Out of the numerous acquisitions made in the betting and gaming industry in recent months, Caesars’ takeover of William Hill and the sale of the latter’s non-US assets has been one of the most stand-out stories.
What is it?
In the latest episode of the Legal Sports Report, Adam Candee and Dustin Gouker discussed the latest news in the sports betting space, with a particular focus on the US gaming company’s acquisition of the British sportsbook and online casino operator, and what it means for the US market.
Who is it?
Adam Candee, Managing Editor at Legal Sports Report
Dustin Gouker, Head of Content at Legal Sports Report
Regarding Ceasars’ decision to sell William Hill’s non-US assets, Goukrer remarked: “We knew this was coming, it just wasn’t formalised for quite a while but Caesars will be retiring the William Hill brand. It looks like they are trying to do it by NHL season. William Hill is obviously a big UK brand, has been in Nevada for quite a while and has been an early adopter in the US and William Hill has been familiar to a lot of people who do online sports betting.
“The Caesars sports brand is coming to everyone eventually, I think we knew that when Caesars acquired them that they’d be leveraging their own brand rather than a brand that doesn’t have a ton of value in the United States outside of Nevada. It’s interesting news for sure, but it really shows that Caesars has been kind of quiet, about all this and now going to become more loud I think, with their name being out there and more and more states as online betting expands.”
Discussing Caesars’ commercial strategy and what the acquisition could mean to the US sports betting sector, Gouker added: “It feels like they’ve been biding their time and not keeping their powder dry until they’ve maybe had this brand if they knew this was coming at some point and that they would, I think Caesars have probably been reactionary – they saw MGM do so this and thought ‘well I guess we better be doing this as well’.”
“Now this makes basically all the big casino companies in Vegas, at least the strip casinos, now pretty heavily involved in online gambling, between them (Caesars), MGM and Wynn, of course, has been making some waves as well with their product and trying to expand that. It does have a feeling that Caesars, we’re going to be seeing a lot more investment. I think they kind of hinted at that that they’ve been under-investing in the sports product, not just William Hill. Caesars has been a longtime part of the online casino in New Jersey, and casinos are a growing part of this all as well, so this is just another iteration of that and we’re going to be seeing a lot more of Caesars.”
Why should I watch it?
To hear about major developments in the US sports betting and gaming sector, and in particular hear unique insights into Caesars acquisition of William Hill, and the impact this could have on the market.
Where can I see more?
Source – Legal Sports Report YouTube Channel
