After sitting on the sidelines, Joe Asher to launch independent sportsbook in Nevada
Nevada has a long history of independent sports betting operators, from Leroy’s downtown to the Superbook at the Hilton. Joe Asher is providing a modern version of that concept. Programming note: There will not be an Indy Gaming on July 2. The newsletter will return July 10.
For nearly three decades, Joe Asher has been a central figure in the nationwide expansion of legalized sports betting.
Now, he’s challenging the larger industry he was once a part of.
Asher, 57, plans to launch Boomer’s Sportsbook — which will be Nevada’s only non-casino-owned sports betting operation — by the start of the fall football season.
“I know there is an appetite from independent casino operators for an independent sports book,” Asher said in an interview.
For smaller casinos, Asher’s pitch is that having an independent operator avoids corporate gaming giants — potential competition — from managing the sportsbook inside their property and having access to their customers. For sports bettors, independent books often provide different betting lines on games, such as a half-point in one direction or better moneyline odds.
State gaming regulators will consider Boomer’s — named after one of the Asher family’s favorite dogs — license application in July.
The start will be small, similar to how Asher launched Brandywine Bookmaking in Las Vegas in 2008. The company operated more than a dozen sportsbooks in Nevada under the brand name Lucky’s Race & Sports before it was acquired by the United Kingdom-based William Hill sports betting network in 2012.
Asher was CEO of William Hill until 2021, when the company was acquired by Caesars Entertainment for $4 billion.
Boomer’s will house its primary retail sportsbook at the Commercial Casino in Elko, which doesn’t have sports betting, with initial satellite operations at Ellis Island near the Strip and Valle Verde Casino in Henderson. The Las Vegas Valley properties, which now have William Hill sportsbooks, are owned by the Ellis family and provide Boomer’s with Southern Nevada locations for customers to meet the state's requirement for in-person sign-ups for mobile sports betting accounts.
“[Ellis Gaming founder] Gary Ellis has been a great supporter, as has [Commercial Casino CEO] Dave Zornes,” Asher said.
Not being tied to a casino company, he said, will allow Boomer’s to build a statewide network of casino partners with similar interests and create a “compelling sports betting product.”
Nevada’s sports betting business is primarily corporate-run, and it doesn’t include national giants DraftKings and FanDuel, which have remained on the sidelines because of the state’s in-person mobile registration rules.
According to Eilers & Krejcik Gaming, the largest sports betting providers in Nevada are BetMGM, a joint venture between MGM Resorts International and United Kingdom-based Entain Plc, and Caesars Sportsbook, which covers the business at Caesars Entertainment-owned resort and the state’s William Hill locations.
Boyd Gaming’s Boyd Sports and Red Rock Resorts’ STN Sports dominate the Las Vegas locals market. Circa Sports, headquartered at the Circa Casino Resort, has satellite operations in Las Vegas, Henderson and Sparks.
Picking up several of the William Hill operations, which were with Asher going back to his days with Lucky’s, could eventually be part of Boomer’s strategy.
“Boomer’s will build a statewide footprint,” Asher said. “In some places, there isn’t much choice for consumers. In Elko, the only sportsbooks are William Hill. It will be good for customers to have another option.”
There’s another note of familiarity. Former members of the Brandywine and William Hill teams are joining Boomer’s, including head oddsmaker Nick Bogdanovich and No. 2 oddsmaker Adam Pullen. There are also new executives coming from William Hill and other sports betting companies.
“We are putting the band back together with some new pieces, like the Eagles at the Sphere,” Asher said, referring to the legendary rock band. “The old guys are teaming up with younger folks.”
Asher said he is investing his own money to start the business, but didn’t provide a figure. He said several of the original Brandywine investors will be involved, as will “other well-known names in the gaming industry” that he didn’t disclose.
According to a March 2025 filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Boomer’s had at the time raised more than $22 million from 14 minority investors.
Asher’s connections to sports betting started after the former attorney and lobbyist for New York-based investment firm Cantor Fitzgerald moved to Nevada in 2006 to lobby for a change in state laws to launch the first mobile sports betting devices.
Asher joined International Game Technology (IGT) in 2021 and spent 24 months as president of sports betting, placing the company's wagering platform and management system with sportsbooks across multiple states and countries. He said IGT will provide Boomer’s system.
