Month: February 2021

With casinos across the state closed for much of the month, retail betting revenue came to just $97,915. Retail handle was just $182,701, with a large portion of revenue coming from bets placed in before casinos closed in November.

DraftKings’ sportsbook at Casino Queen in East St Louis was the leader in retail revenue, bringing in more than the state’s total at $106,254 as Rush Street Interactive’s sportsbook at Rivers Casino Des Plaines lost money for the month.

Online revenue came to $23.8m, which was down 40.0% from November. Online players placed bets worth $487.3m, up 12.4%, as players won much more of their online bets.

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Total revenue for the six months to 31 December 2020 amounted to AUS$2.87bn (£1.06bn/€1.85bn/US$2.23bn), down 1.5% from $2.91bn in the same period in 2019.

Lotteries and keno remained Tabcorp’s primary source of income, with revenue here reaching $1.61bn, which was 1.6% higher than in the first half of the 2019-20 financial year, despite the impact of Covid-19.

Tabcorp noted an increase in sales across all base lottery and keno games in H1, helped by the refresh of both the Set for Life and Saturday Lotto games. The share of turnover attributed to digital increased to 32.1% for lottery and 17.1% for keno.

Elsewhere, wagering and media revenue edged up 0.8% from $1.18bn in 2019-20 to $1.19bn in the most recent period, with digital growth helping to offset declines in retail.

Tabcorp said this modest increase was due to a 34.0% increase in digital revenue and 43% rise in digital turnover, with retail having been hampered by closures due to Covid-19.

However, despite growth within these two core business areas, Tabcorp noted a major decline in gaming service revenue, which more than halved from $149.0m to $73.0m. Again, Tabcorp put this down to the impact of Covid-19, with some states having been forced to close venues in line with restrictions.

Tabcorp noted the impact of closures in Victoria in particular, with the state accounting for 30% of all gaming services revenue. Greater Melbourne venues were not able to reopen until November, whereas facilities in other states began to reopen from June.

“We are experiencing a strong recovery following the recent market challenges,” Tabcorp chief executive and managing director David Attenborough said. “The Covid-19 pandemic continued to impact Tabcorp’s group earnings in 1H21, with the retail closures and restrictions, especially in Victoria, having a material impact.

“However, we are pleased with the way our teams and partners responded to the substantial operational challenges the pandemic presented. Covid-19 has clearly demonstrated the importance of serving customers with a seamless, multi-channel experience. Investments made to modernise our digital offering in recent years drove significant benefits.”

Variable contribution – revenue minus variable costs – was down 7.1% year-on-year to $957.0m, but operating expenses were reduced by 8.3% to $397.0m, mainly due to the suspension of certain activities.

Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) before significant items fell 6.2% to $560.0m, while after accounting for depreciation and amortisation, earnings before interest, tax and significant items declined 7.9% to $372.0m.

Tabcorp accumulated $82.0m in interest during the first half and paid $83.0m in income tax, leaving a net profit before significant items of $207.0m, down 3.3% from 2019-20.

The operator also noted $22.0m in significant items, comprising amended tax treatment of the MAX CMS licence ($69.0m), Racing Queensland arrangements

($11.0m), Tatts Group combination implementation costs ($8.0m) and restructure costs ($3.0m), with these partly offset by the profit on sale of Jumbo  ($69.0m).

As such, Tabcorp ended H1 with $185.0m in statutory net profit after tax and significant items, down 7.0% from $199.0m in the first half of 2019-20.

“After taking actions to reduce costs, preserve cash and strengthen the balance sheet over the past 12 months, Tabcorp is emerging from Covid-19 challenges in a stronger financial position,” Attenborough said.

Attenborough also noted that as a result of these actions, Tabcorp has been able to resume paying dividends to shareholders. Eligible shareholders will receive an interim dividend of 7.5 cents per share fully franked, which is in line with the previously announced revised dividend payout policy.

Publication of the first half results comes after Tabcorp earlier this month said it had received “a number of unsolicited approaches and proposals” to acquire its wagering and media arm, with Entain among those to have put forward an offer.

Tabcorp said it had not received a firm bid for the business, but noted that any sale would leave it to focus only on its lotteries and gaming services divisions.

In its 2019-20 financial year, Tabcorp’s wagering and media business brought in AUD$2.08bn and EBITDA of $371m.

The operator and media business secured market access through its multi-state agreement with Penn National Gaming, struck in August 2019. 

That agreement also facilitated the operator’s Indiana launch in September 2020.

TheScore is also active in Colorado, in partnership with Jacobs Entertainment, and in New Jersey thanks to its deal with Monmouth Park Racetrack operator Darby Development.

“We have expanded theScore Bet to three new markets in the last six months, significantly increasing our footprint,” theScore founder and chief executive John Levy said. 

