On August 27, the Nevada Gaming Commission approved the sale of CG Technologies to William Hill US. CG, the Cantor Gaming, was one of the first U.S.-born sports betting companies, but ran into trouble with regulators in Nevada and never reached its potential.
William Hill CEO Joe Asher told commissioners the purchase includes taking over the sportsbook operations of six casinos on or near the Las Vegas Strip, including the Venetian, Palazzo, the Tropicana, the Cosmopolitan, the Palms and Silverton.
The purchase, which took effect September 1, was valued at less than $50 million, and included funds related to previous litigation between the companies. “Now we’ll have a much bigger presence and some of the top properties,” Asher said.
Meanwhile, William Hill is also in the process of assuming operations of 11 other Nevada sportsbooks, part of the Caesars Entertainment empire. Prior to the deal, William Hill’s only Strip locations were at Circus Circus, Sahara, and Casino Royale.
Asher said discussions have started with the Las Vegas Sands on renovating the Venetian sportsbook.
“There are some things we will do a little differently. We just wanted to get to the finish line,” Asher said.
William Hill also manages the sports betting operations for the Strat, the Downtown Grand, Binion’s, the Plaza and Four Queens, all downtown.
The British bookmaker will concentrate on merging its U.S. business with the online casino operations of longtime partner Caesars Entertainment Inc., according to Bloomberg.
Asher confirmed discussions are under way. Caesars already owned 20 percent of William Hill’s U.S. arm under a deal cut two years with Eldorado Resorts Inc. The discussions include spinning off this enterprise into a separate public company.
“There’s a lot of opportunity in there, and we think that we’ve got some really powerful assets in this space, so obviously it’s an ongoing subject of discussion,” Asher said.
Tom Reeg, the CEO of Caesars Entertainment, told GGB News that changes had to be made in the original deal made with William Hill when the company was known as Eldorado Resorts prior to the Caesars purchase.
“As Caesars, we should look for a partner that has aspirations to build a national brand, and that will let us participate in that upside,” he explains. “And we had an existing partnership with William Hill and Joe Asher that had gone quite well for us. We talked to a number of potential partners, but it was very clear to us, both economically and operationally, that William Hill was our best option, and we signed that deal prior to the Caesars deal. So we go out and purchase Caesars. Caesars has a very different portfolio in this area, and brands that resonate with the customer. So the way that the deal is structured with William Hill is William Hill steps into the Caesars sportsbooks. We keep all of our online casino and online poker business, and that’s how we would move forward. I don’t know that that’s optimal for either side.
“If you ask them, I’m sure they’d tell you they would like a single-wallet solution that solves for all of those areas, and they don’t have a path to that in the current partnership. We would tell you the Caesars brands and the sports partnerships that it brings are much more fulsome and will drive much more value than what Eldorado brought to the table on its own. So we’re looking for a path that’s in the best interest of both the partners and the stakeholders on all sides.”
The sports betting and online-gaming operations of the two could generate $700 million in revenue next year. As a separately listed entity, it could sport an attractive market valuation at a time when DraftKings Inc., an industry leader, believes it’s worth more than $12 billion.
About 15 additional locations should be added to the William Hill portfolio in coming weeks, including the Horseshoe in Council Bluffs, Iowa, and the Harrah’s in Atlantic City, New Jersey. They would bring William Hill’s total to 170 retail locations in 13 states, the company said.
