A potential takeover of Caesars Entertainment by Houston Rockets owner Tilman Fertitta’s company Fertitta Entertainment comes with operational complexities for the businessman, given his NBA ties and current U.S. ambassadorship to Italy and San Marino.
Caesars offers betting action on the Rockets at both its online and brick-and-mortar sportsbooks. In the past, when a franchise and sportsbook share owners, the sportsbook doesn’t take wagers related to that team.
Because of Fertitta’s club ownership, Caesars will likely cease Rockets bets across its holdings if it is sold to Fertitta Entertainment—a notable loss of a competitive NBA team from its online and land-based sportsbook menus.
Fertitta has already experienced this limitation, which only applies to majority ownership of a company with a sportsbook. Before he sold gambling firm Golden Nugget’s online properties to DraftKings in 2021, the digital sportsbook couldn’t post Rockets lines. Fertitta still owns numerous Golden Nugget brick-and-mortar sites, where sportsbooks continue to ban Rockets bets.
The Financial Times was first to report Fertitta Entertainment’s interest in Caesars, which has a market cap of $5 billion. A deal probably wouldn’t close in time for this NBA season, meaning 2026-27 would be the earliest that Rockets bets are impacted. Caesars declined a request for comment.
Fertitta’s active involvement in international affairs would further complicate any Caesars acquisition. As a U.S. ambassador, Fertitta is not allowed to have an active operational role in his business interests, so he cannot be involved in the takeover negotiations. When the U.S. confirmed him as an ambassador, he handed off Fertitta Entertainment operations to Nicki Keenan.
It’s unclear whether Caesars could offer Rockets bets during the period Fertitta is not operating Fertitta Entertainment. The NBA did not respond to a request for comment.
There’s one more side story that could emerge from the possible Caesars takeover: Fertitta is a top donor to President Donald Trump, and Caesars would benefit from the federal government curtailing sports prediction markets … but Trump’s son, Donald Trump Jr., is an investor in Polymarket, one of the biggest prediction-market companies.
Caesars stock jumped 19% on the takeover report and finished the week trading at $25.05 per share.
Still, the company has struggled in recent years and is down more than 70% since 2020. Caesars’ mobile products rank behind BetMGM, DraftKings, Fanatics and FanDuel in market share nationwide, failing to turn its land-based casino prominence into a digital gambling edge.