Carousel Reaches Deal with Caesars to Enter NJ, Iowa & Indiana

Carousel Group, owner and operator of SportsBetting.com, will be entering three of the top legal sports betting states this year, after gaining access to Colorado last year.

The gaming company has announced a multi-state, 10-year partnership with Caesars Casino that will see its online sportsbook made available to NJ online casinos customers, those in Indiana and those who enjoy Iowa online gambling, as well as its online casino in New Jersey, pending regulatory and license approvals.

This would be the second partnership that Carousel Group has entered, following the Colorado deal in 2020 for SportsBetting.com. It launched in Colorado in September.

“We closed out 2020 with the launch of SportsBetting.com in Colorado and we are thrilled to start 2021 with the announcement of our multi-state agreement with Caesars, a giant in the casino industry and the perfect strategic partner to help us aggressively expand our market access in the U.S.,” Daniel Graetzer, president and CEO of Carousel Group, said in the news release. “We look forward to working with both Caesars and the regulators to launch SportsBetting.com in New Jersey, Indiana and Iowa. We are also finalizing major updates to our products, including new mobile apps and a cutting-edge casino platform.”

The Caesars agreement will increase Carousel Group’s market in the U.S. from $109 million to an estimated $1.8 billion, with 24.5 million people residing in the three new states, the release said. The agreement allows Carousel the opportunity to enter a U.S. online casino market. New Jersey’s iGaming GGR increased from $483 million in 2019 to $961 million in 2020, according to the release.

Three Strong Markets to Enter

The addition of Indiana online gambling, New Jersey and Iowa to Colorado gives Carousel four markets that continue to set sports betting handle records.

Although New Jersey failed to reach the coveted $1 billion mark for sports betting handle in January, it did have its third straight month of more than $900 million, with $958.7 million.

Indiana set a new state record for sports wagering handle in January at $348.2 million, putting it just ahead of Colorado’s $326.9 million.

The Iowa total sports wagering handle was a record $149.5 million in January, up 42.7% from December’s $104.8 million. It was the fifth straight month that Iowa set a handle record for sports wagering and the second straight month that Iowa bettors topped $100 million in total handle.

Colorado announced on Thursday that it topped $300 million in January handle for the first time with $326.9 million.