TVs go dark during NCAA Tournament at Las Vegas sports book
Bettors and bookmakers alike suffered a bad beat of sorts Friday afternoon at the Westgate sports book, where the world’s largest indoor LED video wall went dark for 12 minutes during the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
The wall, which measures 20 feet tall and 240 feet wide, was installed in September 2015 and only went dark once before for about five minutes during a minor glitch.
“Otherwise, we’ve never had an incident. Until today,” Westgate sports book director Jay Kornegay said. “These things don’t happen. Usually I just have to deal with a broken-down copier. It was unfortunate timing.”
Biggest upset so far today…and no one saw it. #MarchMadness @LVSuperBook pic.twitter.com/y8CAl6dwp7
— Elaine M. Wilson (@WilsonElaineM) March 16, 2018
The big screens went black at 12:42 p.m., when the standing-room-only crowd at the 400-seat book was watching Marshall complete its 81-75 upset of Wichita State as a 13-point underdog.
The smaller TV screens in the casino were still working and wagering was uninterrupted at the betting windows and on Westgate’s mobile app.
Aside from a smattering of boos when the screens suddenly went dark, the crowd took the brief blackout in stride.
“One guy said, ‘Do you know your TVs are out?’” Kornegay said. “If it can happen at the Super Bowl, it can happen at the SuperBook.”
Kornegay said the cause of the blackout has yet to be determined.
Once the TVs were rebooted and the wall was restored in all its glory, the crowd quickly picked up where it left off, roaring for Lipscomb to cover against North Carolina.
Contact reporter Todd Dewey at tdewey@reviewjournal.com. Follow @tdewey33 on Twitter.
