Press Room

Bill Stearns wins Las Vegas Business Press Rising Stars of Business Award

Sunday April 30, 2007

ISI LTD, William Stearns

By DAVID MCKEE

William Stearns' brainwave came to him in the middle of a restaurant, in 1999. Looking at one of the trivia-game boxes he had on the property, he thought "I don't understand why I can't go over to these machines over here and make a wager on it."

Within a year, former restaurateur Stearns and business partner Ernest Matthews had their first prototype and did the heavy lifting -- literally. "It was a unit that would go on top of a counter. It probably weighed 200 pounds," Stearns recalls. He and Matthews "would pick it up, and bring it to people for show. That was almost as hard as putting together the company."

Fast-forward to today and Stearns' isi Ltd. has 40 of its iSports kiosks taking bets in 31 Nevada venues, with additional devices taking action in Curaçao and Aruba. Among those who bought into Stearns' concept were casino developers William Wortman and William Paulos, who not only have the machines receiving wagers at Rampart Casino Resort at Summerlin, they also invested in the company, as did American Wagering. "We thought that the kiosk was a delivery system (that) was the next paradigm of the sports book," Wortman said.

In addition to Rampart, the iSports kiosk has been adopted by LeRoy's Horse & Sports, whose Vegas-casino client list includes names like Tropicana, Riviera, Sahara, Silverton and Hooters.

This substantial foothold has been achieved only 18 months after the devices received Nevada Gaming Control Board approval. LeRoy's has installed the kiosks at 20 locations, all the way from the Strip to Ely.

This naturally pleases Stearns, who thinks any casino could benefit. "In the small areas, such as the one in Ely, you just become automated," he said. "The sports book can now be 24 hours.

"In some of these giant casinos," he expanded, "you can put the kiosk next to a bar, and you don't have to walk half a mile to get to the sports book. On Sundays, when there's a 20-minute wait to make your bet, now it's customer service to the best degree."

That's a gratifying notion for an entrepreneur who spent six years nursing the iSports kiosk through the Nevada regulatory-approval process. "Our product took over three years get approved and once it was approved, it came in stages," reminisces Stearns. "At the time, it's probably just a brand-new product for the Gaming Control Board and there was a lot of backlog way back then."

In the near future, Stearns foresees the iSports kiosk (which resembles a towering robot) as a viable addition to slot routes and taverns, pending regulatory approval. Host venues also get a split of ad revenue, including from the commercials which play in rotation on a top-box TV screen.

Wortman vouches for the kiosks' success. "After they use it, many customers will only go to the kiosk now."

"So now you have a free, 24/7 employee taking your sports book bets," Stearns concludes, "if not a profit center."

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