FanDuel Opens Temporary Sportsbook at Bally’s Atlantic City

Bettors in New Jersey have a new, temporary brick-and mortar sportsbook to place their bets.

FanDuel opened its second location in New Jersey Monday for friends, family and business associates — a soft launch — at Bally’s Atlantic City Casino & Hotel. It also has its successful flagship at The Meadowlands Racetrack in East Rutherford.

The temporary location at the casino on the city’s famed Pacific Avenue has three live tellers to take wagers, along with 10 functional self-service kiosks. The permanent sportsbook is expected to be completed in Spring 2021.

With Monday’s opening, all nine Atlantic City casinos have on-location sportsbooks as New Jersey continues to dominate Nevada in sports betting total handle in 2020.

New Jersey again set a national record for monthly sports betting handle in November. It posted $931.6 million in handle to break the previous record set in October by $128 million. Mobile was 93.6% of the total sports handle in November.

Bally’s had an impressive sportsbook with theatre seating and fan caves in its Wild, Wild West section, but that area was annexed by the adjacent Caesars casino.

Twin River Becomes Bally’s

Twin River Worldwide Holdings changed its name to Bally’s Corp. on Nov. 9 and begin trading on the New York Stock Exchange under its new ticker symbol — BALY. New Jersey regulators approved Twin River as the operator a few days earlier.

Twin River announced on Oct. 13 that it had purchased the iconic Bally's brand previously owned by Caesars Entertainment. The agreement also allowed Twin River to rebrand virtually all of its portfolio properties under the Bally's name and logo.

Bally's Corp. completed the acquisition of the Atlantic City hotel & casino from Caesars Entertainment Inc. and Vici Properties in mid November. The total purchase price was $25 million, subject to customary adjustments, and was funded with cash on hand, according to a news release.

The casino company says it will spend at least $90 million in upgrades over the next five years at the Boardwalk’s 41-year-old property, according to the Press of Atlantic City.

“We are excited to expand our retail footprint in the state to now include Atlantic City,” Matt King, CEO of FanDuel Group, said in a news release in November. “We are excited to get started and be a key piece in Twin River Worldwide Holdings transformation of the iconic Bally’s Atlantic City Hotel and Casino.”