The new Borgata Moneyline Bar & Book.
The new Borgata Moneyline Bar & Book.Chuck Darrow / bettorsinsider.com

Shaq a ‘smash’ as Borgata introduces Atlantic City’s newest sports book

Dubbed ‘Moneyline Bar & Book, the betting parlor offers wagering and much more.

In a departure from what has quickly become a tradition, Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa Friday officially christened its new Moneyline Bar & Book sports-betting salon with a “pastry smash” led by NBA legend Shaquille O’Neal.

As a crowd of invited guests looked on, the Hall of Fame center and several Borgata officials pounded ball-shaped cakes to smithereens, rather than cut a ribbon with oversized scissors.

The 8,000-square-foot Moneyline, which cost $12 million to build, is a state-of-the-art wagering operation boasting a 40-foot LED video wall, six betting windows, a 35-foot-long bar with 19 built-in slot machines and a full-service bar and kitchen featuring 24 beer taps and nightly entertainment. It is adjacent to another new attraction, the Level One Bar. Both rooms will welcome the public Saturday.

For those who prefer a more traditional sports-book environment, the Race & Sports Book, which began taking sports bets a year ago, will remain in operation.

Although its raison d’etre is sports betting, Moneyline is a self-contained entertainment complex. According to Borgata President and COO Marcus Glover, it’s important to provide customers an experience that goes beyond merely placing a bet.

“Many [casinos] get the majority of their sports-betting revenue by mobile wagering. We're not there yet because we're still getting traction on our mobile book out of our Borgata Sports and Play MGM platforms,” he explained. “And at some point we will be in that [situation].

“Rather than just building something that will go by the wayside, and putting so much energy around the transactional nature of betting, we said let's integrate it fully with other aspects of entertainment.

“And so that's what you see today. And viewing, betting, dining and drinking make for a cool experience. And so, it becomes a social atmosphere of coming into a lot of these things that you can't do” in a standard sports book.

To celebrate Moneyline’s opening, Saturday will see a day-long celebration that includes autograph-signing sessions with such sports heroes as Mike Schmidt, Dwight Gooden, Lawrence Taylor and former Eagles favorites Keith Byars and Brent Celek (fees required.) There will also be a pop-up memorabilia store and a sports-art gallery featuring a personal appearance (noon-2 p.m.; 4-6 p.m.) by Linda Ruth Tosetti, granddaughter of Babe Ruth.

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