- Bally’s is now an authorized sports betting operator of the Major League Baseball (MLB).
- Bally’s is the rebranded company formerly known as Twin River Worldwide Holdings.
- The company has been hard at work building a business portfolio to leverage the continued growth of sports betting in the United States.
Bally’s Corporation (NYSE: BALY)continues to be extremely busy growing an omni-channel gaming company from the former Twin River Worldwide Holdings. They’ve now announced that they’re an ‘Authorized Gaming Operator’ of Major League Baseball (MLB). By now, you’re no doubt aware of the story about how Twin River transformed themselves into Bally’s. They purchased Bally’s Atlantic City from Caesars Entertainment in a deal that closed in late November. In addition, Twin River purchased the entire Bally’s brand from Caesars and rebranded as Bally’s Corporation.
Bally’s has done an excellent job retooling their company to take advantage of the US sports betting ecosystem by making very intelligent acquisitions and partnerships. They started an acquisition spree by acquiring highly regarded sportsbook technology solutions company Bet.Works. They’ve since picked up DFS platform Moneky Knife Fight and free to play platform SportsCaller. They’ve also submitted a buyout proposal to Allied Esports Entertainment–not only would this give Bally’s a presence in the fast growing esports market as it turns out Allied also owns the rights to the World Poker Tour. Unlike many companies they really give off the vibe that they understand the opportunities and the challenges present in the nascent US sports betting market. There were a number of interesting items that came out of their Q4 earnings call held on March 4 and we’ll get around to these in a separate article.
Today’s announcement that they’re now an ‘Authorized Gaming Operator’ of Major League Baseball (MLB) gives them that status with three of the four major North American sports:
Bally’s Corporation, a leading U.S. omnichannel provider of land-based gaming and interactive entertainment, today announced entry into a multiyear agreement designating Bally’s as an Authorized Gaming Operator of Major League Baseball (“MLB”). This deal represents Bally’s third sports betting agreement with a professional sports league following its previously announced agreements with the National Hockey League and the National Basketball Association.
The agreement provides Bally’s with immediate access to official MLB league and team marks, logos and data, which it intends to incorporate across its growing portfolio of sports betting products. Bally’s will also include these assets as part of innovative content that the Company is creating for MLB fans, which will be integrated into live MLB game coverage across 19 regional sports networks that account for more than half of the U.S. MLB teams.
George Papanier, President and Chief Executive Officer of Bally’s Corporation, is near the top of the odds board for the (mythical) gaming executive of the year award and he had this to say about the new deal with the MLB:
“The agreement between Bally’s and MLB offers exciting benefits for baseball fans nationwide. We are honored to have the opportunity to put the Bally’s stamp on America’s national pastime and look forward to providing an innovative and engaging sports betting experience. We can’t wait for the season to begin.”
Kenny Gersh, MLB Executive Vice President, Gaming & New Business Ventures, threw some love Bally’s way:
“As we prepare for the start of the 2021 season, working with Bally’s will present our fans with yet another unique avenue to engage with baseball. Bally’s knows how to provide added entertainment for sports fans across the country, so we look forward to collaborating on new ways of engaging fans around our games.”
Bally’s mobile sports betting platform is now live in Arizona, Colorado, Iowa, Indiana and Virginia. Ohio is listed as forthcoming on the company website and they’ve started the registration process to launch in the red hot Ontario market.
