Caesars Entertainment unveiled its debut sports betting app this week, leveraging technology gained as a result of its acquisition of William Hill’s US assets.

Launched with a multi-million dollar marketing campaign, the new app combines Caesars sports betting assets under one brand, integrating mobile wagering with the Caesar Rewards loyalty programme in one app.

Discussing the development on the Legal Sports Report, Dustin Gauker and Adam Candee outlined how the app launch falls in line with Caesars’ overall commercial strategy to enhance its competitive advantage in the US market.

“We knew this was coming, Caesars bought the US operations of William Hill, and part of that plan was to start leveraging the Caesars’ sportsbook with William Hill technology,” Gauker commented.

“That came to fruition, starting earlier this week and mostly completed around the country, with some states a little different than others, but you’re largely going to get greeted with a Caesars sportsbook app across the country, I think it’s a little wonky in Nevada, where you’re still going to see a Wiliam Hill app I believe moving forward. 

“This is part of Caesars larger plan to start competing with the big boys in sports betting – DraftKings, FanDuel and MGM – and we’ll see if this is the first step toward that goal becoming reality.”

However, the continued operations of the William Hill app in the US created some confusion, with bettors able to find five different William Hill apps in an app store. 

This includes the William Hill legacy app, William Hill Illinois, Washington DC and Nevada products and the Caesars Sportsbook by William Hill app, meaning wagerers in Nevada can access two separate apps for the same sportsbook.

“This is nothing new here if you follow this podcast regularly,” Candee detailed. “Nevada’s app technology is willingly Stone Age, the sportsbooks want to make sure that the sharper bettors the sharper bettors here in Las Vegas and Nevada don’t have access to the same type of products that the rest of the country has access to. 

“They want to stay in the Dark Ages with those, and that’s their choice. What’s going to be interesting now is as this push continues across the country, with Caesars replacing Wiliam Hill – they said on their earnings call last night that they will be committing $1 billion to customer acquisition over the next two plus years. 

“That sounds like a big number until you realise that FanDuel and DraftKIngs have been tossing 750 million in marketing, and so it makes you wonder if it’s enough to keep up.”

Meanwhile, on the other side of the Atlantic, the sale of Wiliam Hill’s non-US assets continues, with German operator Tipico joining 888 Holdings, Betfred, Apollo Global, Advent PE, BoyleSports and Kindred Group in the bidding contest. 

Source – Legal Sports Report YouTube Channel