| From: Glenn Petersen | 8/9/2021 6:18:37 PM | | | | | | WHO IS DRAFTKINGS TARGETING WITH $1.5 BILLION GOLDEN NUGGET ONLINE PURCHASE?
POSTED ON AUGUST 9, 2021
BY BRAD ALLEN
Legal Sports Report
DraftKings is acquiring Golden Nugget Online Gaming (GNOG) in a bid to beef up its online gaming presence.
DraftKings said Monday it was paying $1.56 billion for GNOG in an all-stock deal. The deal is expected to close in the first half of 2022.
The deal covers the online gambling assets of Golden Nugget, which were spun out and listed as as separate business last year.
It also covers a database of around 5.5 million Golden Nugget customers across online and retail.
What’s in it for DraftKings?
DraftKings CEO Jason Robins said the deal helped DraftKings reach iGaming customers who do not necessarily bet on sports.
“We are very good at cross-selling sports customers into iGaming, but our database is mainly male and focused on sports,” Robins said. “GNOG’s database is nearly 50/50 male to female and more of that casino clientele,” Robins said.
DraftKings will retain the Golden Nugget online casino brand and run a multi-brand strategy.
Synergy energy
Robins said the two companies expect $300 million in synergies at maturity.
That includes:
-- The aforementioned platform savings
-- Marketing efficiencies
--n Cross-sell between the brands Loyalty scheme integrations
-- Live-dealer studio savings
-- Big name joins DraftKings board
Tilman Fertitta, who owns 45% of GNOG, will join the operator’s board following the transaction. He will also become one of the largest DraftKings shareholders when the deal closes.
Fertitta said he was excited to become a shareholder in the “clear leader” in US sports betting.
“DraftKings is the Coca-Cola of the space,” Fertitta said. “I wanted only stock. I wanted to ride this thing all the way up with these guys. This is the best management team in the space.”
Fertitta agreed to hold his DKNG shares for at least one year after the transaction closes. With GNOG now owned by DraftKings rather than Fertitta, Golden Nugget online sportsbooks can now take bets on NBA again.
It was forbidden in various states because Fertitta also owned the Houston Rockets.
Details of the transaction
GNOG shareholders receive 0.365 shares of $DKNG stock for each share of GNOG. That is the equivalent of c.$18.70 per $GNOG share, and around a 51% upside from last close.
Golden Nugget online operations will be migrated onto the DraftKings platform to cut third-party costs. It currently runs on the SG Digital platform.
GNOG is the largest online casino brand in NJ.
DraftKings partners with rest of Golden Nugget too
As part of the transaction, DraftKings reached a separate commercial deal with Fertitta Entertainment, covering the Houston Rockets, Landry’s and the Golden Nugget casino portfolio.
Under that deal:
-- DraftKings becomes the exclusive daily fantasy sports, sports betting, and iGaming partner of the Houston Rockets.
-- The operator will open a sportsbook at the Toyota Center, should Texas legalize betting and award licenses to sports teams as expected.
-- DraftKings expands its retail sportsbook presence at Golden Nugget casinos.
-- It also gets optionality for market access on favorable terms through certain Golden Nugget casinos.
Robins said DraftKings’ expanded retail footprint would help with hospitality for high value customers.
How did the market react?
DKNG stock initially jumped around 5% in pre-market trading, but gave up most of those gains at the time of writing.
Regulus Partners said the multi-brand strategy made “increasing sense” in a maturing market.
The analyst firm added: “Since the deal is all paper, the transaction does not put any further hard-earned capital at risk, while GNOG is very easily accretive to DK at both the valuation and cash flow level.
“Not many deals are genuinely win-win and very few US-led transactions currently seem all that sensible. This one ticks both boxes for us.”
Analysts are on board
Likewise, Eilers & Krejcik said in a note there was a “lot to like” about the deal.
Specifically, Eilers said it would help DraftKings protect its igaming share in the face of mounting competition.
“We see this pairing as a longer term defensive hedge against the ascendancy of BetMGM, Caesars, and even Penn National, which has barely begun to scratch the surface of its online casino capabilities,” the analysts said.
DK has had a busy couple of days with Q2 results on Friday, which also revealed an ongoing SEC investigation into its SBTech acquisition.
