Casino City’s Friday Five: Fanatics, jackpots and openings edition

Fanatics made several headlines this week as it announced a new sportsbook opening at a Kansas City property and then became the first traditional online gambling operator in the U.S. to launch a prediction market product. In addition, we have a Thanksgiving weekend jackpot winner, a second hotel tower opening at a Nevada casino resort, and Green Valley Ranch transforms nearly 200 rooms.

Let’s begin with a major payday:

5. Thanks-winning weekend at Thunder Valley Casino Resort
Thanksgiving Weekend brought more than turkey and pumpkin pie to Thunder Valley Casino Resort in California, it delivered another massive jackpot.

On Friday afternoon, an Elite Thunder Rewards members hit a $212,595 jackpot while playing Buffalo Link in the High Limit area. The winning spin occurred on a $0.25 game with a bet of $25, where the guest triggered a progressive jackpot that had been steadily climbing before landing the life-changing win.

4. Green Valley Ranch Resort transforms 199 West Tower rooms
Green Valley Ranch Resort, Spa and Casino, located about 10 miles from the Las Vegas Strip in Henderson, Nevada, completed the renovation of 199 West Tower rooms, marking a major milestone in the property’s multi-phase, $200 million property-wide transformation.

The fully refreshed rooms are now available for guest stays and currently on sale, while a selection of newly renovated West Tower suites will be unveiled in January 2026. Planned renovations of the remaining 294 East Tower rooms and suites and South rotunda lobby have commenced and will debut in 2026 alongside upgraded meeting and convention spaces set to accept bookings in the first quarter of 2026.

The debut of the completely redesigned guest rooms including the Resort King, Resort Queen, Resort King with Patio, Executive King and Executive Queen categories in the West Tower ushers in a new era of elevated luxury for Green Valley Ranch.

FIRST LOOK: We are pleased to showcase our newest rooms as part of our complete remodel of our West Tower. ? pic.twitter.com/NlEwM9pwYx

— Green Valley Ranch (@GVRcasino) December 2, 2025

3. Second hotel tower opens at M Resort Spa Casino
Earlier this week, PENN Entertainment announced that the second hotel tower at M Resort Spa Casino officially opened. The project was completed on budget and ahead of time. The new hotel tower nearly doubles the capacity of M Resort, located south of the Las Vegas Strip, bringing its total to 765 rooms and suites.

The development also includes the 15,000 square foot Montese Ballroom, opened in October 2025, enhancing the property’s total indoor and outdoor conference and event space to more than 100,000 square feet.

Now Open! Introducing M Resort’s East Tower.

Book your stay today.????? pic.twitter.com/bl75WxxdTa

— M Resort Spa Casino (@MResort) December 2, 2025

2. Fanatics Sportsbook debuts at Ameristar Casino in Kansas City
Legal sports betting launched on Monday in Missouri, and Fanatics Sportsbook opened its doors at Boyd Gaming’s Ameristar Casino Hotel Kansas City on Thursday with a ribbon cutting ceremony and ceremonial first bet by retired baseball legend Alex Gordon.

Offering Ameristar guests the ultimate sportsbook experience, the venue features three betting windows, 12 self-service betting kiosks, 10 TV monitors and one giant LED Video Wall.

Additionally, Fanatics Sportsbook launched its mobile sports betting app across the state of Missouri under Boyd Gaming’s sports betting license. With the launch, sports fans living in and visiting Missouri can now download the online sportsbook on iOS and Android and begin their Fanatics Sportsbook experience.

Fanatics Sportsbook will offer legal betting markets for all major sports including professional and college football, basketball, hockey, baseball, tennis, soccer, golf, MMA, boxing and more. All development and trading of sports betting markets will be done in-house by Fanatics.

1. Fanatics enters the prediction markets sector
On Wednesday, Fanatics announced the launch of Fanatics Markets, a user-friendly prediction market platform built to let people trade on the moments shaping sports, finance and culture.

Via a partnership with Crypto.com, the new platform is available in 24 states and allows bettors to pick a side and on the outcomes such as sporting events, the Oscars, an election, or a cultural moment.

Phase One is live with event contracts for sports, finance, economics and politics. Phase Two, which is launching early next year, will see Fanatics Markets expand into event contracts related to crypto, stocks/IPOs, climate, pop culture, tech/AI, movies and music.

Powering Up Predictions! We’re excited to announce our next prediction markets partnership with Fanatics as they launch @Fanatics Markets - the first Fan-Led Prediction Market at the Intersection of Sports, Finance, and Culture.

Read more: https://t.co/rd4KymEOIW pic.twitter.com/LBMUVBlUeI

— Crypto.com (@cryptocom) December 3, 2025