Bally’s looks to loyalty gains with $5m Snipp Interactive investment

Bally’s has agreed a broadbase investment and commercial relationship with Snipp Interactive in which it will acquire a 9% stake in the marketing and loyalty program provider.

The deal will see Bally’s invest $5m in the business, equating to 25 million common shares in Snipp at a price of $0.20 per share.

Shares purchased as part of the investment will be subject to a four-month and one-day hold period under Canadian securities laws and the policies of the Toronto Stock Exchange.

It is understood proceeds of the investment will be used by Snipp for sales and marketing as well as general working capital purposes.

As part of the investment, Bally’s will be entitled to nominate one director to Snipp’s board of directors, which is expected to be increased in size to five.

Bally’s will also be provided with a right of first refusal in respect to any offer to purchase all or substantially all of Snipp’s assets received by Snipp from any competitor of Bally’s.

In addition, Bally’s and Snipp have signed commercial agreements, under which Bally’s will become the exclusive gaming partner of Snipp’s loyalty gaming platform Gambit, which was acquired by the firm in February.

Gambit will include Bally’s branding, feature Bally’s free-to-play games, and connect Bally’s loyalty points with Gambit’s play tokens. On closing of the deal, both parties have committed to rebranding the existing Gambit Rewards platform.

As part of the commercial deal, Bally’s will also receive a three-year term license of the SnippLOYALTY software platform at so-called “arm’s length” rates, with the intention of utilizing the platform across Bally’s physical and online properties.

Snipp will also license certain free-to-play games and trademarks from Bally’s for inclusion in the Gambit Rewards platform. Gambit free-to-play tokens, now available in 48 states, are offered as a point redemption option through participating loyalty sites.

Bally’s members will soon have access to Gambit’s free-to-play mode and Gambit members will soon be able to redeem their Gambit Prize Tokens in the form of Bally’s loyalty points at the arm’s length rates.

Work will begin on the first two deployment locations in the second quarter of 2022.

In addition, Bally’s will be granted an option to license the source code for the specific versions of the SnippLOYALTY software platform actually implemented in any of Bally’s properties for a price of $10m.

Bally’s Interactive COO Adi Dhandhania welcomed the potential of the partnership following Bally’s investment.

“Working together with Snipp furthers our strategic goals around omnichannel integration with well-established technology that can combine rewards platforms across the Bally’s brand and thereby provide our customers with a seamless user journey,” Dhandhania said.

These sentiments were echoed by Snipp Interactive founder and CEO Atul Sabharwal, who highlighted the need to find the right partner in gaming.

“Bally’s is one of the most forward-thinking companies in the gaming industry and their investment illustrates the value that they see in SnippLOYALTY as well as our SnippCARE customer acquisition, retention, and engagement platform,” Sabharwal explained.

“Our acquisition of Gambit was intended as a way to better align ourselves with the gaming world.

“Now, only a couple of months later, we’re entering a deep relationship with Bally’s. We welcome their presence on our board and look forward to tapping their deep expertise in this high-growth industry,” he added.