With professional sports teams in football, hockey and women’s basketball (and soon, baseball), Las Vegas has emerged as one of the preeminent sports towns in the American West. Even if you don’t follow pro sports, Vegas is still a great place to come together with friends to experience a big game.
Save for Allegiant Stadium (home of the Las Vegas Raiders), T-Mobile Arena (“The Fortress” for the Vegas Golden Knights), or Michelob ULTRA Arena (where the Las Vegas Aces play), the best places in town to watch major sporting events are the various sportsbooks inside casinos.
Sportsbooks are exciting parts of casinos where in-real-life sports betting happens. Each room has a wall of giant television screens that stream live sports and an array of comfortable recliners for fans to watch the action unfold in front of them. Next to these screens usually hangs a separate wall of betting lines, where bookmakers post all the available odds to wager.
Somewhere toward the front of each room, there’s a counter with windows like at a bank. Employees, or “ticket writers,” in each of these windows take and give sports bets throughout each game. (Of course, these days guests also can place wagers on their mobile apps.)
1. The Tavern at Fontainebleau Las Vegas
This sports betting destination inside Fontainebleau Las Vegas is more of a sports bar and restaurant than a traditional book.
Dubbed “The Tavern,” this spot isn’t marked as a sportsbook from the casino floor. The only way you can see the ticket windows at the front of the room is if you walk straight through, which creates an air of exclusivity.
The outside half of the venue is set up like a regular sports bar; there’s an oval bar in the center flanked by two restaurant-style sitting areas. Tables in these areas don’t have direct views of the screens on the far wall, but there are enough televisions around the bar that it’s still easy to follow a game if you wish. The menu offers California-inspired, elevated bar food such as burgers, ribs and nachos.
The inside half of The Tavern feels more like a traditional sportsbook. Restaurant seating gives way to couches and comfy, movie theater-style recliners where guests can luxuriate while they’re checking the games. The entire sitting area looks out on the wall of screens.
Perhaps the best thing about The Tavern is the food; the entire menu for the venue is available everywhere on site. Even if you’re not betting, you can indulge.
2. STN Sportsbook and The George Sportsmen’s Lounge located in Durango Casino & Resort
The sportsbook at Durango Casino & Resort packs a lot into a relatively small space—it’s actually two books in one.
The main book, STN Sportsbook, starts on the edge of the casino floor, where a circular bar rings a double-sided ovular wall of screens that guests can see from anywhere in the book, whether they’re sitting at the bar or not. When this feature debuted in late 2023, it was the first of its kind anywhere in the world. It most certainly will not be the last. The book also features a back wall of six screens and ticket windows for wagering.
You’ll find more watching options in The George Sportsmen’s Lounge. The restaurant wraps around its circular bar, and both its booth and tables have full views of both walls of screens. Its open-air patio has even more screens, plus yard games and more seating, so your less sports-loving companions can choose to watch or just enjoy the scene.
3. BetMGM Sportsbook & Lounge inside The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas
This sportsbook, just steps away from the Strip in the southeast corner of the Boulevard Tower at The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas, is one of the liveliest books in all of Las Vegas.
The space features one expansive, state-of-the-art LED video wall, as well as dozens of large- and smaller-format TV screens around the room. Comfortable leather couches and recliners face the video wall and create mini living rooms for guests to personalize the sportsbook experience. Betting counters and kiosks are available throughout the space as well.
Toward the back, where the book meets the casino floor, is a sportsbook and lounge that includes a rectangular bar with video poker machines and an open area that features bar games such as beer pong and shufflepuck.
It’s even possible to play blackjack in the adjacent pit of table games and keep an eye on sporting events as they unfold inside.
The sportsbook offers a limited menu from some of the food purveyors in the Block 16 Urban Food Hall located upstairs—highlights include hot chicken from Hattie B’s Hot Chicken and sushi hand rolls from Tekka Bar: Handroll & Sake. Enjoying this food with drinks is a great way to celebrate a big game, regardless of the score.
4. Race & Sports Book within Wynn Las Vegas
The vibe at the expansive sportsbook inside Wynn Las Vegas is sophisticated and luxurious, with plush red chairs and couches, plaid carpet, and golden railings that give the room a royal feel.
The entire room is oriented toward a nearly 1,600-square-foot wraparound LED video screen that can be configured into any number of smaller screens to show games and other sporting events. Toward the front, near the ticket windows, the book has a mainstay from the olden days: Individual wooden booths where solo bettors can sit and watch events of their choice on small TVs.
The reservation-only VIP sections in the back of the room have couches, tables, and waiter service.
Behind the VIP section, Charlie’s Sports Bar offers one of the best vantage points of all—because the venue is elevated, there’s not a bad seat in the house. The menu at Charlie’s features elevated versions of tailgate favorites such as sliders, hot dogs, giant pretzels and loaded nachos. The bar also always has a minimum of 16 beers on tap, and it makes milkshakes with or without booze.
5. Race & Sportsbook inside Caesars Palace
The Race & Sportsbook at Caesars Palace is without question the granddaddy of them all—it’s been a popular spot to watch and wager on sports for decades. In the late 1990s, when the now defunct ESPN Magazine published a list of 99 things sports fans must do before they die, the authors listed watching a major sporting event at Caesars as No. 5. The “Home of Champions” is great for non-sports fans, too.
Part of what makes it so much fun is the vibe. Because the sportsbook is one giant space, cheers from one section reverberate around the room.
The main attraction is a 143-foot LED screen that can be configured into smaller screens. This also is flanked by several smaller screens, providing multiple opportunities for guests to watch their games of choice. Plush seating, most of which must be reserved, is available directly in front of the screen wall. Ticket windows are accessible from here.
The best place to sit in the Caesars Palace book is behind a bar that faces the screens and backs up to the casino floor. This bar was a recent addition to the book, and it has been a game-changer for groups that want to keep tabs on the action and still have independent fun.
Wherever you end up watching the day’s sports action, it’s always going to be a great time in Vegas—and most certainly an upgrade from your living room couch! After the buzzer sounds, head to one of Vegas’ most popular restaurants to try a can’t-miss dish, or take in one of the several experiences that have made the destination the Sports and Entertainment Capital of the World.
Wherever you end up watching the day’s sports action, it’s always going to be a great time in Vegas—and most certainly an upgrade from your living room couch! After the buzzer sounds, head to one of Vegas’ most popular restaurants to try a can’t-miss dish, or take in one of the several experiences that have made the destination the Sports and Entertainment Capital of the World.