Westgate SuperBook VP Jay Kornegay Coping With Shutdown, Sees Industry Changes Ahead
One of the most renowned sports betting companies in the nation is overseen by Jay Kornegay, who holds the position of executive vice president at Westgate Las Vegas SuperBook.
The brand has remained inactive for nearly two weeks as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, causing Kornegay to nostalgically reminisce about a casual social gathering he enjoyed with friends merely a month ago.
During a phone interview with PlayinСolorado, Kornegay expressed his sentiments towards his friends from Colorado who gather annually in Las Vegas for the Mountain West Conference men’s basketball tournament. He referred to that particular weekend, which took place from March 4 to 8, as the last usual one in Las Vegas.
And, It & , s escalated quickly,
Just a few days after Utah State emerged victorious in the MW tournament, the sports world was brought to an unexpected and astonishing stop, as Colorado State’s alma mater, Kornegay, suffered a first-round defeat.
Kornegay stated that things escalated rapidly, catching us all off guard. While we were monitoring the situation, none of us expected it to bring an end to our daily routines or even the world itself.
Shortly after the NBA shut down, everything else unfolded rapidly, taking us by surprise. Although we acknowledged it as the right decision, neither of us anticipated the magnitude of its impact at the time.
As of midnight on St. Patrick’s Day, Nevada Governor Steve Sisolak mandated the closure of the state’s casinos and non-essential establishments for at least 30 days. Subsequently, on April 1, Sisolak further prolonged the shutdown until the end of the month.
SuperBook becomes gloomy
In order to adapt to their unexpected loss, Kornegay and the SuperBook swiftly made changes by shifting their focus from the consistently lucrative NCAA Tournament and upcoming MLB games to Australian Rules Football and Greek soccer odds.
According to Kornegay, who has been with the SuperBook since 2004 when it was known as the Las Vegas Hilton, we were available for four or five days after the casino closed. However, it became challenging because every time we found a group playing, we would lose two teams and they would stop playing. We tried to continue for a while, but eventually, it became not worth the effort to keep it open and calculate the results.
Similar to numerous hotels and casinos in Nevada, the Westgate Las Vegas, which boasts nearly 3,000 rooms, had no choice but to lay off a significant portion of its workforce, including the majority of the SuperBook team led by Kornegay.
Kornegay dedicated a significant amount of time to elaborate on the complete closure of Superbook & due to the fact that online sportsbooks and certain Vegas establishments opted to maintain operations through apps.
According to Kornegay, many people fail to recognize that simply keeping the software available requires more than assigning someone to a back room. The involvement of the audit team, an accounting professional, and someone for payment is necessary. It is not as simple as having one person monitor things from 10 to 4.
The activities community is being missed by our customers, however, they have collectively agreed that it is not the optimal time to reopen.
There will be shifts.
As per Kornegay, he remains stationed at his SuperBook office for most of his days, diligently preparing with his limited staff for the anticipated return of US professional and college sports, along with a semblance of normalcy. Kornegay’s current estimation is that this may occur in late summer or early fall, although, like many of us, this prediction is susceptible to daily fluctuations.
Kornegay firmly believes that significant transformations are imminent, not only in the realm of sports betting – where there could be a surge in mobile application usage if social distancing measures continue – but also in everyday life.
“He stated that one must have faith in the possibility of operational changes. While I am uncertain about the exact nature of these changes, I genuinely believe that our society will experience a transformation. It may take some time for everyone to feel comfortable enough to return to our previous way of life.”
Kornegay expressed his admiration for the advancements in sports betting in Colorado, but he is skeptical about the state’s planned launch date of May 1.
He mentioned that they have expressed their intention to launch on May 1st. That was the most recent information I received, although I wouldn’t be surprised if they decided to postpone it for some time.