In 2023, Asher was appointed by President Joe Biden to serve a six-year term as chairman of the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, a nonpartisan international affairs-focused think tank partially funded by the federal government. However, like most Biden appointees, Asher was removed from the post by President Donald Trump.
Asher bought a 4 percent stake in Stockman’s Casino in Fallon when the property was acquired in March by Clarity Game, which is owned by gaming executives David Ross and Michael Gaughan III, son of South Point Resort & Casino owner Michael Gaughan.
During his years with Brandywine and William Hill, Asher’s national presence grew as interest in legalizing sports betting skyrocketed ahead of the May 2018 Supreme Court ruling that allowed nationwide expansion. He was often a panelist at gaming conferences focused on the topic.
Sands’ effort to legalize casinos in Texas falls flat — again
A scathing article in Texas Monthly (subscription required) explored the latest failed effort by Las Vegas Sands Corp. to legalize casinos in the Lone Star State during the recently concluded legislative session.
The lengthy article, which also described the history of illegal gambling in Texas, criticized Sands' executives, the casino company’s over-the-top lobbying efforts and the millions of dollars spent on campaign contributions to influence state lawmakers and on television advertisements to sway potential voters.
As has happened in the Texas Legislature since 2007, the Sands’ effort failed.
The article also targeted the 2023 purchase of a controlling stake in the NBA’s Dallas Mavericks by Miriam Adelson, the Sands' largest shareholder, and her son-in-law, Patrick Dumont, the company’s president. The trade of budding superstar player Luka Dončić to the rival Los Angeles Lakers last season alienated the team’s fanbase.
“Overseeing the wildly unpopular trade was like introducing oneself to Texas by peeing on the Alamo,” author Forrest Wilder wrote.
What I'm reading
⚾ Thirty-four states backing New Jersey in its federal fight with Kalshi — Jeff Edelstein, InGame
Nevada Attorney General Aaron Ford leads the legal dispute.
😡 Tribes dispute Kalshi claims of ‘productive’ talks on futures — Dan Bernstein and Michael McCann, Sportico
This is getting ugly. “I’ve talked to Tarek Mansour twice now, and my take from him is that he’s a lying little twerp,” said tribal gaming leader Victor Rocha.
📃Vice president of sports and special events no longer with the LVCVA following reports of contract bid irregularities — Alan Snel, LVSportsBiz.com
A $1.2 million consulting contract was awarded to Position Sports for the 2027 College Football National Championship game at Allegiant Stadium. The contract will be rebid.
🏇 Louisiana racetrack ICE raid nets more than 80 illegal migrants during worksite enforcement operation — Sophia Compton and Brooke Taylor, Fox News
Boyd Gaming, which owns Delta Downs Racetrack, Casino and Resort, issued a statement: “The company complies fully with federal labor laws, and to our knowledge, no Delta Downs team members were involved in this matter. We will cooperate with law enforcement as requested.”
News. notes and quotes
🎰 Analyst: Las Vegas locals market is doing better than the Strip
While ominous signs for the Strip’s 2025 economic prospects have surfaced, one industry observer said the Las Vegas locals market isn’t experiencing the same economic decline. CBRE Equity Research gaming analyst John DeCree wrote in a research note that neighborhood casinos operated by Red Rock Resorts have “shrugged off Strip roadbumps” that caused gaming revenue and visitation to fall in the first four months of 2025. DeCree said Las Vegas has a more diversified economy and an improved supply/demand balance, given a 30 percent growth in the Las Vegas-area population since 2007. At the same time, several casinos — including the two Fiesta properties, Texas Station and Eastside Cannery — have remained closed after the COVID pandemic, removing market saturation concerns. “The locals market is much better equipped to weather any prospective recession today,” DeCree wrote.
📈 CEO stock purchase boosts Full House shares
Full House Resorts CEO Dan Lee helped give the stock price of the Las Vegas-based casino company a more than 14 percent boost in value a week ago. According to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Lee bought 276,300 shares of Full House, which was priced on the Nasdaq at $4.75 per share, for $1.3 million. Full House operates six casinos in five states, including the Grand Lodge Casino at Hyatt Regency Lake Tahoe.