Tag: wheeling and dealing

William Hill Penetrates Mississippi Sports Betting, Teases Much More

Posted on | by Brett Smiley

The post William Hill Penetrates Mississippi Sports Betting, Teases Much More appeared first on SportsHandle.

In a week of too much news to digest, William Hill US announced on Friday that it has signed partnership agreements with 11 Mississippi casinos for sports betting risk-management and technology services, with deals in the works in West Virginia and another that “would cover a further 14 US states.”

From the release:

Subject to regulatory approvals, William Hill will provide sports betting risk management services and its proprietary technology for both retail and on-premises mobile sports betting to the following casinos: Hard Rock Casino Hotel & Casino Biloxi, Island View Casino Resort (Gulfport), Palace Casino (Biloxi), Treasure Bay Casino (Biloxi) and WaterView Casino (Vicksburg), in addition to six other casinos in Mississippi. All properties are expected to be live by the end of August pending granting of licenses.

In a week thoroughly dominated by news by MGM Resorts International (NBA marketing/data deal, partnerships with Boyd Gaming and GVC), by DraftKings (in New Jersey, it launched the first legal mobile sports betting app outside Nevada), and more shaking and baking by FanDuel (deal with Boyd Gaming), this is a substantial development in the rapid grab for market share in the expanding legal U.S. sports betting market.

Legal Sports Betting States: William Hill US Penetrates Mississippi Deep With A Vastly Expanded Footprint Apparently In The Works.

 

(And also, MGM’s Beau Rivage (Biloxi) and Gold Strike (Tunica) debuted the first Mississippi sportsbooks on Wednesday, August 2.)

William Hill hit the ground running in the post-PASPA world on June 7 as the Delaware Lottery’s sports betting partner via its agreement with Scientific Games. Three racinos took wagers and registered a $330,000 handle on Day 1 with just baseball and some World Cup on the menu.

Then on June 14, the William Hill Race & Sports Book opened at Monmouth Park in Oceanport took the first New Jersey sports bets, about 30 minutes before the MGM’s Borgata did so in Atlantic City. William Hill is also now operating the sportsbook at the Ocean Resort (formerly Revel), which opened on June 28.

“We are now the early market leader in New Jersey where our mobile app will launch within weeks and we expect to be market leader in Mississippi with these eleven casino agreements,” said William Hill CEO Philip Bowcock. “The team continue to engage in discussions that cover a further fourteen states and they are doing a tremendous job.”

The company currently operates about 105 sportsbooks locations throughout Nevada. More from Friday’s news release:

In West Virginia, William Hill will provide retail and mobile/online sports betting to a soon-to-be-announced casino partner. William Hill US is also in advanced discussions with operators about deals that cover casinos in a further fourteen states in the US about similar sports betting agreements. 

The deals further expand William Hill’s US presence, which already includes sports betting operations in Nevada, Delaware and New Jersey and a race book in Iowa.  William Hill has also combined forces with IGT for the Rhode Island Lottery Sports Betting RFP.  If IGT is awarded the contract, William Hill will supply its operational expertise, risk management, and trading data to support the operation of sports betting in the state. 

Previously in West Virginia, the Greenbrier Resort announced a deal with FanDuel. Each of Penn National Gaming, Eldorado Resorts and Delaware North own three of the other four casinos to be licensed for sports betting in the Mountaineer State.

Those greater referenced negotiations (regarding 14 states) are likely with a regional casino operator such as Penn National Gaming and/or others.

This is a breaking news story and will be updated.

[Also See: Odds Shift in Race for Operator Dominance in Legal U.S. Sports Betting Market]

The post William Hill Penetrates Mississippi Sports Betting, Teases Much More appeared first on SportsHandle.

FanDuel-Boyd Gaming Sports Betting Partnership Puts Focus On Online Wagering

Posted on | by Brett Smiley

The post FanDuel-Boyd Gaming Sports Betting Partnership Puts Focus On Online Wagering appeared first on SportsHandle.

The spate of brand and technology alliances in the new national sports betting industry continues with the announcement late Thursday that Las Vegas-based Boyd Gaming Corporation and the FanDuel Group, the Paddy Power Betfair subsidiary, have entered into a strategic partnership to “pursue sports betting and online gaming opportunities across the United States.”

Earlier in the week, Boyd announced an alliance with MGM Resorts International that would allow the two major casino operators in Southern Nevada and now in an expanding number of regional gaming markets nationally, to facilitate sports betting in states where one company is licensed and the other is not.

Boyd Gaming is one of the largest companies in the gaming industry and, after completion of two pending acquisitions (Valley Forge in Pennsylvania and four former Pinnacle properties), will operate 29 casinos across 10 states.

FanDuel Sportsbook Finds Another Partner In Boyd Gaming to Pursue Opportunities Across U.S. Sports Betting States

fanduel sportsbook boyd gaming us sports betting

Boyd has a rich history in the world of sports betting as owner of the Stardust on the Las Vegas Strip. Although Boyd acquired the property several years after Frank “Lefty” Rosenthal opened a plush 9,000-sq.ft. sportsbook in 1976, the company nurtured and grew Rosenthal’s concept turning the Stardust into the preeminent legal sport betting operation in the U.S. The Stardust was demolished in 2007 to make way for a major Boyd casino project, never completed after the 2008 economic downturn.

Malaysia-based Genting Group bought the site from Boyd, with plans to open Resorts World, a Chinese-themed resort, by 2020.

Now known as the FanDuel Group, the leading Daily Fantasy Sports (DFS) company after DraftKings (perhaps now its full equal), the company claims eight million customers and a presence across 45 states. FanDuel, acquired by Paddy Power Betfair in early July, currently operates the new sports book at the Meadowlands Racetrack and will operate the sportsbook operation at The Greenbrier Resort in West Virginia when that state rolls out sports wagering, expected in the next few weeks.

