Discover the secret to cross through the door and recover the golden idol coveted by all explorers across the world. Find out how to solve the puzzle hidden between the rocks and totems that guard the door. Open it and get luck on your side.
Conor Grant, chief executive of Flutter UK & Ireland, said that he welcomed the Irish Government’s commitment to bring in specific regulations governing online gambling in Ireland, but added that operators must do more of their own accord.
“We recognise that gambling has undergone a technological transformation over the past two decades,” Grant said. “The influence of the smartphone, social media and on-demand streaming has been profound. We understand that legislating for these developments is complex and may take some time.
“We have decided to introduce several measures, well in advance of the legislation, to enhance the effectiveness of our safer gambling policies in Ireland.”
Flutter’s brands, which include Paddy Power, Betfair and Sky Bet, will all no longer accept credit cards for transactions, either online or in Paddy Power retail shops. The change will come into effect in early April.
From 1 May, Flutter brands will no longer advertise during live sport before the 9pm watershed, with the exception of ads during horse and greyhound racing.
In addition, the operator will invest 1% of net gaming revenue from Irish customers, a figure expected to be around €3m, into research, education and treatment of problem gambling by 2023. The funds will go to Ireland’s Gambling Awareness Trust and “emerging initiatives” across Ireland.
Flutter currently contributes €450,000 to the Gambling Awareness Trust.
Last week, Ireland’s Labour Party introduced a bill to ban all non-sponsorship gambling advertising in Ireland. The party said the bill would divorce the gambling industry from the everyday enjoyment of sports and entertainment.
Despite all the hysteria about the potential of a pandemic-induced rise in online gambling, as this Market Monitor outlines in detail, figures from the UK’s Gambling Commission show that fears of an explosion in gambling were largely unfounded.
While there was movement between the verticals, the regulator concluded there was a lack of evidence of any “significant or sustained increase in gambling activity in the Covid-19 period”.
But though the Commission’s commentary undoubtedly lends support to the sector, this should not be interpreted as a sign that operators have its backing in a broader sense.
As many have noted, the Commission’s affordability review poses huge risks to the sector’s future viability, potentially much more so than the government’s review of the Gambling Act.
Chief executive Neil McArthur’s criticism of the sector’s claims about the UK black market have only added to the uncertain mood in the industry.
It’s too early to say what the impact of the reviews will be, but it’s likely the sector will come out of them looking very different than it does today.
Moving to the Netherlands, the market is at a very different point in its development. Given the delays already incurred in the opening of the regulated market, it was little surprise that the launch has been pushed back again, by a month to October.
However, against the backdrop of the pandemic, this latest delay was perhaps seen as more justifiable than others by operators. In any case, one month is not likely to make much of a difference to those who’ve already been absent from the market for the 32 months required by regulators.
There’s also been some good news for those with an eye on the country, with a recent report from the regulator hinting that the market could open up even further in future.
Under House Bill 3142, also known as the Internet Gaming Act, Illinois’ brick-and-mortar casinos would be permitted to apply for internet gaming licenses.
Each licensee would then be able to operate up to three skins, or contract with up to three internet management service providers, and offer online casino to those aged 21 and above.
The internet gaming license would have a $500,000 fee attached, and a $250,000 charge for renewal.
As we look to the year ahead, industry experts share their thoughts on the opportunities and challenges facing the industry.
In part six we talk to technology and innovation experts. In part one we heard from igaming operators and suppliers, in part two land-based operators and suppliers and part three finance expert. In part four we spoke to those in marketing and part five examined changes for people and the way we work.
In parts six to eight we will focus on technology and innovation, regulation and social responsibility. In parts seven and eight we will focus on regulation and social responsibility.
Interviewees
Mohit Kansal, partner, Clairvest Nikos Konstakis, VP sportsbook, SG Digital Cristina Turbatu, head of innovation lab and marketplace, Playtech Mattias Wedar, chief product and technology officer, LeoVegas
Looking back at 2020, what – other than the Covid-19 pandemic – did you feel was transformational for the industry? And how much of a lasting effect do you think the Covid-19 pandemic will have going forward?
mohit kansal
Mohit Kansal: We’ll see a further split of regulation trends around the world – expansion in some markets (e.g. North America), pull-back in others (e.g. Sweden) – much accelerated due to Covid-19. There was also a very active M&A landscape last year – Stars/Flutter brought the largest online gaming company in the world; Entain emerging from GVC; William Hill splitting US and non-US. Consolidation is rampant and is changing all aspects of the market.
