Bally Sports and Regional Cable TV; Making a Connection with Sinclair
This new partnership will integrate Bally Corp’s vast gaming information and systems over the Fox Sports regional networks to create a new series of iGaming and sports betting networks.
This month, Sinclair broadcast group owned-Fox Sports regional sports networks and Bally Corporation have begun their rebrand of Fox RSNs to Bally RSNs. Let’s take a deeper look at Bally Sports and Regional Cable TV.
Bally Sports and Regional Cable TV; Making a Connection with Sinclair:
Whether you are on board or not the betting train is leaving the station. So don’t get left. Back in November, Bally Corp and Sinclair Broadcasting group inked a new long term partnership agreement to create an industry changing betting and gaming platform. The agreement focused on taking the expansive gaming and betting industry experience of Bally Corp and combining it with Sinclair Broadcast groups portfolio of 190 television stations across 88 markets.
This partnership between a big-time media tycoon and a gaming corporation will be the first of its kind but certainly not the last. Fox recognizes the value that betting and gaming provides. According to an economic impact study by the American Gambling Association, legalized sports betting alone has the chance to generate over $50 billion a year.
The study conducted in June of 2017 highlights gains of $9 billion in government revenue from taxes, labor income from casino workers to exceed $11 billion, and $23 billion rise in The United States GDP. If those numbers can be achieved, the sports industry will become one of the largest industries in the nation.
What does the Sinclair and Bally deal mean?:
Bally’s and Sinclair will join together to create an unmatched sports gamification network with content aired on a national scale, this partnership will cement Bally’s as the premier omni-channel gaming corporation. With physical locations and online sports betting as well as iGaming solutions united under a single network brand all other media corporations looking to follow Sinclair will have to play catch up.
From this deal, Bally’s will have premium integration opportunities across Tennis Channel, the source of 95%! Of ALL live tennis matches broadcast in the U.S., Full access and naming rights to Sinclair’s 24/7 multi-platform sports network, Stadium, and streaming services. All offering the first live-on demand betting centered content.
This all sounds great for Bally, but what is Sinclair getting out of this you may ask?
The Sinclair partnership, will allow over the 10-year term, Sinclair’s RSN portfolio to receive annual naming rights fees and a committed percentage of Bally’s Interactive’s marketing spending. In addition, Sinclair will maintain full strategic power over the finished product. Subject to regulatory approval and other conditions, to Sinclair will also own a minority stake in Bally’s.
The transaction will provide subscribers to access of live, local sports betting and iGaming content throughout 21 RSNs, accounting for more than half of the U.S. MLB, NBA, and NHL teams. This is certainly a historic partnership. Outside of Las Vegas there is virtually no betting and gaming networks that will provide customers this amount of dedicated content.
Prior to this deal Fox Sports (a subsidiary of Sinclair) operated 21 regional sports networks. These regional sports networks were used to broadcast local games to their specific regions.
The leader of Bally’s is obviously stoked for this deal, this will make Bally’s into one of the largest and most important players in the betting/iGaming industry as it grows. “This arrangement represents an opportunity to revolutionize the U.S. sports betting, gaming and media industries,” say Soo Kim, Chairman of Bally’s Corporation’s Board of Directors.
“Sinclair, with its broad holdings of stations, channels and RSNs, provides immediate, national brand recognition that will support the development of Bally’s player database for both our traditional casinos as well as our future online offerings, and ultimately deliver significant shareholder value”
Time will tell who will be the next big fish in the sports betting industry but for now Bally’s is the equivalent of a great white inside of a kiddie pool full of goldfish. It’s Bally’s world and everyone else is just living in it.
