Two of 2019’s best-performing gaming equities, Churchill Downs Inc. (NASDAQ:CHDN) and Eldorado Resorts, Inc. (NASDAQ:ERI), have the prospect to deliver more upside for investors next year with the help of sports betting, say some analysts.
Currently thirteen states permit sports betting. However, that number is likely to grow in significant fashion in 2020, with markets coming online, such as Colorado, Illinois, Michigan, and New Hampshire, among others. Churchill Downs and Eldorado both run gaming properties in the Prairie State, which is anticipated to become one of the biggest sports wagering markets in the US, and both have exposure in the Centennial State as well.
James Wheatcroft, Jefferies equity analyst, predicts the US sports betting market generating $13 billion in revenue by 2023.
In a recent note to clients, the analyst said,
“That estimate looks increasingly conservative given how fast states are moving to legalize sports betting.”
As reported by casino.org, two of Wheatcroft’s preferred gaming picks for 2020 are Churchill Downs and Eldorado, shares of which are up 65 percent and 59.21 percent respectively year-to-date.
A Nifty Deal
Currently Reno-based Eldorado owns 26 gaming venues in 12 states, including five – Indiana, Iowa, Mississippi, Nevada and New Jersey – where sports betting is active. That doesn’t comprise the company’s three total properties in Colorado and Illinois, which are anticipated to enter the sports wagering dispute over the next several months.
As it completes its $17.3 billion buyout of Caesars Entertainment Corp, Eldorado’s sports betting footprint is likely to exponentially grow. (NASDAQ:CZR) in the first quarter.
Not only does that acquisition bring a slew of Caesars’ Nevada venues into the Eldorado portfolio, it gives the buyer control of a combined four properties in New Jersey and Pennsylvania and six venues in Indiana and Iowa. Those four states are among the fastest-growing sports betting regions in the US.
William Hill is another sports betting stock which could deliver in 2020, though not mentioned by Wheatcroft, because that company has a long-lasting partnership with Eldorado, one that it believes carries over to the Caesars acquisition.
Other Views
Morgan Stanley predicted a $7 billion domestic sports betting market by 2025 earlier this year, based on the supposition that 36 states will have approved it by then.
The bank was one of the first to offer separate projections for brick-and-mortar and online sports wagering, estimating $1.5 billion in 2025 revenue for on ground books and $5 billion for internet venues.
Churchill Downs has a substantial web-based wagering footprint Through its BetAmerica Sportsbook, internet casino platform, and the TwinSpires online betting portal.
Also recently the company opened a retail sports book in Indiana, which has quickly become one of the fastest-growing sports betting venues in the country.