Establishing an Online Presence.

The Boyd/FanDuel agreement, subject to state law and regulatory approvals, would quickly allow Boyd to establish a presence in the online gaming and the national sports wagering industry by gaining access to FanDuel Group’s technology and related services to operate Boyd Gaming-branded mobile and online sports-betting and gaming services.  FanDuel Group would operate mobile and online sports betting and gaming services under the FanDuel brand in the states where Boyd Gaming is licensed.

Said Keith Smith, President and Chief Executive Officer of Boyd Gaming:

Through this partnership, Boyd Gaming and FanDuel Group will be in excellent position to successfully capitalize as sports betting and online gaming expand across the country. By joining forces with FanDuel’s nationally-known brand, as well as their considerable technical expertise and resources, we will be positioned to build market-leading sports-betting and online gaming operations in each state as they move forward with these new forms of entertainment. We will also see immediate benefits from our cross-marketing agreement with FanDuel, introducing millions of FanDuel customers to Boyd Gaming’s properties nationwide.

Matt King, Chief Executive Officer of FanDuel Group said, “There is incredible momentum in the sports betting space and we look forward to partnering with Boyd Gaming to bring the FanDuel Sportsbook to more customers across the United States.”

The agreement will cover all states where Boyd Gaming holds gaming licenses currently and in the future, excluding Nevada. It also covers states included under Boyd Gaming’s market-access agreement with MGM Resorts International.  Upon completion of Boyd Gaming’s pending acquisitions of the four Pinnacle properties and Valley Forge, Boyd Gaming says it will have regulated operations in 15 states, representing more than 36 percent of the U.S. population.

FanDuel Group says it will market Boyd Gaming properties through its existing daily fantasy sports service and future interactive sports betting and gaming services, while Boyd Gaming will promote FanDuel’s products to its customer base.  FanDuel Group will also provide Boyd Gaming customers access to its existing product line.

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NBA Announces Historic Sports Betting Deal With MGM Resorts International

Posted on | by Brett Smiley

The post NBA Announces Historic Sports Betting Deal With MGM Resorts International appeared first on SportsHandle.

In what National Basketball Association commissioner Adam Silver and MGM Resorts International CEO Jim Murren hailed as a historic partnership, the professional sports league and major international gaming and hospitality company have struck an agreement on sports betting data and intellectual property, the first relationship of its kind.

The pair made the announcement at a press conference at the St. Regis New York Hotel in New York City on Tuesday. The deal will permit MGM and its properties offering sports betting to use official NBA league data as well as NBA logos and marks in conjunction with its sports betting products.

This agreement makes MGM the “official gaming partner” of the NBA, but this deal is not exclusive to MGM. In fact, eliciting a laugh from Murren and the audience, Silver invited more deals of this kind with other gaming entities.

NBA Sports Betting Deal With MGM Ushers In  ‘A Whole New World For Us’ and Positions MGM to ‘Win’ as Number of US Sports Betting States Expected to Grow

nba sports betting mgm adam silver data deal
Silver (L) and Murren (R)

It’s a 3-year-deal, of which the financials were not disclosed, will allow both sides to test the waters in what Silver called “a whole new world for us.”

“NBA’s three-year deal does not include rights to allow MGM to stream live NBA games on a mobile app that allows gamblers to bet on that app at the same time,” reported ESPN’s Darren Rovell. “That, many believe, is where the big money is.”

Silver indicated that the NBA recognized that their aggressive lobbying campaign in at least two dozen states with respect to sports betting legislation was an “uphill battle.” The league saw that states were resisting their preferred legislation, and further that a federal framework was not in the works.

But Silver indicated that the state-level battle is one that’s far from over as so far only six states have legalized (New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Mississippi, West Virginia) or expanded their sports wagering offerings (Delaware). But so far, no state has passed legislation mandating the use official league data, or requiring operators or state lotteries to pay the league an “integrity fee” or royalty in any amount. New York came close.

[Also See: MGM, GVC Joint Venture in Sports Betting, Online Gaming Will Create ‘A Beast’]

In response to a question about the origin of the official league data — used to grade wagers — from Sportradar, Silver said that their  Sportradar deal does not govern its data in the U.S.  With respect to data for MGM and other potential partners, he said “The official data feed will come directly from the leagues operation center, or from a partner yet to be named by the NBA.”

Big Week for MGM.

Murren was pleased to have the MGM become the first to test these waters. MGM has now set the market rate for the cost of doing business of this kind directly with a professional sports league.

It’s been quite a week in MGM announcements, with news of its joint venture with the announced formation on Monday of a sports betting and online gaming joint venture with British betting group GVC Holdings Plc, owner of the Coral, Ladbrokes and Sportingbet brands.

Further on Monday, MGM and Boyd Gaming announced a new partnership on Monday that will expand MGM’s portfolio into states likely to offer sports betting and/or online gaming in the coming months or years. The partnership has an eye toward jurisdictions where either Boyd Gaming or MGM operates physical casino resorts and should be able to obtain licenses to operate online.

“We needeto have great brands,  which we have at MGM. We needed the right market access in the U.S. We have that. … we also need the best in-game betting experience which we get with GVC, and now we have tremendous data,” Murren summed it up.

He remarked that all of these pieces has MGM primed to “win” in the expanding U.S. sports betting market.

There was some news for New Jersey sportes betting tucked at the end of the presser, too. Said Murren: “At the end of this week we’ll be taking mobile bets from The Borgata via the Play MGM app.”

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