- Bally’s has been announced an ‘Official Sports Betting Partner’ of the New York Yankees.
- Bally’s receives trademark use privileges across their brands as well as branding inside Yankee Stadium.
- Bally’s mobile sports betting platform is now live in six states.
The less said about New York’s sports betting framework the better. The state is a microcosm of everything that is wrong with US sports betting. High taxes, juiced in cronies, highly restricted marketplace, meddlesome regulators–by now, you know the drill. The sportsbooks that have been operating in New York State are continuing to burn money–presumably hoping that a) lower tax rates and/or b) iGaming is right around the corner. Long story short, New York’s regulations have been cynically designed to prevent anyone else from making money *except* the state of New York and their legacy gaming cronies.
For some sportsbooks, partnerships with the state’s sports teams are an attractive alternative to advertising in the country’s most expensive media market. The New York City market offers the advantage of reaching neighboring New Jersey so there’s that. The latest sportsbook to announce a partnership with a New York City sports team is Bally’s–they’ve been announced as an ‘Official Sports Betting Partner’ of the New York Yankees. Bally’s will join FanDuel on the ‘official partner’ roster and they’ll likely have a similar type of deal.
Here’s the specifics from the press release announcing the deal:
Bally’s Corporation (NYSE: BALY) announced today a marketing partnership designating Bally Bet as an official sports betting partner of the 27-time World Series Champions. This marks Bally’s first sports team partnership in New York after becoming the ninth online sports betting operator in the state in July.
Under the agreement, Bally’s receives use of New York Yankees trademarks and marketing designations as an official sports betting partner (Bally Bet), an official daily fantasy sports partner (Monkey Knife Fight), an official iGaming partner (Bally Casino), and an official free-to-play gaming partner (Bally Play). Bally’s Casino Atlantic City also becomes a proud partner of the New York Yankees.
Marketing benefits for Bally’s inside Yankee Stadium include LED advertising in the following locations: the outfield wall that lines the playing field, field-facing walls on the Main Level bars in left and right field, the Terrace Level ribbon board, and LED boards throughout the Great Hall. Additionally, Bally’s receives an in-game feature on the Stadium’s high-definition centerfield video board and other brand-enhancing activations.
Adi Dhandhania, Chief Operating Officer of Bally’s Interactive North America, the digital and sports betting division of Bally’s Corporation, knows that his company has partnered up with one of the marquee brands in all of professional sports:
“This is a great partnership that will give Bally Bet and our other Bally’s Interactive brands terrific visibility in New York. The Yankees’ history as a franchise and their popularity as a global brand speaks for itself.”
Michael J. Tusiani, New York Yankees Senior Vice President of Partnerships, said the bare minimum in his quote:
“We are excited to begin this partnership with Bally’s. We hope that their branding in Yankee Stadium along with their in-Stadium customer engagement will greatly strengthen Bally’s overall gaming presence in New York.”
Bally’s transition from regional casino operator Twin River Worldwide Holdings into a legit omni-channel gaming provider was extremely impressive. They made some of the best acquisitions of any sports betting/gaming company including Gamesys, fantasy sports platform Monkey Knife Fight and sportsbook technology provider Bet.Works. They’ve got the potential to be one of the industry leaders in the US sports betting *and* retail gaming market but for whatever reason just haven’t ‘connected the dots’ to establish a strong brand identity. In all fairness, the new corporate entity has existed for less than two years and that’s not a long enough time to accurately evaluate their branding strategy.
