Betting News – Page 37 – FairOdds Network

January 30, 2024

“It’s showtime!” – BetMGM bets big on the UK

In a heavily saturated UK market, BetMGM’s entry in 2023 certainly made a splash. Sam Behar, BetMGM’s UK director, believes the key to the operator’s early success is bringing that unique Las Vegas experience across the Atlantic.

BetMGM launched in the UK in August in partnership with MGM-owned LeoVegas to much fanfare and, five months on, the results have spoken for themselves.

With a series of flashy sponsorships that have well and truly put BetMGM on the map in the UK, its Las Vegas ties have been put on show for all to see. Despite the high expectations, BetMGM has still managed to surpass Behar’s initial lofty projections.

“It’s been an unbelievable first five months entering the UK – especially given the way we did,” Behar says. “We had a unique ambition to make things work and we’ve certainly made a big splash, which is excellent.

“Of course we always thought it would, but it’s made a much bigger impact than even we could have anticipated and, even though we had high hopes..

January 30, 2024

FairPlay Sports Media announces Quarter4 purchase

FairPlay Sports Media (FPSM) has announced the acquisition of deep-learning neural network Quarter4 (Q4), hoping to “unleash” the full potential of its proprietary data and technology platform.

FPSM underwent a rebrand from Oddschecker Media Group last week and has now announced its first purchase. The price of the deal for the Toronto-based Q4 remains undisclosed.

Q4, founded in 2019, specialises in predicting sports outcomes, as well as providing unique data and content opportunities.

FPSM says the move aligns with the company’s objective to “transform BetTech”, benefitting consumers, publishers and operators worldwide.

FPSM brands will leverage Q4’s prediction technology in combination with the group’s price movement data across “millions of sports events”.

Stuart Simms, FPSM’s group chief executive, declared: “The acquisition of Quarter4 is a significant milestone for our group, giving our various brands the ability to unleash our already market-leading data and tech platform ..

January 30, 2024

Genius Sports announces “first-of-its-kind” Edge automated pricing tool

Genius Sports has announced an automated pricing tool called Edge, which it believes is the first of its kind in the market.

Genius Sports’ tool will allow sportsbooks to maximise profits over “unlimited” sports events and bets. Factoring in real-time liability, Edge can recalculate odds at a fixture and market-type level for maximum profitability, including bet-builder products.

Genius Sports product director Thomas Holland revealed early adopter partners of Edge have enjoyed an 18% average rise in margins. The tool is available now through Genius Trading Services or as a standalone solution.

“The explosion of betting content means sportsbooks offer hundreds of thousands of events every year,” Holland said in the announcement. “This makes it almost impossible for trading teams to truly optimise pricing and ensure they are squeezing maximum margin out of every bet, especially where turnover is highest.

“We’re excited to roll this ground-breaking solution out across our sportsbook p..

January 30, 2024

Sportradar: Alpha Odds delivered 10% average profit increase in 2023

Sportradar has said its Alpha Odds automated odds recalculation tool delivered an average profit increase of 10% for clients during 2023 compared to its conventional odds product.

Alpha Odds from Sportradar allows operators to generate bespoke betting prices in line with their risk exposure and liabilities. Launched in 2022, Alpha Odds is currently used by more than 60 operators around the world.

The tool uses Sportradar’s artificial intelligence capabilities to predict the probability of an event taking place. This, Sportradar said, allows operators to manage their risk more.

“Since Alpha Odds’ introduction to the market in late 2022, Sportradar has transformed trading betting markets,” Sportradar’s senior vice-president of managed trading services, Darren Small, said.

In related news, the financial reconciliation aspect of Alpha Odds was independently certified by auditors PwC. The solution achieved the International Standard in Assurance Engagement (ISAE) 3402 Type 1 for matchi..

January 30, 2024

Kindred pens expanded partnership with Stats Perform

Kindred Group has secured an expanded strategic partnership with Stats Perform, allowing it to access additional data and statistics for sports betting.

Under the deal, Kindred can utilise the full RunningBall and Opta product suite from Stats Perform. This includes a range of real-time official sports data feeds and statistics.