Why DraftKings Spent $1.5 Billion In Golden Nugget Online Gaming Deal (legalsportsreport.com) |
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| To: Glenn Petersen who wrote (215) | 8/10/2021 3:32:47 AM | | From: Glenn Petersen | | | | MLB, Barstool Sports in significant talks to broadcast games
By Andrew Marchand
New York Post
August 9, 2021 | 1:44pm
Major League Baseball and Barstool Sports have had significant negotiations about having national midweek games on the site’s platforms, The Post has learned.
The discussions are what Barstool founder Dave Portnoy was referring to last week when he mentioned his company has had talks with “major leagues.”
MLB and Barstool potentially could team up to create a new type of broadcast with a focus on in-game gambling.
The talks have started recently, and while they have picked up steam, an agreement is not yet a certainty. One source deemed it “50-50.”
MLB and Barstool declined to comment.
Major League Baseball currently has national TV deals with Fox, Turner and ESPN. As part of its new ESPN contract that begins next year, the network dropped regular, non-exclusive Monday and Wednesday games, leaving MLB trying to find a buyer for that inventory. Turner will move its regular-season games to Tuesday, from Sunday, beginning next season.
YouTube is a possibility for the midweek national games, as it already has streamed MLB games for three years. Peacock just did a weekend series last month, as well, and is seen as a contender.
But Barstool sticks out because it has the connection to a younger audience MLB craves and could possibly create buzz with its alternative delivery approach. Barstool would be expected to deliver the games through its website, Instagram and Twitter accounts, among others.
Barstool recently announced that it would be a title sponsor and broadcaster for college football’s Arizona Bowl. The platform is expected to soon sign other deals for live rights.
As is Barstool’s wont, the Arizona Bowl broadcast is not expected to be traditional in its delivery, which could appeal to MLB.
Noah Garden, MLB’s chief revenue officer, has been wanting baseball to become younger. He has not been shy about expanding into gambling, and he likes the idea of alternative broadcasts.
The “Bettor’s Eye,” a baseball betting-focused show, was scheduled for Monday and new episodes are planned for the next three Mondays on MLB Network. Previously, segments of the program have run on MLB Network.
MLB Network, during a few of its games this season, has featured what it termed the “Clubhouse Edition” approach with CC Sabathia, among others, on hand.
On Tuesday night, MLB Network’s game between the Cubs and Brewers will have Sabathia, Jason Kendall, Matt Vasgersian and Mark DeRosa hanging out.
For Barstool, it is trying to be at the center of the convergence of sports gambling, media and now, potentially, live games.
Barstool’s parent company, Penn National, just bought the Canadian betting app, theScore. It has sportsbooks in several states with the list growing. And now it is moving into live rights.
There is one major issue that all potential streamers have to overcome to make in-game gambling a reality. The lag time between live action and the stream must be eliminated if betting in-game is to become a reality.
Doing business with Barstool could come with controversy for MLB, as Barstool has been accused of being misogynistic. But Barstool has been embraced by many top major leaguers, including Bryce Harper, making it possibly a popular choice among some players.
If the games are nonexclusive, Barstool probably wouldn’t have to do the production, as it could take feeds from regional sports networks (RSNs). Barstool then could produce its own nontraditional, gambling focused broadcast without a play-by-play voice and analysts. Its relaxed approach could feature Portnoy, Dan (Big Cat) Katz and, for say, a Yankees game, Eric Hubbs, who writes about the team for the site.
If a deal is completed and it is nonexclusive, the games would likely still be broadcast on RSNs, making Barstool’s stream an alternative broadcast. That means local fans who want the traditional approach would not be disrupted.
MLB, Barstool Sports in significant talks to broadcast games (nypost.com) |
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| From: quantinvestor | 8/13/2021 5:50:41 AM | | | | | | | Cathie Wood from ARK Invest continues to buy DKNG while selling her other tech stocks that are overvalued. Goes to show she believes the company is undervalued with plenty of upside. Bullish DKNG. |
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| From: Glenn Petersen | 8/13/2021 6:08:46 AM | | | | | | FANDUEL TARGETS PROFITABILITY BY 2023 AS Q2 REVENUES SOAR
POSTED ON AUGUST 10, 2021
BY BRAD ALLEN
Legal Sports Report
FanDuel expects to be profitable in the US by 2023.
That was the key update from FanDuel parent Flutter, who reported a bullish set of Q2 results on Tuesday morning.
Key numbers from FanDuel results
-- FanDuel Group grew revenues 159% to $906 million, with marketing spend at $404 million.
-- The company has acquired 2.2 million customers since launching sports betting at an average CPA of $291.
-- On average, those customers generate a 20% return on their acquisition cost in the first year, Flutter said.
