Online sports betting – Page 68

August 19, 2022

A lucky escape for Entain?

iGB op-ed: this week, the gambling industry was the subject of front-page news when gaming giant Entain paid a record settlement of £17m (€20.1m/$20.4m) to the GB Gambling Commission for a range of regulatory failings. Marese O’Hagan ponders whether another operator would have had its licence revoked outright.

News of the scale of Entain’s £17m regulatory settlement this week generally ignites sharp debate between anti-industry campaigners and those in support of the sector. And with social media playing such a large part in communication today, it is easier than ever to absorb both sides of the debate.

However, there was little sympathy for Entain on Wednesday morning when the penalty was announced.

In total, Entain has agreed to pay £14m for social responsibility and anti-money laundering (AML) failures carried out by its online gaming business LC International Limited – which operates 13 UK sites, including Coral.co.uk, Ladbrokes.com and FoxyBingo.com – and a further £3m for simi..

August 19, 2022

Kansas to launch legal sports betting on 1 September

Kansas Governor Laura Kelly has announced that licensed operators in the US state can begin to accept wagers on 1 September.

The four state-owned land-based casinos – Boot Hill Casino & Resort, Kansas Star Casino, Hollywood Casino at Kansas Speedway, and Kansas Crossing Casino & Hotel – will be able to accept bets in-person and on mobile platforms.

Tribal casinos are also working to align on compacts with the state for sports wagering, with these casinos to be authorised to launch as soon as agreements are reached.

“Legalising sports betting is a common-sense solution that keeps Kansans’ money in Kansas and drives business to sporting events, casinos, restaurants, and other entertainment venues,” Kelly said. “I want to thank all our partners for working with us to get this done in time for football season.”

Kansas Lottery executive director Stephen Durrell added: “This announcement represents a lot of hard work and collaboration between the Kansas Lottery, the Kansas Racing and Gam..

August 17, 2022

Why MaximBet is more than a sum of its parts

When PASPA was repealed, Daniel Graetzer saw the biggest opportunity of his career. Having gone all-in on the market, he is now running a nationally recognised brand in MaximBet.

When it comes to partnerships between US media giants and sportsbooks, it tends to be the market leaders that get mentioned. It could be 888 using the Sports Illustrated brand for its US push. Or Penn National acquiring Barstool Sports and theScore to drive its growth.

The rampant speculation around ESPN moving into betting operations tends to cite DraftKings or Caesars as being its most likely partner. In short, the companies involved tend to be large, and listed.

But MaximBet, a challenger launched in 2021, has successfully pivoted from a Europe-focused, multibrand business into a US-focused, media brand-driven competitor.

And chief executive Daniel Graetzer is keen to stress that MaximBet is not just a gimmick – he’s building a new proposition for the US sportsbook industry.

Building betting into a..

August 17, 2022

Sportradar shares up 15% after raising full-year revenue guidance

Data provider Sportradar’s share price rocketed after it raised its full-year revenue guidance for 2022.

The announcement came as part of its second-quarter financial report, in which the provider also revealed that its revenue for the three months to 30 June was €177.2m, up 23.0% year-on-year.

In total, €29.1m of Sportradar’s revenue came from the US, up by 66.3% as the US market continued to expand. Rest-of-world betting services brought in €95.5m, up by 20.6%. This, the business said, was mostly due to more focus on “higher-value-add” services such as managed betting services.

Rest-of-world audiovisual services to betting operators came to €39.7m, up by just short of 10% thanks mostly to new customers.

Other operations brought in a further €12.9m.

The business then paid €43.4m for purchased services and data licences, up 33.1%, plus €64.4m in personnel expenses, up 37.6%, €21.2m in other operating income, a slight increase, and €49.2m in depreciation and amortisation, up by 75…

August 17, 2022

GiG CEO: Rationale for Sportnco deal proven by Q2 performance

A full quarter’s contribution from Sportnco has aided Gaming Innovation Group’s international expansion drive, and while new opportunities emerge in the Americas, Europe is also playing a key role in its growth trajectory.

Gaming Innovation Group’s (GiG) first quarter results for 2022 set a new high point for revenue, for the second consecutive reporting period. The supplier has now extended that winning streak to three quarters, reporting a 37.1% year-on-year jumping in revenue to €22.1m (€18.6m/$22.5m).

GiG Media, its affiliate division, continues to grow rapidly, but for the three months to 30 June, the platform business’ performance was the standout performer. Revenue grew 43.1% to €7.3m, reflecting a full quarter’s contribution from Sportnco.

Richard Brown, GiG CEO

Sportnco’s impact in Q2

In the wake of the first quarter results, chief executive Richard Brown talked up the anticipated impact of adding a proven sportsbook to GiG’s portfolio. Following Q2’s figures, it certa..

August 17, 2022

Entain to pay record £17m for wide-ranging failings in GB

The GB Gambling Commission has ordered Entain to pay a record £17.0m (€20.3m/$20.6m) after it identified a series of social responsibility and anti-money laundering (AML) failings across its online and land-based businesses.

Entain will pay £14.0m for failings from LC International Limited (LCI), which runs Entain’s online brands including Ladbrokes.com, Coral.co.uk and Foxybingo.com.

The remaining £3.0m is for the Ladbrokes Betting & Gaming Limited (LBG) land-based business, which operates 2,746 betting shops across Great Britain.

All £17m will be directed towards socially responsible purposes as part of a regulatory settlement, while the Commission will impose a series of additional licence conditions, with an Entain board member tasked with overseeing a new business plan for improvement.

In addition, a third-party audit of compliance with the Licence Conditions and Codes of Practice will take place within 12 months.

