this season include a pair of Peanuts – Lucy and Linus – bobbleheads, eight commemorative hat games featuring Ohio colleges and universities, and other souvenirs.
“It's about combining a ticket with a unique promotional item and we've had a lot of success with that,” Danburg said. “We started with Snoopy and we have the Charlie Brown [bobble]. You can get the college caps tied with your ticket- Baldwin Wallace and Youngstown State and Ohio University [among them]. So again, it's just another product that we've seen a lot of success in our fans really enjoying.”
There are a multitude of menu upgrades for the upcoming season including FatHeads pepper jack bites, Melt’s buffalo chicken mac and cheese bowl, hot honey chicken tenders from Fat Rooster and Throwin’ Smoke’s mac and cheese brisket among many others throughout the ballpark.
The Guardians also announced that half of the concession stands in the park will be cashless as will most of the in-seat vendors. Vendors who patrol the seats that still accept cash will be dressed in green.