Bally's Corporation

Last updated

Bally's Corporation
Formerly
  • BLB Investors (2004–2011)
  • Twin River Worldwide Holdings (2011–2020)
NYSE:  BALY
Russell Microcap Index component
Industry Gambling, Entertainment
Founded2004;21 years ago (2004)
Headquarters
Providence, Rhode Island [1]
,
U.S.
Key people
  • Soo Kim (Chairman)
  • Robeson Reeves (CEO)
Revenue$2.4 billion [2]  (2023)
$−187.5 million [2]  (2023)
Total assets $6.9 billion [2]  (2023)
Total equity $635 million [2]  (2023)
Owner
Number of employees
10,500 [5]  (2023)
Website ballys.com

Bally's Corporation is an American gambling, betting, and interactive entertainment company headquartered in Providence, Rhode Island. It operates 19 casinos across 11 states, a horse track in Colorado, a golf course in New York, and online sports betting operations in 14 states. [6]

Contents

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. [7] [8] 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. [9] 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. [10] [11] The purchase closed in July 2005. [12]

BLB undertook a $220-million expansion of Lincoln Park and, in 2007, renamed it Twin River. [13]

By 2008, as a result of the global economic recession, BLB was struggling financially and began defaulting on loans related to the purchase and renovation of Twin River. [14] [15] In June 2009, the company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection with a prepackaged plan to hand over ownership to its creditors. [16] [17] The company emerged from bankruptcy in 2010, now owned by a syndicate of lenders led by Bank of America, Wells Fargo, and Sankaty Advisors. In 2011, the company changed its name to Twin River Worldwide Holdings. [18] [19]

Logo of Twin River Worldwide Holdings (2011-2020) Twin River Worldwide Holdings logo.png
Logo of Twin River Worldwide Holdings (2011–2020)

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. [20] [21] [22]

Land-based gambling expansion

In 2014, Twin River bought the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Biloxi in Mississippi from Leucadia National for $250 million. [23] [24] The acquisition was made to diversify the company geographically, in preparation for expected competition from Massachusetts, which had legalized casinos in 2011. [25]

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. [26] [27] [28] The Newport Grand closed in 2018, and its replacement, the $140-million Tiverton Casino Hotel, opened days later. [29] [30]

In 2016, hedge fund Standard General took an ownership stake in Twin River, [31] 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. [32]

In March 2019, Twin River completed a reverse merger with Dover Downs Gaming & Entertainment, the parent company of Dover Downs Hotel & Casino. [33] [34] The transaction made Twin River a public company traded on the New York Stock Exchange and left Dover Downs shareholders with a 7 percent stake in the combined company. [35]

Twin River acquired seven casinos in 2020. Three casinos in Black Hawk, Colorado (the Golden Gates, Golden Gulch, and Mardi Gras) were purchased from Affinity Gaming for $51 million. [36] [37] [38] Isle of Capri Casino Kansas City in Missouri and Lady Luck Casino Vicksburg in Missisippi were bought from Eldorado Resorts for $230 million. [39] The Eldorado Shreveport casino hotel in Louisiana was acquired from Eldorado for $140 million. [40] Bally's Atlantic City was purchased from Caesars Entertainment and Vici Properties for $25 million. [41]

In October 2020, Twin River acquired the rights to the Bally's brand from Caesars for $20 million, in conjunction with the purchase of Bally's Atlantic City. [42] At the time, Twin River said that it would rebrand "virtually all" of its properties under the Bally's name. [43] In November 2020, the company changed its name to Bally's Corporation and its stock ticker symbol to BALY. [44] Days later,

In 2021, Bally's separately acquired three casinos (MontBleu in Nevada, [45] Jumer's Casino & Hotel in Illinois, [46] and Tropicana Evansville in Indiana [47] ) for a total of $275 million. Meanwhile, the company reduced its real estate assets through sale-and-leaseback deals with Gaming and Leisure Properties, Inc. (GLPI) for the land and buildings of Dover Downs, Jumer's, and the three Black Hawk casinos, for a total sale of $294 million. [48] [49] Bally's also announced plans to co-develop a $120-million casino near State College, Pennsylvania and to build a $650-million casino development in Richmond, Virginia; [50] [51] these plans did not come to fruition, as the Richmond proposal was rejected by the city, and Bally's eventually withdrew from the State College project. [52] [53]

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. [54] The board of directors rejected the offer in May. [55]

