American gambling, betting, and entertainment company
This article is about the current gambling operator. For the current gambling equipment manufacturer, see Bally Technologies. For the original company based in Chicago, see Bally Manufacturing. For other uses, see Bally (disambiguation).
Bally's Corporation is an American gambling, betting, and interactive entertainment company headquartered in Providence, Rhode Island. It operates 13 casinos across ten states, a horse track in Colorado, and online sports betting operations in 14 states.[5]
The company was founded in 2004 as BLB Investors. It eventually changed its name to Twin River Worldwide Holdings. In 2020, the company acquired the rights to the Bally's brand from Caesars Entertainment and changed its own name to Bally's Corporation.
History
Bally's originated as BLB Investors. BLB was formed in 2004, as a joint venture between Starwood Capital Group, Kerzner International, and the Waterford Group for the purpose of launching a bid to acquire Wembley plc.[6][7] Wembley was a British operator of racetracks in the United Kingdom and the United States, whose primary asset was Lincoln Park, a greyhound track and slot machine parlor in Rhode Island.[8] BLB reached a deal in February 2005, agreeing to pay $435 million for Lincoln Park, plus $20 million for Wembley's other U.S. properties, comprising a horse track (Arapahoe Park) and three greyhound tracks in Colorado.[9][10] The purchase closed in July 2005.[11]
BLB undertook a $220-million expansion of Lincoln Park and, in 2007, renamed it Twin River.[12]
In Colorado, the company's three dog racing tracks closed as interest in the sport declined, and all three had been sold off by 2011.[19][20][21]
Land-based gambling expansion
In 2014, Twin River bought the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Biloxi in Mississippi from Leucadia National for $250 million.[22][23] The acquisition was made to diversify the company geographically, in preparation for expected competition from Massachusetts, which had legalized casinos in 2011.[24]
In 2015, Twin River purchased Rhode Island's only other casino, the Newport Grand, for $22 million, and announced plans to relocate its operations to a new facility to be built in Tiverton, Rhode Island.[25][26][27] The Newport Grand closed in 2018, and its replacement, the $140-million Tiverton Casino Hotel, opened days later.[28][29]
In 2016, hedge fund Standard General took an ownership stake in Twin River,[30] and its principal partner, Soo Kim, took a seat on the board. Kim went on to become Twin River's chairman in 2019, and began leading the company through a rapid expansion.[31]
Later that month, Twin River acquired the rights to the Bally's brand from Caesars Entertainment for $20 million.[39] At the time, Twin River said that it would rebrand "virtually all" of its properties under the Bally's name.[40] In November 2020, the company changed its name to Bally's Corporation and its stock ticker symbol to BALY.[41] Days later, the company closed on purchasing Bally's Atlantic City from Caesars and Vici Properties for $25 million.[42]
Bally's acquired the Eldorado Shreveport casino hotel in Louisiana from Eldorado Resorts in December 2020 for $140 million.[43]
In January 2021, Bally's partnered with developer Ira Lubert in a plan to build a $120-million casino in the area of State College, Pennsylvania.[44] The next month, the company announced another proposed casino development, Bally's Richmond, which would be built in Richmond, Virginia, at a cost of $650 million;[45] the proposal was rejected by the city.[46]
In April 2021, Bally's acquired the operations of the MontBleu casino in Nevada from Caesars for $15 million,[47] and later renamed it Bally’s Lake Tahoe.[48] Bally's also entered a sale-and-leaseback deal with Gaming and Leisure Properties, Inc. (GLPI) for the three Black Hawk casinos and Jumer's, agreeing to sell them for $150 million and lease them back for $12 million per year.[49]
In June 2021, Bally's bought Jumer's Casino & Hotel in Illinois from Delaware North for $120 million,[50] and also purchased the operating business of Tropicana Evansville in Indiana from Caesars for $140 million.[51] To fund the Tropicana purchase, the real estate of Dover Downs was sold to GLPI for $144 million in a leaseback transaction.[51][52]
In January 2022, Standard General moved to take full ownership of Bally's, offering to buy all outstanding shares in a transaction valuing the company at $2.07 billion.[53] The board of directors rejected the offer in May.[54]
In May 2022, Chicago mayor Lori Lightfoot selected Bally's proposal to build the $1.7-billion Bally's Chicago casino resort in the city's River West neighborhood. A temporary site is planned to open in mid-2023 at the Medinah Temple, before phase 1 of the new, permanent facility is completed by 2026.[55][56][57] It was projected to eventually account for one third of the company's gaming revenue.[54]Bally's Chicago opened in September 2023.[58][59]
In November 2020, Bally's entered into a long-term media partnership with Sinclair Broadcast Group, which would include the rebranding of its Fox Sports Networks regional sports networks under the Bally brand in a 10-year deal, and integration of Bally's content into its sports properties. The agreement included warrants that would allow Sinclair to acquire up to a 14.9% stake in Bally's, and increase its stake to up to 24.9% if performance criteria are met.[62] The nineteen regional sports networks were rebranded as Bally Sports in March 2021.[63]
In 2021, Bally's made several acquisitions to expand its online gaming and sports betting business. In February, it acquired SportCaller, a provider of free-to-play online games.[64] The next month, the company acquired Monkey Knife Fight, the third-largest daily fantasy sports operator in the U.S., for up to $90 million in stock.[65][66] In June, Bally's acquired the sports betting platform Bet.Works for $125 million.[67][68][69] In July, it acquired the Association of Volleyball Professionals.[70] In October, it acquired Gamesys Group, a British online gambling company, for $2.7 billion,.[71][72]
By acquiring Gamesys Group, Bally's is the online casino and bingo operator for six UK-based platforms. These are Virgin Games,[73]Jackpotjoy,[74] MONOPOLY Casino,[75] Rainbow Riches Casino,[76] Double Bubble Bingo,[77] and Bally Casino.[78]
