Eldorado Resorts has inked a takeover deal of Caesars Entertainment. The deal will create the largest U.S. gaming company with aspirations to form “strategic alliances with industry leaders in sports betting.”
The companies announced that they have entered into a “definitive merger agreement” that will combine the two leading gaming companies and their complementary national operating platforms, brands, and a “collective commitment to enhancing guest service and shareholder value.”
The combined company will own 60 domestic casino-resorts and gaming facilities across 16 states. In addition to Caesars’ loyalty program, regional network, and Las Vegas assets, the new company will gain access to Caesars’ growing list of sports betting partners.
Caesars has been competing with rival MGM Resorts for deals in the sports gambling space. Both companies have signed a number of deals over the year since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned PASPA and began allowing states to legalize sports wagering.
In February, Caesars Entertainment agreed to a multi-year, multi-state partnership with DraftKings that gave the casino operator equity in the sportsbook and placed DraftKings-related online and mobile betting products in states where gambling and sports betting have been legalized. Caesars has also been involved on the gaming entertainment side, partnering earlier this year with Turner Sports to develop a sports betting-relating content studio for Bleacher Report and with ESPN to open a television studio inside The LINQ Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas focused on sports betting content for Daily Wager.
In January, the NFL announced that it had selected Caesars to be the league’s first-ever casino partner. That multiyear sponsorship agreement began with the start of last season’s NFL playoffs and gave Caesars the ability to use NFL trademarks to promote its casinos. Caesars Palace on the Las Vegas Strip will host some of the 2020 NFL Draft events. Caesars also recently became ESPN’s official odds data provider.
“Together, we will have an extremely powerful suite of iconic gaming and entertainment brands, as well as valuable strategic alliances with industry leaders in sports betting and online gaming,” said Tom Reeg, Eldorado’s chief executive, in a statement. “The combined entity will serve customers in essentially every major U.S. gaming market and will marry best-of-breed practices.”
Reeg will run the newly combined company, which will adopt the Caesars name, alongside Eldorado chairman Gary Carano and representatives in Eldorado’s C-suite from operations, finance, and legal. By merging, the companies announced said they’ve identified $500 million worth of synergies that they expect to achieve within the first year following the deal’s closing.