Bally’s deepens Sinclair partnership with digital content opportunities
Operator to integrate sport content into the media giant’s Stadium platform and tennis assets
Bally’s has deepened its media partnership with Sinclair Broadcast Group via a memorandum of understanding (MOU) that commits the two parties to work together on producing additional content across Sinclair’s various online networks.
In November, Bally’s and Sinclair signed a 10-year agreement to integrate Bally’s’ sport content into Sinclair’s regional and national TV networks and rename Sinclair’s 21 Fox Sports RSNs to Bally Sports.
The MOU will see the two companies explore opportunities to include Bally’s content across Sinclair-owned digital media platforms and sports affiliates, including the media giant’s Tennis Channel and Stadium assets.
Stadium is an OTT digital television and online sports network that offers on-demand content and a 24/7 television feed.
Bally’s expects to reduce its reliance on advertising spend by expanding into new areas of fan engagement, although the operator has said it will still honor its commitment to invest a percentage of its marketing budget in Sinclair.
This additional Bally’s content will also support the upcoming Bally Bet app launch.
Soo Kim, chairman of Bally’s Corporation’s board of directors, said: “We are pleased to further our transformative partnership with Sinclair by exploring opportunities for Bally’s to produce new and engaging content and interactive programming.
“We continue to seek innovative ways to allow fans to further engage with the Bally’s brand, and are confident that the engagement opportunities we will create will elevate the live viewing experience in a manner not seen before,” Kim added.
“The gamification of live sports is the next phase of interactive gaming, and we look forward to continuing to create lean-in experiences for sports fans across the nation as our content strategy continues to expand.”
Bally’s unveiled its portfolio of rebranded RSNs in March following a streamlining process during which it phased out the Fox Sports Carolinas and Fox Sports Tennessee networks.