Posted on: August 1, 2024, 10:44h.
Last updated on: August 1, 2024, 10:56h.
Caesars Entertainment brass revealed during the company’s Tuesday evening call with investors and analysts that it will soon deploy its Horseshoe brand online.
During the second quarter earnings call, Eric Hession, president of sports and online gaming at Caesars, said the company’s acquisition of WynnBet’s online operations in Michigan was completed in June.
The acquisition provides Caesars with additional market access for iGaming and online sports betting in the state through a partnership with the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians. The tribe owns five casinos on Michigan’s Upper Peninsula.
Caesars runs its Caesars Sportsbook and Caesars Palace Online Casino, as well as a World Series of Poker online platform, in Michigan through a separate tribal partnership with the Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians. Commercial casinos in Michigan are limited to Detroit. Caesars isn’t one of the three operators in the city.
The Horseshoe brand was founded by legendary gambler and poker player Benny Binion in 1951. Binion also founded the World Series of Poker and held the annual tournament at his Binion’s Horseshoe in downtown Las Vegas from 1970 through 2004.
Caesars, then Harrah’s Entertainment, acquired the Horseshoe brand in 2004 as part of its $9 billion acquisition of Caesars Entertainment, Inc.
Horseshoe Won’t Be a Ringer
Hession says the Horseshoe online casino will deploy sometime next month in Michigan. The iGaming brand will expand to other states where Caesars has licenses to operate online sportsbooks and/or casino gaming in the coming months.
Hession explained that the Horseshoe’s online operations will complement Caesars Palace and Caesars Sportsbook but won’t be expected to overtake the more widely known brands.
“I would tamper expectations. Horseshoe is a great band, but Caesars is an even better brand,” Hession said. “Caesars is the flagship brand and it’s got a year’s lead over the Horseshoe.”
I would expect the Horseshoe to perform very strongly, but I don’t think it will command the market share that Caesars has,” Hession explained.
WynnBet’s online business in Michigan certainly did not. Through six months of 2024, WynnBet iGaming revenue totaled just $16.8 million. The state’s top three online casinos — BetMGM, FanDuel, and DraftKings — respectively won $302.5 million, $296.7 million, and $219.5 million during that same time.
WynnBet’s online sportsbook also lagged the leaders with revenue of less than $10K through six months, though the book ceased operations in March. In 2023, however, the WynnBet online sportsbook generated revenue of just $1.4 million while FanDuel won $127.4 million and DraftKings took $54.3 million off bettors.
Horseshoe Expansion
Caesars returned the Horseshoe brand to Las Vegas and the Strip for the first time in 2022 after rebranding Bally’s. The company continues to bring heightened awareness to the Horseshoe, with the latest development being the Michigan iGaming news.
Caesars operates 10 Horseshoe-branded casinos in eight states — Colorado, Indiana, Iowa, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, Missouri, and Nevada.
Tom Reeg, Caesars CEO, said momentum in online gaming remains strong.
“Expect that the Horseshoe brand, our second brand in iCasino, can help us build on the gains that we’ve had since we rolled out Caesars Palace Online [in August 2023].”
Caesars is licensed in four of the seven states where online casinos are allowed. Caesars is operational in Michigan, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia.
