The Gaming Board of Illinois is expected to close operations in 2024. In the deal that has just been announced to the public, the operations of PointsBet’s Ontario sports betting have not been included and neither do those of PB’s Australian sportsbook. The news of this deal was made public after DraftKings made a move to join the fray of the acquisition by increasing the price of the offer to purchase PointsBet for a sum of $75 million.
In the past week, the management of Fanatics hiked the initial offer they had made from $150 million to $225 million in an effort to acquire the PointsBet US operation. This would give the company an opportunity to jump into the sports betting market of Illinois. For DraftKings Sportsbook, which is one of the sports betting giants in the industry, the idea to join in the mix was born last week when they realized that Fanatics had an interest in the deal and had even proposed an offer.
In an interesting turn of events, DraftKings chose to drop its proposal bid when it emerged that Fanatics had made a counter-punch. By this action, it appeared that DraftKings no longer had an interest in the acquisition of PointsBet’s operations in the US – if they did, there would be an effort in making a counteroffer. It might take a while to know for sure if the deal was a success for Fanatics but a positive outcome will mean that the company gains access to the 15 states of the United States in which PointsBet Sportsbook runs operations, for instance, Illinois.
Addressing the pending deal in a recent press release, the management of Fanatics considers the acquisition to be a pivotal moment for the business. The release captures the fact that the company is excited that permission to participate in the acquisition was granted by the shareholders of PointsBet Holdings way before the actual process began. This illustrates the company’s collective hope of increased profitability through alliances with other industry players.
Making the move to close to deal was done after extensive deliberation and the next move now is to prepare for a future where the two companies work hand in hand. Fanatics’ employees consider their PointsBet Holdings Inc. staff to be their friends with whom they will work closely to finalize the final stages of the acquisition deal.
Describing the process of acquisition as pivotal for the company means that there are prospects of accelerated growth for the company in the areas of iGaming in the US market, advanced deposit wagering, and legalized online sports betting. At the moment, the greatest milestone yet to be achieved is the granting of regulatory licenses in the states that PointsBet runs operations and this is what will dictate the next step. The coming weeks are expected to bear intense details as to the progress of the acquisition and particularly the manner in which PointsBet businesses around the country will spring to life the unique vision that Fanatics has for its Betting and Gaming division.
The successful purchase of PointsBet operations in the US will automatically catapult Fanatics to the top of the charts of sportsbook operators in the country. Fanatics now ranks at number four in order of the largest sportsbook provider in Illinois, which is currently the second most successful sports betting market in the US. As of revenue reports from the month of April this year, PointsBet Sportsbook has managed to collect more than $1.6 billion since its operations began in Illinois. This accounts for over $124 million in total revenue collected for that period.
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Another first in Illinois
The Illinois market appears to be attracting some other players interested in operating in a fast-growing gambling market. One of these parties is Circa Sportsbook that looks like it will beat Fanatics in entering the Illinois sports betting market. As Fanatics is targeting to enter the list of seven legal sports betting operators in the state of Illinois, Circa is keen on being the eighth on the list. The race now on which company between the two will be the first to be accorded legal entry into the market.
For Circa, the launch into the Illinois gambling market has been planned to take place in August – that will be the first time the company’s online sportsbook will run in Illinois. Another one of Circa’s operations will be a retail sportsbook whose venue at the moment has been confirmed to be The Temporary by American Place Casino. Reports indicate that the Full House Resorts launched its operations in Waukegan on February 17.
There is definitely remarkable progress for the Illinois market prospects; the Gaming Board of Illinois approved the license application by Circa on April 27 on account of a board meeting. The deliberation of the meeting was that Circa be moved from the status “applicant” to “licensed.” According to Circa’s CEO, Derek Stevens, the company has been ready to launch its operations since the start of the year. When the company head spoke in January, the only limitation then was the approval from the IGB.
In view of the steps to follow in opening a new casino business, the business first has to be launched and then wait for some time before it can bring in a sportsbook. Stevens acknowledges that a sportsbook business based in Illinois has to be opened a while later after the opening of a casino.
Conclusion
The casino landscape in Illinois is changing gradually – there is immense support from the state administration and this is encouraging investors to enter the market. As much as attention had been on other jurisdictions in the past, Illinois has of late started to draw the attention of stakeholders. It is no surprise that there is a long list of interested casino operators waiting for the required approvals to set up their tools of trade.
