Bally’s Corporation has been a fixture in the legal sports betting news the last few months for mostly positive moves they have made, both on the partnership front and thanks to a slew of shrewd acquisitions. Monday’s release of their Q2 financials proved that all of their hard work was worth it. The betting provider’s Q2 numbers were solid and actually beat Wall Street consensus estimates.
Bally’s Corp has successfully transitioned the last six or so months from a gambling provider known for its retail facilities to one that is building a strong mobile brand. Their elevation into the top tier of sportsbook providers has been swift and has been especially impressive considering the timing of their brand building, right in the middle of a global pandemic.
Breaking Down the Q2 Numbers
Bally’s quarterly report came out Monday and they reflected a successful three-month period that started April 1 and ended June 30. The company’s revenues came in at $258 million – $268 million, significantly above the $225.38 million consensus Wall Street estimates. Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) were reported to be somewhere between $80 million and $84 million for Q2 of 2021.
With the Q2 numbers released Monday, we are able to see just how far Bally’s Corp has come since the same period last year when they weren’t a factor in the mobile betting world and COVID-19 was decimating the global sports betting scene.
Bally’s total consolidated revenue for Q2 of 2020 was just $28.9 million and EBITDA showed a loss of $10.7 million
What the Profits Mean for Bally’s
Bally’s is still in the midst of their biggest acquisition to date, that of British online gaming firm Gamesys for $2.7 billion. The deal gives the betting provider an established online brand for which they can build off immediately. As a result of their strong Q2, Bally’s, according to a statement company, “isn’t planning to issue equity or draw on available credit to finance,” the takeover of the igaming entity.
“As a result of better-than-expected operating performance at its land-based retail casinos and interactive businesses, Bally’s does not plan to issue incremental common equity or draw on the previously disclosed Gaming and Leisure Properties, Inc. commitment to fund the Gamesys acquisition,” according to a statement. “Bally’s continues to evaluate investment options with potential strategic partners, and such investment is not necessary to fund the Gamesys acquisition.”
Building the Brand
As mentioned, Bally’s has been one of the most aggressive books in terms of building their brand within the exploding US legal sports betting scene. It could help boost their Q3 bottom line, or it could hurt. In November, they bought regulated sportsbook technology platform Bet.Works for $125 million which gives Bally’s an entity that allows the company to officially make real-money bets.
Bally’s also bought and rebranded Sinclair Broadcasting and its 21 regional Fox sports networks to the Bally’s name the last six months. There are 190 other stations that came along with that deal. The company also acquired the emerging, third biggest DFS provider in the country, Monkey Knife Fight over that span.
Last came last week’s announcement of an affiliation with top-tier data provider Sportradar for their real-time data and product suites aimed at giving Bally’s valuable, essential statistics for Bally’s foray into mobile and in-game betting.
They’ve Come a Long Way
The Bally’s mobile brand is still relatively new but in a short amount of time, they have gained the assets to start catching up to the current Heavyweights in the US legal sports betting scene.
Bally’s now has the infrastructure in place, deals in place with iconic sports teams, partnerships with a few pro leagues and now the news of some quarterly profits to use moving forward. Shareholders are happy, the stock rose 5.37% to $14.86 USD on Monday’s news and has been a solid performer the last few months in particular.
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