Month: February 2021

Gross gaming revenue for the opening month of 2021 amounted to $23.1m, up 25.5% from the previous record of $18.4m set in November and also 34.3% higher than $17.2m in December.

Online accounted for $22.7m of revenue in January, compared to $481,276 from retail, land-based sports wagering facilities.

In terms of handle, players in Colorado spent $326.9m in sports betting during the month, an increase of 14.9% on the existing record of $284.6m reported in December.

Basketball was the most popular sport to wager on in the month with a total of $88.4m in bets.

Football also proved popular, attracting $75.0m in bets, helped by the National Football League’s play-offs and championship games.

Read the full story on iGB North America.

The results cover a year in which regional casino operator Eldorado Resorts acquired Caesars Entertainment, with the new business then taking the Caesars name.

The combined business made $3.93bn through regional operations in 2020, down 35.5%. Las Vegas revenue fell more sharply, by 54.8% to $1.77bn, while international and online revenue was $384m, down 35.5%.

The operator’s full breakdown of financial results covered only the legacy Eldorado business for up until July 20, 2020, and then the combined business from that point on. Counting revenue in this way, the business brought in $3.47bn, up 37.4% year-on-year, thanks mostly to the extra revenue generated from the acquisition. 

Of the remaining $2.63bn of the combined business’s revenue, $2.49bn came from the legacy Caesars business, and the remaining $138m came from properties Eldorado divested to complete the transaction.

Read the full story on iGB North America

Overall revenue for the 12 months through to 31 December 2021 amounted to SEK46.9m, up from SEK25.7m in the previous financial year.

Scout did not publish a full breakdown of revenue, but it did note that this year-on-year growth came despite what it described as a “strong negative impact” from the novel coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic, with many sports events having been postponed or cancelled in the second quarter.

However, Scout also said the pandemic resulted in a faster pace of digitalisation in general and for companies operating in the entertainment sector in particular, which in turn benefited the Scout business.

Looking at spending in 2020 and total operating expenses for the year reached SEK92.7m, an increase of 18.1% from SEK78.5m in the previous year. This was primarily down to a 78.8% jump in external expenses to SEK51.3m, while Scout was able to reduce personnel costs by 12.6% to SEK34.8m.

Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) came in at loss of SEK39.2m, compared to a SEK42.8m loss in the previous year.

After including depreciation and amortisation, this left Scout with an operating loss of SEK45.8m, which was an improvement on the SEK52.8m loss reported at the end of 2019.

However, after taking into account a negative effect of SEK8.8m from financial items, loss before tax was SEK54.6m, compared to SEK52.2m in the previous year.

Scout received SEK65,000 in tax benefits in 20202, meaning it ended the year with a total loss of SEK54.6m, which was slightly worse than the SEK52.2m posted in 2019.

The provider also published its fourth-quarter results, during which revenue climbed 69.0% year-on-year to SEK16.9m. Costs in Q4 were 16.8% higher at SEK16.8m, mainly due to higher marketing costs.

Operating loss improved from SEK10.9m in Q4 of 2019 to SEK7.9m, while after including a SEK7.9m negative impact from financial items, loss before tax was SEK13.9m, compared to SEK13.3m in 2019.

After receiving SEK16,000 in tax benefits, Scout ended the quarter with a loss of SEK13.9m, slightly higher than SEK13.3m in the previous year.

“Scout Gaming continues to meet strong demand at the same time as we have so far only touched the long-term potential,” Scout’s chief executive Andreas Ternstrom said.  “We continue to focus on long-term shareholder value, which is the prime goal.

“I look forward to 2021 with great confidence. The start of the year has been strong and we are expecting continuous heavy growth.”

The gambling industry is one with a long history of adaptation for the purpose of growth, and, in some cases, survival.

Considering the events of the last year, the industry as a whole is once again on the precipice of yet another seismic shift.

This time, however, in order to come out of the tunnel more powerful than ever, that adaptation is going to require perhaps the largest single overhaul of the casino floor in half a century.

In my new white paper, I look at historical player data from the global brick-and-mortar landscape in an effort to identify what the most significant changes need to be in order to appeal to a new generation of casino visitors.

In the paper, I look closely at the existing target demographics of some of the most valuable players on the casino floor: slot players. Generally speaking, this is an ageing demographic, and little has been done to adapt the floor model to cater to a new, younger generation with a longer player lifespan.

As we emerge from this pandemic, the heavy reliance on slot players over 55 will no longer satisfy the financial objectives of brick-and-mortar operations. There is a hugely underserved population of carded players that casinos need to engage with using new machines and updated technology. As such, there exists a major opportunity in skill-based gaming.

Studies show that integrating skill-based gaming machines entices new players to engage with the slot machine floor space (in some cases making up 80% of total unit space on the casino floor) without cannibalising play from other machines.

This, combined with the technological advantages of modernised games can help encourage new play-throughs, and ultimately widen the base of active slot players with a demographic that has been infamously elusive to date.

Learn more by reading the white paper below, or by downloading it here.

January revenue across all products and services came to $761.8m, which represented an 11.4% improvement from December 2020. However, it also represented a 26.6% year-on-year decline. 

This broke down to $526.5m from slots across all outlets – down 26.7% from January 2020 – while table, counter and card games revenue fell 35.6% to $235.4m. 

The table, counter and card games segment did include strong returns from the state’s sportsbooks, with revenue up 159.9% at $52.4m. 

Sports betting was one of the few products in this category to post year-on-year growth, and its contribution was the second highest of any product after blackjack, which generated revenue of $55.0m. 

