Bally’s PAM still split between in-house and White Hat Gaming, says CEO
Robeson Reeves confirms transition is ongoing as he points to a “simpler solution” by Q4 to drive cost savings and improve efficiencies
Bally’s is still running both its proprietary player account management (PAM) system and the White Hat Gaming PAM across some US states as bosses said full outsourcing should simplify operations.
The Rhode Island-based firm’s CEO Robeson Reeves confirmed the dual-running of both PAM’s during an analyst call following the release of the company’s Q2 trading update on Wednesday, July 31.
In May 2023, Bally’s shelved its in-house betting product and tapped White Hat Gaming for its PAM solution and Kambi for its sportsbook product.
Bally’s had acquired Bet.Works for $125m in 2021 to power the Bally Bet brand but failed to achieve the desired cut through, leading to the business turning to third-party partners.
And with plans to push Bally Bet into more US states during H2, Reeves said the transition was still ongoing in regard to the PAM and wouldn’t be finalized until the end of the year.
He said: “The change from our technology stacks is incomplete, so we’re currently still running both the White Hat [Gaming] PAM and the proprietary Bally’s PAM in North America.
“During Q4 that will be replaced across Ontario, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey. In both Ontario and New Jersey, we’ll introduce online sports betting, which will help us from an acquisition perspective to gain extra revenue, and it will save on some marketing costs.
“But, more importantly, it simplifies how operational teams can work as there’s one back-office tool, so these people actually have a far better life, and we have a simpler solution to keep on scaling in a more cost-effective way.”
Bally Bet is currently live in Arizona, Colorado, Indiana, Iowa, Massachusetts, Maryland, New York, Ohio, and Virginia.
Reeves also revealed the group will expand into Illinois and Tennessee during H2, with Massachusetts and Maryland having gone live in July.
The expansion comes after the North America Interactive arm delivered a 94.7% year on year surge in Q2 revenue from $25.3m to $49.2m.
Adjusted EBITDAR losses also shrank against Q2 2023, falling from $17.7m to $6.8m.
Bosses pointed to the igaming monopoly in Rhode Island, where Bally’s launched in March, as well as sustained igaming gains in both New Jersey and Pennsylvania as key highlights.
Last week, Bally’s shareholders gave their backing to a $4.6bn takeover by New York-based hedge fund Standard General.