Nikos Konstakis: One of the major knock-on effects was that gaming and sports betting became established as an intrinsic part of the overall entertainment industry. When people were confined to their homes in lockdown, sports betting became a widespread form of entertainment for many. Instead of, for example, consuming Netflix or Spotify, many used their leisure time to place bets.
Events last year very much placed the customer at the forefront of the user journey. Digitalisation and improved user-friendliness proved key when dealing with the new market conditions presented by events in 2020, and these themes will continue into the year ahead.
Cristina Turbatu: From a technology advancement point of view, 2020, with all of its challenges, created an opportunity for companies to focus their business on online services, which led to more organisations moving their operations to the cloud for the ability to scale and manage their services faster. A higher level of focus has also been given to player engagement and safety – using machine learning not only to attract more business but to detect players at risk in these sensitive times.
There was also an increased effort put into understanding and using gamification, at a time when people are in search of more interaction, especially Generation Y, which is more used to passing stages, improving on levels and rewards.
The Covid-19 pandemic will for sure leave a lasting impact on many levels: human resources, online technologies, network and security – moving more services to the cloud, containers and microservices – and towards a higher level of protection for consumers of online gambling entertainment products and services.
Mattias Wedar: The digitisation of entertainment and games was accelerated considerably when many physical activities were discontinued. This has accelerated behaviour that may not have taken hold in all markets.
The customer will continue to demand high-quality and personalised entertainment; whether you are called Netflix, LeoVegas or YouTube, the demands on customer experience will continue to increase. The pandemic undoubtedly brought difficulties for the industry, but taking the bigger picture into account I believe that there have been some lasting changes for the better.
What do you feel is going to be a game-changer for the industry in the coming year?
MK: Land-based transformation – we’re yet to see this as casinos are closed, but I’m excited to see the change that will happen later in 2021/2022 as casinos come back and have money to spend. Cashless has arrived and many casinos have realised they had too many unproductive slot machines.
nikos Konstakis
NK: Without doubt, content will be of huge significance to operators. If anything was proven in 2020, it was that content is still king. For a couple of months in the early part of the pandemic, demand simply could not be served and a point was reached where content was maxed out.
In 2021, we will see the reinvention of the very definition of content taking place. Sports betting is faced with the constant challenge of meeting demand at all times, catering for every proposition that can be envisaged. Established sports betting products such as build your own bets and micro markets are just the beginning of what we can deliver to customers to ensure they are offered a wide range of markets across all hours of the days.
To make this work we need to put the customer at the centre of everything we do, identifying creative user journeys and finding smart ways to feed content to the mobile screen, while successfully serving the demand for contemporary content.
CT: I believe AI will continue to be a core discussion point in 2021 – for example, automation, game data analysis, recommendations – and used correctly this technology has large potential and many applications. As the focus towards player protection grows, behaviour analysis and prediction data will grow in importance. AI is not only useful when it comes to suggesting the products in a more targeted way, but it can be applied for strategic automation, predictive monitoring and security.
MW: We have seen a change in what the city of Las Vegas represents. It used to be a city only for gaming and has now turned into a city filled with all types of entertainment including spectacular shows. The same thing is happening in our sector.
We are going from gambling to entertainment. We need to realise that we are part of the entertainment sector and that means new products, new tools for engagement, etc. Using data and insight to deliver a personal user experience will be key.
On the other hand, what do you feel could disrupt the sector or slow progress?
MK: The pandemic has brought greater regulatory scrutiny in some markets and operators must be careful to keep responsible gaming front of mind otherwise the cycle will continue of an exciting/fast growing market that will be constrained and trouble will permeate.
NK: We have seen over the past couple of years that changes to regulation in key markets affects product development, but it ensures the players continue to use the products responsibly. Key markets are entering new legislative phases in Europe, as seen in Germany, the Netherlands and Greece. When you also take into consideration how the US sports betting market is growing, with new states introducing their own rules as they prepare for a gold rush of new customers, it’s clear that speed to market is of the essence. Elsewhere, there is also the importance of South America to consider, including the highly anticipated Brazilian market, which is pushing for regulation this year.
Operators and suppliers have never before faced such a concurrent regulatory challenge. Combine this with new alliances, customers and implementations and in my view, what you have is factors that are disruptive to innovation, although ensuring the safety of new and existing customers is a number one priority.
cristina turbatu
CT: With the global restrictions and lack of interaction that people around the world are experiencing, I believe immersive reality tools could disrupt the sector. VR equipment has finally reached an acceptable price tag, and as people can no longer attend their favourite sports, visit local sports shops or land casinos, they will be looking at trying to replicate that experience. What could slow progress is the increase in cyberattacks (especially DDoS attacks), the epidemiological situation and any decreased solvency of population.
MW: We see a lot of populistic regulation that works very harshly and directly. But the regulators need to be more active against the unlicensed companies that are growing, especially as we see a decreased channelisation that is hurting the industry.
Do you think technology improvement and enhancement will be a key focus in 2021, or do you foresee industry investment in new products and solutions slowing?
MK: I think it will accelerate. With more focus online and lots of marketing dollars flowing, many will be thinking about what’s next and that’s product/technology. You have and will see companies understanding “me-too” or “black-box” doesn’t work. More companies will want to own their customer experience and differentiate rather than spending more and more marketing dollars.
NK: Up until the pandemic struck, the industry’s technology focus was on increased activity in the US, in addition to lining up new brands across the globe. However, Covid-19 forced us to reassess. Instead, our thought process immediately switched to finding ways of providing content during a period where the customer was not being served in the traditional way and as a result, our sights became trained on creativity during this period.
Since then, we have become acclimatised to the situation and as I see it now, the solution is to combine the two factors above. That means scaling up, and part of that process is finding ways in which to become more creative. The regulated gaming world has never been bigger and technology is a key enabler for our industry to grow across geographies while adapting to highly different customer needs and behaviours.
CT: I strongly believe technology enhancement will continue to be a focus in 2021 as well. Large global problems create opportunities for creative solutions and push the boundaries on technologies. This is an amazing time to reinvent the online sector and progress.
mattias wedar
MW: We will see product enhancements in the future that also include even more entertainment: we will also see progress in the user journeys, which will improve substantially, and it will never stop. Retention seems to be the main industry challenge; we need to provide services that customers want to come back to again and again.
Spiffbet will pay SEK20m to acquire the brands, while it will also acquire SEK10m in debt in doing so, meaning the debt-free initial price for the acquisition is SEK30m. An additional purchase consideration of up to SEK6m may be paid by the end of 2022 depending on meeting certain targets.
This payment may be made either in cash or with 50 million newly issued Spiffbet shares. Spiffbet shares are currently trading at €0.039 each on the Nasdaq First North Exchange. If the share option is chosen, Spiffbet will issue a total of 109.5 million new shares, with other shares going to existing major owners and to those who received shares when Spiffbet acquired Cashmio.
Manisol’s flagship sites operate in Malta and Sweden under Bethard’s licence, using its Together Gaming platform.
“With this acquisition, Spiffbet reaches a critical mass and becomes a player to be reckoned with in the gaming industry,” Spiffbet chief executive Henrik Svensson said. “This also opens up opportunities for major acquisitions and structural deals in the future.”
Svensson added that further acquisitions may be on the horizon in the future. In August 2020, the business agreed a deal to acquire Goliath Holding, the parent company of online casino brand Goliath Casino, for approximately SEK2.6m.
“The ambition is to get the maximum return on the advantage of being listed on the stock exchange, through our proven ability to carry out acquisitions and the large cost advantages that can be achieved thanks to higher turnover,” he said. “This also strengthens the synergy effects between gaming services and our casino operations. We will continue to act as a locomotive for acquisitions.”
The operator was founded and is owned by Johan Syren, who led LeoVegas’ Malta operations from 2012 to 2017, a period of major growth for the business. Styren will act as a strategic advisor to Spiffet’s board after the deal.
