Arooga’s® Grille House & Sports Bar Partners with PlaySugarHouse for Sportsbook at Their Shelton, Connecticut Location

Harrisburg, Pa based restaurant group Arooga’s Grille House & Sports Bar announced that their Shelton, Connecticut franchise location has teamed up with The Connecticut Lottery Corporation to launch their new retail sportsbook PlaySugarHouse, a sports wagering platform from Rush Street Interactive. This will be the first location of the brand to offer sports betting, which will operate within the Arooga’s location.

Located at 387 Bridgeport Ave., Shelton, Ct and owned by Arooga’s franchise group McBride Holding Company, LLC, this location is over seven-thousand square feet, seats two hundred and fifty guests and has over one hundred wall-to-wall HD TVs. Franchise co-owner David McBride is planning extensive renovations to create a dedicated space for the PlaySugarHouse concept, which will include multiple kiosks and teller stations along with Arooga’s famous two-story video wall.

“We have always paid attention to the expanding gaming landscape in the Northeast and have been hopeful that sports wagering would become available to us,” said David McBride, Chief Operating Officer of McBride Holding Company, LLC, and co-owner of the Arooga’s Shelton franchise location. “The proposed layout for PlaySugarHouse is really magnificent with up to fifteen kiosks, so there will be plenty of room to satisfy all guests within the restaurant as well as patrons who would like to stop by and place a bet.”

“We are extremely excited that the CT lottery has chosen Arooga’s Grille House and Sports Bar in Shelton, Ct to launch of the Connecticut’s sports book locations,” said James Belli, Vice President of McBride Holding Company, LLC, and co-owner of Arooga’s Shelton. “This partnership will offer guests throughout the region an unparalleled opportunity to watch a game and place a sports bet in what we believe is one of, if not the best, sports atmospheres in Connecticut. Guests can come to watch numerous sporting events on over one hundred televisions, enjoy a beverage from one of over fifty-nine draft beer offerings, and enjoy some award-winning wings and other mouth-watering eats. We are thrilled and look forward to the future of this partnership.”

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The new PlaySugarHouse sportsbook is projected to open in December of 2022 after renovations are complete and all necessary licensing is in place. McBride Holding Company, LLC is the owner of three Arooga’s franchises in Warwick, RI, Attleboro, Ma, and Shelton, Ct, and is the principal partner with The Connecticut Lottery Corporation for this venture.

“We are thrilled to really step up our sports bar game and offer this exciting experience to our guests,” said Gary Huether, Arooga’s Grille House & Sports Bar parent company owner and President. “Sports betting is a natural fit for an award-winning sports bar.”

The recipient of several national accolades, including selection as America’s Next Top Restaurant Franchise, as well as recognition among Entrepreneur Magazine’s Top 500 Franchises of 2020 & 2021, and Top 200 Food Franchises 2020, Franchise Times Top 200 + 2020, and FranServe Fran-Tastic 500 2021, the Arooga’s restaurant company continues to charm the industry with its commitment to utilizing the latest technology in enhancing the guest experience and improving operational practices, creating unique and delicious menu items observing environmentally responsible operation methods in their restaurants as part of their certification by the Green Restaurant Association.