Over the past five months, Bally’s Corp. spent millions of dollars and reached nearly a half-dozen deals to create an interactive division that will propel the regional casino operator into sports betting, igaming, and daily fantasy.
An agreement in principle for a $2.8 billion acquisition of United Kingdom-based Gamesys Group could be finalized by April 21 and solidify Bally’s standing in the omnichannel gaming sector.
But that doesn’t mean the Rhode Island-based company has forgotten its roots.
Bally’s Chairman Soo Kim
Bally’s Chairman Soo Kim said last week he believes the digital world and the brick-and-mortar casino world can co-exist and ultimately need each business operation to be successful.
“I think the two experiences are complementary,” Kim said. “They enhance each other. We can use the physical casino to get more online customers. At the same time, we can give online customers a better experience when they visit a casino property. We need to spend time acquiring customers for our digital product, but at the same time, give them the social excitement in our casinos.”
Kim and Bally’s CEO George Papanier spoke with CDC Gaming to discuss the transformation Bally’s has undertaken. Much of the makeover is due to Kim, a co-founder of the hedge fund Standard General that owns 39% of Bally’s. He joined the company’s board in 2016 when it was known as Twin River Worldwide Holdings and became chairman three years later.
Bally’s CEO George Papanier
In November, Kim negotiated the $125 million acquisition of sports betting platform Bet.Works, which began the transformation on the digital side.
The casino growth has been a work in progress.
Bally’s currently has 11 regional casinos in seven states. That number could grow to 12 casinos in eight states as soon as this week when the company is expected to finalize the purchase of MontBleu Resort in Lake Tahoe. Through current pending deals and the development of a mini casino in Pennsylvania, the company expects to have 15 casinos in 11 states by next year.
Last fall, after agreeing to purchase Bally’s Atlantic City from Caesars Entertainment, Kim engineered a second deal with the company to acquire the trademark and rights to the Bally’s name.
The name Bally’s is historic within the casino industry. Bally Manufacturing created pinball and arcade games when it branched off into slot machines. The gaming equipment business was sold and evolved into Bally Technologies and was one of the industry’s largest manufacturers when it was bought by Scientific Games in a $5.1 billion purchase in 2015.
The company will begin rebranding its regional casinos starting with Eldorado Shreveport in Louisiana, which was acquired at the end of last year. The Hard Rock Biloxi in Mississippi will be the only property not renamed.
“I think that having a single brand name makes more sense for a national player with national online ambitions,” Kim said. “In a retail casino environment having multiple regional brands make sense. But if you want to be an online player, having a national brand strategy makes more sense.”
Papanier said the company is going through the rebranding process internally. The public will see Bally’s more prominently displayed this month when a partnership with Sinclair Broadcast Group begins and 19 regional sports networks are rebranded under the Bally’s name.
He said the company has a masterplan for rebranding the casino roster.
“Every property we acquire, we go in and do an extensive amount of project (capital expenditures), so they complement our portfolio,” Papanier said.
While Bally’s has been primarily focused on acquiring existing casinos, it has a development history. During its original former existence as Twin River, the flagship Rhode Island was created out of a former dog racing track. Twin River Resort has more than 162,000 square feet of gaming space, with 4,108 slot machines, 97 table games, and 23 poker tables. At the time, it was the seventh-largest casino in the U.S.
The company built its smaller Tiverton Casino in Rhode Island in 14 months.
“George did an amazing job developing Tiverton,” Soo said. “It was our first greenfield development. We have a significant background in the development and expansion of facilities.
This is the message Bally’s hopes to bring to Richmond, Virginia where it’s one of three finalists for a gaming development. Bally’s has proposed the $650 million Bally’s Richmond Casino Resort on a 61-acre site six miles from the downtown area. If the company wins the bidding process with the city, voters will still have to sign off on the resort.
Soo said the Bally’s would bring a fresh approach to the Virginia market.
“Have we built $2 billion facilities? The answer is no,” Soo said. “I would argue that some of those facilities (built by other companies) may not have been the best return of capital to shareholders. We’re like a pound-for-pound prizefighter. We’ve done a great job building our facilities.
Kim said the Lake Tahoe hotel-casino will become Bally’s first true destination property and eventually be rebranded as Bally’s. Both Kim and Papanier were non-committal about expansion to Las Vegas.
“Montbleu offers us that first destination property, although Hard Rock Biloxi has that destination dynamic,” he said. “we’re very excited to have that destination property to prove out our business model.”
Howard Stutz is the executive editor of CDC Gaming. He can be reached at hstutz@cdcgaming.com. Follow @howardstutz on Twitter.