Potholes on road to profits
Those figures should lead to profitability by 2023, Flutter noted, assuming nine more states go live with sports betting, including New York.
FanDuel is not a lock to get a New York license despite being part of a so-called ‘ superbid‘ with DraftKings and BetMGM.
If Florida, Texas or California go live before 2023, FanDuel would spend more on acquisition and potentially delay profitability.
“That would be a nice problem to have as it mean our addressable market would be even bigger,” said Flutter CEO Peter Jackson.
Bright outlook for FanDuel
Jackson continued with positive comments about future US economics.
“We remain the number one online sports betting operator by some distance thanks to the quality of our products and the extensive reach of the FanDuel brand,” Jackson said. “The customer economics we are seeing in the US bode very well for the future, with early FanDuel customers generating positive payback within the first 12 months of acquisition.”
FanDuel generated 56% more revenue than DraftKings in H1, with similar marketing spend.
It also had a 45% share of US online sportsbook revenues in Q2.
Focus on casino?
In an analyst call Tuesday, Jackson fielded multiple questions about iGaming in light of DraftKings’ acquisition of Golden Nugget Online.
“In gaming, we see an opportunity to grow our market share and look forward to further enhancing our product offering in the coming months,” Jackson said.
He said the company was refining its cross-sell process and was happy with its existing gaming brands including Stardust Casino.
“We run the world’s largest online casino business so we have tremendous know-how within the organization,” Jackson said.
He said Flutter expected eight of the next nine states to regulate sports betting only, so sports would remain the priority.
Whither FanDuel IPO?
Finally, Jackson touched on the potential FanDuel IPO, that was recently put on the backburner.
He suggested it was still an option in the future. However, he said Flutter would only ever spin off a small part of the business to retain full operational control.
“That’s one of the reasons FanDuel has done as well as it has,” Jackson said. “It has the full support of the global business so we wouldn’t want to change that.”
Flutter stock climbed 8% on the London Stock Exchange following the results.
FanDuel Targets Profitability By 2023 As Q2 Revenues Soar (legalsportsreport.com) |
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| From: Glenn Petersen | 8/19/2021 2:24:18 PM | | | | | | Sportradar registration statement: Live F-1 (sec.gov)
SPORTRADAR FILES FOR IPO FOR PUBLIC LAUNCH AFTER SPAC TALKS FAIL
Posted on August 18, 2021
by Pat Evans
Legal Sports Report
Swiss-based Sportradar announced Tuesday it filed documents for an initial public offering.
The sports betting data and services company was close to a merger with a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) to go public earlier this year. The deal fell apart in June and the company put the IPO route back on the table.
Still early in the IPO process, the number and price of shares are not known, according to a release. Sportradar plans to list under the ticker symbol “SRAD” on the Nasdaq Global Select Market.
“Sitting here today, I see numerous opportunities for growth, especially as new sports betting markets such as the US accelerate and our customers turn to us for new products and continued innovation,” Sportradar founder and CEO Carsten Koerl wrote in the SEC filing.
“By leveraging our sports analytics expertise, rich datasets, artificial intelligence and machine learning capabilities, global network, and connections to sports leagues around the world, we believe that we will shape the future of sports.”
Sportradar’s rise
\
Founded in 2001, the company has been looking to go public since at least last year. In its filing, Sportradar said it generated $318.6 million in revenue during the first six months of the year, up 42%.
In 2018, Sportradar was valued at $2.4 billion. Investors in the company include NBA team owners Michael Jordan, Mark Cuban and Ted Leonsis.
Sportradar clients include:
FIFA
MLB
NASCAR
NBA
NHL
The fast rise of the US sports betting industry has fueled the need for sports data, especially as sportsbooks look to increase their in-play betting options.
Sportradar SPAC deal fell through
The IPO filing comes following the breakdown of merger talks with Horizon Acquisition Corp. II earlier this summer. Those talks initially began in March 2021.
The SPAC deal valued Sportradar at $10 billion.
SPAC became a popular way to go public throughout 2020, including deals that took DraftKings, Genius Sports, Rush Street Interactive and Golden Nugget public. The “blank check” companies continued to flood into the market, but the thirst for the deals waned this year.
Growing need for sports data
The use of official league data in sports betting is front and center, and could end up in the courts. Several states include official league data mandates and leagues have lobbied for the use to “ensure the accuracy and consistency of betting outcomes.” The sports betting industry has pushed back on that narrative, as it did on its predecessor in the integrity fee.