In May 2022, Bally's proposal for a $1.7-billion Bally's Chicago casino resort in the city's River West neighborhood was approved. [56] [57] [58] It was projected to eventually account for one third of the company's gaming revenue. [55] Bally's Chicago opened a temporary casino in September 2023 at the Medinah Temple. [59] [60] Phase 1 of the new, permanent facility is expected to open in 2026. [61]

In September 2022, Bally's purchased the buildings and operating business of the Tropicana Las Vegas from GLPI and Penn Entertainment for $148 million. [62] Bally's plans to replace the Tropicana with a 3,000 room integrated resort which will sit next to the New Las Vegas Stadium. [63]

In 2024, Bally's agreed to a new buyout offer by Standard General and merger with The Queen Casino & Entertainment, a gaming company owned by Standard General. The buyout valued the combined company at $4.6 billion, and gave existing stockholders the option to retain their shares. The merger would add four casinos to Bally's portfolio, as well as a 33% stake in Intralot. [64] The transaction was completed in February 2025, leaving Standard General as the owner of a 74% stake in the company. [3] [65]

In February of 2025, Ballys was looking to acquire struggling Australian gaming company Star Entertainment Group. If Ballys were to acquire the company, it would give them properties outside of the US for the first time. [66]

Interactive gambling expansion

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. [67] The nineteen regional sports networks were rebranded as Bally Sports in March 2021. [68]

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. [69] 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. [70] [71] In June, Bally's acquired the sports betting platform Bet.Works for $125 million. [72] [73] [74] In July, it acquired the Association of Volleyball Professionals. [75] In October, it acquired Gamesys Group, a British online gambling company, for $2.7 billion,. [76] [77]

By acquiring Gamesys, Bally's became the online casino and bingo operator for six UK-based platforms. These are Virgin Games, [78] Jackpotjoy, [79] Monopoly Casino, [80] Rainbow Riches Casino, [81] Double Bubble Bingo, [82] and Bally Casino. [83]

In 2023, Bally's launched Bally Live, a streaming sports video service. [84] The app features live streaming from Stadium, [85] Minor League Baseball, [86] Major League Table Tennis, [87] the Association of Volleyball Professionals, [88] and the Pro Volleyball Federation. [89]

Properties

The company operates nineteen casino properties, a standalone horse track, and a golf course: [90]

