Legend enters war
Amid US sportsbook titans waging multi-million-dollar marketing wars, Las Vegas gaming legend Vic Salerno has entered the fray. On Tuesday, Salerno announced plans to launch BetLeroy’s, an “innovative sports engagement” mobile betting app.
Texas-based software developer SB22 will power the Sports Betting Hall of Fame inductee’s app after it inked a strategic partnership with BetLeroy’s, a subsidiary of Gibraltar-based 888 Holdings.
a patent pending Apple Watch app”
In a news release on the partnership, SB22 stated the BetLeroy’s app will feature multiple betting options, leaderboards “and a patent pending Apple Watch app.”
Experienced innovators
Salerno expressed his excitement on the tie-up, stating the app will “be focused on a seamless interface and sports fan engagement.”
He also talked up his team’s 40+ years of experience in sports betting, with the former head of USBookmaking’s Vegas business ties going back as far as 1978 when he rolled out his first Leroy’s sportsbook in Nevada.
In Tuesday’s news release, SB22’s Chief Commercial Officer Vik Shrestha concurred. Shrestha said the BetLeroy team was world “renowned” and that his firm was “proud” to partner with the Las Vegas company in launching its “next-gen sports wagering mobile app.”
SB22’s CEO John Thompson added that nobody understands sports betting as well as industry legend Salerno. The CEO created further intrigue about BetLeroy, stating the market is starting to cotton to the importance of technology in sports betting success.
do something more than just throw your brand and millions of dollars of giveaways
“In this space you’re going to have to do something more than just throw your brand and millions of dollars of giveaways and marketing spend on a technology platform that predates the iPhone.”
The legend returns
If history is anything to go on, the return to the spotlight of Salerno, along with an app named after the once widely popular Nevada gaming brand Leroy’s Race and Sports Book, promises much.
UK sportsbook William Hill made its first foray into the US market in 2011 when it agreed to purchase American Wagering for $39m. The deal gave William Hill 72 sportsbooks and kiosks in Nevada under the Leroy’s brand.
In Leroy’s, the UK gambling firm also inherited a brand that had made gaming history in Nevada after launching the US’s first regulatory approved computerized wagering system. Decades later, however, Salerno still has his appetite for the game, saying BetLeroy’s will continue its “mission of pioneering the future of sports betting innovation.”
