Bally’s Corporation, previously Twin River, recently announced that it entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Bet.Works. Bet.Works is a flourishing sports betting platform provider to several operators all over the country in areas such as Colorado, New Jersey, Indiana, and Iowa. Bally’s is going to acquire Bet.Works for an estimated $125 million, with a possibility of price adjustment.
Once the deal is finalized and Bally’s acquires Bet.Works’ proprietary technology stack as well as its turnkey solutions, Bally’s will be on track to become the 1st full service vertically integrated online gaming and sports betting company in the country offering physical casinos and online gaming solutions under a united brand. It will also become the first operator to launch its innovative B2B2C business model.
Following this wise business move, Bally’s will create 2 distinct operating divisions namely Bally’s Casino which will comprise its brick and mortar gaming and entertainment properties. The other division will be Bally’s Interactive which will comprise its new and old contracts for sports wagering and iGaming, which is where BetWork’s sports betting operations will be categorized.
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Why did Bally’s acquire Bet.Works?
Its acquisition of Bally’s is in line with Bally’s plans to implement a unified brand that can balance the considerable topographical growth and operational upgrades that the company has been attempting to achieve this past tough year. Over the past 2 years, Bally’s has been on a long-term growth, development, and unification mission having engaged in a series of strategic and opportunistic moves.
Bally’s acquisition of Bet.Works is exciting and transformative in a NJ market that’s quickly becoming saturated. As the company continues with its efforts to unite the brand’s superior customer offerings under a singular preeminent brand, then the future has never looked brighter for Bally’s Corporation.
Now that Bally’s has successfully acquired Bet.Works, it becomes the first omnichannel gaming company to effortlessly incorporate and operate its brick and mortar casinos with digital solutions. As long as the brand remains committed to maintaining its disciplined acquisition strategy while leveraging regulator incumbency and a growing retail customer base, then it will continue to experience incredible growth in the online realm.
As you may very well know, Twin River recently acquired the Bally’s brand as we’ve covered here. The Bally’s brand was previously controlled by Caesars Entertainment. After the deal was finalized, Twin River took over the entire Bally’s brand not just its casino products as we’ve discussed here.
Today, Twin River or Bally’s Corporation, as it’s now known, has plans to revitalize Bally’s brand. It’s a strategic move to acquire Bet.Works is in line with its plans to invigorate and magnify the brand all through the country. Twin River already managed 14 casinos in 10 different states including Mississippi, Missouri, Rhode Island, and Delaware. It also has a horse track in Colorado.
Before closing its partnership with Twin River, Bally’s had expressed its intention to expand specifically online, declaring its resolve to launch a Bally’s sportsbook for mobile punters in NJ. If a Bally’s mobile sportsbook is in the works, then bettors in the state should also expect an online casino as well.
Bally’s experiencing great success this year
Meanwhile, even amid an unprecedented operating atmosphere as a result of the pandemic, Bally’s Corporation continues to record amazing financial results. This is largely thanks to its methodical and diversified portfolio strategy.
Just recently, it also acquired Jumer’s Casino & Hotel in Illinois, thus giving it access to a rising betting market in the state with a possibility of exploiting the potentially rewarding sports betting opportunities in the state. This acquisition should close in the 2nd quarter of 2021 subject to the acknowledgment of the needed regulatory approvals.
Bally’s continues to also focus on the regulatory approval process of some of its other awaiting acquisitions. It’s so far closed its acquisition of Bally’s AC, as well as Eldorado Shreveport in Louisiana and MontBleu in Lake Tahoe by the 1st half of 2021. Once it manages to close all of its planned acquisitions, Bally’s Corporation will boast more than 16,000 slots, approximately 55o table games, and c3,9000 rooms. This means that it will also operate and manage a total of 14 casinos in 10 different states.
Both sports and online gambling revenue see a rise
Bally’s acquisition of Bet.Works couldn’t have come at a better time. There are 16 sports betting apps in New Jersey and the entire landscape has been turned upside down for an uncertain amount of time owing to this pandemic. And while the industry is still reeling from the damage caused by months of lockdown, the good news is that the market has started experiencing a financial boon as the year comes to a close.
In October, sports punters bet a record-shattering $803.1m in the state comfortably eclipsing what was generated in the previous month ($748.6m). The handle for October, which saw a boost of 65% topped 6 months of consecutive growth in the state as sports betting resumed following the cessation resulting from the pandemic.
And to top things off, online gambling revenue in the state has begun to outpour once more. In total, NJ sites generated $93.5 million in October, shattering last month’s record. Before this surge, the online revenue had been straddling between $85 and $88 million since May 2020. Sports betting in the months also experienced a boost of almost 30% gathered from both mobile and retail.
Retail casino betting, on the other hand, continues to struggle as the pandemic cases in the state rise. As a result, players that previously leaned towards brick and mortar gaming now naturally gravitate towards live and online betting because of obvious safety reasons. New Jersey isn’t a new gambling market and with some experience under its belt, operators such as Bally’s have a lot to gain in the coming months.
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