Bally's Corp Makes Another Move Toward Mobile Relevance with Sportradar Deal
Bally's Corp. has made another strong move to build their relatively new mobile betting brand in the exploding US legal sports betting scene. Bally's has been aggressive in their pursuit of relevance with a number of prudent recent partnerships and acquisitions deals, the latest being an alliance with one of the elite global data providers, Sportradar.
Bally's has been busy building as complete a betting brand as possible. The last six months has seen them partner with global sports leagues and iconic pro sports teams within the US scene as well as acquiring media empires, technology platforms and even a DFS provider.
While true that the sports betting company has some work to do in order to catch up to the likes of the BetMGMs, the Willam Hills, the PointsBets and the two DFS giants, gaining access to top-tier data from an elite brand like Sportradar should help grow their company going forward.
The Need for Data
The value of sports data has gone through the roof as of late. It was just this year that Sportradar actually lost out on an exclusive deal to provide NFL data to sportsbooks to Genius Sports. Genius paid somewhere between $100 million and $250 million for those exclusive rights.
Reliable data within the legal sports betting realm cannot be discounted. Popularity of legal sports betting, specifically mobile and live betting has seen exponential growth. Live betting is estimated to reach 75% of the nation's sports betting handle within the next few years and is reliant on the quick turn-around of stats to support the bet-type.
In the end, it is the swift and bullet-proof stats from data companies that help sportsbooks set odds and determine payouts on an increasingly wide-ranging variety of wagering opportunities. Companies like Sportradar also educate bettors and assist in their enhanced overall sport viewing and wagering experience.
Growth Means Building an Online Presence
It is no secret as to what the dominant form of legal sports betting is in the US. The most successful jurisdictions in the land have strong mobile platforms that consistently make up 90% of their handles. This includes top-5 states New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Illinois and Indiana, with Nevada being the lone exception on that list. Bally’s is after a piece of those pies.
Bally's has taken steps by acquiring regulated sportsbook technology platform Bet.Works, Sinclair Broadcasting and its 21 regional Fox sports networks as well as the other 190 Sinclair-owned stations and the third biggest DFS provider in the US Monkey Knife Fight.
The missing piece was valuable data to provide to the Bally Bet sportsbooks, and Sportradar fills that gap.
What Makes Sportradar Such a Key Partner
Bally's Interactive and their Bally Bet brand is relatively new. Bally Bet went live in its first jurisdiction, Colorado in May and launched in its second state, Iowa just last month. Simply put, they needed some experience in the space to help them achieve what a said to be lofty expansion goals.
Bally’s will be provided Sportradar's impressive lineup of pre-match betting services, live betting options and content solutions. Stats packages, live score widgets and live, real-time information from global leagues will also be a crucial element of the partnership.
Sportradar has solid existing relationships with the NHL, the NBA, MLB, NASCAR and two NFL teams, the NY Jets and the Baltimore Ravens. They are also data providers for legal sports betting providers William Hill, bet365, Penn National, TwinSpires and have a ground-breaking partnership deal in place with NBC sports.
Bally’s Corp. Senior Vice President, Strategy and Interactive Adi Dhandhania, asserts, “We are excited to be working with Sportradar to expand our online sports betting capabilities. This partnership provides us with a comprehensive suite of betting data, which will allow us to enhance our products and content offerings. We look forward to continuing to execute on our online sports betting and interactive gaming expansion strategy.”
Data Is the Future of Sports Betting
Bally's shrewd moves within the legal sports betting industry continue to ensure their elevation up the provider-ladder. The company seems to be pushing all the right buttons in order to achieve their lofty goals.
In a competitive US legal sports betting market, the more you can offer a bettor and the faster you can get your name out there, the more success you have – period. By cementing themselves as a reliable, fully integrated sportsbooks with the best data provider in the world in their corner, Bally’s has signaled that they are all-in on their mobile brand.
Expect to see Bally Bet in more existing jurisdictions and to be in on the nine new states slated to come online before the start of the NFL season. The are live in two states now but have no plans to stop there.