Sportradar’s chief competitor, Genius Sports, recently took over the NFL‘s official data deal. An increase in prices for the data caused industry pushback.
Earlier this month, DraftKings became the first sportsbook to partner with Genius for the official NFL data.
Sportradar Files For IPO For Public Launch After SPAC Talks Fail (legalsportsreport.com) |
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| From: Glenn Petersen | 8/20/2021 5:50:26 AM | | | | | | Fanatics does not currently have an online gaming presence, though it is rumored to have an interest.
With a Frenzy of Deals, Fanatics Swoops In to Reorder the Trading-Card World
The sports-merchandise retailer’s deals with players in baseball, basketball and football overturn decades-long arrangements with dominant icons like Topps Co.
By Jared Diamond and Andrew Beaton
Bloomberg
Updated Aug. 19, 2021 5:36 pm ET
Topps has been the premier baseball-card manufacturer since the early 1950s. PHOTO: JOHN J. KIM/CHICAGO TRIBUNE/TNS/ZUMA PRESS
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In a sweeping reordering of the trading-card universe, unions representing players in Major League Baseball, the National Basketball Association and the National Football League have struck exclusive agreements with a new company controlled by online sports-merchandise retailer Fanatics Inc., people familiar with the matter said.
The deals break the grip that incumbent icon Topps Co. has held on the baseball-card market since the 1950s. The basketball and football players had deals with Panini America, Inc.
All three unions—the MLBPA, NBPA and NFLPA—will have stakes in the entity that will now have control of the most lucrative sports trading card assets in the country. MLB and the NBA have also struck deals with the new business and will also have a stake.By Jared Diamond and Andrew Beaton
Bloomberg
Updated Aug. 19, 2021 5:36 pm ET
Topps and Panini did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The MLBPA deal begins in 2023. MLB’s current agreement with Topps runs through 2025. The NBA and NFL unions’ deals run through 2025 and 2026, respectively.
In a memo sent to baseball players Thursday, MLBPA executive director Tony Clark said that his union’s deal is more than 10 times bigger than any deal the union has ever struck. He added that it is part of a series of recent deals that will generate nearly $2 billion through 2045.
The deals figure to have a major impact on the fortunes of an old stalwart of the sports business, Topps, and a newer one that is charging deeper into it, Fanatics. The players and leagues plan to leverage the same expertise that has turned Fanatics into the go-to online retailer of sports gear into a business that makes trading cards more accessible to everyday fans.
Topps, the longtime incumbent in baseball, is in the process of going public through a combination with a special-purpose acquisition company. That deal, with Mudrick Capital Acquisition Corp. II, valued the combined entity at about $1.16 billion, the companies said when they announced the deal in April. Topps released its second-quarter earnings on Wednesday, announcing that sales had increased by 78% and raising its outlook for the year.
Fanatics, meanwhile, has emerged as one of the most aggressive forces in sports merchandising. Its founder, and executive chairman, Michael Rubin, is also the co-owner of the NBA’s Philadelphia 76ers and the NHL’s New Jersey Devils. The company has partnered with virtually every major North American professional sports league for merchandising sales and lately has signaled its intent to enter areas such as ticketing and online betting.
Fanatics is currently valued at at $18 billion following a new funding round, the Journal reported earlier this month, roughly tripling its valuation from a year ago as it works to expand into new business lines. Rubin will helm the new company.
Topps has been the premier baseball-card manufacturer since the early 1950s, originally packaging the cards with bubble gum. Its 1952 Mickey Mantle card is one of the most iconic and expensive cards ever produced, with one selling for $5.2 million earlier this year. The company remains synonymous with baseball cards to this day.
More recently, baseball cards have exploded in popularity, particularly during the pandemic, when national lockdowns and the hiatus of live sports sent people digging through their attics and basements in search of old cards.
Topps is currently co-owned by the Tornante Company and private-equity firm Madison Dearborn Partners, and its chairman is former Walt Disney Co. chief executive Michael Eisner.
Topps’ dominant position in the baseball business is the result of two separate licensing deals: one with Major League Baseball, which allows Topps to use team logos and trademarks on its cards; and the other with the union, which enables it to use player images.
The combination of the deals allows Topps to produce cards with, for example, Fernando Tatís Jr. wearing his San Diego Padres uniform. (The MLBPA currently has another licensing deal with Panini, which allows the use of player likenesses but not team logos.)
