Boomer’s Sportsbook has been given the green light to operate in Nevada from the beginning of August.
Nevada’s Gaming Commission unanimously approved Boomer’s application to launch retail locations in Elko, Las Vegas and Henderson as well as a mobile sports betting app, in time for the new NFL season which gets underway on September 4.
The independent bookmaker is run by longtime industry veteran Joe Asher.
Who is Boomer CEO Joe Asher?
Asher founded Brandywine Bookmaking in 2008 before selling it to British bookmaker William Hill in 2012 for a reported $14.25 million.
He became CEO of the newly created William Hill US until it was bought out by Caesars in 2021 and from there Asher became president of Sports Betting for International Gaming Technology until 2024.
Speaking at last Thursday’s hearing, Asher said he believed the new sportsbook could complement the services of casinos in Nevada.
“We think there is room in the market for an independent operator, as William Hill was before it was acquired by Caesars, someone casinos can partner with for sports betting, but who is not a competitor to their core business,” Asher said.
“We think there is also room in the market for a new sportsbook at the business-to-consumer level.”
Boomer’s Official Launch Set For August 1
The company CEO posted the news on his personal LinkedIn page, saying: “We were licensed by the Nevada Gaming Commission today.
“Opening for business August 1 in Elko at the old Commercial Casino & August 4 at Ellis Island in Las Vegas and Casino Valle Verde in Henderson.
“It’s been a lot of work to get to this stage but I’m looking forward to the journey ahead with our great team!”
Key Players In Boomer Gaming
Asher chose the name of his loyal dog Boomer to headline his new operation and has hired some big industry names and former colleagues from his William Hill days to help drive the independent sportsbook’s ambitions.
Dave Grolman is the senior vice president of sportsbook and customer operations.
Asher said: “Grolman is the fellow, who runs the sportsbook operations and the customer support.
“He was so important in the growth of that William Hill business.”
Head of trading is Nick Bogdanovich, an SBC Sports Betting Hall Of Fame inductee.
Asher said: “Nick and I had a great run at William Hill from the first day until literally the last day when Caesars bought the business.
“I think we complemented each other well.”
Also on board are Gina Cervone, VP of legal and compliance, and deputy director of trading Adam Pullen.
Asher said: “One of the things you need to have when you start a business like this is a young lawyer, because there’s so much legal work to be done that you need a lawyer on staff who’s hungry and willing to figure all this stuff out.
“And we found that person: Gina Cervone, who was working for MGM and left MGM late last year to come on board with us.
“She was actually teammate number one and was involved in setting a lot of this up.
“Adam and I go all the way back to Brandywine, which was, of course, the company that I had started and sold to William Hill.
“Adam has an incredibly deep knowledge of this space.”
Jim Munro is a betting industry and gambling expert who has been a national newspaper journalist for over 30 years, predominantly at The Sunday Times and The Sun, where he wrote a weekly soccer betting column. Jim also worked on the launch of Virgin Bet with Gamesys and was subsequently head of editorial at LiveScore, the sports media and betting group.
