Boyd Gaming Expands Sports Betting Footprint In US, Stock Up

Following the legalization of sports betting outside Nevada, gaming companies are steadily expanding sports betting footprint in the United States. A classic testament in this regard is the recent partnership between Boyd Gaming Corporation (NYSE:BYD) and FanDuel Group to introduce FanDuel Sportsbooks in Indiana and Iowa.

Following the news, shares of Boyd Gaming gained 4.4% on Sep 9. Year to date, the stock has rallied 20.3% compared with the industry’s 8.3% growth.

FanDuel Sportsbooks has debuted at four Boyd Gaming properties — Blue Chip Casino Hotel and Spa in Michigan City, IN; Diamond Jo Casino in Dubuque, IA; Diamond Jo Casino in Northwood, Iowa; and Belterra Casino Resort in Florence, Indiana.

We believe the launch of sports betting in the aforementioned regions will be very fruitful as evident from FanDuel Sportsbook’s success at Boyd Gaming's Valley Forge Casino Resort in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania, which was opened in March 2019. In July, the company launched mobile sports betting across the state of Pennsylvania. In both Iowa and Indiana, the company is planning to introduce mobile sports products under the FanDuel brand.

President and chief executive officer of Boyd Gaming, Keith Smith, stated that “The FanDuel Sportsbook is off to a great start in Pennsylvania, contributing to solid growth in visitation and profitability at our Valley Forge Casino Resort near Philadelphia. We are confident our partners at FanDuel will deliver excellent results in Iowa and Indiana as well, further expanding Boyd Gaming's customer base and enhancing our long-term competitive appeal.”

Bottom Line

We believe the company that operates in California, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Maine, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Missouri, New Jersey, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas, West Virginia and other states is likely to gain the most from the legalization of sports betting outside Nevada.

Currently, sports betting has been legalized in Delaware, Mississippi, New Jersey, New Mexico, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Montana, Indiana, Tennessee, Illinois and New Hampshire. Notably, Connecticut, Kentucky, Michigan, Massachusetts. Maryland, Minnesota, Missouri, Kansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, South Carolina, California, Oregon, Arizona and other states are also likely to tread the same path in the coming months.

Zacks Rank & Key Picks

Boyd Gaming carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). Better-ranked stocks, worth considering in the same space, include Penn National Gaming, Inc. (NASDAQ:PENN) , Melco Resorts & Entertainment Limited (NASDAQ:MLCO) and SciPlay Corporation (NASDAQ:SCPL) . Penn National Gaming sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), whereas Melco Resorts & Entertainment and SciPlay carry a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

Penn National Gaming and Melco Resorts & Entertainment have an impressive long-term earnings growth rate of 10% and 22.1%, respectively.

Shares of SciPlay have surged 13.2% in a month.

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