Derek Stevens, the CEO and Owner of Circa Resorts, isn’t known to cut corners. That’s evident from the look at the brick-and-mortar sportsbook Circa Sports is building at The Mint Kentucky Downs in Franklin.
Stevens, along with representatives from Kentucky Downs and Circa Sports, visited the southern Kentucky town last week to discuss the sportsbook, which is set to open this summer and will be the largest in the Bluegrass State, which also offers online Kentucky sportsbooks.
Franklin, a town with a population of about 10,000, is a stone’s throw from the Tennessee state line and is about 180 degrees different from Downtown Las Vegas, where Stevens has made his mark in the gaming industry. The Circa Resort has helped rejuvenate the Fremont Street area, and the Circa Sports sportsbook there is a three-story venue that seats 1,000 people and is considered the largest in the world.
Stevens said when he toured The Mint, one of the state’s largest historical horse racing gaming halls with more than 1,100 slot-like HHR machines, he saw an opportunity where “everything came together.” That included a regulatory structure overseen by the Kentucky Horse Racing and Gaming Corp., which taxes retail sportsbooks at 9.75% of their revenue.
“We’ve had opportunities to make an investment in another large sportsbook in many locations, and we’ve never, we never felt everything aligned properly,” he said.
When it opens, the 5,100-square-foot venue will complement the online Circa Kentucky sportsbook, one of eight licensed online sports betting operators in Kentucky.
Circa Latest Expansion At Kentucky Downs
The outer shell of the Circa building is nearly complete, and over the next couple of months, crews will install the 80-foot LED screen, as well as the three tiers of stadium-like seating. The sportsbook, open to adults 21 and older, will feature 113 stadium seats, 11 recliners, and 13 tables.
The plan is to have a soft launch closer to the start of football season, with a formal grand opening date to be announced. If everything goes as planned, that could be in late August. That’s when Kentucky Downs begins its seven-day racing meet at the turf-only track. It’s the richest meet by average purse size in the U.S., as horsemen will compete for roughly $35 million that will be awarded during the meet.
When it opens, the sportsbook will employ approximately 50 workers. That will put The Mint Kentucky Downs workforce at more than 400. Combined with The Mint’s other Kentucky facilities in Bowling Green, Corbin and Williamsburg, the gaming operator will have more than 800 workers.
Ron Winchell and Marc Falcone bought Kentucky Downs six years ago. Since then, the footprint of the track and gaming hall has expanded from approximately 100,000 square feet to 300,000 square feet. Other additions have included a Marriott SpringHill Suites hotel and an event center.
“We’re not building this just to pride ourselves on it,” Johan Mirkovic, the vice president and general manager of The Mint Gaming Hall Kentucky Downs, told BetKentucky.com. “We’re building it because, for one, we have to continue to save the horse racing industry … (also) it’s always been about what can we do to expand because we’re here to stay. We’re not here for five years, and we leave. It doesn’t work like that.”
Temporary Circa Book Becoming A Draw
Circa launched its mobile Kentucky sports betting app in April 2024, the most recent operator to do so in the state, where wagering has been available since September 2023. A temporary retail sportsbook, currently located in The Mint, opened last August.
According to KHRGC data, Circa’s online app has taken nearly $32.4 million in wagers through April, and a temporary brick-and-mortar facility has accepted $3.84 million in wagers. It is the smallest online operator in terms of handle and ranks eighth out of the nine retail books. However, it ranked as the fourth largest retail operator in March and fifth in April.
Circa does not follow the same operating style as larger sportsbooks, such as FanDuel and DraftKings. It focuses on more traditional sports betting markets and is also willing to take larger bets from all comers. In December, Circa took a $3.1 million moneyline wager on the Philadelphia Eagles to beat the Carolina Panthers. With odds of -700, the bettor won more than $440,000 on the straight-up bet.
Circa Targeting Nashville Sports Bettors
Circa Sports is licensed in Kentucky – where online operators can offer real money Kentucky sportsbook promo codes for customers – but the primary market for the retail sportsbook will be Nashville. The Tennessee capital is less than an hour’s drive from The Mint and is one of the fastest-growing large metro areas in the country. Louisville, Kentucky’s largest city, is a two-hour drive, and Bowling Green, Kentucky’s third-largest city, is half an hour away.
Like Kentucky, Tennessee has legalized sports betting. However, the Volunteer State is one of a few states where wagering is only online via phones, desktops or laptops. Online wagering is, by far, the more popular method for U.S. sports bettors. However, Stevens and Kentucky Downs believe there’s still a market for sports bettors in Kentucky and Tennessee who want a Vegas-like sportsbook experience without hopping on a plane every weekend to get it.
“We think we’ll be able to draw people into this property,” Stevens told BetKentucky. “We’re kind of known that we take big bets. What we’re doing here is we want people to feel good and comfortable, and we want them to see what’s going to be the largest sportsbook in the state of Kentucky.”
Stevens talked about the Kentucky and Tennessee markets last year when Circa’s online app arrives in the Bluegrass State.
