British legacy bookmaker William Hill is in talks with casino operator Caesars Entertainment Inc. about potentially combining their sports betting and online gaming businesses, news emerged this week.
The sports betting operator completed the acquisition of CG Technology earlier this week to gain access to premium Las Vegas Strip resorts. The deal enabled William Hill to open sportsbooks at The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas, the Venetian and the Palazzo, and the Silverton.
Caesars already owns 20% of William Hill’s US division under a deal that the bookmaker signed with the former Eldorado Resorts two years ago. Eldorado closed a $17.3 billion tie-up with Caesars Entertainment Corp. this past July to form Caesars Entertainment Inc.
William Hill US Chief Executive Officer Joe Asher confirmed that there are ongoing discussions about the merger of the company’s sports betting operations with Caesars’ online casino business. He said in a recent interview that “there’s a lot of opportunity in there” and that they think they have “some really powerful assets in this space.”
Combined, the online casino and the sports betting operations are expected to annually generate around $700 million. And according to analysts, as a separately listed entity, the combined business could have a market valuation of around $7 billion.
Betting on the Right Horse
William Hill was granted exclusive rights to operate sportsbooks at Eldorado’s casinos when the two companies signed a long-term wagering partnership in September 2018. With the combination of Eldorado and Caesars, the British bookmaker’s US division gained access to iconic properties owned by Caesars, including Caesars Palace, The LINQ, Paris, and Bally’s, among others.
With the addition of casinos formerly owned by the old Caesars, William Hill will be operating 170 retail locations in 13 states.
Mr. Asher said recently that William Hill always knew there was a chance that Eldorado might end up taking over Caesars and that his company has been “riding on their coattails as they’ve been growing.” The William Hill US boss also noted that clearly the sports betting operator has “bet on the right horse.”
As mentioned above, William Hill this week completed the acquisition of CG Technology’s assets in Las Vegas after members of the Nevada Gaming Commission unanimously approved the transaction last week.
The deal was originally announced last November. At the time, William Hill operated 113 of Nevada’s approximately 200 retail sportsbooks, but did not have significant presence on the Las Vegas Strip.
The transaction was completed this past Monday and William Hill began operating the sportsbooks at The Cosmopolitan, The Venetian and the Palazzo, and the Silverton on Tuesday. The bookmaker also owns the rights to operate betting facilities at the Palms and Tropicana, but the two properties have not reopened yet after their closure in March in the face of the Covid-19 pandemic.
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