BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — A national sportsbook has moved its entire overnight operations staff into Memorial Stadium, where the crew will live in the bleachers, sleep on cots beneath the scoreboard and take round-the-clock shifts at a folding table until the Indiana-Ohio State game is finished and every first wager is settled.
The company said the relocation was necessary because the game kicks off at noon and nobody on the night desk trusted a remote feed. «We have people who have not seen daylight since the preseason,» a company spokesperson said. «They will watch the running backs from the third row, and they will not blink until the final whistle.»
By Thursday the crew had installed a duty roster taped to a railing, a coffee station in the concourse and a rotation that sends two employees to the press box every hour to shout down updates about rushing yards. Local businesses reported a run on sleeping bags, and the stadium grounds crew was asked to leave the lights on all night so the staff could rehearse the coin toss.
The arrangement has spread. Two rival books have announced their own stadium residencies, and a Bloomington diner now delivers breakfast to the bleachers at the start of every shift. «We are prepared to stay through the weekend,» the spokesperson said, «and into next week if the game goes long.»