Digital Wager Wire highlights the most significant events affecting the domestic and international sports betting and gaming industries each week throughout the year.
Bears Take Another Step Toward Indiana
If things continue in this direction, Indiana will boast two NFL teams by the time the Bears’ lease expires in 2033. Indiana legislators have been wooing the Bears’ ownership for over a year, and their persistence could very well pay off if Illinois continues to ignore their requests for tax breaks. The team has designs on building a gleaming new stadium on a 326-acre tract of land it owns in Arlington Heights.
That would be the Bears’ preferred option, as it has ruled out returning to its leased home for over 50 years, the aging Soldier Field. But state and local lawmakers have been indifferent in negotiations with the team, and the clock continues to tick on the Bears’ lease in the Windy City.
Indiana is making a strong case for bringing the team to Hammond, Indiana, located only 20 miles south of Chicago, by guaranteeing approximately $1 billion towards the construction of a $3 billion state-of-the-art facility. The Chicago Bears’ executive suite has voted to move forward with a stadium project in Hammond, Indiana, but that does not necessarily guarantee that a move to the Hoosier State is inevitable.
A recent statement by Bears Chairman George McCaskey read, “We believe a world-class stadium project in Hammond will transform the region, connecting Northwest Indiana to the South Side of Chicago through the Loop and across neighborhoods and suburbs stretching north of the city. It will bring Chicagoland together and deliver new opportunities to its residents and businesses.”
A recent Suffolk University poll published by the Tribune found that 56% of respondents preferred that the team relocate to Arlington Heights, while only 10% favored a move to Indiana. Another 26% said they had no preference regarding the team’s future location.
Bally’s Intralot Bets Big on Europe in Evoke Takeover
Bally’s subsidiary, Intralot, has made a stunning move to acquire European gaming powerhouse Evoke for a reported $324.4 million. The deal will make Intralot the No. 2 player in the U.K. iGaming market and No. 4 in sports betting.
Soo Kim, the chairman for both Bally’s and Intralot, stated, “We are excited about the opportunity to bring Intralot and Evoke together to create a leading, diversified European gaming champion with greater scale, resilience, and operational capability.
“Underpinned by the combination of Evoke’s iconic brands of incredible heritage, such as William Hill and 888, with Intralot’s best-in-class technology and data capabilities, highly executable synergies, and the ability to invest our substantial free cash flow in growth markets – we are confident that the Enlarged Group will not just be stronger than before, but stronger than ever,” Kim added.
Bally’s Intralot CEO Robeson Reeves said acquiring Evoke will save Intralot approximately seven years in developing its global presence.
“We’ll be number two in the UK; we’ll be pretty large in other markets, but there’s a big old planet where we can still expand into,” he said.
“We want to have diversified income, so we’ll definitely be looking at which markets we spend our money in. I’m definitely looking at this as giving us a pathway for further expansion,” Reeves added.