Based on an 8.10% hold percentage, this suggested stakes for the month totalled $646.7m, a 28.7% increase. Mobile wagering accounted for $363.7m of amounts wagered, and $23.1m of revenue. 

This meant that Nevada lagged far behind New Jersey, where revenue of $82.6msmashed the state’s previous monthly record.

Handle in the Garden State was also significantly higher at $948.7m – and that represented a month-on-month decline. 

Read the full story on iGB North America.

The developer said the new service, which builds on the existing online casino package, is a response to an increasing number of gaming operators broadening their offering to include betting.

The module includes an upgraded API, which enables raw data collection on multiple player activities within sportsbook solutions from igaming brands.

As well as player activities such as visits, registrations and first deposits, Affilka now also collects multiple data points on sports betting activities such as bets, cancelled bets, wins, GGR and bonuses.

Anastasia Borovaya, Affilka product owner at SoftSwiss, said: “We’re excited to be launching this new module for the sports betting industry and therefore expanding our services to more exciting new projects.

“The sports betting industry is developing at an exceptionally rapid pace. More and more of our customers who operate online casinos are expanding by establishing sportsbook solutions.

“We couldn’t stand aside, therefore we decided to offer our current and future clients a new option that expands opportunities and helps to increase their efficiency.”

SoftSwiss added that significant improvements have been made to the commission constructor for CPA and RevShare deals within sportsbook projects.

A spokesperson added: “In terms of revenue share deals, sportsbook operators can share a percentage of their net revenue with their partners. The percentage of revenue payable to affiliates may be fixed or may be defined by various performance tiers.”

The SPAC, which aims to raise $250m in an initial public offering on the Nasdaq exchange, has not selected a specific business combination target.

However, it said it was hoping to purchase a business in the field of casino gaming, sports betting, igaming, live events, family entertainment destination hospitality or sports.

It added that its management team was “well-positioned to partner with a management team to develop, analyze and execute on the next wave of growth and consolidation” within the gaming industry.

Acies may look to acquire a consumer-facing brand or a business-to-business platform, and while it said it would primarily focus on the US, it added that its search may expand to other markets.

It added that it was looking for a business with a “highly defensible” and “disruptive” business model within a fundamentally strong sector.

Read the full story on iGB North America

The business – which operates hotels and leases property to the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (Pagcor) for a casino in the Philippines – made $20.9m from hotels and $14.5m from casino leasing in 2020. Casinos in the country were closed from mid-March until late August, when they reopened under restricted capacity limits.

International’s costs of sales were down 27.7% to $32.8m from a gross profit of $2.5m, down 97.8%.

The business also saw other income of $8.7m and other expenses of $5.5m, as well as a $43.1m expense through the change in fair value of investments and liabilities. After this and $40.0m in general and administrative expenses, International’s pre-tax loss was $90.0m, after a $55.1m profit the year before.

The business paid $1.0m in taxes for a $91.1m net loss. This compared to a $56.2m 2019 net profit.

After accounting for currency exchange fluctuations, International’s total comprehensive loss was $23.1m, which was 28.4% less than the total comprehensive loss in 2019. This difference was mostly due to discontinued operations counted as a loss on 2019’s balance sheet, but was also partly due to exchange rate changes.

The US-based leading horse and greyhound racing operator will continue to utilise Malta-headquartered AretoNet’s full suite of realtime data analytics, business intelligence, segmentation and marketing automation features to deliver contextual, real-time marketing campaigns to maximise player conversion and retention.

WaW said it has seen a significant benefit from its partnership with AretoNet, with high engagement rates on retention communications and reactivation campaigns.

Read the full story on iGB North America.

The financial police said the raids dealt a massive blow to those behind organised gambling crime in the country.

The first raid took place in Rudolfsheim-Fünfhaus, where officers found 10 players using gambling machines, several of whom tried to hide and leave the location via an exit upon the officers’ entry. Seven gaming machines and cash were seized by the officers.

Detective officers from the Federal Criminal Police Office found drugs on one of the players, after which a drug detection dog was able to find other drugs and containers typically used for street sales, the police said.

In the Donaustadt district, officers found a hidden, sealed-off ground floor bar in a restaurant, the door was opened to them voluntarily due to the large number of officers present.

Thirty-four players were found at three poker tables, each with up to €21,000 in cash, along with two gaming machines. Blinds in the poker games were up to €20, meaning thousands were being bet per round.

After interviewing players and staff, those found responsible for organising the games were held at the location, and the poker dealers and waitress were investigated.

“In Vienna, new criminal structures in ​​illegal gambling have recently arisen,” said Austria’s Finance Minister, Gernot Blümel.

“The consistent work of the financial police brings these mafia-like gangs from the southeast under massive pressure. The high addiction factor of gambling leads to the fact that addicted gamblers often try to compensate for their financial losses through crime.

“The combination of illegal gambling and drug use, which is increasingly occurring in Vienna, is particularly fatal. We will continue to take tough and consistent action against these criminals and continue our excellent cooperation with the police. The fight against illegal gambling will continue to be pushed.”

In January, the nation’s Ministry of Finance reported an increase in the number of illegal gaming devices seized by police in 2020, despite law enforcement’s day-to-day operations being disrupted by the Covid-19 pandemic.

The figures revealed showed that the country’s financial police had confiscated 1,463 gaming machines over the course of 2020 – a year-on-year increase of approximately 100, or 7.3%.

Yesterday, a wide-ranging overhaul of Austria’s gambling regulatory framework was announced, in a change that will see player protection controls ramped up, new transparency requirements introduced, and a new supervisory authority formed.

Whereas the nation’s Treasury is currently responsible for licensing and the enforcement of gambling regulations, these duties will be taken over by the new authority.