Ulrik Bengtsson speaks to Clarion Gaming about the digital transformation strategy he has implemented at the operator.
He explains why retail still has an important role to play in the company’s future, especially amid the ongoing wave of gaming expansion in the US, and why consumer insights need to be leveraged for more than just marketing.
Under the arrangement, FanDuel will make a multi-million-dollar commitment of its media inventory, as well as league and team assets, and direct them towards responsible gambling messaging.
FanDuel will also work with its league, team and media partners to promote the campaign across television, radio, digital and in-venue media in the US, with the aim of rolling out the first of this content in May.
“We are not only going to commit substantial FanDuel resources to promote ‘Have a Game Plan’ but we intend to build a consortium of partners throughout the sports and gaming business to scale this initiative and we encourage other operators to join us,” FanDuel chief executive Matt King said.
Stake’s union with the mixed martial arts brand will introduce a broader betting experience to consumers in Latin America (excluding Brazil) and Asia, which will include exclusive promotions and greater social functionality.
“We’re thrilled to partner with an exciting and emerging platform like Stake.com to offer exclusive digital and social content to our fans, as well as an innovative gaming experience,” UFC vice president of global partnerships Nick Smith said. “UFC prides itself on being innovators and Stake.com is a unique way for fans to experience the action and excitement of UFC.”
Stake’s public relationships manager Milan Jovancevic added: “All of us at Stake are massive UFC enthusiasts. We’re excited to partner with such a dominant brand to deliver a one-of-a-kind betting experience and accelerate our global expansion. We could not be more thrilled with all the unique possibilities this partnership unlocks for both Stake players and UFC fans.”
This agreement represents the latest step in UFC’s foray into the world of sports betting. DraftKings was last week named as the company’s first sportsbook and daily fantasy partner.
You can play a demo of this slot here!
| Game Type: | Slot |
| Go Live Date (expected): | Network release: Thursday 11th March 2021 |
| Game special features: | Disc Trigger Mechanism, Bouncing Mystery Feature, Hypermode Free Spins |
| Number of paylines: | 30 |
| Number of reels: | 6 |
| RTP% (recorded/theoretical): | 96.29% |
| Variance/volatility: | High |
| Number of symbols to trigger feature/bonus?: | Disc Trigger Mechanism |
| Can feature be retriggered?: | Yes |
| Number of free spins awarded?: | 20 seconds, can be retriggered for an additional 10 seconds. No limits to the amount of retriggers possible. |
| Stacked or expanding wilds in normal play?: | No |
| Stacked or expanding wilds in feature play?: | No |
| Number of jackpot tiers?: | N/A |
| Auto-play function?: |
The project will see the Entain Foundation, the operator’s not-for-profit affiliate, donate $250,000 (£180,600/€210,600) to Girls Who Code, a non-profit organisation working to close the gender gap in technology.
The funds will be used to support the Entain Foundation’s programmes aimed at bringing young women into the technology industry, with a particular focus on the UK, US, Canada and India.
The Entain Foundation will also provide a further AUD$50,000 (£27,700/€32,300/USD$38,200) in funding to the Tech Girls Movement Foundation in Australia, an organisation that challenges gender perceptions that limit girls’ participation science, technology engineering and mathematics through community and industry collaborations.
The launch of the new initiatives coincide with International Women’s Day, and also follow a host of women appointed to senior roles at Entain, including that of new chief executive Jette Nygaard-Andersen.
“One of the biggest impediments to career choices around the world continues to be cultural, based on preconceived notions of what society and young women themselves believe they can do,” Nygaard-Andersen said.
“That is why we are focusing on initiatives to support their education and build stronger pathways into technology-related careers.”
New Girls Who Code chief executive Tarika Barrett added: “This International Women’s Day, we’re excited to partner with the Entain Foundation to support young women around the world on their journey into the technical workforce.
“Our work together will help spur the creation of a fairer and more equitable workforce, helping more women of all backgrounds rise to the top and achieve their goals of working in tech.”
Tech Girls Movement founder and chief executive Jenine Beekhuyzen said: “The financial contribution from Entain Foundation will directly impact our ability to reach girls interested in technology across Australia, particularly in regional and remote areas.”
The new role will see Osborne take charge of Xace’s commercial sales and marketing strategies, as well as overseeing product development and customer experience.
Xace said it hopes the addition of Osborne can help facilitate further growth of the provider, which has plans to expand in Europe as the year progresses.
“I am delighted to welcome Annie to the team and for Xace to leverage her tremendous knowledge and experience not only of international payments but also of the global gambling industry as we continue to expand rapidly,” Xace chief executive David Hodkinson said.
“Xace provides a quality solution to a common problem that gaming companies across Europe encounter and this has seen us ride an incredible wave of growth in our first year. We now want to build on that and with Annie on board as CCO it will undoubtedly be another successful year for Xace.”
Osborne has more than a decade of experience within the payment industry, having previously worked for American Express and ACI.
“I’m delighted and immensely proud to be joining Xace at this stage of its growth,” Osborne said. “It is an incredibly exciting opportunity and I am looking forward to playing a part in its continued success as the business expands its reach across Europe over the coming months.
