Bally’s Corporation, the casino operator formerly known as Twin River Worldwide, has entered into a definitive agreement to a acquire sports betting platform provider Bet.Works in a deal worth up to $125m.
The operator will take ownership of Bet.Works’ proprietary technology stack and turnkey solutions, including marketing, operations, customer service, risk management and compliance tools.
Bally’s aims to become “the premier, full-service, vertically integrated sports betting and igaming company in the US” through the deal, using the solutions to power both proprietary and third party offerings.
The purchase price will be fulfilled half in cash, and half in Bally’s common stock, which Bet.Works shareholders have agreed to hold for at least a year.
The operator described the deal as the latest step in a long-term growth, development and unification strategy. To date this has seen it significantly expand its casino portfolio, which has grown its network to 14 casinos across 10 states, once all pending transactions are completed.
This M&A drive also saw it acquire the Bally’s brand from Caesars Entertainment, which is to be rolled out across many of the properties, and saw the business change its corporate name.
“This is the next step in our company’s evolution,” Bally’s Corporation chair Soo Kim said. “By combining our expanding national footprint of casinos, the recently acquired Bally’s brand, and Bet.Works’ proprietary technology stack, we have evolved in just a few short years from a regional casino operator into the first US gaming company committed to serving our customers with an omni-channel approach, combining the best of our physical properties with a superior online experience.”
The deal will see the business restructured into two distinct operating divisions, with Bally’s Casinos housing its physical gaming and entertainment properties, and Bally’s Interactive serving as the umbrella for Bet.Works’ sports betting operations.
The supplier is currently live in Colorado, Indiana, Iowa and New Jersey, with partners such as theScore – which has a New Jersey igaming market access deal with Bally’s – and Elite Casino Resorts.
Bally’s president and chief executive George Papanier said owning the technology would not only give Bally’s a long-term margin advantage, but also allow it to rapidly adapt its betting and igaming offerings to customer needs.
“David Wang and his team at Bet.Works have already demonstrated impressive growth and the ability to execute while creating a differentiated platform,” Papanier continued. “We are very pleased to bring this technology to our more than 14m active customers who will experience Bally’s Casinos and Bally’s Interactive as a unified brand with a single player card and rewards system.”
