Betting News – Page 170 – FairOdds Network

July 4, 2022

SBM sells Betclic stake to FL Entertainment ahead of SPAC deal

Monte-Carlo SBM International S.à.rl (SBM) has transferred its entire 47.3% stake in French online gambling business Betclic Everest to newly created media and betting business FL Entertainment, as FL prepares to go public.

The news follows a press release on 11 May announcing the creation of the new entity, FL Entertainment, as part of a special-purpose acquisition company (SPAC) merger.

FL Entertainment will itself soon combine with Pegasus Entrepreneurial Acquisition Company Europe, which is already listed on Euronext Amsterdam.

FL will be made up of Betclic Everest and television production company Banijay, which will make up the majority of the business by revenue.

The new company is predicted to have an enterprise value of €7.2bn (£6.2bn/$7.5bn), as well as generate revenue of €3.5bn and adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) of €609m.

SBM will have an interest in new company, holding 4.95% of the voting rights and 10.39% of the effect..

July 4, 2022

Colorado sports betting handle slips to year-low $360.3m in May

Consumers in Colorado wagered $360.3m (£297.8m/€345.4m) on sports during May, the lowest monthly total of the calendar year so far.

Player spending was 44.7% higher than $249.0m in May of last year, but 8.2% down from $392.3m in April this year.

Bettors wagered a total of $356.8m on sports online during May, while the remaining $3.5m was spent at retail sportsbook facilities across the state.

Turning to gross gaming revenue and this amounted to $27.1m for May, up 78.3% from $15.2m in the same month in 2021 and also 19.9% higher than $22.6 in April this year.

Some $26.7m of this total was attributed to online betting, with just $267,458 coming from retail sportsbooks.

Basketball proved to be the most popular sport among players, drawing $102.0m in total bets, followed by baseball on $91.0m, ice hockey at $35.7m and tennis with $20.3m. Consumers also wagered $63.1m in parlay betting during the month.

The state collected $1.7m in sports betting taxes during the month, while win perc..

July 1, 2022

Giving betting a voice

Betting is becoming easier than ever as the industry aligns itself with technological breakthroughs. One of the most recent of these is speech technology, which allows machines to recognise spoken word and perform related commands. This has been widely integrated, with devices like Amazon’s virtual assistant Alexa being a staple in many homes.

Technology company Voxbet seeks to bring automation into the sports betting world, giving bettors the opportunity to speak a bet or tip into existence. Its technology also allows bettors to type their bet for further accessibility.

Jonathan Power, CEO and founder of Voxbet, speaks about what the company offers and how voice technology creates a unique betting experience.

What does Voxbet offer that other providers don’t? How do these elements offer like a unique experience for players?

We’re a technology provider that simplifies the navigation of a sportsbook. So if you think about how you navigate anything else online, like Amazon or eBay, ..

July 1, 2022

Genius Sports expands partnership with Tipsport

Genius Sports has expanded its long-term partnership with Czech sportsbook operator Tipsport.

As part of the expansion, Tipsport has agreed to increase the number of annual events that are covered by Genius Sport’s data and technology products.

In turn Genius Sports will show real-time feeds and pin-point pricing for a number of competitions; including the National Football League (NFL), Euroleague basketball and the English Premier League.

In addition, Tipsport will be able to access Genius Sport’s full NFL product suite, which includes the league’s real-time statistics, its sports betting data feed and its Next Gen Stats product.

“Never-ending innovation is firmly part of our DNA so we’re thrilled to widen our partnership with Genius Sports for the upcoming years,” said Petr Komarek, Tipsport head of data and streaming.

“Considering this strong bond, we’re excited to engage many more customers and provide them with our world-class services. We look forward to create compelling a..

July 1, 2022

Tab NZ misses budget targets amid cost of living pinch

TAB New Zealand missed budget in terms of turnover and revenue in May as softening economic conditions outpaced the easing of lockdown measures.

In its monthly trading update, the betting business said turnover of NZ$202.7m (USD$124.3m/€119.4m/£103.5m) was 3.6% below budget and gross betting revenue (GBR) of $32.0m was down on budget by 4.4%. The gross betting margin (GBM) of 15.8% was 0.1% below budget.

Reported profit for the month was $10.8m, which was $2.4m below budget. Operating expenses were $10.6m for the month, which was $0.4 above budget.

Tab NZ said the key performance results for May were in line with the overall positive trends of the 2021/22 financial year.

Average NZ thoroughbred starters per race was 10.7, slightly above the year-to-date average of 10.6, while the peak turnover for a domestic meeting was $1.9m on 14 May for the Campbell’s Infrastructure Cup Day at Arawa Park.

The top sporting event by turnover for April was the Warriors vs Sharks NRL match at $0.58..

July 1, 2022

888 completes £1.95bn acquisition of William Hill assets

Online operator 888 has completed its acquisition of William Hill’s non-US assets from Caesars for £1.95bn (€2.25bn/$2.35bn), and has announced the group’s new leadership team.

888 had initially agreed in September 2021 to acquire the non-US business of William Hill. This came soon after US operator Caesars acquired the entire William Hill business for approximately £2.90bn, with the intent to dispose of all but its US assets.

Originally, the purchase price for the deal was £2.2bn. However, 888 and Caesars agreed to reduce the purchase price to acquire the assets by £250m, with the cash portion of the deal now set at £584.9m instead of £834.9m.

This, it said, was due to a “change in the macro-economic and regulatory environment”, but at the time it also revealed that the William Hill business’ licence to operate in Great Britain was under review.

After receiving shareholder approval last month, the deal has now closed today.

“I am delighted to announce the completion of our trans..

July 1, 2022

GiG pens new deals in Portugal and Spain

Gaming Innovation Group (GiG) has signed two new agreements with operators in Spain and Portugal, supplying its platform services to both.

Under the deals, GiG subsidiary Sportnco will sign with Caravel Entertainment Limited in Portugal – which operates online casino brand Moosh – and an unnamed online operator in Spain.

GiG acquired Sportnco in April of this year, in a deal worth €51.3m (£43.2m/$56.7m).

Caravel will then use the Sportnco sportsbook for the moosh.pt website.

“We are very proud to sign this contract with Moosh, a new GiG customer in the demanding and attractive Portuguese market,” said Hervé Schlosser, managing director of Sportnco. “Moosh.pt has great ambitions domestically and there is no doubt that we are perfectly positioned to be able to respond positively to the new dynamics of this growing Portuguese operator.”

Martin Bengtsson, CEO at Moosh.pt, said that the deal will allow the operator to upgrade its sportsbook offering.

“It has been a long process to fin..

June 30, 2022

Betfred Sports switches to OpenBet in Iowa

Betfred Sports has expanded its partnership with OpenBet having selected its digital and retail technology across its operations in the US state of Iowa.

Betfred’s Grand Falls Casino & Golf Resort sportsbook facility is now powered by OpenBet’s retail solutions including betting counters and self-service kiosks. Betfred will also utilise OpenBet’s digital technology and sports betting engine for mobile and online betting.

The two groups have already partnered for Betfred’s entry into the Arizona, Colorado, Louisiana and Pennsylvania regulated markets.

Bryan Bennett, chief operating officer at Betfred, said: “OpenBet’s products and technology perform consistently across our existing locations, so naturally we entrusted the company to power our offering in Iowa. We first launched in Iowa in 2020, and we look forward to working with OpenBet to continue building on that success.”

Betfred had launched in Iowa with an Optima-powered product, though it used the technology of Openbet owner..

June 30, 2022

NFL hires first sports betting executive

The NFL, the most popular sports league in the US, has hired David Highhill as vice president, general manager of sports betting; the first executive the league has had dedicated to sports betting.

Highhill will lead the league’s efforts to reduce the effects of gambling-related harm, advance the value of the NFL’s brand and reputation, support fan engagement, as well as improve the value of the NFL’s data and intellectual property.

He has been with the NFL for 10 years, and will move from the corporate strategy group, where he previously led the league’s analytics department.

The NFL already has a number of sports betting partnership agreements, most recently with 888sport, which will be the league’s official sports betting partner in both the UK and Ireland until 2025.

In the US, FOX Bet, BetMGM, PointsBet, and WynnBET were announced as official partners last year, alongside Caesars, FanDuel and DraftKings.