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Mandalay Bay ’ s rebranded sportsbook debuted in 2020
First , there is MGM ’ s deal with hotel giant Marriott International . Marriott Bonvoy members can earn points on certain transactions and gain access to exclusive games , experiences and offers with the operator . BetMGM Rewards customers can exchange loyalty credits for Bonvoy points .
The hotel loyalty programme “ is the largest of its type in the world ”, Greenblatt notes , with more than 180 million members . This provides a new way of acquiring customers at lower cost , which he expects to have a positive benefit from the beginning of 2024 . The reach of the BetMGM Marriott link increases availability .
Second is Entain ’ s £ 200m acquisition of US sports trading specialist Angstrom , boosting functionality and combinability .
Angstrom builds trading models from the bottom up , taking into account player ability , player performance , team performance and external conditions . What this does is allow BetMGM to offer different bet types and different combinations of markets . “ We are able to offer an almost infinite range of
“ If you ’ re a digital player , it encourages a visit to the property . It ’ s good for us , it ’ s good for MGM Resorts ”
betting opportunities to players thanks to Angstrom ,” Greenblatt explains .
“ If all of those [ factors ] are understood , the ability to whack them together and price them up is there in the same system .” The result ? More interesting parlays , including in-game and crossgame markets , offered seamlessly through BetMGM ’ s frontend .
PARENT COMPANY POWER
Bonvoy and Angstrom show the benefits of MGM and Entain as parent companies , Greenblatt adds .
“ I think it ’ s convenient for the naysayers to point to our corporate structure and say we won ’ t be able to succeed because it ’ s a joint venture . Really , from those two examples , we are seeing the opposite .”
To Greenblatt , these show the benefit of BetMGM ’ s structure . Without the pull on resource and capital , it can access
Signage at the Red Sox ’ s Fenway Park
assets its rivals would pay tens of millions to secure .
OMNICHANNEL GAMING
MGM Resorts , of course , also tethers BetMGM to brick-and-mortar gaming . While the total addressable market remains small – although highly lucrative – in the US , the operator continues to lead the way . For the first half its share was around 27 % of gross gaming revenue across the states .
And if the received wisdom is US customers flock towards games they know from the casino floor , BetMGM has a first-hand view from MGM on which ones perform . But making them work in tandem remains the focus – after all , “ omnichannel is what BetMGM is all about ”, says Greenblatt .
“ We ’ re really motivated to leverage the popularity of a title in one channel into the other ,” he continues . The operator
ICE LONDON 2024 • ISSUE 135 • 43