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The KSA used reports from both H2 Gambling Capital and Regulus Partners in order to estimate the size of the entire Dutch online gambling market.

By 2024, three years after legal online gaming is set to launch, Regulus predicts a combined licensed and unlicensed market size of €827m when excluding bonuses. H2, on the other hand, predicts a market worth €1.08bn including bonuses.

This difference in bonuses “almost entirely” captures the difference between the figures, the KSA said.

Looking just at the legal market, H2 predicted revenue of €757m for 2024, while Regulus did not split regulated revenue from the offshore total.

This meant that roughly 70% of revenue would be channeled into the legal offering, below the KSA’s target of 80% at this point in time.

H2 noted that tax rates were one “major obstacle” to Dutch channelisation, with online gambling set to be taxed at 29%, more than Sweden’s 18% or Denmark’s 20%.

Providers will try to (partly) pass on the gambling tax to the players,” the KSA said. “This makes the legal range of games less attractive. 

“Currently, illegal providers pay no gambling tax in the Netherlands. This gives price-conscious players an incentive to play with an illegal provider.”

While Regulus did not break down channelisation in terms of revenue, the KSA said it made an “implicit prediction” that 90% of players would move to the regulated market. This, it added was contingent on advertising regulations not being too restrictive.

The KSA also noted that channelisation could be influenced by different factors, depending on the vertical being considered.

For example, poker players may be most inclined to play on sites with strong liquidity, whereas sports bettors may look for the best prices, and casino players may look for bonuses.

The regulator noted that Regulus had higher predicted revenue for the entire market for 2021 at €544m compared to H2’s €513m projection.

However, H2 predicted a faster-growing market. For 2020, it estimated revenue of €416m compared to Regulus’ €394m.

“This shows that there is (and will remain) uncertainty about the exact figures, especially for the illegal part of the market,” it said.

Online gambling in the Netherlands is expected to launch on 1 October, after its launch has been delayed three times. Earlier this month, the Government submitted the country’s secondary gambling regulations to the country’s official gazette.

Under the deal, 500.com will issue 44,353,435 new Class A ordinary shares – representing around 10% of its overall share capital – to Blockchain Alliance in exchange for all of its shares.

The deal is expected to close by 15 April, 2021.

BTC.com, Blockchain Alliance’s flagship product, offers cryptocurrency mining pool services and cryptocurrency wallets, as well as information about cryptocurrencies.

In addition to the initial payment of shares, if the BTC.com mining pool business records a net operating profit in the fiscal year ending December 31, 2021, 500.com will issue further shares, up to a maximum of 22,176,718 if the profit totals $20m or more.

However, if the business makes a loss during the year, 500.com may repurchase shares in the initial payment for a price of just $0.00005 each. The amount of shares available to be repurchased depends on the size of the loss, with a maximum of 10% of the shares for a loss of $10m or more.

The deal marks the latest of several moves by 500.com to become a player in the cryptocurrency sphere, starting when it brought in Xianfeng Yang as its new chief executive in January.

Yang has experience in the cryptocurrency industry, having previously led the construction and operation of the Loto Interactive’s major data centre, which mainly handled cryptocurrency mining.

500.com announced it would acquire a majority stake in Loto Interactive later in January, increasing its share in the company from 33.7% to 54.2% in a deal worth around HK$105m (£9.9m/€11.2m/$13.5m).

After announcing its intention to purchase around $14.4m worth of Bitcoin mining machines from unnamed sellers in January, it later agreed in February to acquire up to 15,900 more machines from two more sellers.

500.com’s share price has skyrocketed since the announcement of the acquisition. After closing at a price of $20.00 on Monday, 500.com opened at $33.35 today, a 66.8% increase. Its shares are currently trading at $30.43.

Falzon bring significant financial expertise in gaming to the company, Bragg said, as well as experience in listing on the Nasdaq, which is one of the supplier’s objectives for 2021.

She currently holds the role of operational CFO of NetEnt and chief financial officer of Red Tiger Gaming, and previously held the positions of group CFO at Evoke Gaming and group financial controller of King.

As chief financial officer of Red Tiger, Falzon navigated the 2019 sale of the company to NetEnt for £220m (€245.3m/$271.4m).

Subsequently, NetEnt’s reported earnings increase by 58% year-on-year, with US revenues up 313%, Bragg said.

Falzon also played an instrumental role in the sale of NetEnt to Evolution in September 2020, in a deal worth $2.1bn.

Results published last week showed that following the acquisition, Evolution’s revenue for the 12 months to 31 December amounted to €561.1m (£491.4m/$679.8m), up 53.4% from the previous year.

“We’re very pleased to have Lara join our championship team – she brings tremendous industry experience,” said Adam Arviv, chief executive of Bragg Gaming.

