Consistency across the board
Bally’s Corporation plans to rebrand almost all of its casinos with the Bally’s name within the next year. Continuing a branding push since acquiring the Bally’s brand, the company’s president and CEO explained in an investors conference call on Monday that the decision is about increasing brand awareness.
“In the next 12 months, all of our casinos other than Hard Rock Biloxi will be rebranded to ‘Bally’s,’ increasing the awareness of our brand and providing the company opportunities to send local customers to our destination casinos, as well as a national player database and incentive program,” said George Papanier.
Hard Rock Biloxi is likely excluded because its existing name recognition is more valuable that consistency of the Bally’s brand.
There is also the question as to the Tropicana Las Vegas, which Bally’s agreed to acquire from Gaming and Leisure Properties, Inc. (GLPI) and Penn National Gaming in April. Bally’s does not officially own the Trop yet, so it is not included in the rebranding. It is a natural question to ask, however, as to whether or not it will take on the Bally’s name at some point.
“We’re excited about the longer-term potential and across market opportunities we have and will provide incremental information once we acquire the property,” Papanier said Monday.
Bally’s will not own the entire property outright. It bought the non-land real estate from GLPI, but GLPI kept the land. In turn, Bally’s will lease the land from GLPI for $10.5 million per year for 50 years. Bally’s also bought the rest of Penn National’s equity in the Tropicana.
If I had to guess (I absolutely do NOT, but I will), I would wager five American dollars that the Tropicana will remain because, like in the case of Hard Rock, it has brand recognition. Maybe Bally’s will make it “Tropicana by Bally’s” or something.
Bally’s has been on the charge
As mentioned, Bally’s has been on a tear in the past year establishing its brand all over the place. At this time in 2020, however, the company wasn’t even called Bally’s. It was Twin River Worldwide Holdings and owned a number of regional casinos, some with the Twin River name, some without. In October 2020, it bought the Bally’s name from Caesars Entertainment for $20 million and within just a few weeks, renamed the company.
Also in 2020, the company – Twin Rivers or Bally’s, depending on the date – bought several casinos, including Bally’s Atlantic City, Jumer’s Casino in Illinois, Tropicana Evansville, Lady Luck Casino in Mississippi and Isle of Capri Casino in Missouri. They will all become Bally’s casinos, if they haven’t already.
Interestingly, as part of the deal to buy the Bally’s brand from Caesars, the company agreed to let Caesars keep the name on the current Bally’s in Las Vegas. This is one reason why I think the Tropicana might keep its name. Two Bally’s in Vegas? How confusing.
