888 Teaming Up With Sports Illustrated to Launch Sportsbook

Authentic Brands Group, the parent company of Sports Illustrated, and online gaming company 888 Holdings, will partner to develop online sports betting and iGaming platforms. They plan to launch SI Sportsbook by the end of the year in the U.S.

The new sportsbook is expected to launch first in the Colorado sports betting market in 2021 with plans to expand to 10 other markets by 2022-23, according to Reuters. There are also plans to increase betting information, data, tools, stories and insight on SI.com and roll out a gambling-themed issue of Sports Illustrated in August, the magazine said in a story on SI.com.

“We are thrilled to announce that Sports Illustrated is entering the online sports betting and iGaming space,” Jamie Salter, ABG founder, chairman and chief executive officer, told the magazine. “888 is one of the leaders in online betting and gaming globally and has outstanding technology, products and marketing capabilities, and we are excited to partner with them to offer an innovative product experience for sports fans.”

More Visibility in US

For U.K.-based 888, teaming with the sports magazine and its readers who are interested in wagering should increase its visibility in the growing U.S. sports betting market. It is already a known online casino and poker brand in the U.S.

“We think this is kind of the missing piece in our American puzzle,” 888 CEO Itai Pazner told Reuters on Thursday. “It will give us the local brand we were missing, access to a huge audience, and opportunity to communicate with this audience on an ongoing basis.”

In December, 888 Sportsbook it would be entering the Colorado, Iowa and Indiana as online sports betting sites in 2021. The company said it has reached multiyear agreements with Grande Casino in Cripple Creek, Colorado; Catfish Bend Casinos II LLC in Burlington, Iowa; and Caesars Entertainment’s Harrah's Hoosier Park in Anderson, Indiana, about 30 miles northeast of Indianapolis.