Bally’s Corporation CEO Robeson Reeves said at the company’s Q2 2024 earnings call on Wednesday that he expects Bally Bet sportsbook to go live in four more U.S. states before the end of the year.
Reeves was speaking on the same day that the sportsbook launched in Maryland, its ninth state of operation and just four weeks after it went live in Massachusetts. The earnings call also came after Bally’s Interactive posted Q2 North America revenue of $49.2 million for April to June 2024, nearly double (+94%) its Q2 2023 mark of $25.3 million.
In the financial statement, Reeves attributed those gains mostly to “excellent” New Jersey and Pennsylvania iGaming results. Bally Bet has roughly 1% of the U.S. sports betting market share but the Bally Casino brand has proven more impactful.
Meanwhile, Reeves also noted on the call that the transition of Bally Bet onto the Kambi and White Hat platforms has received “good customer feedback and helped us differentiate our offering.”F
“The change from our technology stacks is incomplete, so we’re currently still running both the White Hat PAM and the proprietary Bally’s PAM in North America,” he added. During Q4, that will be replaced across Ontario, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey.”
Sports betting growth on the agenda
Next up for the company is sports betting expansion to complement that online casino performance, Reeves said on Wednesday.
“We expect to launch sports in an additional four states in the second half of the year and continue to plant the seeds for an expanded iGaming across our geographies,” Reeves said on the call.
In the Q&A portion of the call, Reeves suggested that the other sportsbook launches will start with the “simpler” states, namechecking Illinois and Tennessee. He said Bally Bet online sports betting will also go live in New Jersey and Canada’s only regulated commercial market of Ontario. Reeves noted these launches, “will help us from an acquisition perspective to help gain extra revenue.”
As well as Maryland, Bally Bet sportsbook is available in Arizona, Colorado, Indiana, Massachusetts, New York, Iowa, Ohio and Virginia.
Reeves keen to reap rewards of Standard General merger
The Q2 2024 results were posted after Bally’s accepted an acquisition offer from major shareholder Standard General. The deal, which values Bally’s at around $4.6 billion, will see the company merge with regional casino operator The Queen Casino & Entertainment (QC&E).
QC&E currently operates four casinos across Illinois, Iowa and Louisiana.
“This merger will expand our platform and databases while further diversifying the markets in which we operate,” Reeves told analysts.
“Moreover, combining The Queen Casino & Entertainment development pipeline with our own current growth initiatives provides a clear path to increased revenue, cash flow, and value accretion for the company.”
Reeves added that Bally’s expects to post adjusted EBITDA losses of more than $30 million this year.