Bally’s announced on its website that its mobile sports wagering app Bally Bet will cease taking deposits and wagers Thursday, the first step in the gaming company’s migration to the Kambi odds platform and an eventual relaunch of the app.
Bettors who use Bally Bet have until June 30 to withdraw the entire balance from their online accounts. Those who fail to do that by the June 30 deadline will have a check mailed to the address listed on the account. On its FAQ page, Bally’s notes that users in Arizona are unaffected by this planned migration. Clicking on that link takes bettors to a landing page that reminds users the mobile app is available there.
Rhode Island-based gaming company Bally’s entered a multi-year deal with Kambi in early May. The pivot to one of the world’s most established oddsmakers was a tacit admission its $125 million acquisition of Bet.Works in June 2021 — part of a $700 million spending spree and expansion that included the rebranding of Twin River to the more recognizable name Bally’s — had not panned out.
At the time the Kambi deal was announced, Bally’s expected the relaunch of Bally Bet, spanning four states for mobile wagering and seven overall, would be completed by the end of 2023. An industry source told Sports Handle the migration would take place at Bally’s brick-and-mortar sportsbooks before happening on the mobile app. Bally’s has mobile wagering market access in New York, Arizona, Indiana, and Iowa.
High stakes, high hopes
In those states where it is available, Bally Bet has not achieved significant traction. In New York, Bally Bet has generated $16 million in total handle since launch in mid-July. Four mobile books in the state — FanDuel, DraftKings, Caesars, and BetMGM — have surpassed that amount every week dating back to Aug. 21, according to New York State Gaming Commission figures. Bally Bet has yet to generate $1 million in total revenue in the Empire State, entering the week of June 12 just shy of $900,000.
The handle of $536,000 in the first three months of 2023 in Arizona was up 12.3% compared to the fourth quarter of 2022, but it also represented just 0.03% of the nearly $1.85 billion wagered in the Grand Canyon State in that span. Bally’s also did not record a gross revenue profit in either January or February, with Bally Bet coming out just $1,119 ahead for a 0.2% hold for the quarter.
Its numbers in Iowa have been minimal, with Bally Bet’s $7,305 handle in May the high-water mark of 2023, after a peak of $651,000 in October 2021 shortly after launch. In the last 12 months of operation in the Hawkeye State, Bally Bet has generated $1.1 million handle, and bettors have come out $31,000 ahead in that span.
Bally Bet has attracted more interest in Indiana, with handle of $878,000 for the year — including $565,000 combined in April and May. But there, too, that two-month total is less than one-tenth of 1% of the amount Hoosier State bettors have wagered in that span. Bally Bet’s year-to-date hold is 5.9%, resulting in $51,000 in revenue.
Kambi’s suite of sports wagering options, which notably includes same-game parlay wagering, will be a key factor in any success Bally Bet has post-relaunch. In the four states where Bally Bet is available, only Indiana offers any breakdown by category, and parlay wagering accounted for 27.7% of the $287.2 million handle reported in May.
Targeting Illinois as part of the revival?
While Bally’s is reportedly racing against the clock to have the Bally Bet app available for the upcoming football season, whether it is running a parallel race to enter the Illinois marketplace for retail and/or mobile wagering is uncertain. Bally’s is licensed to offer retail wagering at its Quad Cities location, which had its casino license renewed for four years last week, but has yet to take wagers there.
Its application for a Management Services Provider license required to offer mobile wagering has been in the Illinois Gaming Board applicant queue since last September. Circa Sports has already announced plans to launch in the Land of Lincoln prior to the start of football season, having its mobile license approved in April and the ability to offer retail wagering granted with partner Full House Resorts awarded a sports wagering owner’s license last week. Illinois, one of five states to generate a $1 billion monthly handle in the post-PASPA era, is ripe for expansion since BetMGM was the seventh and most recent mobile entrant in March 2022.
Looming large in Illinois beyond the sports wagering reset for Bally’s is the company moving forward with its proposed $1.7 billion casino in downtown Chicago. The IGB deemed Bally’s “preliminarily suitable” for that project last week, and the gambling company hopes to open its temporary casino in the River North neighborhood within the next two months.
