There's no need to ask for directions when you enter Harrah's New Orleans these days, the freshly minted Caesars Sportsbook is impossible to miss.
That's due in large part to the massive, 147-foot video screen that stretches nearly the entire length of the space. It could be be set to display 100 small screens to show virtually all the action as the 2022 football season gets into full swing, or as few as two massive screens for a theater-esque viewing of the biggest games of the day.
The project has taken roughly four months to complete, but the downtown casino cut the ribbon on the brand-new Caesars Sportsbook and World Series of Poker room on Friday, Sept. 2.
"You have these renderings and you see the pictures and you're like, 'if only it can look like this.' And I've worked on so many projects over the years where it doesn't quite get there," said Samir Mowad, SVP and General Manager of Harrah's New Orleans. "And this is everything plus what we envisioned. The screen is unbelievable. The space came out great, adjacent to the poker room. It just all works."
The primary goal, Mowad said, was to get everything open in time for football season, and that was achieved just under the wire. LSU kicks off its season in the Caesars Superdome on Sept. 4, with the Saints beginning their regular season the following weekend in Atlanta.
Related
And there was no shortage of Saints royalty for the event itself. Hall of Famer Rickey Jackson, Archie Manning and Cooper Manning were on-hand to cut the ribbon alongside Mowad and David Grolman, SVP of Retail Operations at Caesars Sportsbook.
Jackson also placed the inaugural bet at the new sportsbook, a $1,000 wager on the Saints to win Super Bowl 57. That bet is going off at 40-1 odds. If the Saints hold up their end of the deal, it'd pay out $41,000 in total, all of which would be donated to the United Negro College Fund.
The space itself measures 5,700 square feet and includes four betting windows, along with 12 self-service kiosks, all of which was available for use as of Friday morning. The area also features a bar stretching across much of the space. The new poker room is 5,000 square feet, the largest in the state, featuring 20 tables.
In the end, the goal of the new space is to establish the soon-to-be-rebranded Caesars New Orleans as the premier sports betting destination in the Gulf South, Mowad said. Friday's event was a major step toward that goal.
Related
"There's look there's a lot of reasons why this is the best sports book in the state and the city of New Orleans is one of them, because we get a steady stream of new folks," Mowad said. "Every convention, every weekend, every Saints game, that's what makes this space work. Much like Las Vegas, we've got an infusion of energy and guests who have never experienced it before, every single weekend. That's why we're excited about it."