William Hill Joins US Betting Market at Full Force with New CBS Deal

William Hill has left the post-PASPA blues behind by catching up to its competitors on US soil.

In another landmark scaling up of sports betting to the newly legalized US market, long-time powerhouse UK bookmakers William Hill inked a deal with leading US media network CBS to provide sports betting to the CBS Sports Digital network.

Inherited Viewership

This gives the William Hill betting product to over 80 million viewers currently using the channel to watch golf, American football and baseball.

Impact

The new deal brings William Hill current with other European and UK competitors in the sports betting market who have already closed deals with US companies.

Recent Hurdles

William Hill has also been wrestling performance-wise with increasingly strict UK gambling regulations including an upcoming ban on credit card gambling along with a new fixed-odds betting terminal cap.

The Competition

William Hill’s competitors were quicker to establish holdings in post-PASPA US: Paddy Power and Betfair owner Flutter effectively took over fantasy sports company FanDuel in 2018, while amid rumor of a merger with Flutter, Sky Bet owner Stars Group forged a deal; further, Ladbrokes Coral owner GVC has a contract with MGM Resorts.

New Deal

The new deal between William Hill and CBS calls for CBS sports channels to join the sports betting game by using William Hill’s odds and technology.

William Hill Chief Speaks

William Hill Chief Executive Ulrik Bengtssond called his company's ascendance to “official sports betting provider to CBS” a “major step forward for William Hill in our US expansion.”

Organisational Strategy

Bengtssond lauded the deal for harnessing new benefits of “exclusive media, branding and promotional rights across CBS’ leading digital sports properties in the US, to take the William Hill brand further and faster in the US.”
Rollout

The partnership agreement is scheduled to launch in March with a full rollout for the fantasy football season — a major cash cow for the Viacom BCS-owned media firm.

Outlook

UK bookies have been jockeying to expand into the US amid growing competition in the country’s recently legalised sports betting market.