Florida Sports Betting Has Exponentially Increased the Value of Hard Rock Digital

Plenty of stakeholders are significantly benefiting from Florida sports betting legalization. And you can now definitely include Hard Rock Digital among that list.

Indeed, this has always been the case. The laws for sports betting in Florida give exclusivity to the Seminole Tribe, which partners with Hard Rock Digital. This setup has always and will continue to be extremely beneficial to every involved party.

Still, when it comes to dollars and cents, the focus tends to gravitate toward the Seminole Tribe itself, as well as The Sunshine State. Everything else is secondary, if not an afterthought. This might be different if the Florida sports betting market undergoes expansion. Then, there would be more attention paid to separate stakeholders. This includes online sportsbooks in the United States competing for market shares.

For now, though, the Seminole Tribe and Hard Rock basically stand alone. And while the latter doesn’t receive as much of the overall Florida sports betting revenue, their involvement pays dividends beyond the confines of The Sunshine State.  

Hard Rock Digital Valuation May Have Doubled, According to One Stakeholder

Playtech is a gambling software company that was founded back in 1999. In 2022, they apparently purchased a minority stake in Hard Rock Digital. They now say that investment has roughly doubled over the past three years. And as Sam McQuillan of Legal Sports Report writes, the launch of Florida sports betting is a big reason why:

“The global gaming technology provider now values its minority stake in Hard Rock Digital at €141 million ($153 million), nearly double the €75 million it invested in 2022, per its annual earnings report Thursday. Hard Rock resumed Florida sports betting late last year, where it holds a monopoly under a compact with the Seminole Tribe. Florida is the most populous legal sports betting state and one of the few with a single-provider setup…Hard Rock Bet‘s unique Florida monopoly helped drive Playtech’s overall Americas B2B revenue up 126% last year, albeit from a small base, executives told investors.”

Even when we are talking about minority stakes and smaller overall asset pools, a single-year increase of 126 percent is ridiculous. And it speaks to the lucrative popularity of online sports betting in the United States.

In fact, it really is a nod to the value of Florida sports betting, specifically. One state is serving as a driving force for the bottom line of national companies. The impact of this cannot be overstated. Neither Playtech nor Hard Rock Digital would enjoy such a bump if we were talking about exclusivity for, say, sports betting in South Carolina. This is the type of valuation windfall only a handful of states can have, such as New York, Texas, California and, of course, Florida itself.

Growth of Hard Rock Digital is Expected to Continue

Now, because Hard Rock Digital’s valuation is so firmly tethered to Florida sports betting, the assumption might be that it will soon max out. After all, how high can a single state carry an entire company’s valuation? 

It turns out pretty high. But the key may actually be expansion across other states.

As McQuillan goes on to explain, Playtech is not expecting Hard Rock Digital’s growth to slow down anytime soon:

“The company expects further commercial benefits from its Hard Rock partnership as the brand expands to more states. Playtech currently provides content for Hard Rock’s iGaming operations in New Jersey and is in line to support future rollouts, executives said. ‘We’ve already received €3 million in dividends from our investment in 2024, and we expect that to grow,’ CEO Mor Weizer said. ‘It’s a strategic relationship, and we believe there’s a lot more opportunity for Playtech to contribute, particularly as Hard Rock expands into other iGaming states.’”

It is not immediately clear from where this expansion will come. Hard Rock Digital already has licenses to operate in partnership with the Seminole tribe in Arizona, Arizona, Indiana, Tennessee, Virginia, New Jersey and Illinois. Add in Florida, and that is a total of eight markets. 

Newer Sports Betting Markets May be Critical to Effective Expansion

If and when they do expand, they will likely target new or yet-to-be-legalized states. Launching services in places with an established list of operators can be daunting. The market shares are already cemented. Significantly eating into them can prove challenging. 

This past year, we have seen ESPN Bet, which is owned and operated by Penn Entertainment, struggle to gain real traction in select veteran markets. For instance, if the Seminole Tribe and Hard Rock Digital attempted to get licensed for sports betting in Ohio, they would be up against a boatload of other operators who have already been live for a couple of years. This includes commercialized heavyweights such as DraftKings and FanDuel. Over time, Hard Rock might be able to carve out a worthwhile market share. Out of the gate, though, they likely have to stomach unflattering returns.  

Not all companies have the gall for that sort of journey. That’s why even legacy operators in the United States often prefer blank slates. It basically ensures they are arriving in markets with a more level playing field.

Will Hard Rock Digital’s sports betting expansion follow the same blueprint? It sounds like we are going to find out.

Take a look at this list of the top online sportsbooks so you can find one that works for all of your sports betting needs: