Bally Bet Mobile Sportsbook Debuts With Colorado Launch, More States to Follow

  • Bally’s has revealed that three more states will follow in 2021 after the Colorado debut
  • The mobile sportsbook app beta launch gives the brand room to make enhancements
  • Its integration with Bally Rewards will offer customers “an unmatched betting experience”
  • Bally’s incoming CEO deems Bally Bet central to a “long-term growth and diversification strategy”
Colorado highway sign
Bally’s rolled out its first mobile sportsbook with the launch of Bally Bet in Colorado, adding that three more states are coming soon. [Image: Shutterstock.com]

App live on mobile and web

Lincoln, Rhode Island-based casino and gaming company Bally’s Corporation has made its mobile sports betting market debut with the Colorado beta launch of Bally Bet.

Bally Bet took to Twitter to announce its arrival on the Colorado mobile sports betting scene yesterday, with a 3D animation promising “more states coming soon”:

According to a May 24 news release, Bally’s plans to roll out mobile sportsbooks in three more markets in 2021, with more to follow in 2022. In Colorado, the Bally Bet app is now live for Android, iOS, and web.

On its ballybet.com web platform, the blurb invites customers to “experience just how electric sports betting can be […] with a mix of casino rewards, social features, and in-app games.”

Bally Bet takes beta-first route

Launching the mobile sports betting app as a beta product gives Bally’s the opportunity to test and refine the Bally Bet product and its content. The company said it intends to add “enhancements” to its app “over the coming weeks.”

Bally’s news release states that Bally Bet was developed by Bet.Works, a Las Vegas-based sportsbook technology platform that is “being acquired by Bally’s.” In November 2020, Bally’s announced it was buying Bet.Works for $125m, subject to adjustment. Bet.Works made its debut on the US sports betting market on August 15, 2019 with its launch in Iowa.

In addition to offering wagering options for all major sports with integrated social features, Bally Bet also comes with “exclusive in-app parlay games.” A highlight of the sportsbook is how it will give bettors the opportunity to earn points redeemable across a variety of Bally’s assets and amenities. These include Bally’s Golden Gates, Golden Gulch, and Mardi Gras casinos in Black Hawk, Colorado. Bally’s stated that the points scheme will roll out at all of its US casinos when its new rewards program launches this summer.

Bally’s senior vice president of strategy and interactive, Adi Dhandhania, said the integration of Bally Bet with Bally Rewards “will provide sports and gaming enthusiasts with an unmatched betting experience.”

Meteoric rise of Bally’s sports betting star

The founder and CEO of Bet.Works, David Wang, will become the CEO of Bally’s Interactive once the acquisition closes. Wang’s assertion on Monday that the Bally Bet launch “was just the beginning of what Bally’s has in store for the mobile sportsbook market” comes as exciting news for bettors.

The Rhode Island brand’s competitors may, however, experience an altogether less comfortable version of excitement.

Bally’s launched its aggressive, strategic assault on the sports betting market as recently as October 2020, when company chair Soo Kim’s Twin River Worldwide Holdings inked a deal to pay Caesars Entertainment $20m for the rights to the Bally’s Casino brand. But the biggest statement of intent was the strategic ten-year sports betting and iGaming partnership Bally’s struck with Sinclair in November 2020.

In agreeing to pay Sinclair $85m to rebrand all 21 of its FOX regional sports networks, Bally’s landed access to fans of more than half of the US’s NBA, NHL, and MLB franchises.

Bally Bet “represents a key component of Bally’s long-term growth and diversification strategy.”

Wang summed up Bally’s US sports wagering vision, saying that Bally Bet “represents a key component of Bally’s long-term growth and diversification strategy.”

After its Colorado launch, the sports betting ball is very much in Bally’s court.

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