Caesars Entertainmentannounced on Wednesday it is buying British bookmaker William Hill for $3.7 billion.

Last Friday, William Hill said it got competing offers from Caesars and Apollo Global Capital. However, the gaming giant cautioned that their existing relationship could end if they chose the other offer.

Pending regulatory and anti-trust approvals, the deal is expected to close in the second half of 2021.

William Hill is a familiar name in New Jersey, but it has yet to make its entrance into Pennsylvania, which now has 10 online sportsbook operators.

Tropicana Atlantic City and William Hill Announces New Permanent Sports Book. Atlantic City, NJ (March 7, 2019) – Tropicana Atlantic City, an Eldorado Resorts property, announced today the grand opening ceremony of its new permanent sports book, with partner William Hill US, will take place at 1 PM ET on Friday, March 8. William Hill’s online casino officially goes live in New Jersey. Sports betting operator has a soft launch going for their mobile casino in New Jersey and operating under Tropicana AC. You can see the “William Hill Casino is Now Live” across the IOS mobile betting app. They also have a minimal gaming selection, as this is a soft.

William Hill and Caesars already were a pair

In June 2019, William Hill signed a deal with Eldorado Resorts to operate its sportsbooks. Eldorado and Caesars agreed to merge to create the largest US gaming company in a deal valued at $17.3 billion. The deal did not become finalized until July 2020.

In Pennsylvania, Caesars operates Harrah’s Casino Philadelphia. In New Jersey, Caesars Entertainment owns four of Atlantic City’s nine casinos. William Hill operates sportsbooks at three of them — Harrah’s, Tropicana and The Wild Wild West at Bally’s.

In what is being called a historic acquisition, sports betting and iGaming fueled the deal.

“The opportunity to combine our land based-casinos, sports betting and online gaming in the US is a truly exciting prospect,” said Caesars Entertainment CEO Tom Reeg. “William Hill’s sports betting expertise will complement Caesars’ current offering, enabling the combined group to serve our customers in the fast-growing US sports betting and online market. We look forward to working with William Hill to support future growth in the US by providing our customers with a superior and comprehensive experience across all areas of gaming, sports betting and entertainment.”

Roger Devlin, chairman of William Hill, commented:

“The William Hill board believes this is the best option for William Hill at an attractive price for shareholders. It recognizes the significant progress the William Hill Group has made over the last 18 months, as well as the risk and significant investment required to maximize the US opportunity given intense competition in the US and the potential for regulatory disruption in the U.K. and Europe.”

Caesars sees growth

Caesars is bullish on the growth of sports betting and iGaming. It expects that an expanded sports and online gaming business could generate between $600-$700 million in net revenue in FY 2021 (on a pro-forma basis).

According to the recently released 2019/2020 Annual Report by the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board, online casinos and sports wageringsaw big gains in what was otherwise a rough year for overall gaming revenue due to COVID-19 shutdowns.

The reasons for the expanded partnership are various, but most prominent are maximizing potential, improving customer experience and increasing customer wallet share.

Caesars laid out its strategic rationale, which included:

• Shared wallet and unified experience across sportsbook and online casino.
• The growth of sports betting and iGaming, which some analysts estimate has a market size ranging up to$30-35 billion with the acceleration of gaming legislation at the state level.
• Caesars and William Hill currently operate a US joint venture with 20% and 80% equity ownership respectively. William Hill runs online sports betting through Caesars in each state. By broadening the scope of their partnership, they hope to “fully maximize the opportunity in the sports betting and gaming sector and provide the best possible customer experience.”
• By pairing with William Hill, Caesars is a more attractive partner for media companies. Currently, Caesars has a multiyear relationship with ESPN, and William Hill has a relationship with CBS Sports.

Caesars in Pennsylvania

Caesars Entertainment Corp., which owns Harrah’s Philadelphia, operates Caesars online sportsbook and an iGaming offering in Pennsylvania. The sportsbook ($-17,112) and online casino ($1.9 million) ranked last among all operators in PA for the 2019-20 fiscal year. But they were also late to launch — in March and April, respectively.

In August 2020, Caesars online sportsbook did post its highest-ever handle to date in PA with nearly $4 million. It brought in $220,116 in total revenue, its highest since November 2019. While it was an improvement, it was the second lowest of the nine operators with both retail and online sports betting.

William Hill will face an uphill climb in Pennsylvania. FanDuel has commanded at least 40% of the sports betting handle since arriving last summer. DraftKings has held tight to the No. 2 spot since arriving in the fall of 2019. Both have name recognition and continue to flood various forms of media with advertising.

Barstool Sportsbook, with its zealous founder Dave Portnoy, just arrived in mid-September.

William Hill is a London, England-based bookmaker that is one of the biggest sports betting organizations in the world. It looks to expand aggressively into the fledgling US market.

The company was founded in 1934 and has been listed on the London Stock Exchange since 2002.

In 2005, William Hill briefly became top dog in the multibillion-dollar United Kingdom betting market, ahead of previous market leader Ladbrokes, when it bought more than 600 betting parlors in the UK, Ireland, Isle of Man and Jersey from Stanley Leisure.

The company has since grown even bigger in the UK. It now operates telephone and online betting operations alongside more than 2,400 licensed betting shops across the UK. In fact, William Hill is the largest bookmaker in the UK. It holds close to 25 percent of the market as of 2018.

William Hill has moved into the US market and offers an NJ sportsbook.

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William Hill enters the US

In 2011, William Hill made its first move into the United States, going aggressively into the only state in the country where full-scale sports betting was legal.

