Plans to build a permanent facility next spring
The New York-based betting firm FanDuel has announced it will open a retail sportsbook at Bally’s Atlantic City casino once the casino’s sale to Twin River Worldwide Holdings reaches completion later this year.
Bally’s sportsbook will be annexed by the adjacent Caesars casino, allowing FanDuel to step in
Currently, Bally’s casino in Atlantic City has a sportsbook in its Wild, Wild West section. But, once Twin Rivers finalizes the casino sale with Caesars, the Bally’s sportsbook will be annexed by the adjacent Caesars casino, allowing FanDuel to step in.
According to The Associated Press, FanDuel plans to build a makeshift sports wagering facility in Bally’s casino before this year is out. Next spring, it will build a permanent sportsbook in the middle of the casino floor.
Marc Chrisafulli, EVP of Twin River Worldwide Holdings and president of Twin River Casino Hotel and Tiverton Casino Hotel, expressed his happiness with the New Jersey FanDuel partnership in a tweet Wednesday:
In a neatly dovetailing series of transactions, Twin River agreed to pay Caesars $25m for Bally’s Atlantic City Hotel and Casino in April. On October 13, Twin River paid Caesars $20m for the rights to the Bally’s Casino brand. Then, on October 28, Twin River officially announced that it will rebrand its corporate identity to Bally’s Corporation starting November 9.
FanDuel’s eyes on the Bally’s
Twin River Worldwide Holdings president and CEO George Papanier said in a news release that he was looking forward to working with FanDuel in “another exciting, gaming-centric market like Atlantic City.”
sportsbook will be “just steps away from center Boardwalk where millions stroll by annually”
Papanier said the sportsbook made a great partner, having already experienced working with the firm through Twin Rivers in Colorado. FanDuel’s New Jersey sportsbook will be “just steps away from center Boardwalk where millions stroll by annually”, he added.
The Garden State sportsbook will be FanDuel’s second brick-and-mortar venue in New Jersey, after the Meadowlands Racetrack in East Rutherford.
Garden State’s red-hot streak
When FanDuel’s Bally’s sportsbook goes live, all nine Atlantic City casinos will have on-site sportsbooks. New Jersey’s sports betting market is currently on a stratospheric trajectory. In September, it left its own national record for dead, taking in over $748m in sports bets, and edging ever closer to the almost mythical $1bn mark.
On November 3 comes the next step in the journey, as the New Jersey Casino Control Commission will consider Twin River’s application to run a casino in Atlantic City.