Gaming Innovation Group (GiG) has cemented its place in the Iowa market by extending its partnership with Hard Rock International.
The extension will see GiG offer its support to the casino operator in the launch of its sportsbook offering at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Sioux City, which will initially launch as a land-based service. The duo have also outlined plans to deliver both an online and mobile offering later in the year.
“We’re excited to extend our partnership with GiG to support sports betting in Iowa, and further grow our sportsbook portfolio,” Hard Rock’s senior vice president of online gaming, Kresimir Spajic, said.
Richard Brown, acting Chief Executive Officer of GiG added: “After a successful launch in New Jersey, I am delighted to further deepen the relationship with Hard Rock, delivering on our strategy to grow with our partner by entering a new state in the US with our sportsbook.
“The agreement is both a testament to our know-how and prowess to lead a land-based casino into the digital world of betting, and a strong validation of GiG’s commercial and product delivery capabilities. We are looking forward to growing with our partner long term. We have mutual ambitions to entertain consumers with a safe and exciting first-class sports betting experience.”
Iowa’s regulated sports wagering market opened for business on 15 August and generated $2.2m in revenue from the first 16 days of legal betting.
GiG expects that the agreement will have ‘limited impact’ on its revenues in 2019, with an increasing contribution from the launch of online and mobile betting in 2020 onwards.
“Offering sports betting through GiG provides our players and guests a new level of engagement – we couldn’t be more thrilled to be launching in Iowa,” concluded Jim Franke, General Manager of Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Sioux City.