“It is very fun to find a new owner for Manisol at Spiffbet,” Styren said. “Both companies have a good organisation with different qualities that I think will work well together. The companies really complement each other and can utilise each other’s strengths.
“It will be very fun to follow the business both as a major shareholder and strategic advisor in the future. And we can now significantly increase the pace of the investments we have already begun with establishment in additional markets, both in and outside Europe.”
Spiffbet head of casino operations Maria Boelius said Styren and the entire Manisol team would help improve Spiffbet’s business.
“We really welcome Manisol with all employees,” Boelius said. “It will be a perfect reinforcement of our team and solve part of our recruitment needs.
“It is also an asset to have Johan Styren as a sounding board in the future with his solid industry experience. In one fell swoop, our conditions for growing and creating profitability are improved in a fantastic way.”
The deal is expected to close this week following completion of due diligence and final approval of a final share transfer agreement.
Spiffbet said the deal will increase its casino sales by more than 50% and that the business will “be relatively easy to integrate” due to shared platforms.
The acquisition is intended to be financed through a private share placement which is expected to raise SEK41m, with an usse price of SEK0.375 per share.
State Premier Daniel Andrews announced a royal commission that will consider whether Crown Melbourne should be allowed to hold a Victorian licence to operate its flagship casino and entertainment resort, and also consider the suitability of its associates, including owner Crown Resorts Ltd. The Government has also commenced work to establish an independent casino regulator, with Minister for Consumer Affairs, Gaming and Liquor Regulation Melissa Horne commissioning a review to advise on the necessary structural and governance arrangements.
The royal commission, to be chaired by Raymond Finkelstein QC, will have the power to compel witnesses and documentation. The commission will hand down its recommendations by 1 August 2021, with the Government to legislate to enable the Victorian Gaming and Liquor Regulation Commission (VCGLR) to give effect to any findings.
“This is about making sure that those who hold a casino licence in Victoria uphold the highest standards of probity and integrity – and that they’re accountable for their actions,” said Andrews.
The independent review will occur parallel with the royal commission and will also assess, among other things, requirements for regulation of money laundering and junket operations.
Horne said: “The reports from New South Wales’ ILGA Inquiry were incredibly concerning, which is why we’re establishing a royal commission to get the answers we need about Crown Melbourne.
“The royal commission will establish the facts and the Government and the VCGLR will take any necessary action at the conclusion of the investigation. We will not tolerate illegal behaviour in our gaming industry.”
Barton resigned following a New South Wales inquiry that found Crown Resorts “unsuitable” to operate a casino in Sydney’s Barangaroo region due to evidence of money laundering and insufficient diligence into junkets with alleged criminal ties.
The inquiry said that Crown’s “unjustified belief in itself” and “corporate arrogance” led to a lack of thorough investigation of serious claims against its business and an assumption that the claims must have been deceitful.
This report was triggered when Asian gaming giant Melco agreed to purchase a 19.99% stake in CPH Crown Holdings in May 2019 for approximately AUD$1.76bn (£981.9m/€1.06bn/US$1.19bn). Following allegations in the press, the inquiry set out to determine whether Crown was a suitable licensee.
Although Melco ultimately pulled out of the acquisition, the inquiry continued with its results released at the start of February.
Further resignations, which were announced alongside Crown’s first-half financial results which showed revenue down 62.1%, followed.
Senate Bill 77 was introduced by Senators Richard Sears, Christopher Pearson Michael Sirotkin and Richard Westman.
The Department’s proceeds from wagering, after administrative costs, will go to the Vermont General Fund.
Bets will be classed into tiers, with Tier I referring to pre-game bets on final outcomes, Tier II referring to live bets and Tier III referring to other bets such as prop bets. While all three types of bets may be placed online, the bill would give the Department the power to determine which bills are accepted in person.
House Bill 2772 has been approved by the chamber’s Republican and Democratic caucuses, while the Senate Commerce Committee has passed Senate Bill 1797 bill.
HB 2772 was passed by the House Commerce Committee by a 9-1 margin earlier this month. It has now also received approval from the House Rules Committee, by a 6-2 margin, as well as both the minority and majority caucuses, suggesting it will pass when it sees the House floor.