“Her financial experience in the gaming sector is unmatched in the industry and will be very valuable as we continue our global growth strategy.”

Falzon added: “I’m thrilled to join the team at such an exciting time in Bragg’s evolution. Bragg continues to outperform on their expansion goals and I’m happy to contribute my expertise to the mission.”

Adam Arviv was appointed as Bragg’s permanent chief executive in December 2020, after serving as interim chief executive since previous CEO Dominic Mansour stood down from the role in August.

In January, Bragg set out plans to rapidly expand throughout the US and Canada in the next year, while continuing to strengthen its presence in the supplier’s core European market.

Bragg said it would ramp up investment in its technology, regulatory and compliance, and business development teams to ensure it could capitalise on new US and Canadian revenue streams.    

Falzon was named one of iGB’s Most Influential Women in November last year, following her key role in the M&A activity which saw NetEnt acquired by Evolution.

Genius is now supplying WynnBET with its LiveData and LiveTrading services, powering in-game betting experiences across the three states in which the operator is licensed — New Jersey, Colorado and Michigan.

The new partnership will include Genius’ official data content for hundreds of sporting events, including the English Premier League, other major global football leagues and Euroleague Basketball. It also includes the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series, of which WynnBET is an authorised gaming operator.

Jack Davison, chief commercial officer at Genius, said: “Along with its broad market-access and nationally-recognisable brand name, Genius is an ideal partner to enhance WynnBET’s expanding online sportsbook and in-game betting offering.”

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Dent has held senior positions including chief finance officer since joining DraftKings in 2013, having been an early investor in the business and advisor following its founding in 2012.

Dent, who switched from CFO to chief compliance officer in 2019, will now move into the position of senior vice president of regulatory operations, and will continue to manage DraftKings’ relationships with regulatory authorities before transitioning to a consultant role later in 2021.

Jennifer Aguiar, previously vice president of compliance and risk, is to replace Dent as chief compliance officer and will report directly to Jason Robins, DraftKings’ co-founder, chief executive and chairman.

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The IBIA said it has teamed up with the body as part of its plan to expand its network to meet the challenges of a changing world of customers and products and the increasing spotlight on equality issues within the world of sport.

It added that the partnership will bring together the worlds of sports integrity and diversity to help foster a more sustainable approach to the industry.

Khalid Ali, chief executive of IBIA, said: “The demographics of sports betting is changing and, as an industry, we need to be aware of the opportunities and challenges this presents.

“The collaboration with the All-in Diversity Project has two main objectives; the first is to promote diversity within the betting industry; the second is to understand how the wealth inequality in women’s sports could lead to integrity concerns.

“By working together, we hope to tackle these issues through a series of events and studies that we have planned for the next few years.”

Launched in 2017, the All-In Diversity Project’s founding members include operators such as Paddy Power, Caesars Entertainment and Kindred Group, as well as suppliers Microgaming and GiG. Since then, it has also agreed strategic partnerships with organisations such as Clarion Gaming and Oxford Brookes University.

Kelly Kehn, co-founder of the All-In Diversity Project, said: “Having the IBIA support the All-in Diversity Project is a huge leap forward for us.

“Collaborating with standard-setting global organisations such as IBIA means we can accelerate progress and engage with a wider audience to address some of the challenges faced by sports and sports betting – from the hidden impact of inequality on integrity, to the more obvious issues related to gender and race within the entire sports and betting ecosystem by sharing data, resources and experience and developing tools that work.”

The announcement comes just days after IBIA revealed it reported 270 suspicious betting events to the relevant authorities in 2020, up 47.5% year-on-year, as reports for esports and table tennis skyrocketed with other sports suspended.

Johnson joined the business as chief commercial officer after successful periods in senior roles at Cryptologic, game design studio NextGen Gaming and B2B gaming supplier NYX Gaming.

ReelPlay’s former chief executive, Scott Smith, who joined the supplier alongside Johnson in 2018, remains with the business in a board and advisory capacity overseeing the ReelPlay group studios.

The supplier said it has experienced significant growth since both Johnson and Smith arrived, after the pair implemented the transition of the business from Chance Interactive to ReelPlay, as well as reaching a number of commercial milestones.

“I’m delighted to be given the opportunity to continue to drive the business forward as CEO,” said Johnson.

“With great credit to Scott, the founders and the team at ReelPlay HQ, the business is perfectly positioned to capitalise on the solid foundations we’ve placed over the last couple of years.

“We look forward to continuing to build on ReelPlay’s solid existing partnerships whilst focussing on expanding into new markets and verticals.”

ReelPlay games are now available to customers in New Jersey and Michigan via the company’s partnership with SG Digital.

In Europe, the supplier continues in core markets with distribution partners SG Digital, Relax Gaming Yggdrasil and Playzido, while a new licensing arm drives value from distributing ReelPlay content to partners.