Kindred said the additional content will improve players’ experience when betting on sports via the Kindred Sportsbook platform. It added the expanded deal will ensure a “frictionless” in-play betting experience.

RunningBall from Stats Perform delivers official in-play sports data feeds. Meanwhile, the Opta brand focuses on player statistics across a range of sports.

Kindred’s director of sportsbook Andreas Reimblad said that the partnership will set new standards in sports betting.

“This collaboration is a testament to our unwavering commitment to building the Kindred Sportsbook platform with the best data available on the market,” Reimblad said.

“We f..

January 26, 2024

Online sports betting bills filed in Mississippi

A fresh bid to legalise online sports betting in Mississippi has been launched, with two new bills introduced this week.

Sports betting was legalised in Mississippi in 2018, following the repeal of the 1992 Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA). However, the only online sports betting currently available is through geofenced sportsbooks on land-based casino properties.

Bill HB271, filed by Rep Cedric Burnett, and Bill HB635, introduced by Rep Jay McKnight, are both bidding to change that, allowing bettors to wager on sports through their mobile devices in the state regardless of whether they are in a casino.

This latest attempt to introduce online sports betting in the state is the sixth, with House Bill 606 signed into law last year. The bill authorised a Mississippi sports betting task force to “undertake a comprehensive analysis” of sports betting in the state.

The bill was initially far more expansive, aiming to allow all of the state’s land-based casinos to pa..

January 26, 2024

Arizona sets new sports betting handle record in November

Players in Arizona spent $713.6m (£560.9m/€657.2m), a new record for the Grand Canyon State, but revenue was down year-on-year.

Handle for November was 3.3% ahead of the existing Arizona record of $690.0m in March 2022. It was also 15.7% higher than $616.9m in November 2022 and 10.1% more than $648.2m in October 2023.

Some $705.7m was wagered online and $6.1m at retail sportsbooks. A further $1.8m was bet with limited event wagering operators in Arizona.

arizona’s november handle was 10.1% hgher than the $648.2m recorded in october 2023

Licensees paid out $671.3m in winnings to players while free bets and promotional credits in November amounted to $20.5m. This left $20.3m in adjusted gross revenue for the month.

Revenue was 45.9% lower than $37.5m in November 2022 and 38.5% behind $33.0m in October. Online betting revenue hit $19.9m, retail revenue $338,476 and limited event wagering $96,986.

As for tax, this reached $2.0m in November. Almost all of this came from online wagerin..

January 25, 2024

Svenska Spel loses appeal against ATG over naming rights

Svenska Spel has lost its appeal against Aktiebolaget Trav och Galopp (ATG) over the use of the phrase “Trav och Galopp” in a new racing product.

Svenska Spel’s use of the phrase, which translates to “trot and gallop” in English, was considered by the Patent and Market Court of Appeal to be an infringement on ATG’s company name.

ATG launched the initial trademark lawsuit back in December 2020. This was after a war of words between ATG chief executive Hasse Lord Skarplöth and his Svenska Spel counterpart, Patrik Hofbauer.

In a statement announcing ATG’s court victory, Skarplöth said: “That the supreme court also followed our line was expected. It must never be okay to use someone else’s company name and it feels good that the matter is now settled once and for all.

“It was important to establish that a competitor does not have the right to use our company name and exploit its good reputation.”

Another blow for Svenska Spel

The failed appeal comes in the wake of Svenska Spel announ..

January 25, 2024

Data is the new oil

Simon Trim, strategic consultant at 10star explores how optimising data can improve business for sportsbooks.

Nearly 20 years ago, the mathematician Clive Humby coined the phrase “data is the new oil”. For the industry and economy, data was to become the new wealth creator in the same way that oil has enabled new technologies and products since the mid-19th century.

For the sportsbook industry, this comment was well ahead of its time. In 2006, the in-play offering that is ubiquitously driven today by real-time game state data largely didn’t exist. Most operators at the time offered little betting action after the start of an event, even on football. Some didn’t offer in-play at all.

Fast forward to 2024 and you could be forgiven for thinking that sports betting operators – and more pertinently the supply chain that feeds them – are fully utilising the data that is available to them.

Simon Trim says sports betting operators aren’t fully utilising data

The perception exists that th..