A centimillionaire British entrepreneur is on track to be licensed in Nevada as a 10% shareholder of Bally’s stock, which was worth nearly $74 million at the close of trading on Monday.
In 2001, Noel Hayden co-founded Gamesys, an online-bingo and icasino operator, which was acquired by Bally’s in 2021. The Nevada Gaming Control Board recommended Hayden for licensing when the Nevada Gaming Commission meets June 25.
Bally’s Nevada counsel Dan Reaser told regulators about Hayden’s accomplishments, born in London to the son of a hotelier who left school at 14.
“By any account, Mr. Hayden is a uniquely successful entrepreneur,” Reaser said. “Like Richard Branson and Bill Gates, he departed school early to pursue a career in business.”
Hayden said he left school to work as a laborer for his father after his dad lost his hotel through bankruptcy. “Thanks to my mom buying me a computer, I was much more interested in that than painting and decorating. That’s a hard job.”
At 18, Hayden started a hair salon and in 1995 founded Internet Digital Media Limited, an online-gaming company. It was sold in 1999 to Gameplay and Hayden used the capital to start Gamesys where he remained until 2019. When Gamesys was acquired by Bally’s in 2021 as part of a $2.7 billion merger, Hayden owned 14% of Gamesys, Reaser said. He agreed to exchange those shares for Bally’s stock, which exceeded 10% when capital structure changes took place, requiring him to obtain Nevada licensing.
Hayden serves as chair of the Anzo Group, a company controlling holdings and subsidiaries in game development, sports wagering, and media business; its principal asset is LiveScore, a sports media platform.
“I’m a big fan of Las Vegas and have been working with companies here for more than 15 years,” Hayden told regulators. “We managed Caesars’s online bingo in the UK over 15 years ago. The majority of my time is spent on LiveScore at the moment, but I opened a hotel 2½ years ago.”
Hayden said he has arms-length dealings with Bally’s. He’s attended a couple of Board of Directors meetings to get a better understanding of the company. He also gave Bally’s advice on technology choices. “There’s some periodic catchups,” Hayden added.
Hayden said he was fortunate to have smart people working with him at Gamesys and the timing of the startup was great, since there wasn’t much focus on online gaming in the UK.
“Good timing. Right people. Great product and a good distribution model that got our games out early on,” Hayden said. “It took 18 months to build the first version of the platform. There were only nine of us in the company at the beginning, but the first month we broke even. It had a lot to do with the timing. It’s a very different world now, with so much competition and regulation.”
Hayden said they put the care of the player and the entertainment aspect at the heart of the business and those were the big reasons for their success. “That’s still the case now, providing an entertaining, fun, and safe experience for players.”
Hayden called the U.S. online marketplace complex and fast-changing, with unregulated sweepstakes and prediction market operators.
“The licensed sportsbook and casino operators are best in class,” Hayden said. “It’s been impressive to see. Europe was in the lead from a technology point of view for a long time and post-regulation (in the U.S), it’s been impressive to see how the companies here have really caught up and do a great job.”
Without taking a position, Hayden called prediction markets “popular” with their various. “From a licensing perspective, it’s interesting, but I can’t predict how that’s going to play out. It looks very much like a sportsbook now.”
As for his other interests, Hayden launched a 57-room hotel in 2024, the Broadwick Soho. He grew up in a hotel from ages 3 to 12, saying “it’s in his blood” and doesn’t rule out doing another in the future.
Chair Mike Dreitzer, in supporting Hayden’s application, called his background “interesting” and commended him for his success and being a “key player in this space” for several decades. “That couldn’t have been easy to achieve.”
Hayden said he was working on LiveScore when Gamesys was acquired by Bally’s.
“I was one of the first companies to be licensed in New Jersey as the first state to go online. I was interested in ways to expand, and this presented an opportunity to have a meaningful interest in a U.S.-focused exciting business.”
Board member George Assad praised Hayden for his risk-taking as an entrepreneur, employing more than 10,000 people.
Hayden, who owns 4.95 million shares of Bally’s stock, assured Assad that he’s a passive investor and doesn’t have any intention to approach management for a stock buyback or to tell who to put on the Board of Directors.
“That would be another indication of moving from passive to active investor,” Assad said.
Assad made the comments during the same meeting in which he chastised hedge-fund founder Parag Vora for his involvement as a shareholder of Penn Entertainment.
“Mr. Hayden’s conduct speaks volumes,” Reaser said. “He doesn’t trade in Bally’s stock. It’s a long-term investment and the record needs to be clear for the Commission that it hasn’t been anything but that.”
The Gaming Control Board also signed off on Craig Eaton’s licensing as a manager and director of two Bally’s holding companies. Eaton is a former Bally’s general counsel and chief compliance officer who now oversees its Rhode Island casino operations and serves as secretary to the Board of Directors.
