Bally’s shutters Monkey Knife Fight as part of group restructuring
Closure comes just two years after casino operator shelled out up to $90m in stock for challenger DFS business
Bally’s DFS brand, Monkey Knife Fight, has confirmed it has closed its doors with immediate effect today, February 28.
The announcement was made on Twitter, with the site’s users lamenting its demise in a vertical dominated by DraftKings and FanDuel.
Sad to you see guys go. Does anyone know any other sites/apps that are comparable to MKF?
— CG (@clgrier84) February 28, 2023
Monkey Knife Fight said it had aimed to “revolutionize” DFS but that “with a heavy heart, we regretfully announce that Monkey Knife Fight has shut down permanently”. A message on the company’s site instructs players to withdraw funds “as soon as possible”.
The brand, which at the time of the Bally’s acquisition boasted 180,000 registered users and 80,000 depositing players, was purchased in January 2021 for up to $90m in stock – three years after the startup was founded – and folded into the Bally’s Interactive business.
At the time, Monkey Knife Fight was the third-largest DFS platform in North America with a presence in 37 states.
MonkeyKnifeFight just sent a formal termination letter to all affiliates, indicating outstanding commissions will be paid (that's a good sign). How do I know they sent this to all affiliates? They publicly CC'd the entire list :), oops.
— MichaelJMurphy (@MichaelJMurphy) February 28, 2023
It was joined later in February 2021 by free-to-play (F2P) game retention specialist SportCaller, which Bally’s bought and integrated into the Bet.Works sportsbook platform.
However, delays and a lack of progress in rolling out product developments and the so-called Bally Bet 2.0 sportsbook app led to outgoing CEO Lee Fenton instigating a sweeping program of brand rationalizations.
In January, Bally’s committed to reducing its Interactive division workforce by 15% after macroeconomic challenges resulted in worsening financials.
In its Q4 2022 results, the Rhode Island-based operator confirmed a 300% surge in its net losses, due in part to a non-cash impairment charge of $390.7m relating to its North America Interactive segment.
The decision to close Monkey Knife Fight comes just a few days after Bally’s incoming CEO Robeson Reeves criticized the Bet.Works and Monkey Knife Fight businesses, following the group’s Q4 2022 results call.
“On sports, we recognize that the Bet.Works acquisition did not give us the platform required to develop a competitive product,” Reeves told analysts on February 24.
“We didn’t react fast enough there, and this will not happen again.
“We are confident there are more economical and nimble solutions out there and have spent the past five months analyzing them deeply. Sports for us is an acquisition tool. It can drive further engagements for the Bally’s brand.
“So when we approach the choice of technology, we’ll make sure we have that mindset,” he added.