Caesars issues apology over William Hill’s Nevada Super Bowl betting outage
Operator restores platform functionality after meltdown leaves bettors with no access to accounts
Caesars Entertainment has apologized to Nevada-based sports bettors after the William Hill US sportsbook app crashed during Super Bowl LVII, leaving bettors with no access to their accounts.
The outage, which began during the NFL’s showpiece game, left bettors who had placed winning bets on the Kansas City Chiefs without payouts, while in-play bets during the game were not possible.
We are currently in the process of settling all Super Bowl wagers. We appreciate your patience. https://t.co/vHOcn8fnt9
— William Hill US (@WilliamHillUS) February 13, 2023
Account holders were justifiably indignant at the outage, coming as it did during the busiest time for sports bettors in the US with the app only restored to operation more than two days after the event.
William Hill is still down in Nevada. This is borderline criminal.
— Brad Powers (@BradPowers7) February 13, 2023
10:30am Monday, still down. This is amazing!
— SXM (@SXM21311215) February 13, 2023
On Monday, the Nevada Gaming Control Board acknowledged the outage and suggested it was being investigated by representatives of the NGCB’s Enforcement and Technology Division.
In comments reported by The Nevada Independent on Monday, Caesars said it had been “aggressively working” to bring the platform back to its full capabilities as quickly as possible.
“We have pinpointed the cause of the system failure and are now working through the resolution with all of our available resources. Unfortunately, as can occur when dealing with a complex, real-time data system, this has taken longer than we had hoped or expected,” the firm said in a statement.
Later on Tuesday, Caesars would again move to reassure bettors that its focus was on getting the platform working in Nevada.
“While we move as expeditiously as possible, we also do so with an abundance of caution to ensure that we do not exacerbate or repeat the issue and that when we bring the platform back up, it stays up,” a spokesperson for Caesars said.
“We have been in regular contact with our stakeholders and our partners as we work toward a solution,” they added.
While sports betting outages during the Super Bowl are rare, this outage marks the second operator to encounter issues, with Washington DC-based GamBet suffering a similar platform outage in 2021.
In a statement following the restoration of services, a spokesperson for Caesars apologized to punters, but would not confirm the reason behind the issue.
“Both the William Hill Nevada and Caesars Sportsbook by William Hill apps were restored to full functionality yesterday evening. All customers should now have access to their accounts,” Caesars said.
“We apologize for the technical breakdown on our platform and will continue to monitor all aspects of the system closely.
“We are deeply sorry for the frustration and inconvenience this outage caused our customers. We thank them for their patience and look forward to bringing our new, best-in-class platform to the market in the future,” Caesars concluded.