Posted on: February 14, 2023, 07:42h.
Last updated on: February 14, 2023, 07:43h.
Representatives from Caesars Entertainment said Tuesday the company is continuing to work on restoring the William Hill mobile sports betting apps in Nevada after “an unforeseen technical issue” caused the sportsbook’s operations to crash in the Silver State during Sunday’s Super Bowl.
In a statement posted on William Hill’s US Twitter page, the company said the William Hill platform went down because of the technical issue near the end of the first half of the game between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Philadelphia Eagles. The incident knocked the William Hill and the Caesars Sportsbook by William Hill apps and all of William Hill’s retail locations in Nevada.
The team has been aggressively working to bring the platform back to full functionality as quickly as possible,” the statement read. “We have pinpointed the cause of the system failure and are now working through the resolution with all of our available resources.”
The company operates more than 100 retail and kiosk locations across the state. Tuesday’s statement noted the retail sites were back up and running, leaving just the Nevada apps offline.
As it did in previous messages over the last 48 hours, William Hill apologized for the “frustration and inconvenience” bettors felt during one of the biggest events of the year.
— William Hill US (@WilliamHillUS) February 14, 2023
Bad Timing
William Hill’s issues likely led to Nevada reporting a down Super Bowl. On Monday, the Nevada Gaming Control Board announced a handle of $153.2 million on the big game. That was down nearly 15% from the $179.8 million wagered leading up to and during last year’s NFL championship event.
The state’s sportsbooks and apps won nearly $11.3 million from bettors on Sunday.
And William Hill’s loss was likely BetMGM’s gain as the company announced its Nevada retail locations and app set a record for handle on Sunday.
Outage Not William Hill’s Only Issue
Just last week, in a separate incident, authorities charged two William Hill workers in Las Vegas in an embezzlement scheme that allegedly led to hundreds of thousands of dollars swindled from the company’s kiosks.
Paige Steiner faces 290 charges in the case and allegedly worked with Shravan Singh to cash in bogus vouchers at kiosks they selected. They added money illegally to the kiosks they chose and then created the vouchers.
Authorities indicated the embezzlement scheme involved other people, too.
Singh, who according to 8 News Now in Las Vegas was fired on January 19, stole more than $280,000 from William Hill dating back to October 2021.
The Nevada Gaming Control Board (NGCB) began investigating the scheme in December after William Hill reported the incidents to the gaming authority.
“The Board appreciates licensees meeting their obligation to investigate and self-report potential statutory and regulatory violations, as well as alleged criminal activity,” Kristi Torgerson, chief of the NGCB’s Enforcement Division, in a statement. “The Enforcement Division will continue to be aggressive in its investigations and covert operations to ensure that the gaming industry is free from criminal elements in its unending effort to safeguard the integrity of regulated gaming in Nevada.”