Fanatics founder Michael Rubin is also the co-owner of the NBA’s Philadelphia 76ers and the NHL’s New Jersey Devils. PHOTO: ALEX TRAUTWIG/MLB/GETTY IMAGES
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Topps paid the MLBPA $20.4 million last year, the most of any MLBPA licensee, according to the union’s annual report to the U.S. Department of Labor. The NFLPA earned $24.2 million from Panini, according to its latest filing.
But now Topps is losing a major partner in MLB and the MLBPA, making its future in the baseball card arena unclear.
The rest of the sports card market is divided up between other players. Panini has exclusive licenses with the NFL and the NBA and their unions, while Upper Deck has an exclusive deal with the NHL and the National Hockey League Players Association.
In his memo, Clark added that players should “continue to honor their commitments and perform any obligations they may have under any valid, extant agreements with Topps and Panini” in the interim.
The NFL, unlike MLB and the NBA, has not struck a deal with the newly formed card company, but that does not preclude the league from doing so before its current deal with Panini is done.
Two years ago, the NFLPA and MLBPA teamed up in an unprecedented private equity deal that helped lay the groundwork for this upheaval. The Journal first reported in 2019 the NFLPA and MLBPA’s creation of OneTeam Partners LLC, which was launched to expand opportunities to license their group name, image and likeness rights. Prominent among those assets: trading card deals.
Write to Jared Diamond at jared.diamond@wsj.com and Andrew Beaton at andrew.beaton@wsj.com
Copyright ©2021 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 87990cbe856818d5eddac44c7b1cdeb8
Appeared in the August 20, 2021, print edition as 'Fanatics Shakes Up the Card Market.'
With a Frenzy of Deals, Fanatics Swoops In to Reorder the Trading-Card World - WSJ |
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| From: Glenn Petersen | 8/21/2021 12:33:47 PM | | | | | | The Upcoming NFL Season Is Crunch Time for Sports Betting
Online gambling has grown in popularity during the pandemic. But from a crowded field of competitors, only a handful will likely survive long term.
By Katherine Sayre
Wall Street Journal
Aug. 20, 2021 5:30 am ET
The U.S. gambling industry is betting it all on the National Football League this fall.
A crowded field of sports-betting companies are spending billions of dollars to promote their brands at a crucial turning point for the fast-growing industry. The stakes are high. Companies are grappling for toeholds in the growing market as they seek to ensure their long-term survival. Online gambling, including sports betting and casino-style games, has exploded in popularity in the U.S. during the pandemic and could become a $40 billion industry in the next decade, according to analysts and executives.
This season, the NFL for the first time is allowing sports-gambling companies to advertise during games. Up to six ad slots a game will be open to seven league-approved betting companies.
Chris Halpin, the NFL’s chief strategy and growth officer, said the league in recent years has studied how best to use betting content to boost fan engagement, without annoying nongamblers. As legalized online wagering has spread across the country, Mr. Halpin said, “it made sense for us to really introduce sports betting in a thoughtful way into our national footprint.”
Sports-gambling deal making among casinos, media networks and technology companies has accelerated this year. For companies, the Sept. 9 start of regular-season games represents a chance to build brand loyalty among avid gamblers and sway football fans to become new bettors.
“There’s only going to be a handful of brands when this market matures,” said Lloyd Danzig, an investor and mergers-and-acquisitions adviser who specializes in sports betting.
___________________________
Market capitalization of sports-betting companies
Parent of FanDuel: Flutter - $32.71 billion
DraftKings - 20.79 billion*
MGM Resorts - 18.15 billion
Caesars - 17.6 billion
Wynn Resorts - 10.26 billion
Penn National - 10.2 billion
*Doesn’t include non-traded shares
Note: As of Aug. 19
Source: FactSet
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Many of the recent deals in the industry are primarily marketing arrangements. The NFL this year named Caesars Entertainment Inc., DraftKings Inc. and FanDuel Group as its sportsbook partners, with the ability to display league content such as game highlights and logos in their gambling apps. The five-year deals are worth about $1 billion for the NFL, according to a person familiar with the agreements.
“We’re going to be able to reach that NFL consumer before and during the game in a way that we weren’t able to,” said FanDuel Group’s acting chief executive, Amy Howe.
In addition to its three sportsbook partners, the NFL has authorized four other gambling brands to buy ads during games: WynnBET, BetMGM, PointsBet Holdings Ltd. and Flutter Entertainment PLC’s Fox Bet. The league capped the number of ads to prevent the broadcasts from being flooded with gambling messages, while also vetting which companies can advertise.
