Bally was founded in 1932 by Raymond Moloney in Chicago, Illinois, originally as Bally Manufacturing Corporation. The company’s first product was Ballyhoo, a countertop pinball-style game that became an instant success and gave the company its name. Bally quickly became one of the most prominent pinball manufacturers of the early 20th century, helping to shape the industry with innovative designs and mechanical improvements. During the 1940s and 1950s, Bally continued producing electromechanical pinball machines, jukeboxes, and slot machines, solidifying its reputation as a major player in the amusement industry.

In the 1970s and early 1980s, Bally emerged as one of the leading forces in pinball, competing with Williams and Gottlieb. They released some of the most iconic machines of the solid-state era, including Mata Hari (1978), Eight Ball Deluxe (1981), and The Addams Family (1992), which remains one of the best-selling pinball machines of all time. Bally also expanded into video gaming with the purchase of Midway Manufacturing in 1969, leading to successful arcade titles such as Pac-Man and Ms. Pac-Man. However, by the late 1980s, financial difficulties led Bally to sell its pinball division to Williams Electronics in 1988. Williams continued using the Bally name for its pinball machines until it ceased production in 1999. Though no longer an independent company, Bally’s legacy in pinball remains significant, having contributed some of the most innovative and influential machines in the industry.