Caesars Entertainment
Caesars Entertainment retired the William Hill brand on Monday with a flourish, introducing Caesars Sportsbook in its place in eight states. Three other sports betting jurisdictions welcomed the Caesars Sportsbook by William Hill app, which differs in its technology – as well as its name.
The rebranding effort won’t reach into the online casino space until October, Caesars leaders told reporters on Tuesday. However, the apps do now all bear the Caesars name, in some fashion.
At that time, Michigan, New Jersey and West Virginia‘s online casinos are slated to be fully in the Caesars Casino fold. Pennsylvania‘s migration may take a bit longer. For now, the Garden State and the commonwealth’s online casinos are called Caesars Casino and Sportsbook. A click on Michigan and West Virginia’s apps today rerouted gamblers to Caesars Sportsbook.
William Hill Casino entered the Mountain State on April 13, 2021. The company didn’t issue a statement of its own about this addition to its US online casino portfolio, leaving the launch announcement to its WV land-based partner, Mountaineer Casino.
The rebranding also comes with a change of logo. The new Caesars Sportsbook apps use a chalice as their insignia, rather than the more familiar wreath representing the company as a whole.
Caesars Sportsbook replaces William Hill
These marketing moves may seem esoteric to the average consumer. They’re important to be aware of however, for the sake of avoiding confusion, and for internet searches.
In this case, there’s a more tangible difference, as well. Along with the rebranding, the former William Hill products have now been integrated into Caesars Rewards. This loyalty program spans all of Caesars’ online products, including WSOP Poker, plus the company’s retail businesses.
Here’s what US online sports bettors need to know. As of Monday, eight states have rebranded online sportsbooks, now called Caesars Sportsbook:
- Colorado,
- Indiana
- Iowa
- Michigan
- New Jersey
- Tennessee
- Virginia
- West Virginia
These eight now use the Caesars’ in-house tech stack, named Liberty.
Arizona, Louisiana and Maryland will be following suit, but are awaiting regulatory approval.
Jurisdictions that still require in-person registration for online sports betting – Illinois, Nevada and Washington, DC – now have the Caesars Sportsbook by William Hill app. Like Caesars Sportsbook, that app is also integrated into Caesars Rewards, but doesn’t use the Liberty platform.
What happened to William Hill?
In April 2021, Caesars finalized its acquisition of the British bookmaker, William Hill. Though the latter is a well-known brand in the UK, it’s less familiar in the US – except for Nevada. As a result, Caesars leaders decided to separate out the US operations of its new subsidiary and fold them into Caesars’ own brand.
On Monday, Caesars formally announced the rebrand of the sports betting apps. The William Hill Sportsbook retail locations also rebranded to Caesars Sportsbook. In three jurisdictions, the rebrand still included the William Hill name.
States that had William Hill Casino apps will see the name change to Caesars Casino around October.
In the meantime, Caesars is running an all-out brand awareness marketing campaign to introduce sports bettors to Caesars Sportsbook.