British bookmaking giant, William Hill, has announced the signing of an exclusive agreement that is to see it provide American casino operator, Eldorado Resorts Incorporated, with digital and online sports betting as well as gaming services for the next 25 years.

Agreement includes future acquisition provisions:

William Hill used an official press release to explain that it has been providing bookmaking services to Eldorado Resorts Incorporated’s venues in Nevada since 2012 while the new arrangement inked via its William Hill US subsidiary covers every one of the casino firm’s 21 land-based gambling venues spread across eleven states alongside ‘any new properties it may acquire or develop.’

The British behemoth stated that Reno-headquartered Eldorado Resorts Incorporated currently has a customer base of around 23 million people but that this figure is likely to grow following the predicted fourth-quarter completion of its proposed acquisition of the business from five casinos currently owned by rival Tropicana Entertainment Incorporated.

Operations to begin ‘within weeks’:

As a result of the deal, William Hill confirmed that it expects to begin offering sports betting services ‘within weeks’ to players at the Mountaineer Casino Racetrack and Resort in West Virginia alongside New Jersey’s Tropicana Atlantic City before following on with similar provisions for a trio of Mississippi casinos encompassing the Isle of Capri Casino Hotel Lula, Trop Casino Greenville and Lady Luck Casino Vicksburg.

Looking further into the future and the London-based bookmaking giant proclaimed that ‘the months ahead’ will see it roll out sports betting along with ‘digital betting and gaming services’ to other properties owned by Eldorado ‘subject to the legislation in each state.’

Deal is beneficial for both parties:

Philip Bowcock, Chief Executive Officer for William Hill, detailed that the partnership will give his firm ‘access to one of the largest and most attractive casino footprints’ in the United States and provide both parties with ‘extensive cross-sell and profit growth opportunities.’

Bowcock’s statement read…

“Together, we are positioned to capture the evolving United States opportunity; starting with land-based sportsbetting and extending to digital sportsbetting and, in some states, online gaming.”

Casino firm getting a substantial stake:

As part of the agreement, the press release revealed that Eldorado Resorts Incorporated is set to receive 13,376,135 new ordinary shares in London-listed William Hill valued at around $50 million along with a 20% shareholding in the firm’s United States subordinate. This latter stipulation encompasses operations in Nevada, New Jersey, Delaware, Mississippi, Rhode Island, West Virginia and Iowa alongside the Bahamas and St Kitts.

Gary Carano, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer for Eldorado Resorts Inc, described William Hill as representative of ‘the gold standard in global sportsbetting’ before declaring that he was ‘confident’ about the future prospects of the new partnership.

Carano’s statement read…

“We look forward to bringing the excitement of sportsbetting to customers across our growing platform of leading casino resorts [and] creating value for all shareholders.”