Today's Podcast: Circa Co-Founder Derek Stevens Talks Hosting President Trump

Written by :

C Costigan

Published on :

26 January, 2025

Circa Co-Founder Talks Hosting Trump

The top stories here at Gambling911.com for the weekend, in addition to all things NFL Conference Championship weekend, were news that BetCRIS had gained access to the Arizona regulated market (more on that momentarily) and Circa Casino hosting U.S. President Donald Trump ahead of his Las Vegas rally that focused primarily on getting rid of taxes for tipped employees.

Circa Casino and Sportsbook co-founder Derek Stevens sat down with VSiN to discuss welcoming Trump, who came back into office this past week.

"Just a normal day at Circa Sports, just guys out at the sportsbook, no big deal, right Derek?" VSiN co-host Matt Brown joked.

"It's been terrific," Stevens said of Circa's role in hosting POTUS.

Stevens explained how this all went down.

"We got a phone call Wednesday afternoon and all of a sudden the last 48 hours have been pretty interesting here. I've found a few new areas around Circa that I've never been to before," he added. "A couple of extra fire escapes."

Obviously the reference is to the added security detail with Trump on the property.

"We've had a lot of fun and just adds to what a great weekend this is. We're coming up to the Championship Sunday weekend and having Championship Sunday while I get to hang around with the chief executive of our country was pretty cool."

Stevens also confirmed that Trump was not at Circa trying to sign up for next season's NFL Survivor Contest.

Fun fact: Stevens has contributed to both the Republican and Democratic parties. He contributed $10,000 to Nevada Governor Sisolak's campaign a few years back but was also seen as a potential Republican contender to face off against Sisolak in the 2022 Nevada gubernatorial election.

So what did Stevens and Trump talk about? Check out the video below.

If you are a casino owner and you have a few minutes in private with @POTUS, what issues would you raise?@derekjstevens tells VSiN hosts @MattBrownM2 & @Somobomb18 what he talked about with @realDonaldTrump during his visit to @CircaLasVegas on Saturday. pic.twitter.com/tG2AzlFqGn
— VSiN (@VSiNLive) January 26, 2025

Getting back to BetCRIS, their surprise entry into the U.S. regulated sports betting market came as quite a surprise to ~~some~~ ~~most~~ everyone. Well, maybe one saw it coming.

Joe Brennan, Jr. broke the news via his Twitter page.

It’s a big moment in legal US sports betting: you can now sign up in Arizona at https://t.co/1fzcdMnvxS pic.twitter.com/zGHmafmA8K
— Joe Brennan Jr (@joebrennanjr) January 24, 2025

Brennan Jr. is the co-founder of Prime Sportsbook (legal in Ohio and New Jersey) Both Prime and BetCRIS utilize the same software platform.

BetCRIS's entry is fascinating in that the company has long been known for being one of the first "offshore sportsbooks". Over the last decade, BetCRIS has stayed out of the U.S. market and instead focused on the Latin American gambling region where they've enjoyed great success.

BetCRIS follows a handful of other sportsbooks that have previously taken bets from those in the U.S. when doing so was seen as a "gray area". Bet365 was once a huge player in that market while William Hill stuck its toes in briefly during the early 2000's. Pinnacle also has a presence in the North American regulated market via Canada after taking bets from those in the U.S. up until the late 2000's.

The former Governor of Arizona, Doug Ducey, is the grandson of Bill Scott. During the 1990's and well into the 2000's, Scott ran one of our favorite offshore sportsbooks, World Wide Tele Sports (his business partner in that venture was the daughter of a former North Dakota governor). WWTS was eventually gobbled up by Bodog (now Bovada).

Scott was a longtime Toledo bookmaker who probably never dreamt in a million years he'd see the NFL aligned with sports gambling sites. But here we are.

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By Chris Costigan

Chris founded Gambling911.com in 1999 and serves as the website's publisher. He brings more than 3 decades of expertise related to the gambling and sports betting sector. Creative talent is in Chris' genes, which he brings to the G911 website. He comes from a showbiz family that includes Yankee Doodle Dandy George M. Cohan. Chris is the grandson of artist John E. Costigan, whose work appears in the Smithsonian. Chris' father was also in the news business and co-founded what is today the Union County Performing Arts Center. Chris is a graduate of Kean University.