Former Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman makes the first bet at the remodeled William Hill sports book at the Plaza.

Downtown Las Vegas Plaza Hotel Shows Off Remodeled William Hill Sports Book With Former Mayor Goodman Making First Bet Friday

November 8, 2019 Alan Snel Joe Asher, Jonathan Jossel, Oscar Goodman

Left to right: William Hill US CEO Joe Asher,
former Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman and Plaza Hotel & Casino CEO Jonathan Jossel.

By Alan Snel of LVSportsBiz.com

Former Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman placed the first bet at the remodeled William Hill sports book in the downtown Plaza hotel. It was a #100 charity three-team parlay consisting of this week’s Saints (-13.5), Seattle (+6) and Kansas City (-6.5).

William Hill U.S. Chief Executive Joe Asher joked the Saints are giving a lot of points at 13.5 against the lowly Atlanta Falcons.

Everyone is a sharp in the book around Las Vegas. Even Asher, who talked with LVSportsBiz.com about the modernized sports book, featuring downtown Las Vegas’ largest seamless HD video wall at five feet tall by 16.5 feet wide. Here’s our interview:

Joining Asher and Goodman was Plaza Hotel & Casino CEO Jonathan Jossel. The Plaza sports book was previously refurbished in 2013, which marked the beginning of William Hill and the Plaza’s partnership.

Alan Snel

Alan Snel brings decades of sports-business reporting experience to LVSportsBiz.com. Snel covered the business side of sports for the South Florida (Fort Lauderdale) Sun-Sentinel, the Tampa Tribune and Las Vegas Review-Journal. As a city hall beat reporter, Snel also covered stadium deals in Denver and Seattle. In 2000, Snel launched a sport-business website for FoxSports.com called FoxSportsBiz.com. After reporting sports-business for the RJ, Snel wrote hard-hitting stories on the Raiders stadium for the Desert Companion magazine in Las Vegas and The Nevada Independent. Snel is also one of the top bicycle advocates in the country.

July 5, 2021

LVSPORTSBIZ.COM, launched June 2017: We are a digital magazine providing market-leading news, intelligence, enterprise and breaking info on Las Vegas’ sports/stadium industry. Our stories are quoted nationally and we set the sportsbiz news agenda in Las Vegas. Publisher Alan Snel has reported on the business of sports and stadiums in Denver, South Florida, Seattle and Tampa besides Las Vegas and is considered a national authority on the topic.

ADVERTISEMENT: Please shop at Jay’s Market at 190 East Flamingo at the Koval Lane intersection east of the Strip. Jay’s Market is the official presenting sponsor of LVSportBiz.com’s stories.

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To contact LVSportsBiz.com Publisher Alan Snel or buy his book, Bicycle Man: Life of Journeys, email him at asnel@LVSportsBiz.com

LVSportsBiz number for 2024: $1,178,161,041. That’s the amount of debt Las Vegas (actually, Clark County) owes for its public share of building the Raiders’ Allegiant Stadium.