Stephen Grambling at Morgan Stanley adjusted his targets on multiple US sports betting operators in a larger Wednesday note concerning gaming and consumer weakness.
Boyd was the only company with a stake in US sports betting upgraded to overweight with a new target of $74. Even-weighted Caesars ($40), MGM ($43) and Penn Entertainment ($20) all saw their targets drop, while Sportradar kept its $12 target.
Boyd does not directly operate a sports betting brand outside Nevada but owns 5% of FanDuel through its sports betting market access agreement.
Boyd discounted with sports betting stake
The regional casino operator offers an “attractive risk-reward,” Grambling said, noting that its regional casino business is stabilizing while owning about 90% of its real estate.
If looking at the casino operations of Boyd, it trades at about 2.5 times its enterprise value to EBITDA ratio. That is cheaper than the 4.5 times Penn and MGM trade at, Grambling noted.
The discount is even more evident when stripping out the digital value of FanDuel, Grambling said, as valuation drops to 0.5 times EBITDA.
Boyd has performed relatively in-line with Penn on the digital side with that 5% stake in FanDuel despite Penn spending billions on digital over the years.
Sports betting estimates raised
Sportradar had a “solid Q2 beat,” which led Grambling to raise forecasts for this year and next.
He now forecasts €210 million in EBITDA this year and €237 million next year compared to previous estimates of €202 million and €228 million, respectively.
Caesars, meanwhile, saw its digital EBITDAR estimates jump to $213 million this year and $277 million next year compared to prior expectations of $137 million and $192 million, respectively. That will mostly come from lower operating costs, Grambling said.
Snowden, Penn director add shares
Penn Entertainment CEO Jay Snowden is showing his confidence in the company headed into football season.
Snowden spent $1 million to buy 54,200 shares on the open market Tuesday at an average price of $18.44 each. That gives him 853,045 shares owned directly.
Director Anuj Dhanda nearly doubled his stake in the company on Friday, buying 15,000 shares at $18.40 each, or $276,000 total. He now owns 31,523 shares directly.
Penn’s stock price through the end of the year will likely be influenced about reports on ESPN Bet, and whether its deeper integration into other ESPN apps and properties is helping the brand build its market share.
Caesars partners with Detroit Lions
Caesars CEO Tom Reeg has been very vocal about sponsorship costs falling off and hitting the bottom line, but the company is still looking for the right opportunities.
The Detroit Lions and Caesars announced Wednesday that the gaming brand is both an official sports betting and iGaming partner of the team. The sponsorship makes sense, as Caesars is launching a second iGaming brand, Horseshoe, in the state later this year.
Caesars had $537 million in remaining sponsorship obligations at the end of the second quarter, though Reeg noted “significant pieces” will begin to fall off in early 2026.
Hard Rock Bet adds sports betting partner, too
Caesars was not the only operator to announce a new NFL betting partner last week.
Hard Rock Bet is now the official sportsbook of the Jacksonville Jaguars, the two announced Friday. The exclusive deal is not surprising, given Hard Rock Bet is the only legal sportsbook available in Florida.
Elsewhere, Hard Rock Bet adjusted the payouts in its Flex Parlay product to let bettors increase or decrease potential winnings.
Bettors can now decide if they want a higher payout if all legs hit, which would mean lower payouts should one or multiple parlay legs lose compared to the standard Flex Parlay split.
Fanatics brings sports betting to Ocean
Fanatics opened an in-person sportsbook at Ocean Casino in Atlantic City on Thursday.
The operator takes over the existing sportsbook space which includes a 100-foot bar and lounge, slot machines, table games and 140 feet of LED walls.
Fanatics will “cater to guests looking to enjoy the ultimate VIP sportsbook experience,” the company said in the release.
PrizePicks, EPIC partner on responsible gambling
EPIC will provide educational training sessions to PrizePicks employees under a new responsible gaming partnership.
EPIC will also “conduct an organizational assessment to identify opportunities which strengthen responsible gaming throughout the organization.