“Its product offering, especially to gaming businesses, has led Xace to become the account and payment provider of choice for a number of companies both in and out of the sector.
“Now is the time to rapidly scale up and I look forward to playing my part in continuing the impressive journey.”
The operator said the period marked its sixth year of consecutive growth, and that revenue grew more than 1.5 times more than the social casino market average of 24.4%.
During the period, it said, the mobile gaming market in general grew by 18%.
The operator celebrated 10 years in business, and saw its number of unique players surpass 150m in 2020.
KamaGames’ flagship title, Pokerist, remained the third largest social poker game globally, and was the leader in 12 countries. The game also rose to become the largest poker app by revenue on iOS in Spain, the operator said.
Its second largest product, Blackjackist, grew by more than 40% in revenue, more than half of which came from customers in the US. Blackjackist is currently the global leader among social blackjack games, KamaGames said.
Its Roulettist game also remained the largest social roulette game in the world throughout the period, and saw revenue growth of 70%.
The operator said a number of factors contributed to its success in 2020, including the cultivation of key partnerships, such as the launch of the Hard Rock Blackjack app in March.
KamaGames said other factors in its success included the launch of new poker and blackjack tournaments, the introduction of VIP benefits for some of its paying customers, a renewed focus on advertising monetisation and an emphasis on CRM and gaming activities.
In April, the operator revealed it had recorded record gross revenue of $29.3m (£23.7m/€27.0m) in the first quarter of 2020.
2019 saw the operator bring in $90.4m in revenue, with year-on-year growth recorded for each month of the year.
Revenue for the 12 months to 31 December amounted to $878.7m, down 49.9% from $1.76bn in the previous year, as the Nagaworld resort in Cambodia had to shut from April until July in line with national Covid-19 restrictions.
Traditional table games were by far the primary source of income for NagaCorp, accounting for $787.3m of total revenue in 2020. Revenue from electronic table games reached $82.4m, while hotel room, food and beverage and other revenue reached $9.1m.
However, the temporarily suspension of activities meant the cost of sales was lower at $451.7m, half the $909.2m recorded in the previous year. This left a gross profit of $427.0m, down 49.6% year-on-year.
Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) for the full year stood at $265.2m, helped by relatively normal operating activity in the first quarter, prior to Covid-19 measures coming into full effect.
Other operating expenses were 8.4% lower at $205.3m while administrative costs remained level at $61.1m. After accounting for $33.2m in financial costs, profit before tax was $132.1m, down 76.1% from 2019.
NagaCorp paid $29.8m in tax during the year, leaving $102.3m in total profit. After including an $894,000 loss from foreign exchange differences linked to operations overseas, the operator ended 2020 with $101.2m in overall profit, down 80.6% year-on-year.
Though NagaCorp experienced a significant drop in profit, the operator said that the success of the reopening of its flagship Nagaworld resort means the business should recover in the longer term.
“Since the re-opening of the casino businesses on 8 July, NagaCorp has recorded an initial recovery rate of about 95% for the mass market segment and about 69% for the VIP market segment,” NagaCorp said.
“The satisfactory recovery of the gaming business volumes and revenues was largely contributed by a reasonably sized expatriate community and to some extent, visitors from East Asia – mainly from China, South Korea and Taiwan – patronising NagaWorld in search of entertainment.
“Looking ahead, the company believes the rollout of vaccination, and eventually the anticipated gradual border reopening throughout Asia may most likely further improve the economy and tourism sector of Cambodia, which is expected to contribute positively to the group’s business.”
Image: Christophe95 via Wikimedia Commons
The 3×5 game field, 20-lines slot features Stacked Wilds and Nudge Wilds in the Free Spins mode. The Bonus game featuring Hold and Win mechanics can trigger one of four in-game Jackpots and x2 multiplier to the total winnings for a full grid of symbols.
You can play a demo of this slot here!
| Game Type: | Video Slot |
| Go Live Date (expected): | To be Announced |
| Game special features: | – Stacked Wild symbol – Stacked Wild Nudge symbol – Scatter symbol – Bonus symbol – Power symbol – Hold and Win Bonus Game – x2 Multiplier in Bonus Game – In-game Jackpots – Free Spins |
| Number of paylines: | 20 |
| Number of reels: | 5 |
| RTP% (recorded/theoretical): | 95.04% |
| Variance/volatility: | Medium-high |
| Number of symbols to trigger feature/bonus?: | Bonus game 6 Bonus symbols. Free Spins 3 Scatters. |
| Can feature be retriggered?: | No |
| Number of free spins awarded?: | 8 |
| Stacked or expanding wilds in normal play?: | Yes |
| Stacked or expanding wilds in feature play?: | Yes |
| Number of jackpot tiers?: | – |
| Auto-play function?: | Yes |
A division of luxury hospitality brand Wynn Resorts, the WynnBet mobile app will be made available to sports betting enthusiasts across the state.
The app boasts a user friendly interface social functionality built in, designed to appeal to a broad range of bettors.
“We appreciate the confidence the Virginia Lottery has in our ability to deliver a world-class, online betting experience for the people of the Commonwealth of Virginia,” Wynn Resorts’ president Craig Billings said.
