Bally’s was optimistic for its sports betting division in 2022. But things didn’t quite go as planned. So 2023 opened with a new plan which called for some major changes, according to Robeson Reeves, who becomes the new CEO March 31, per Sports Handle.
Robeson, the president of the company’s interactive division, replaces Lee Fenton. He blamed issues on Bet.Works, the tech platform Bally’s acquired for $125 million in 2020 but left the operator unable to “develop a competitive product,” he said. The North American interactive unit also accumulated too many losses.
“We didn’t act fast enough. This will not happen again,” he told Wall Street analysts on February 23.
Bally’s took a $390 million impairment charge, much of it related to write-downs with its acquisition of Bet.Works, but also its fantasy sports operator, Monkey Knife Fight (MKF).
“I’ll be analytical in our approach to decision-making to deliver customer-centric profitable solutions,” Reeves said. “I believe that the most valuable asset to deploy is focus.”
On a positive note, Bally’s expects to complete construction of a $1.7 billion megaresort in Chicago—a game-changer, Reeves said. The company also hopes to submit a bid for a casino in the Bronx near the Trump golf course at Ferry Point, according to USBets.
With Bet.Works out of the picture, Bally’s can seek a third-party provider to not only decrease expenses but bring the interactive unit along far enough to turn a profit over the next year. Kambi could be the suitor they need. OpenBet and GAN Sports are two other names bandied about.
“We are confident there are more economic and nimble solutions,” Reeves said. “We have spent the past five months analyzing them.”
After shelling out $90 million for MKF in early 2021, Bally’s expected to be rewarded, not beaten down by the failure of the site to perform. After all, MKF was available in 37 states at the time. This happened after Bet.Works failed as well, according to USBets.
The company threw in the towel on February 28, licking its wounds and pulling the plug.
Ah, but there was such promise. Bill Asher founded MKFt in 2018. The site rose to become the most popular daily fantasy sports site not named FanDuel or DraftKings, and it allowed contestants to play against the house rather than a salary cap-style game, with a choice of over/under combinations for payouts.
“Bally’s acquisition of MKF is the latest step in the company’s long-term growth and diversification strategy to become the first truly vertically integrated sports betting and iGaming company in the U.S.” read the press release put out by Bally’s after the purchase.
Bally’s saw MKF as a way to create a database especially in promising markets like California, Florida and Texas, one that would provide potential customers for sports betting. They would also develop a database in Canada when the country authorized sports betting as expected.
Bally’s was believed to be ready to sell the site at a discount. Perhaps they found little interest.