As a result of the failings, Gambling Commission chief execut..

August 17, 2022

Genius beats revenue and earnings guidance in Q2

Sports data supplier Genius exceeded its revenue and earnings guidance in Q2 of 2022, while its loss was drastically reduced as large stock-based payments no longer weighed into its earnings.

The operator’s revenue exceeded its guidance for the quarter, which was set at $68m.

Betting technology, content and services brought in $44.8m, which was up by 10.4% year-on-year. Genius said about half of the increase was due to new customer additions, around $1.5m from renewed or renegotiated contracts with existing clients at higher prices, and a further $500,000 from “increased customer utilisation of existing Genius content”.

Revenue from media technology, content and services almost doubled to $15.0m. Sports technology content and services revenue was $11.3m, up 56.9%.

Looking at revenue geographically, $43.9m came from Europe, a 4.5% increase, $21.4m from the Americas, more than double the total from a year earlier, and $5.8m from the rest of the world, up by 34.9%.

Genius’ cost of re..

August 16, 2022

GiG sets €65m EBITDA goal for 2024 as Sportnco contributes to record Q2

Gaming Innovation Group (GiG) drastically upped its long-term targets – now aiming for earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) of around €65m (£54.7m/$65.9m) by 2024 – following a record quarter bolstered by the acquisition of Sportnco.

The results – for the second quarter of the year – were the first to include sportsbook supplier Sportnco. GiG acquired Sportnco for €51.3m (£43.2m/$56.7m at the time) as the quarter began after agreeing the deal in December.

The business set an all-time record in revenue with €22.1m, up 37.1% year-on-year. While the acquisition helped the business, GiG also noted the total was up by 24.0% organically.

Media – covering GiG’s affiliate brands – continued to make up the majority of revenue, with €14.8m, up by 35.1% year-on-year, and by 5.0% from the previous record high set in Q1.

Of this total, €9.8m came from publishing brands and the remaining €5.0m from paid media. New launches for the division included a brand focuse..

August 15, 2022

NeoGames’ BtoBet enters Ethiopia with UtopBet

BtoBet, the sports betting supplier subsidiary of online lottery platform provider NeoGames, has expanded into Ethiopia after entering into a partnership with UtopBet.

Under the deal, BtoBet will provide its proprietary sportsbook platform and other sports betting services, including risk management, to UtopBet in the East African country.

The Ethiopian online and retail sports betting operator will offer betting on both local and international sports events, while it will also add esports betting to its offering for the first time.

BtoBet’s deal with the UtopBet brand means the supplier has a presence in 28 different jurisdictions around the world.

“We are pleased to further strengthen our presence in Africa, by going live in the highly competitive Ethiopian market,” NeoGames’ chief executive Moti Malul said. “UtopBet is one of the more well-known brands in the local market and I am pleased that the choice to power their retail and online channels fell on our flexible solutions an..

August 12, 2022

Flutter CEO: we are well-placed to “capitalise” on UK reforms

Flutter chief executive Peter Jackson said that he expects his business to ultimately be a winner from the results of the UK Gambling Act review, as Flutter’s scale will help it navigate changes while smaller businesses may exit the market.

The comments came during Flutter’s earnings call for the first half of 2022, following results in which the business revealed that its FanDuel brand had turned a profit during Q2.

Jackson (pictured) argued that in both the UK and Australia, Flutter’s businesses had “outgrown regulations”.

He discussed the introduction of point-of-consumption taxes in these markets as an example of a regulatory challenge that had a short-term negative impact, but made Flutter brands stronger in the long term.

“Our scale and operating leverage have allowed us to mitigate the impacts, both through operational efficiencies, and also through market share gains as smaller operators were required to exit from the market.”

In the presentation, Flutter also noted that ..

August 12, 2022

The winners have taken it all

iGB op-ed: Daniel O’Boyle argues that market shares within US sports betting have already shaken out four years on from PASPA’s repeal, with little room for rankings to change or new players to emerge.

It’s become a popular observation that at some point – likely in the late 2000s – much of Western popular culture became “stuck”.

If you watch a film or television show set in 1980 and 1990, it would be obvious which is which, with the fashion, technologies and soundtrack. But something set in 2010 would look an awful lot like today. Rather than something new, we’ve spent much of the last decade and a half chasing nostalgia.

In US sports betting, there’s no doubt that there will continue to be innovation: products will vastly improve and new ways of betting will emerge.

But in terms of market share and which brands matter, we may have reached the point where we’re stuck.

The leaders emerge

In fact, we got most of the way there before PASPA was even repealed: FanDuel and DraftKing..

August 11, 2022

Entain to buy SuperSport, prepares for wave of Eastern Europe acquisitions

Online giant Entain has agreed to acquire a 75% stake in Croatian market leader SuperSport for €690m, in what it expects to be the first of many acquisitions in Central and Eastern Europe.

Entain will partner with Czech investment firm EMMA Capital to create a new venture named Entain CEE, in which Entain will own a 75% stake.

This new business – intended to make acquisitions in Central and Eastern Europe – will then acquire SuperSport, which is the largest betting and gaming brand in Croatia.

While Entain cited SuperSport’s 54% market share as one reason for doing the deal, it also suggested that the deal will just be the start of a flurry of M&A activity targeting Central and Eastern Europe.

The Entain board said the business would create “an exciting platform” in this region, led by SuperSport CEO Radim Haluza.

“The combination of Entain’s global scale, access to capital and content, EMMA’s regional knowledge and connectivity, alongside the expert local operational knowledge o..

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Tag: Online sports betting