SportCaller Adds To Bally’s Online Gaming Offerings
Summary
- SportCaller will allow Bally’s to use free-to-play (F2P) games to engage and retain more players in states that authorize sports betting.
- Bally's is an emerging player in esports and sports gaming and is on an aggressive acquisition spree.
- Bally's trades at a relative discount to "omnichannel " compititors suvh as Caesar's Entertainment and Penn Gaming.
Bally’s Corp. (NYSE: BALY) acquired free-to-play game provider SportCaller on Feb. 8 in a deal that expands the company’s online gaming and interactive entertainment platforms. Financial terms were not disclosed.
With locations in Dublin, London, and Philadelphia, SportCaller’s core products consist of prediction, quiz and trivia games, pay-to-play, bespoke and turnkey app games. They are aimed at gamers in North America, Europe, Asia, Australia, Africa and Latin America.
“We believe that the SportCaller acquisition will significantly improve our competitive position within the U.S. online sports betting and iGaming industry,” said Adi Dhandhania, vice president of strategy and corporate development for Rhode Island-based Bally’s.
Covering more than 30 sports in 37 countries, the platform is expected to considerably expand Bally’s presence beyond the United States. It will allow Bally’s to launch its own suite of F2P games and increase Bally’s player database, the VP added.
More importantly, SportCaller bolsters Bally’s recent acquisitions of Bet.Works and Monkey Knife Fight. Last year, the company formed a partnership with Esports Entertainment Group (GMBL), an online gambling platform that started with video games. Bally’s also partnered with Sinclair Broadcast Group for branding regional sports networks.
“These transactions, while diversified, are quite complementary, and each one represents a crucial step in our evolution to become a leading omnichannel gaming provider,” Dhandhania said. They position Bally’s to provide an “unparalleled gaming experience” for sports fans across the United States and beyond.
Bally’s Corp., acquired last year by Twin River Worldwide Holdings, has developed a calculated long-term growth strategy toward becoming the first truly vertically integrated sports betting and iGaming company in the nation, he said.
A symbiotic relationship exists between online sports betting and traditional casino sportsbooks, which provides Bally’s with a “material advantage,” Dhandhania noted. Bally’s owns and operates 10 casinos in six states, including the flagship property in Atlantic City, N.J.
According to some analysts’ projections, online sports betting and iGaming is expected to reach $12 billion by 2025 and $50 billion at maturity.
That presents an “incredible opportunity” for Bally’s, given the differentiated components within the company’s interactive gaming division, Dhandhania said.
Stifel just raised its price target from $50 to $60. The street mean price target is $66. Bally’s recent acquisitions have increased its leverage to over 600% debt to equity. Bally’s still remains are relative bargain compared to omni channel competitors such as Penn Gaming (PENN) and Caesar’s Entertainment (CZR), trading at a discount based on price to sales and price to book value measures.
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