Former properties

Future properties

Proposed properties

See also

References

  1. ↑ Form 10-Q: Quarterly Report (Report). Bally's Corporation. May 10, 2021. p. 37 – via EDGAR.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Form 10-K: Annual Report (Report). Bally's Corporation. March 15, 2024. pp. 60–61 – via EDGAR.
  3. 1 2 Schedule 13D: Acquisition of Beneficial Ownership (Report). Bally's Corporation. February 11, 2025 – via EDGAR.
  4. ↑ Schedule 13G: Report of Beneficial Ownership (Report). Bally's Corporation. February 11, 2025 – via EDGAR.
  5. ↑ Form 10-K: Annual Report (Report). Bally's Corporation. March 15, 2024. p. 9 – via EDGAR.
  6. ↑ Lou Monaco, "Bally's Rebrands Kansas City Casino, Expansion Planned," Top US Casinos, April 3, 2021.
  7. ↑ Heather Tomlinson (March 30, 2004). "Gambling tycoon trumps MGM's bid for Wembley". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 2019-04-02.
  8. ↑ Brian Hallenbeck (November 27, 2012). "Holyoke is back in Massachusetts casino mix". The Day. New London, CT. Retrieved 2019-04-02.
  9. ↑ Liz Benston (January 27, 2004). "MGM Mirage buying track, slot firm for $490 million". Las Vegas Sun. Retrieved 2019-04-02.
  10. ↑ Karen Florin (February 9, 2005). "Wolman, BLB put new offer on table to buy Lincoln Park". The Day. New London, CT – via NewsBank.
  11. ↑ Jim Bainbridge (February 9, 2005). "New owners won't change local dog track". The Gazette. Colorado Springs – via NewsBank.
  12. ↑ Katherine Gregg (July 19, 2005). "BLB completes its purchase of Lincoln Park". Providence Journal– via NewsBank.
  13. ↑ M. Charles Bakst (April 1, 2007). "Slots are smoking at Twin River". Providence Journal– via NewsBank.
  14. ↑ George Brennan (June 14, 2008). "Tribe backers' 'racino' at risk". Cape Cod Times– via NewsBank.
  15. ↑ Erica Jacobson (June 15, 2008). "Struggling Rhode Island slot parlor faltering under debt". The Bulletin. Norwich, CT – via NewsBank.
  16. ↑ Jim Baron (June 24, 2009). "Twin River bankrupt". The Call. Woonsocket, RI – via NewsBank.
  17. ↑ Paul Grimaldi (November 10, 2010). "Twin River wins license transfer". Providence Journal– via NewsBank.
  18. ↑ Eric Tucker (November 9, 2010). "RI slot parlor emerges from bankruptcy protection". Associated Press– via NewsBank.
  19. ↑ "Facility Permit Ownership Transfer Application" (PDF). Rhode Island Department of Business Regulation. p. 359. Retrieved 2019-04-02.
  20. ↑ Wayne Heilman (December 16, 2010). "Off-track will get on track". The Gazette. Colorado Springs – via NewsBank.
  21. ↑ Terry Frei (May 27, 2010). "Doggone: Greyhound tracks R.I.P." Denver Post– via NewsBank.
  22. ↑ "Commerce City agency buys greyhound park". Associated Press. August 3, 2011 – via NewsBank.
  23. ↑ Paul Grimaldi (July 10, 2014). "Twin River completes purchase of Mississippi casino". Providence Journal. Retrieved 2019-04-01.
  24. ↑ Richard Salit (December 15, 2013). "Twin River agrees to buy Hard Rock Casino in Biloxi, Miss". Providence Journal. Retrieved 2019-04-01.
  25. ↑ "Purchase of Biloxi Hard Rock Casino 'important piece of puzzle' for Twin River". The Press-Register. Mobile, AL. AP. February 17, 2014. Retrieved 2019-04-01.
  26. ↑ "Twin River acquires rival Newport Grand". Washington Times. AP. March 4, 2015. Retrieved 2019-04-01.
  27. ↑ Form 10-K: Annual Report (Report). Twin River Worldwide Holdings. April 1, 2019. p. 4 – via EDGAR.
  28. ↑ Courtney Caligiuri (April 21, 2015). "Twin River announces plan to move Newport Grand to Tiverton". WPRI-TV. Retrieved 2019-04-01.
  29. ↑ Shaun Towne; Steph Machado; Shiina Losciuto (August 28, 2018). "Newport Grand closes its doors, making way for Tiverton casino". WPRI-TV. Retrieved 2019-04-01.
  30. ↑ Scott Barrett (September 1, 2018). "Tiverton casino opens with excitement, protest". Newport Daily News. Retrieved 2019-04-01.
  31. ↑ Josh Kosman (July 27, 2020). "Hedge-funder gambles on coronavirus to build casino empire". New York Post. Retrieved 2021-05-08.
  32. ↑ Howard Stutz (April 6, 2021). "Fixing a problematic North Las Vegas casino fueled the gaming pursuits of Bally's Soo Kim". CDC Gaming Reports. Retrieved 2021-05-15.
  33. ↑ Brad Allen (July 24, 2018). "Twin River acquires Dover Downs for sports betting and egaming expertise". eGaming Review. Retrieved 2019-04-01.
