Bally Manufacturing, later renamed Bally Entertainment, was an American company that began as a
pinball
Pinball games are a family of games in which a ball is propelled into a specially designed table where it bounces off various obstacles, scoring points either en route or when it comes to rest. Historically the board was studded with nails call ...
and
slot machine
A slot machine, fruit machine (British English), poker machine or pokie (Australian English and New Zealand English) is a gambling machine that creates a game of chance for its customers.
A slot machine's standard layout features a screen disp ...
manufacturer, and later expanded into casinos, video games, health clubs, and theme parks. It was acquired by
Hilton Hotels
Hilton Hotels & Resorts (formerly known as Hilton Hotels) is a global brand of full-service hotels and resorts and the flagship brand of American multinational hospitality company Hilton Worldwide.
The original company was founded by Conrad Hi ...
in 1996.
Its brand name, and mid-20th century pinball and slot machine logo, are still used by several businesses with various acquired trademark rights, most notably slot machine maker
Bally Technologies and casino operator
Bally's Corporation
Bally's Corporation is an American gambling, betting, and interactive entertainment company headquartered in Providence, Rhode Island. In the US it operates 19 casinos across 11 states, a horse track in Colorado, a golf course in New York, and ...
.
History
The Bally Manufacturing Corporation was founded by
Raymond Moloney on January 10, 1932, when Bally's parent Lion Manufacturing established the company to make
pinball
Pinball games are a family of games in which a ball is propelled into a specially designed table where it bounces off various obstacles, scoring points either en route or when it comes to rest. Historically the board was studded with nails call ...
games, taking its name from its first game "Ballyhoo". The
Chicago
Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...
-based company quickly became a leading pinball maker. In the late 1930s, Moloney began making gambling equipment and had great success developing and improving the mechanical
slot machine
A slot machine, fruit machine (British English), poker machine or pokie (Australian English and New Zealand English) is a gambling machine that creates a game of chance for its customers.
A slot machine's standard layout features a screen disp ...
s that were the core of the early gaming industry. The company manufactured munitions and airplane parts during
World War II
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
, then continued producing innovations in flipperless pinball machines, bingo machines, payout machines, and console slot machines through the late 1950s. They also designed and manufactured vending machines and established a coffee vending service. They also made a brief venture into the music business with the record label
Bally Records.
Moloney died in 1958, and the company briefly floundered. The parent company failed financially, and Bally was bought out by a group of investors in 1963. Throughout the 1960s, Bally continued to dominate the slot machine industry, cornering over 90-percent of the worldwide market by the end of the decade. In 1964, Bally introduced the first electromechanical slot machine ''Money Honey''. It became a publicly traded company and acquired
Midway Manufacturing
Midway Games Inc. (formerly Midway Manufacturing and Bally Midway, and commonly known simply as Midway) was an American video game company that existed from 1958 to 2010. Midway's franchises included ''Mortal Kombat'', '' Rampage'', ''Spy Hunte ...
in 1969, an amusement game company from
Schiller Park, Illinois.
1970s
The company expanded internationally in 1974 when it acquired German company Guenter Wulff-Apparatebau, which was renamed Bally Wulff.
In the late 1970s, Bally entered the casino ownership business when gambling was legalized in
Atlantic City, New Jersey
Atlantic City, sometimes referred to by its initials A.C., is a Jersey Shore seaside resort city (New Jersey), city in Atlantic County, New Jersey, Atlantic County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey.
Atlantic City comprises the second half of ...
. The effort moved forward even though the company was temporarily unable to attain a permanent license for the completed casino. During this period, company head William T. O'Donnell was forced to resign because of alleged links to organized crime, which he strenuously denied.
O'Donnell was questioned by the
Moffitt Royal Commission in New South Wales, Australia during an investigation of criminal activities between the US and Australia. He admitted that Genovese Mafia boss
Gerardo Catena once owned shares in Bally, but he claimed to have bought him out.
He also denied knowing Chicago mobster Joseph Dan Testa, even though Australian police described Testa "as a representative of Bally who visited Australia."
The company opened the
Park Place Casino & Hotel on December 29, 1979.
[Christian Marfels; 2007, ''Bally: The World's Game Maker'', 2nd ed., Bally Technologies Inc., Las Vegas ]
During the late 1970s and early 1980s, Midway was renamed Bally/Midway when it was consolidated with Bally's legacy pinball business. It became a primary source of income for Bally as an early arcade video game maker, obtaining licenses for three of the all-time most popular video games:
Space Invaders
is a 1978 shoot 'em up video game developed and published by Taito for Arcade video game, arcades. It was released in Japan in April 1978, with the game being released by Midway Manufacturing overseas. ''Space Invaders'' was the first fixed s ...
