William Hill Rebrands As Caesars Sportsbook By William Hill In Illinois

William Hill Sportsbook has rebranded to Caesars Sportsbook by William Hill in Illinois. It’s a move we’ve expected for quite some time, and Caesars is live in time for football season.

Illinois sportsbook users with a William Hill account received an email on Monday morning with the subject line, “You Deserve an Upgrade, Emperor.” The email reads:

We’re excited to announce that your current William Hill app is about to become the Caesars Sportsbook by William Hill. Which means starting tomorrow, we will all be Caesars. And with the new Caesars Sportsbook by William Hill app, you’re about to experience the royal treatment you deserve as you rule over every sports moment from the palm of your hand.

Once your William Hill app is updated and you see the new Caesars Sportsbook app logo—the goblet—you’ll know that your life as a Caesar has begun. We are the only sportsbook app with Caesars Rewards®, which means win or lose, you’ll earn both Caesars Rewards® Tier Credits and Rewards Credits with every wager.

As for your current William Hill user information, there’s nothing to worry about. Your login info, account info, account balance, and any open bets will all remain the same.

So be ready to update your existing William Hill app to the new Caesars Sportsbook by William Hill app tomorrow. However—if you have updates auto-enabled, you won’t have to do a single thing. Just sit back, watch the games, and get treated to the good life with Caesars.

Your app is almost ready, Emperor.

In most states, the app will simply be called Caesars Sportsbook. But in states with in-person registration, such as Illinois, the app will be called Caesars Sportsbook by William Hill.

Why is William Hill becoming Caesars?

Caesars Entertainment acquired William Hill in a deal that finalized in April. Since then, Caesars has been open about rebranding William Hill properties.

Tom Reeg, CEO of Caesars, said in a Monday press release:

“We are excited to launch our new comprehensive marketing campaign for Caesars Sportsbook.  The rebranded and upgraded offerings for our Caesars Sportsbook will provide customized offers, flexible limits, a wide range of betting lines and an intuitive user experience. Caesars Sportsbook also brings players into an empire of play where, win or lose, every wager gives them more through our award-winning Caesars Rewards.”

Caesars is leaning into the idea that “every bet earns” regardless of if it wins or not. That’s because the sportsbook will be tied to the rewards program.

And in Illinois, at least, William Hill didn’t exactly get off to a blazing start in the sports betting market.

Perhaps the rebranding can help activate its user base. Of course, in-person registration presents a challenge in IL that Caesars doesn’t face in most states.

How has William Hill performed in Illinois?

There are half-a-dozen online sportsbooks in Illinois. William Hill has consistently finished at the bottom in terms of monthly handle and revenue.

In May, William Hill generated a net revenue of $-128,245. It typically doesn’t lose money on a monthly basis, but it’s a distant sixth of the six Illinois mobile sportsbooks.

Also, in May, it registered just $9.1 million in handle. As a whole, Illinois’ sports betting handle for the month was $507.3 million. Thus, William Hill notched just a 1.8% market share, consistent with previous months.

On one hand, the rebrand/product improvements should help activate some users. On the other, Illinois has in-person sports betting registration. So it’s not as if this will immediately attract heaps of new customers in the Land of Lincoln.

With that said, in-person registration won’t be around forever. Thinking long term, Caesars’ heavier investment in sports betting should eventually pay off in Illinois.

But because of state policy, it’s going to have to be a slower burn than in other markets.