Sightline Payments said Thursday it closed on $100 million in funding that will support the Las Vegas-based financial technology company’s growth efforts in several gaming markets, focusing on the casino, lottery, and sports betting industries.
The funding comes from a group of investors, including Searchlight Capital Partners, which provided a strategic investment to Sightline in December.
Sightline CEO Joe Pappano said the funding will help the digital payment processing provider build out “organizational capabilities such as people, systems, technology, and marketing” and enable the company to capitalize on growth in various gaming sectors.
“This investment validates the role we play in the secure payment ecosystem and the excitement surrounding the digital transformation in the consumer experience,” Pappano said.
The lead investment in the current funding is coming from Cannae Holdings, a firm headed by Bill Foley, majority owner of the NHL’s Vegas Golden Knights. Another investor is Genting Group, the Malaysian conglomerate that is developing the $4 billion Resorts World Las Vegas and owns Resort World casino properties in New York, Singapore, and Malaysia.
“Sightline Payments’ seasoned leadership team has a proven track record and a vision to capitalize on many of the highest growth sectors in the entertainment industry, and I look forward to working side-by-side with them to achieve their goals,” Foley said in a statement.
Along with Searchlight Capital, investors include Point Break Capital, Shift4 Ventures, and Vectr Ventures.
Christopher Cruz, managing director at Searchlight Capital, said the company is “excited to be joined by a world-class group of investors with relevant and deep experience in FinTech, gaming, entertainment, and sports.”
Searchlight has more than $8 billion in assets under management.
Sightline said the role of payment processing companies has helped sports betting grow by nearly 70% and igaming by nearly 200% during 2020. Over the past 12 months, consumer interest in online sports wagering and igaming has increased due to the expansion of mobile gaming opportunities in several states.
Analysts have projected the combined online sports betting and online casino market will grow from $3 billion in 2020 to $22 billion by 2026.
Since 2019, the American Gaming Association has advocated for the casino industry to adopt cashless or digital payment solutions to help modernize the industry. In the past year, spurred on by the COVID-19 pandemic, several changes took place.
In January, Sightline announced a strategic partnership with Shift4 Payments to jointly develop online gaming and sports betting payment systems for casinos and sports venues. The goal is a product that merges Sightline’s online wagering system with Shift4’s payment processing technology.
Sightline also partnered with Boyd Gaming and Aristocrat Technologies on a cashless wagering platform for Blue Chip Casino in Indiana.
Pappano said safety, security, and convenience of use within digital gaming channels have triggered a massive increase in consumer interest and casino operator demand for cashless digital payment technologies.
He noted that last month’s online and mobile sports wagering numbers, including 97% of all sports wagers in Colorado coming from a mobile or online platform, signifies the interest in digital financial transactions.
“That same architecture will be introduced into a land-based casino, where, through a mobile app, a customer can conduct a cashless transaction seamlessly,” Pappano said.
The investment will help Sightline in its efforts to increases sales for various payment solutions directed toward the casino industry.
Sightline’s primary product is Play+, a solution for secure pay-and-play with more than 1.5 million enrolled accounts. Play+ is a cashless mechanism that allows users to store money and fund their entertainment online, on the gaming floor, and on sports betting platforms with instant access to their funds.
Howard Stutz is the executive editor of CDC Gaming. He can be reached at hstutz@cdcgaming.com. Follow @howardstutz on Twitter.