,
Pac-Man
''Pac-Man,'' originally called in Japan, is a 1980 maze video game developed and published by Namco for arcades. In North America, the game was released by Midway Manufacturing as part of its licensing agreement with Namco America. The pla ...
, and
Ms. Pac-Man.
In the late 1970s, Bally/Midway also made an entry into the growing home video-game market with the
Bally Professional Arcade. It had advanced features for the time, including 256 colors and the ability to play four-voice music. It shipped with a cartridge that let users do a limited amount of
BASIC
Basic or BASIC may refer to:
Science and technology
* BASIC, a computer programming language
* Basic (chemistry), having the properties of a base
* Basic access authentication, in HTTP
Entertainment
* Basic (film), ''Basic'' (film), a 2003 film
...
programming and save their programs on cassette tape. However, it cost more than its main competitor the
Atari 2600
The Atari 2600 is a home video game console developed and produced by Atari, Inc. Released in September 1977 as the Atari Video Computer System (Atari VCS), it popularized microprocessor-based hardware and games stored on swappable ROM cartridg ...
and had far fewer games, and it was unsuccessful despite a loyal following.
1980s
By the mid-1980s, Bally again had a strong balance sheet and began buying other businesses, including the
Six Flags
Six Flags Entertainment Corporation is an American amusement park company headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, United States. It was formed on July 2, 2024, following a merger between longtime rivals Cedar Fair and the former Six Flags ...
amusement park chain in 1982, the Health and Tennis Corporation of America (which became
Bally Total Fitness) in 1983, and Scientific Games, a
lottery
A lottery (or lotto) is a form of gambling that involves the drawing of numbers at random for a prize. Some governments outlaw lotteries, while others endorse it to the extent of organizing a national or state lottery. It is common to find som ...
terminal company, in 1986.
[ That year, they also purchased several casinos, including the original MGM Grand Hotel and Casino on the ]Las Vegas Strip
The Las Vegas Strip is a stretch of Las Vegas Boulevard in Clark County, Nevada, that is known for its concentration of resort hotels and casinos. The Strip, as it is known, is about long, and is immediately south of the Las Vegas city limits ...
(subsequently rebranded Bally's Las Vegas and now the Horseshoe Las Vegas); the MGM Grand in Reno (now Grand Sierra Resort); and the Golden Nugget Atlantic City, rebranded Bally's Grand (most recently the Atlantic Club Casino Hotel). The expansion quickly took its toll on the company's finances, and Bally was soon forced to sell off several divisions, including Six Flags in 1987, Bally/Midway, which was acquired by longtime pinball and video game rival Williams Electronics in 1988, and Aladdin's Castle chain of video arcades, in 1989; Aladdin's Castle was later sold to Namco
was a Japanese multinational video game and entertainment company founded in 1955. It operated video arcades and amusement parks globally, and produced video games, films, toys, and arcade cabinets. Namco was one of the most influential c ...
in 1993 and became part of Namco Cybertainment.
1990s
In 1990, Bally came under new management as its largest shareholder, Arthur Goldberg, was appointed chairman and began a restructuring process. To pay down debts, German subsidiary Bally Wulff was spun off into an independent company in 1991. Scientific Games, exercise equipment maker Life Fitness
Life Fitness / Hammer Strength is an American fitness company specializing in the production and distribution of cardiovascular and strength training equipment under several brands including Life Fitness, Cybex and Hammer Strength. It is headqua ...
, and the Reno casino were sold in 1993. The slot machine manufacturing division was spun off as Bally Gaming International, ending the company's involvement in manufacturing.
The company opened Bally's Saloon & Gambling Hall, a riverboat casino in Mhoon Landing, Mississippi in December 1993. It was moved to Robinsonville in 1995 and became part of a joint venture with Lady Luck Gaming.
In 1994, the company changed its name to Bally Entertainment, to reflect its focus on the casino business and the fact that it no longer had any manufacturing operations. It also announced that the health club business would be spun off to shareholders, to further narrow its focus on casinos. The spin-off was completed in January 1996, with Bally Total Fitness becoming a separate company.