William Hill bought the Joe Asher-run Brandywine and it’s 17 Nevada sportsbooks under the condition the Nevada Gaming Commission would grant it a license.

A year later it did. Asher was named William Hill US CEO and William Hill continued to expand further into Nevada.

In 2012, it bought three legal sportsbook chains. Lucky’s, Leroy’s, and Club Cal Neva satellite operations were all rebranded under the William Hill name. Once the deal was complete, William Hill controlled more than 50 percent of Nevada sportsbooks, but just a little more than 10 percent of statewide sportsbook revenues.

William Hill continued to bolster its position as Nevada’s leading sportsbook operator. When New Jersey began its efforts to legalize sports betting back in 2011, and William Hill soon began looking across the country to the East Coast.

On the East Coast

By 2013, William Hill was calling itself the world’s leading sports betting company, and it teamed with Monmouth Park in Oceanport, New Jersey to become the racetrack’s exclusive sports betting provider. A move made anticipating the state would ultimately win its battle to legalize sports betting at casinos and racetracks inside state lines.

William Hill paid $1 million for the rights to sports betting at the track, agreeing to split all future NJ sports betting revenue evenly.

Monmouth used part of the money to renovate a cafeteria behind the grandstand, turning it into the 100-seat William Hill Race & Sports Bar at Monmouth Park. The idea was it would one day be converted into a full Las Vegas-style sportsbook.

William Hill also became the title sponsor of the $1 million Haskell Invitational horse race run in July at Monmouth.

At the time, Asher said, one day, sports betting will be legal in New Jersey, and when it is, William Hill will be there.

That time has come and now, the William Hill space includes a semicircular bar with counters on either side where betting windows will ultimately open up. William Hill has since doubled its initial $1 million investment and Monmouth has matched it.

Recently, a hall beneath the grandstand was also renovated and an additional 30 betting windows will soon go in there. Plus, when the New Jersey sports betting market does open up, William Hill has promised it will build another $5 million sportsbook at the track with space for 5,000.

Sports betting in NJ

Following the initial opening of the William Hill Race & Sports Bar at Monmouth Park, New Jersey continued battling major professional sports leagues and the NCAA in the courts for the right to enact a law legalizing sports betting in the state.

On May 14, 2018, it finally got some good news. In a 6-3 decision, the U.S. Supreme Court declared the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA) unconstitutional. PASPA was passed in 1992 that made sports betting illegal in almost every state outside of Nevada. The decision opened the door for all 50 states to join Nevada in legalizing single-game wagering.

New Jersey lawmakers immediately went to work designing regulatory legislation to govern its local sports betting market. William Hill and Monmouth Park began preparing themselves to become the first in the state to take a legal sports bet.

The New Jersey legislature passed its regulatory sports betting bill June 7 and waited for Gov. Phil Murphy to sign the bill into law, giving William Hill and Monmouth Park the green light.

Delaware beat New Jersey to the punch, opening full-scale sports betting at its three racetrack casinos on June 5. However, once Gov. Murphy signs the bill, New Jersey will become the first to legalize sports betting in a state where it was banned. Delaware had previously legalized NFL parlay betting prior to the passage of PASPA and it was grandfathered in.

The William Hill Race & Sports Bar at Monmouth Park took the first legal sports bet in the state on June 14. However, it won’t be the only place William Hill is taking bets in New Jersey.

William Hill and Ocean Resort Casino

Now calling itself America’s leading sportsbook operator, on May 29, William Hill announced it had entered into a partnership with Ocean Resort Casino to open a sportsbook there.

Ocean Resort Casino is a re-imagining of the former Atlantic City Boardwalk hotel and casino Revel. It opened June 28 and William Hill will be the casino’s sportsbook operator.

Retail Week

Plans are to open and operate a 7,500-square-foot sportsbook in the heart of Ocean Resort Casino’s gaming floor. The sportsbook will feature a center bar surrounded by a state-of-the-art video wall.

The deal also involves William Hill running mobile and online sportsbook products for Ocean Resort Casino.

Back in Nevada, William Hill now runs 107 of the 190 sportsbooks in the state. Together, they generate close to 30 percent of the state’s $250 million annual sports betting revenue. However, 60 percent of the money wagered with William Hill in Nevada is bet through its sports betting app. It is the state’s leading mobile sports betting app.

In 2016, William Hill signed a deal with Eldorado Resorts to upgrade and operate two of its sportsbooks. This includes the Silver Legacy and Circus Circus Resort Casinos in Reno, Nevada. It’s a partnership that could pay dividends in the future across the country, particularly since Eldorado Resorts has expanded to other states expected to legalize sports betting.

Across the US

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The company’s expansion to other US states includes agreeing to become the exclusive risk manager for Delaware’s sports lottery.

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Plus, in 2017, William Hill partnered with Caesars Entertainment. It brought pari-mutuel simulcast wagering to its Horseshoe Council Bluffs Casino property in Iowa. Together, they built the William Hill Race Book inside the casino.

The racebook currently takes bets on thoroughbred, harness and greyhound races from across the US. Iowa could legalize sports betting. A move to turn the William Hill Race Book into the William Hill Race & Sports Book would likely follow. Plus, a partnership with Caesars could open up possibilities at its dozens of casinos around the country.

Gaming research firm Eilers & Krejcik Gaming LLC has estimated as many as 32 states with a combined population of more than 215 million people could legalize sports betting by the year 2023. That would create a $6 billion a year US sports betting industry. William Hill has every intention of leading it.

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Asher said William Hill has aggressive plans to open sportsbooks in every state that legalizes sports betting — just as soon as state laws allow.