Bally’s plots “transformational” Bally Bet revamp to include Gamesys tech

Bally’s is working on a Bally Bet 2.0 version of its sports betting app which will include technology gleaned from its forthcoming £2bn merger with Gamesys Group.

Speaking at the firm’s Q2 2021 investor call, Bally’s CFO, Steve Capp, said he was “really enthusiastic” about the deal, which he suggested would complete in Q4 2021.

“Their technology is leading edge,” Capp explained.

“That’s going to lead to a 2.0 version of the Bally Bet app and that’s going to be transformational, that will layer into the rollout strategy into additional states and more investment in the business even from a marketing standpoint.

“It’s still very formative, we’re in very formative stages and there are some very important transactional stages as this all comes together,” the Bally’s CFO added.

Bally’s SVP strategic and interactive, Adi Dhandhania, confirmed the development of Bally Bet 2.0 would eventually utilise technology stacks from both Gamesys and Bally’s own Bet.Works business.

“We’ve shifted our engineering resources away from launching in additional states with our 1.0 version to focus on the 2.0 version,” Dhandhania explained.

“In addition to this, we know that Gamesys already has an igaming product that’s live in New Jersey and what we’re looking to do is develop our own version of the igaming app and launch it later this year or potentially early next year,” the Bally’s SVP added.

Dhandhania talked up the potential to increase Gamesys’ market share in New Jersey through its B2B product by more than 8% by pivoting the product into a B2C offering post acquisition.

As part of the run up to the Gamesys merger, Bally’s recently strengthened its financial position, conducting a double offering of senior credit notes totalling $1.4bn.

Discussing the timetabled acquisition, CFO Capp highlighted “significant” progress in its discussions with Gamesys ahead of the strategic realignment of both firm’s under a new operating business.

“We’ve been spending a lot of time as a management team and a board of director with Lee Fenton and his management team at Gamesys and although its early days, it’s going very well,” Capp explained.

The Bally’s finance chief confirmed his expectation that the £2bn deal could be completed by November 2021, but suggested the operator could “burn” through as much as $10m in the run up to the creation of the new group.

“There’s been a lot of focus on the investment side of the business, and some of our peers have said they will invest as much as $1bn over the next few years [referencing Caesars’ intentions for its sportsbook].

“However, its important to bear in mind we already have some of the assets that these other firms will be investing in. We already have the back-end and front-end tech stacks with Bet.Works and Gamesys.

“We already have the land-based database and the awareness and impressions from Sinclair and our land-based casinos,” Capp added.