Wynn Resorts reportedly looks to offload online sports betting arm
According to the New York Post, Wynn Resorts wants to sell its online sports betting business at a discounted price.
US.- Wynn Resorts is reportedly looking to offload its Wynn Interactive unit at a steeply discounted price of $500m. The New York Post reports that the Las Vegas-based casino operator has faced significant losses due to high taxes and costly promotions needed to lure in customers. Less than a year ago, its valuation was $3bn.
The report comes six months after Wynn prepared the launch of WynnBET, signing up Shaquille O’Neal as a brand ambassador. O’Neal sold his minority stake in the Sacramento Kings to Wynn so that he could collaborate with Wynn and not violate the league’s gambling rules.
However, in November, Wynn Resorts cancelled its plans and announced it would be merging its Wynn Interactive unit with Austerlitz Acquisition Corp, a blank-check company belonging to Las Vegas Knights owner Bill Folley. In addition to creating a public company with a $3.2bn valuation, the deal would have armed WynnBet with $640m in cash for marketing.
After revealing that the app was on track to burn $100m in both the third and fourth quarters, outgoing CEO Matt Maddox said on a November 10 earnings call: “The market is really not sustainable right now,” Maddox said o“Competitors are spending too much to get customers. And the economics are just not something that we’re going to participate in.”
A Wynn spokesman told The Post the company wouldn’t comment on market speculation and rumour.
The company said: “We were clear on our last earnings call about the current highly competitive nature of the online sports betting market and our desire to operate that business in a way that will actually create long-term shareholder value,” he said in a statement.
Wynn Resorts currently possesses a New York online betting licence but has not yet launched in the lucrative market.
See also: Wynn Resorts names Julie Cameron-Doe as chief financial officer
