Everything to Everyone
Bally ’ s Chairman Soo Kim aims for the top , but will technology be his foil ?
By Roger Gros
It ’ s the perfect storm of gaming — being able to touch and interact with your customer 24 hours a day , seven days a week — to be able to subtly remind them that you are there whenever they need you . But to do that , you ’ ve got to be much more than just gaming . You ’ ve got to be mainstream entertainment .
And above all , you ’ ve got to be omnichannel . Omnichannel is a misused word in many circumstances , but in this situation , it ’ s completely accurate and describes being the leading information provider and platform for people who have a propensity to gamble .
It ’ s a tall order , but if you can even come close to meeting that goal , you ’ ve captured lightning in a bottle . But that ’ s the mission of Soo Kim and the company he leads , Bally ’ s Corporation .
From the Start
It ’ s a bold goal , especially for a company that started out as a small landbased casino company , Twin River , based in Rhode Island . From that small seed , however , Soo Kim and his team have built a powerful national legacy brand around Bally ’ s , which , of course , had traction already in the gaming industry . Bally ’ s started as Bally Manufacturing , a pinball manufacturer in Chicago in the 1930s , and expanded to building slot machines . When gaming was legalized in New Jersey , Bally scored one of the first licenses and opened Bally ’ s Park Place casino smack in the center of the Boardwalk .
Ensuing years saw the brand change hands many times until it landed with Caesars , which has no interest in expanding it . So when Twin River showed interest in the Atlantic City casino , Caesars sold it for $ 25 million , and for another $ 25 million threw in the Bally ’ s brand . Over the past two years , Bally ’ s has added almost a dozen casinos to its roster for a total of 16 casinos from Rhode Island to Lake Tahoe .
In addition to the name recognition the casinos bring to the brand , Kim signed a deal with Sinclair Broadcasting to brand its series of 21 regional sports networks as Bally Sports . The networks represent 42 professional teams and several major college conferences .
“ Bally Sports Network gets billions of impressions a year , and has helped us re-establish our brand ,” says Kim .
“ Sometimes when you are the underdog , the David , you just have to be more intentional about every action that you take .”
— Bally ’ s Chairman Soo Kim
The Bally ’ s Chicago property has the opportunity to transform the Chicago River
32 Global Gaming Business DECEMBER 2022