- theScore Bet has announced they’ve gained market access in Illinois through a partnership with Caesars Entertainment.
- The initial agreement is for 10 years with an option for theScore to extend it for another 10 years.
- theScore Bet is now live in four US states–New Jersey, Colorado, Indiana and Iowa.
Toronto based theScore Bet, the sports betting platform of Score Media and Gaming (TSX: SCR, NASDAQ: SCR) is heading to their fifth US market. They’ve secured market access in the ‘too big to fail’ market of Illinois through a deal with Caesars Entertainment (NASDAQ: CZR). There’s only a handful of sports that have done sports betting right in the nascent but dysfunctional US market and theScore Bet is in four of them: Iowa, Indiana, New Jersey and Colorado. Illinois’ regulatory framework is a joke–particularly their highway robbery licensing fees–but the state is such a great sports betting market that even the notoriously corrupt and inept government here can’t screw it up.
Officially, theScore has partnered with Harrah’s Joliet Hotel & Casino and assuming that they know the right people to pay off they receive regulatory approval they hope to launch their mobile app in Q3 of 2021. The agreement is typical of this sort–Caesars will receive a percentage of revenue derived from theScore Bet’s mobile sports betting operations in Illinois, subject to certain annual minimum guaranteed amounts. In addition, theScore will reimburse Caesars for certain costs and licensing fees. The agreement spans an initial term of 10 years, with a ten-year renewal term, exercisable at theScore’s option.
John Levy, Chairman and CEO, theScore, is pleased to take his betting platform into the lucrative Illinois market:
“Gaining market access to Illinois is a significant development that will bring our award-winning mobile sportsbook to one of the most populous states,” said John Levy, Chairman and CEO, theScore. “Caesars is a giant in the casino-entertainment industry and we’re thrilled to have reached this agreement to extend theScore Bet’s footprint into another key new market.”
2021 has already been a momentous one for theScore. They’ve been listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange since September 2020 after ‘graduating’ from the TSX Venture Exchange and earlier this year they began trading in the US on the NASDAQ Exchange. They also launched mobile betting in Iowa in mid-February. They year could become even bigger if Canada is able to approve single event wagering–as a ‘homegrown’ sportsbook theScore Bet would likely play a big part in this potentially huge market.
At the time of publication, Ross Everett has a long position in SCR and CZR.