Fox Bet was initially launched as a partnership that included Fox Corp. Fox Corp. and Wall Street Journal parent company News Corp share common ownership.
The spark for the online sports-betting boom came in 2018, when the U.S. Supreme Court cleared the way for states beyond Nevada to legalize gambling on sports.
Now, 32 states and the District of Columbia have legalized sports betting, each with separate rules and regulators. Ten of those states haven't allowed betting to begin yet.
In other deals, operators are seeking to acquire companies to quickly scale up. Some betting companies are acquiring or entering partnerships with sports media entities and makers of technology that powers their apps.
This month, digital-betting company DraftKings Inc. agreed to buy Golden Nugget Online Gaming Inc. for about $1.56 billion in stock. Golden Nugget Online, which operates digital casino games, gives DraftKings more tech and new customers. Golden Nugget CEO Tilman Fertitta, owner of the National Basketball Association’s Houston Rockets, will be one of DraftKings’ largest shareholders and is to sit on the board as part of the pending deal.
Wagering on games is expanding beyond casino sportsbooks thanks to the proliferation of betting apps. PHOTO: ETHAN MILLER/GETTY IMAGES
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DraftKings CEO Jason Robins said even as the company expands in casino games and sports betting, it is also exploring other markets, including nonfungible tokens, the digital collectibles known as NFTs.
“It’s something that’s both relevant to our customer base and also will drive other avenues for bringing in new customers,” Mr. Robins said in an interview.
The market consolidation happening today was expected, but it is sorting out winners and losers at a faster rate than many anticipated, said Chris Grove, partner at Eilers & Krejcik Gaming. “You are seeing public markets more clearly reserve the upside for companies that have a credible shot at a national market leadership position,” Mr. Grove said.
MGM Resorts International, the biggest operator on the Las Vegas Strip, operates digital sports betting through its BetMGM brand. BetMGM is a joint venture with digital-focused British gambling firm Entain PLC. In January, MGM Resorts made a failed £8.09 billion (equivalent to about $11 billion) bid for Entain, which the British company said was too little money. MGM Resorts declined to comment on whether it is considering a renewed bid.
Caesars rolled out a new Caesars Sportsbook app in early August, just a few months after completing its acquisition of British sports-betting giant William Hill PLC for $4 billion. The goal was to be ready ahead of this football season, according to the company.
In New Orleans, Caesars reached a $138 million, 20-year deal for the naming rights to the Superdome, home of the NFL’s Saints. In a bit of corporate synergy, the company is planning to change the name of its Harrah’s casino, nearby in downtown New Orleans, to Caesars, following a $325 million renovation.
Sports-betting operators expect that running ads during NFL games will help them reach a broader audience. PHOTO: MIKE EHRMANN/GETTY IMAGES
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Penn National Gaming Inc. operates gambling properties in 20 states and has made a big push into the digital realm. This month, the company agreed to buy Canada’s Score Media & Gaming Inc., operator of theScore app, for about $2 billion. The deal gives Penn National new digital technology, sports news and an expanded footprint in Canada.
The deal builds on Penn National’s move last year to take a stake in Barstool Sports Inc., a sports content and podcasting brand, and Penn launched a Barstool-branded betting app in the U.S.
“Our strategy has always been that there’s going to be a major convergence between sports media and sports betting,” said Penn National CEO Jay Snowden.
Wynn Resorts Ltd. this year agreed to spin off its online division, Wynn Interactive, through a reverse merger with a blank-check company founded by Bill Foley, owner of the Vegas Golden Knights National Hockey League team. Wynn Resorts is to hold 58% of the new publicly traded company after the deal closes, which is expected before the end of the year.
Wynn Interactive, which operates the WynnBET app, has also invested in a sports podcasting network Blue Wire, including a studio in the Wynn Las Vegas casino.
It isn’t a winner-take-all market, said Wynn Interactive CEO Craig Billings, because in such a large market, a company with a 10% to 15% share could operate a healthy business. But it will be difficult for companies to enter the market after this NFL season, he said.
“The competitive landscape is starting to form,” Mr. Billings said. “You’re starting to see who, ultimately, can be relevant.”
Write to Katherine Sayre at katherine.sayre@wsj.com
The Upcoming NFL Season Is Crunch Time for Sports Betting - WSJ |
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| To: Rarebird who wrote (223) | 8/24/2021 11:48:16 AM | | From: Rarebird | | | | | Ideally, I'd like to see a little more strength to confirm a bottom. A strong close at or near the highs would help. |
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