On Friday, the Roundhill Sports Betting & iGaming ETF BETZ, the first exchange traded fund of its kind, made room for four new holdings.
What Happened: With special purpose acquisition companies all the rage after captivating the investment community in 2020, perhaps the most notable addition to the BETZ roster is dMY Technology Group II DMYD.
That blank-check firm already has a target: sports betting data provider Genius Sports Group. The deal was announced in October.
Currently, dMY II is the only SPAC found in BETZ, but the ETF has a history of adding blank-check companies. Four other BETZ holdings — Rush Street Interactive RSI, DraftKings DKNG, Golden Nugget Online Gaming GNOG and Skillz SKLZ — were born out of SPAC mergers.
Why It's Important: Bally's Corp. BALY is another new addition to the BETZ lineup. That stock accounts for nearly 2% of the ETF's weight.
Previously known as Twin River Worldwide Holdings (TRWH), Bally's has gone from sleepy casino operator to a major play on the regional gaming and sports betting stages.
The company is highly acquisitive and its recent purchases have focused on either sports betting technology or entering markets where sports wagering is permitted.
A recently announced partnership to build a mini-casino in Pennsylvania will afford Bally's iGaming and sports betting access in one of the country's fastest-growing markets for those endeavors. Some analysts see the Keystone State becoming a $1 billion-plus online casino and sports betting market by 2025.
What's Next: The other new members of the BETZ roster are France's La Francaise Des Jeux SAEM and Bragg Gaming BRGGF.
La Francaise Des Jeux runs France's largest lottery and also provides online games and sports betting markets for French sports, including cycling, rugby, soccer and track. The company is half owned by the French government, but it is publicly traded.
Canada's Bragg Gaming “is an innovative B2B online gaming solution provider. Bragg offers a turnkey solution for retail, online and mobile iGaming platform, as well as advanced casino content aggregator, sportsbook, lottery, marketing and operational services,” according to the company.
Investors have already added nearly $76 million to BETZ since the start of 2021, bringing its assets under management tally to $305 million.
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