  34. ↑ "Twin River completes Dover Downs acquisition and NYSE listing" (Press release). Twin River Worldwide Holdings. March 29, 2019 – via EDGAR.
  35. ↑ Brian Hallenbeck (July 23, 2018). "Twin River to merge with Delaware casino, trade publicly". The Day. New London, CT. Retrieved 2019-04-01.
  36. ↑ "Twin River completes $51M purchase of 3 casinos". Washington Post. AP. January 24, 2020. Archived from the original on January 24, 2020. Retrieved 2020-01-24.
  37. ↑ "Black Hawk casinos bought by east coast operator Twin River". Denver Post. AP. January 29, 2019. Retrieved 2019-04-01.
  38. ↑ Ben Markus (January 31, 2019). "Colorado's casinos, horse track arm wrestle over who will cash in on sports betting". Colorado Public Radio. Retrieved 2019-04-01.
  39. ↑ Bailey Schulz (July 11, 2019). "Eldorado Resorts to sell 2 properties in preparation of Caesars deal". Las Vegas Review-Journal. Retrieved 2019-07-13.
  40. ↑ "Shreveport's Eldorado Resort Casino gets new owners". KSLA-TV. December 23, 2020. Retrieved 2020-12-23.
  41. ↑ Richard N. Velotta (November 18, 2020). "Caesars closes Bally's Atlantic City sale to Rhode Island company". Las Vegas Review-Journal. Retrieved 2020-11-18.
  42. ↑ Josh Kosman (October 12, 2020). "Hedge-fund investor Soo Kim buys Bally's casino brand for $20M". New York Post. Retrieved 2020-10-25.
  43. ↑ Patrick Anderson (October 13, 2020). "Twin River could soon become Bally's". Providence Journal. Retrieved 2020-10-25.
  44. ↑ "Twin River finalises Bally’s rebrand and ticker change," Casino Beats, November 10, 2020.
  45. ↑ Howard Stutz (April 7, 2021). "Nevada: Bally's closes on purchase of MontBleu in Lake Tahoe from Caesars". CDC Gaming Reports. Retrieved 2021-07-25.
  46. ↑ Sarah Hayden (June 15, 2021). "Bally's buys Jumer's Casino in Rock Island". Quad-City Times. Retrieved 2021-07-25.
  47. ↑ "Bally's Corporation completes acquisition of Tropicana Evansville casino" (Press release). Bally's Corporation. June 4, 2021. Retrieved 2021-06-06.
  48. ↑ "Bally's to acquire Tropicana Las Vegas Hotel And Casino" (Press release). Bally's Corporation. April 13, 2021. Retrieved 2021-05-15– via PR Newswire.
  49. ↑ Evan Jones (June 4, 2021). "Gaming and Leisure completes acquisition of casinos in Indiana and Delaware". Reading Eagle. Retrieved 2021-06-06.
  50. ↑ Daniel Urie (January 4, 2021). "Bally's to open casino near Penn State's main campus". The Patriot-News. Harrisburg, PA. Retrieved 2021-01-04.
  51. ↑ Emma North (February 22, 2021). "Bally's Corporation joins the competition to build a resort casino in Richmond". WRIC-TV. Retrieved 2021-03-27.
  52. ↑ Chris Suarez (April 21, 2021). "Richmond casino proposals down to 2". Richmond Times-Dispatch. Retrieved 2021-05-15.
  53. ↑ Bret Pallotto (September 13, 2024). "Bally's drops out of Nittany Mall casino project in State College. Here's what it means". Centre Daily Times. State College, PA. Retrieved 2024-02-17.
  54. ↑ Will Feuer (January 25, 2022). "Casino operator Bally's shares jump on Standard General buyout offer". The Wall Street Journal.(subscription required)
  55. 1 2 Robert Channick (May 7, 2022). "Chicago rolls the dice on Bally's. Hedge fund owner Soo Kim says the rebranded casino company will deliver". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 2022-07-04.
  56. ↑ "Photos: See What The Proposed Bally's Casino in Chicago's River North Will Look Like". NBC Chicago. May 5, 2022. Archived from the original on May 5, 2022. Retrieved May 5, 2022.
  57. ↑ "Bally's Corp. chosen to build Chicago's first casino". Chicago Business Journal. May 5, 2022. Archived from the original on May 5, 2022. Retrieved May 19, 2022.
  58. ↑ "It's official: Bally's casino in River West is Mayor Lori Lightfoot's pick for Chicago's gambling complex — but it's not a done deal yet". Chicago Tribune. 5 May 2022. Archived from the original on 2022-05-05. Retrieved 2022-05-05.
  59. ↑ "Bally's Corp. chosen to build Chicago's first casino". Chicago Business Journal. May 5, 2022. Archived from the original on May 5, 2022. Retrieved May 19, 2022.
  60. ↑ "Bally's gets Gaming Board approval to open temporary casino". Chicago Tribune. 2023-09-09. Retrieved 2023-09-12.
  61. ↑ Heather Cherone (January 10, 2025). "Bally's Chicago casino rings up just $63.2M in new city revenue, far behind projections". WTTW-TV. Retrieved 2025-02-17.
  62. ↑ Staff, News 3 (2022-09-27). "Bally's Corp closes deal to purchase Tropicana Las Vegas". KSNV. Retrieved 2022-11-23.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  63. ↑ Tropicana implosion paves the way for new era in Las Vegas — VIDEO
  64. ↑ Schedule 14A: Proxy Statement (Report). Bally's Corporation. p. 13 – via EDGAR.
  65. ↑ "Bally's Corporation completes transactions with Standard General and The Queen Casino & Entertainment" (Press release). Bally's Corporation. February 7, 2025. Retrieved 2025-02-17.
  66. ↑ Bally’s May Be Examining Star Entertainment Buy
  67. ↑ Novy-Williams, Eben (2020-11-19). "Bally's Buys Sinclair RSN Naming Rights As Part of Sports Betting Push". Sportico.com. Retrieved 2020-11-19.
  68. ↑ Joe Reedy (March 31, 2021). "Former Fox regional networks begin new era as Bally Sports". The Seattle Times. AP. Retrieved 2021-07-25.
  69. ↑ Howard Stutz (February 9, 2021). "Game developer SportCaller acquired by Bally's, joins the company's interactive division". CDC Gaming Reports. Retrieved 2021-03-27.
  70. ↑ Sam Carp (January 26, 2021). "Bally's buys fantasy sports site Monkey Knife Fight in US$90m deal". SportsPro. Retrieved 2021-03-27.
  71. ↑ Howard Stutz (March 23, 2021). "Bally's completes acquisition of daily fantasy sports operator Monkey Knife Fight". CDC Gaming Reports. Retrieved 2021-03-27.
  72. ↑ Rege Behe (June 1, 2021). "Bally's acquistion [sic] of Bet.Works finalized". CDC Gaming Reports. Retrieved 2021-06-06.
  73. ↑ Derek Helling, "Bally’s Corp. Making Moves To Compete In Sports Betting Industry Nationwide," NJ Gambling Sites, November 27, 2020.
  74. ↑ Todd Shriber, "Bally’s Brand Heading to Sinclair Sports Networks, Gaming Company Buying Bet.Works for $125 Million," Casino.org, November 18, 2020.
  75. ↑ "Bally's buys AVP, plans to air content on RSNs". Sports Business Journal. Archived from the original on 2021-07-14. Retrieved 2021-07-14.
  76. ↑ Amy Thomson (March 24, 2021). "Bally's agrees to buy betting firm Gamesys for $2.7 billion". Bloomberg. Retrieved 2021-03-27.
  77. ↑ Moraine, Julie (13 April 2021). "Bally's and Gamesys Agree Combination Definitive Terms". Gambling News. Retrieved 15 June 2021.
  78. ↑ "About Us | Virgin Games". www.virgingames.com. Retrieved 2024-03-04.
  79. ↑ "About Us - Jackpotjoy". www.jackpotjoy.com. Retrieved 2024-03-04.
  80. ↑ "About Us - Monopoly Casino". www.monopolycasino.com. Retrieved 2024-03-04.
  81. ↑ "About Us - Rainbow Riches Casino". www.rainbowrichescasino.com. Retrieved 2024-03-04.
  82. ↑ "About Us | Get to Know Double Bubble Bingo!". www.doublebubblebingo.com. Retrieved 2024-03-04.
  83. ↑ "About Us - Bally Casino". www.ballycasino.co.uk. Retrieved 2024-03-04.
  84. ↑ Helling, Derek (March 31, 2023). "Bally's New MiLB Streaming Product Could Convert Users To Sports Betting". PlayUSA. Retrieved January 19, 2024.
  85. ↑ "Reindorf's Stadium to Relaunch as Live Interactive Channel". JohnWallStreet. October 30, 2023. Retrieved January 19, 2024.
  86. ↑ Bupp, Phillip (March 23, 2023). "MLB reportedly strikes deal to stream Minor League Baseball games on Bally Live casino app". Awful Announcing. Retrieved January 19, 2024.
  87. ↑ "Major League Table Tennis Strikes Key Licensing Deal with Bally Live". Major League Table Tennis. November 21, 2023. Retrieved January 19, 2024.
  88. ↑ Hamel, Larry (March 27, 2023). "AVP responds as 2023 streaming switches, limited choices bring social-media heat". Volleyball Mag. Retrieved January 19, 2024.
  89. ↑ "Pro Volleyball Federation announces Bally Live and Stadium as media rights partners". Pro Volleyball Federation. January 19, 2024. Retrieved January 19, 2024.
  90. ↑ "Our Brands – Casinos & Resorts". Bally's Corporation. Retrieved 2025-02-17.
  91. ↑ Aliya Schneider (September 14, 2023). "Bally's to run Trump Links through 2035 'win or lose' casino bid, Chair Soo Kim says". Bronx Times. Retrieved 2023-09-16.
  92. ↑ A’s Las Vegas ballpark may be flanked by Bally’s towers
  93. ↑ Breaking down every 2025 New York casino license bid
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.