Bally Bet has made its long-awaited New York State debut becoming the ninth and final mobile sports betting operator to go live in the Empire State.
The launch comes a full six months after mobile sports betting in New York went live and is just in time for a four-game weekend series between the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox.
Bally’s had previously delayed the launch several times following uncertainty about the company’s governance structure. January of 2022 saw Bally’s Chairman Soo Kim, in his other role as managing partner of Standard General LP, offer to purchase the remaining shares of Bally’s in an acquisition attempt that valued the company at approximately $2 billion. That offer was rejected in May citing the low valuation of the company. Since then, industry analysts have speculated that Bally’s was waiting for a better offer to be put on the table, a move which is believed to have been related to the launch delay.
Now that Bally’s is live in New York, the company will have to work hard to carve a niche within the local market. Market leader FanDuel has dominated the industry with an impressive 58.2% of the state’s online sports betting gross gaming revenue (GGR). Since mobile sports betting launched, the company has reported accepting over $100 million in wagers every single week.
Kim has spoken previously of Bally’s need to differentiate itself from the competition and has envisioned a nest-generation sports betting industry that he calls sports betting 3.0. This would see viewers take a much more interactive approach to sports betting. This could see the company use its media assets, including 19 separate networks formerly Fox Sports, for micro-betting purposes.
Following the launch, Bally Bet is now live in six states — Arizona, Colorado, Iowa, Indiana, New York, and Virginia. Bally’s has yet to release a statement on its New York launch.
An experienced iGaming commentator and analyst based in New York City - Jenny reports on regulation and gambling industry news and events.
