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By Pat Evans
Bally’s Corporation strengthened its sports gambling foothold yesterday.
The casino company acquired daily fantasy sports operator Monkey Knife Fight for approximately $90 million in an all-stock transaction.
Monkey Knife Fight exploded onto the DFS scene last year, partnering with several high-profile organizations like the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Milwaukee Brewers and Los Angeles Kings.
The operator is reportedly the third-largest DFS platform in the U.S. with 180,000 registered users and 80,000 depositing players.
Monkey Knife Fight is live in 37 states, positioning itself in locales where sports betting is not yet legal. Its long-term play is to transition those bettors when markets like California, Texas and Florida legalize.
Those three states alone have the potential to account for up to 25% of U.S. betting revenue.
Bally’s has quietly ramped up its sports operations as the public’s betting craze builds alongside increased legalization.
Last November, the company purchased naming rights to Sinclair Broadcast Group’s regional sports networks with the intent of eventually integrating betting tools into broadcasts. It has a pending acquisition of sports betting software company Bet.Works as well.
