Bally’s: We are being “very prudent” on online sports betting

Bally’s senior management has said that despite plotting to be live in 10 states with online sports betting by the end of 2024, it is maintaining a cautious approach to the vertical.

The Rhode Island-based firm is currently live in seven states for online sports betting and three for igaming, with its native state being the latest to join the igaming list under a monopoly.

The Bally Bet brand, which was shelved last year and relaunched using Kambi and White Hat Gaming technology, is available in Arizona, Colorado, Indiana, Iowa, New York, Ohio, and Virginia.

In its Q1 report released on May 1, the operator confirmed that subject to regulatory approval, it planned to launch its online sports betting product in three more states by the end of 2024. 

The identity of those new market launches was not confirmed by the business.

In an analyst call following the publication of the firm’s Q1 report, Bally’s CFO Marcus Glover spoke about how the firm is approaching online sports betting, using the vertical to funnel players to igaming.

He explained: “When we repositioned and went to the variable cost model and the Kambi and White Hat relationship, it was at that point we repositioned our approach on the online sports betting side, where we said we wanted to have a quality offering and product.

“We want to be available in states, but it was always as a means to an igaming outcome. We believe our future for North America Interactive lies on the strength of our igaming performance.”

He added: “We are very prudent with how we are approaching our positioning with online sports betting from a reinvestment standpoint. We’ll be very measured with how much reinvestment we put into the sports sides of things.”

Bally’s CEO Robeson Reeves added to Glover’s statement by saying the company is focused away from sports betting at the moment.

He said: “We’re focusing investment in the igaming states or what might become igaming in the future. We haven’t made any assumptions around additional states kicking in, so we made sure our cost base aligns with that.”

In Q1 2024, the North America Interactive division saw the biggest growth among the firm’s segments, jumping 70.2% YoY to $41.5m.

This was mainly due to the firm’s growth in New Jersey and Pennsylvania as well as its launch as a monopoly igaming operator in Rhode Island in March.

Bally’s said that its Rhode Island igaming revenue had “ramped up nicely” throughout April, which aligned with internal expectations.

However, despite the successful launch in the Ocean State and its momentum in other states, the North America Interactive division could not shake its losses, landing at $10.2m for the quarter.

Reeves also revealed that Bally’s will streamline its technology stack by the end of the year to reduce operational costs. 

He said: “We’re currently running two technology stacks across North America Interactive. That will go away by the end of the year. That will not only reduce costs, but will actually allow for much more fluidity of players across different state boundaries. 

“Currently, we have multiple apps in the app store. All of these journeys will become simplified once we’re on a single technology stack.”

Elsewhere, Bally’s Q1 2024 financial report saw group revenue increase 3.3% YoY to $618.5m.

When broken down by segment, the firm’s land-based casinos and resorts division’s revenue went up 4.1% YoY to $342.3m. 

The International Interactive division saw revenue slip by 4.4% in Q1 2024 compared to Q1 2023, with Reeves stating this drop-off was mainly owing to operations outside the UK.

Adjusted EBITDAR for the operator totaled $148m, representing a 6% downturn YoY from Q1 2023, with total adjusted EBITDA landing at $116m.

Land-based EBITDAR declined from $105.1m to $89.4m, while the International Interactive arm saw a slight uptick in the KPI from $80.3m to $83.5m.

Finally, Bally’s expects full-year 2024 revenue to fall between $2.5bn and $2.7bn, with adjusted EBITDAR between $655m and $695m.