In June 1996, Bally Entertainment agreed to be acquired by Hilton Hotels Corporation. The sale was completed on December 18, 1996 for $3 billion ($2 billion in stock plus $1 billion in assumed debt). Two years later, Hilton's casino division, including the former Bally properties, was spun off as Park Place Entertainment, named for the address of Bally's Atlantic City. In 1999, Park Place bought Caesars World, and in 2003 changed its name to Caesars Entertainment. It was acquired in 2005 by Harrah's Entertainment, which took the name Caesars Entertainment Corp in 2010, and was eventually acquired in 2020 by Eldorado Resorts to become the current Caesars Entertainment.
Legacy of the name
Many casinos and businesses worldwide have used the Bally name and logo in the maze of ownership, division spin-offs and licensing agreements.
Williams, after acquiring the Bally/Midway amusement games unit, continued to use the Bally name for pinball games until Williams's parent company WMS Industries ceased pinball production in 1999, having spun off the video game unit as Midway Games
Midway Games Inc. (formerly Midway Manufacturing and Bally Midway, and commonly known simply as Midway) was an American video game company that existed from 1958 to 2010. Midway's franchises included ''Mortal Kombat'', ''Rampage (franchise), Ra ...
the previous year. WMS Industries has licensed companies to use the intellectual properties and the rights to remanufacture existing Bally and Williams pinball machines. Since 2014, the license has been held by Planetary Pinball Supply.
Alliance Gaming, which bought Bally Gaming International in 1996, changed its name to Bally Technologies in 2006. It was purchased in 2014 by Scientific Games, which had also acquired WMS Industries the prior year.["News release: Scientific Games Completes Acquisition of WMS"]
Scientific Games Corporation, October 18, 2013 The company, which changed its name to Light & Wonder in 2022, continues to use Bally Technologies as a subsidiary manufacturing video slot machines and other casino equipment.
Bally Total Fitness, burdened with debt from over-expansion and declining revenues after the Great Recession
The Great Recession was a period of market decline in economies around the world that occurred from late 2007 to mid-2009. , began selling off its clubs in the 2010s. Sales of large numbers of clubs to LA Fitness
Fitness International LLC is a North American gym chain with over 700 clubs across the United States and Canada. The company was founded in 1984 and is based in Irvine, California.
History
In 1984, the first LA Fitness was founded by founder C ...
in 2011, Blast Fitness in 2012, and 24 Hour Fitness in 2014, along with closures of other clubs saw the chain dwindle. The last Bally Total Fitness club closed in October 2016. The Bally Total Fitness name had been used under license for a line of fitness equipment and clothing owned by FAM Brands, which acquired the name outright in 2013.
The rights to use the name for casinos were sold by Caesars in October 2020 to Twin River Worldwide Holdings, which then changed its own name to Bally's Corporation
Bally's Corporation is an American gambling, betting, and interactive entertainment company headquartered in Providence, Rhode Island. In the US it operates 19 casinos across 11 states, a horse track in Colorado, a golf course in New York, and ...
and said that it would rename most of its properties under the Bally's brand. In a related transaction, Bally's Corporation acquired Bally's Atlantic City from Caesars. In January 2022, Caesars announced that Bally's Las Vegas, which they retained, would be rebranded as the Horseshoe Las Vegas following a renovation.
Bally's Corporation reached a 10-year naming rights
Naming rights are a financial transaction and form of advertising or memorialization where a corporation, person, or other entity purchases the right to name a facility, object, location, program, or event (most often sports venues), typical ...
agreement with Diamond Sports Group to rebrand the Fox Sports Network group of regional sports networks, which Diamond had recently acquired, as Bally Sports, beginning in 2021. The networks dropped the Bally's branding in October 2024, becoming FanDuel Sports Network
FanDuel Sports Network (formerly Bally Sports) is a group of regional sports networks in the United States owned by Main Street Sports Group (formerly Diamond Sports Group). The networks carry regional broadcasts of sporting events from various ...
.
Former subsidiary Bally Wulff remains a gaming and vending equipment manufacturer in Germany, with additional operations in Spain. French gambling equipment distributor Bally France and Japanese arcade distributor Bally Pond also still use the Bally logo, though have no current relation to any other business with the name.
References
{{reflist
1932 establishments in Illinois
1996 disestablishments in Illinois
American companies established in 1932
American companies disestablished in 1996
Amusement companies of the United States
Pinball manufacturers
Slot machine manufacturers
Defunct manufacturing companies based in Chicago