Horseshoe Online Casino is now live in Ontario, following a rapid series of launches in the United States. It marks the first time Caesars has brought one of its secondary online casino brands to an international market. Others, like Tropicana and Harrah’s, remain limited to just one or two states.
Caesars debuted the Horseshoe brand in Michigan about a month ago, taking over WynnBet’s license at the beginning of October. As well as Ontario, last week saw the brand appear in Pennsylvania and West Virginia, while a New Jersey site is coming soon. That extraordinarily quick expansion means Caesars sees strong potential in the brand. During the company’s Q3 earning call last week, CEO Tom Reeg highlighted some early positive signs contributing to that sense. According to him, not only did Horseshoe retain existing Wynn players, but the rebranding also brought additional growth compared to previous months. He also said that Horseshoe Casino players appeared to spend slightly more money than their counterparts on the company’s flagship site, Caesars Palace.
Horseshoe is only the second brand Caesars operates in Ontario, though it’s the third that players might associate with the company. Just days earlier, Caesars announced it had finalized the sale of the World Series of Poker (WSOP) to NSUS. Caesars is the traditional host of live WSOP events and operator of the WSOP.com online poker network in the US. However, NSUS-owned GGPoker powers the Ontario version of WSOP.com, and following the sale, Caesars won’t have anything more to do with it.
Horseshoe Mimics Caesars Palace Online Casino
Taking the brand international means Caesars already believes it resonates with players better than its Tropicana and Harrah’s brands, even though those have been operating longer. A primary cause could be because Horseshoe runs on the same platform and visually resembles the company’s flagship brand, Caesars Palace Online Casino. Last year, the latter went through a makeover, helping it gain market share across crucial states like Michigan. Meanwhile, Harrah’s and Tropicana run on older software. In fact, the New Jersey version of Tropicana is itself a rebrand of the old CaesarsCasino.com, one of the original New Jersey online casinos from 2013.
In addition to a visual resemblance, Horseshoe Online Casino mimics Caesars Palace Online Casino through its emphasis on bespoke games. Players can choose from four such options:
- Horseshoe Rising Rewards
- 2x3x Horseshoe
- Horseshoe 3 Coin Cowboy
- Horseshoe Slick Riches LuckyTap
Caesars has invested in branded titles over the past year, expanding its catalog to include 12 such titles on the flagship site. That will likely mean more exclusive games for Horseshoe players.
Another nice feature of both sites is the option to play many of the games in demo mode, allowing players to test the look and feel of each game before investing any real money in playing it. The two also share the Caesars Rewards loyalty program, and players with a login for one site can use it on the other without repeating the sign-up process, though their account balance for each site will remain separate.
In the Caesars Rewards system, players earn points to progress through six loyalty tiers, each unlocking new rewards like bonus bets and free or discounted stays at Caesars’ retail casino chains.
Caesars’ Focus on the Digital Segment is Paying Off
With Horseshoe Online Casino, Caesars now operates six digital platforms:
- Caesars Palace
- Caesars Sportsbook & Casino
- Harrah’s
- Tropicana
- WSOP.com
- Horseshoe
Caesars expects to launch Horseshoe in New Jersey by the year’s end, making it the only state to feature all six brands. Pennsylvania players now have access to all of them except Harrah’s, while Michigan players cannot play at Harrah’s or Tropicana (and Caesars Sportsbook features Caesars Palace branding there for regulatory reasons).
Caesars’ final iGaming market, West Virginia, is home to three of the brands: Caesars Palace, Caesars Sportsbook, and Horseshoe.
Caesars’ effort to tie its retail properties to online brands seems to be a winning bet. Last week, the company announced its Q3 results, which included an 83% year-over-year increase for its iGaming segment and a 36% increase for sports betting. Through three quarters this year, the Caesars Digital segment is up 29% in revenue, 77% in net income, and 1078% in adjusted EBITDA compared to 2023.
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