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 . company ’ s sports betting platform , which is active in only a few states . So the delay is frustrating for Kim .
Bally ’ s regional sports networks have spread the brand across the country
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 . company ’ s sports betting platform , which is active in only a few states . So the delay is frustrating for Kim .
“ We have good technology people ; it ’ s just taking longer ,” he says . “ I would have hoped that we ’ d be further along by now . Because North America is so sports-led , if you ’ re not with sports , you ’ re not really in the game . But I continue to be very optimistic . I consider that the opportunity set is even more clear than it was before . It ’ s going to take a little while .”
He says the Gamesys iCasino product , active in New Jersey , is performing well . He says last month the Bally iCasino produced $ 4 million in revenue in a very competitive market .
“ On the iCasino side , there is no one better ,” he says . “ They have operated in the longest , most-regulated markets , and they ’ re good . It ’ s the only platform that works without sports in the U . K . that has substantial market share . I think we have a lot of lessons from our business in Europe and Asia that we can bring to the U . S .
“ There ’ s also an opportunity that when we finally figure out sports in the U . S ., we can bring sports out in our existing markets . We still have not introduced a Bally brand internationally , which I think is a really wonderful opportunity , and we absolutely intend to do it . So , there ’ s still many , many more efficiencies between these two businesses .”
In its most recent quarterly report , however , Lee Fenton , the CEO of Bally ’ s Interactive , says it ’ s time to evaluate the tech purchases made by the company over the last two years .
“ We are evaluating our money-losing businesses in North America interactive and refocusing efforts where we have faster paths to profitability ,” Fenton said during the company ’ s third-quarter earnings report . “ We pulled together a fairly large number of assets in a small space of time ; we ’ ve now had 12 months of looking at that and knitting that picture together . The assets that are not showing us a near-term path to profitability will of course be under the microscope , as they should be .”
He says the company will identify what it will consider a “ core asset ” and possibly dispose of anything that doesn ’ t meet that description .
Kim sees online gaming as a very social activity , something that hasn ’ t revealed itself completely at this time .
“ It ’ s all about entertainment ,” he says . “ It ’ s a form of opinionating , actually — a form of interaction . When you put money on something , that ’ s like saying , ‘ Hey , I feel so strongly about this that I ’ m putting money behind my statement .’ But really , if you think about it , gaming is opinionating , and it should be shared , it should be social , it should be interactive . I
actually think the future of gaming is not sitting in the corner or feeding the machine . I think this future of gaming is as a product and a service to a larger experience that ’ s interactive , that ’ s social , that ’ s casual . A much bigger market .”
Kim believes that content is king in the online space , but that it ’ s littered with roadblocks and hurdles .
“ The current media landscape for content is that it ’ s all owned by people who are very careful about how they own it ,” he explains . “ And they all have copyrights , and we ’ ve got to respect that . Sometimes you have the video rights , but you don ’ t have the data rights . It ’ s an almost Byzantine system of the way content producers today monetize their content , whether through a subscription or through advertising . Ultimately what we ’ re talking about is engagement .”
In the context of the Bally Sports networks , the company has taken a somewhat eclectic path .
“ We ’ ve been investing in boxing and poker shows and volleyball ( Bally ’ s bought the AVP Beach Volleyball League last year ). Soon , you ’ ll see other sports — we ’ re in the process of acquiring their rights . We ’ re not just going to sit on them — it ’ s not a land grab . We see an interesting set of rights ; there ’ s a lot of them . Let ’ s collect them , and let ’ s see what we can do , to make it more fun , more engaging , two-way , interactive , and maybe you ’ ll put some money on it .”
Kim envisions an entirely different way that viewers will consume sports in the future .
“ Look , the user experience for watching games on TV is terrible right now ,” he says . “ We force people to pay $ 100 a month , sit alone , in their living rooms , when less than half the Americans have cable . That ’ s not great . That means the other half literally cannot watch it .
“ We don ’ t want sports to become boxing — pay-per-view , high paywall , no viewership . Sports is built on masses and it ’ s a shared experience . And we need to bring it back that way . But when the current economics are subscription or advertising , it ’ s really hard to do . Engagement is the answer . There has to be a third leg to the stool .”
Kim believes that sports betting and online gaming in North America is still in its infancy , and the sky is the limit .
“ We ’ re in the early days , for sure . And we ’ re going to make mistakes , and it ’ s going to be a journey ,” he says . “ But we ’ re talking about Apple . It ’ s an idea . It ’ s an idea for an integrated product , a user experience . If one day somebody says that we are the Apple of gaming , that would be great !”
34 Global Gaming Business DECEMBER 2022