William Hill reportedly close to striking CBS Sports deal
Agreement would allow FTSE 250 operator to promote its brand to CBSsports.com’s tens of millions of monthly visitors
William Hill is on the cusp of signing a media deal with US sports broadcasting giant CBS Sports, according to newspaper reports surfacing at the weekend.
The Sunday Times suggested negotiations were in the “final stage” and an agreement with CBS Sports, which is part of the ViacomCBS, will be announced imminently.
The broadsheet paper said the arrangement would allow Hills to advertise its brand to the CBS Sports website’s 42 million monthly visitors.
However, data on web traffic tracking and statistics website SimilarWeb.com shows CBSports.com received 77.5 million visitors for the four weeks ended 20 January.
In fact, the monthly average visits for the past six months were 88.9 million while 87.6% of all traffic is from the US.
William Hill, which first established a presence in the US in 2012, currently operates in nine US states where sports betting is legal and regulated.
A deal with CBS Sports would give the 86-year-old bookmaker the extra leg up in the US it needs to compete going forward following a flurry of media deals involving its rivals.
Last May, The Stars Group announced a partnership with Fox Sports to launch the Fox Bet brand while Roar Digital, the JV between GVC and MGM Resorts, recently inked a deal with Yahoo.
In addition, national casino and racetrack operator Penn National Gaming paid $163m in cash and stock for a 36% stake in media company Barstool Sports.
Details are scarce on any potential deal between Hills and CBS Sports, yet it is possible the operator could develop a ‘CBS Sports Bet’ product in a similar fashion to how The Stars Group built Fox Bet.
A William Hill-powered free-to-play product akin to Fox Bet’s Super 6 could also be deployed to acquire users in states where sports betting isn’t yet legal.
A William Hill spokesman declined to comment on any possible tie-up with CBS Sports.
In January, William Hill announced it had surpassed profit expectations in 2019 boosted by strong profit margin in Q4 as CFO Ruth Prior departed the business.