Month: March 2021

However, the operator must still pay fees before it can operate under the certification.

Parimatch’s approval for betting comes after it was granted an online gaming licence in February. Cosmolot operator Spaceiks have also been approved for an online gaming licence.

Even though the country’s Gambling Act became law in August, Ukraine’s legislature is still working on a bill to tax the industry.

Last week, the country’s Committee on Finance, Tax and Customs Policy approved bill 2713-d, put forward by committee chair Oleg Marusyak, after amending it to set a flat 10% rate for all forms of gambling.

“Work still remains to be done on reforming tax legislation before the Ukrainian market becomes attractive to foreign investors,” Parimatch managing partner Maksym Liashko said. “Taxation should be transparent and logical so that it doesn’t create additional obstacles for foreign investors.”

Liashko said that the current combination of taxes and licence fees was too high to create a workable environment

“At this stage, the cost of licenses for various types of gambling activities is so high that, together with taxation, it does not make investments in the nascent Ukrainian market attractive,” he said. “So Ukraine could lose the competition in terms of investment to other countries.

“Under favorable legal conditions, Ukraine could become a gaming hub for the Eastern Europe region. Like Malta and Manila, Ukraine now has the potential to become a center of expertise for gambling entertainment.”

The country’s gambling laws include a clause to block any Russian-owned gaming businesses, or those with Russian directors, from participating in the market. However, Parimatch had previously confirmed to iGB that it was confident this requirement would not be a concern.

Under the deal, EEG becomes the official esports tournament provider sponsor of the Patriots and Revolution, both of which are owned by Kraft.

EEG will use Patriots and Revolution marks to promote its esports tournaments on its Esports Gaming League (EGL) platform, as well as leverage player appearances, tickets, signage and digital media to promote events.

In addition, EEG will work with Kraft to create custom videos to promote events, with these to be featured in the teams’ digital marketing efforts spanning social media, email, mobile and online.

“The Patriots and Revolution have an enormous and loyal fan base’ our tournament platform will now sponsor two teams with large and passionate fans bases,” EEG chief executive Grant Johnson said.

Read the full story on iGB North America.

Under the deal, Playtech’s sports betting kiosk (SSBT) systems will be delivered through Novomatic ActionBook sports wagering kiosks across the US.

Novomatic ActionBook is currently active in 11 US states and counts the likes of DraftKings and Penn National among its clients in the country.

The partnership will also see Playtech and Novomatic Americas jointly market Playtech’s mobile sportsbook and player account management (PAM) software to prospective US customers.

The deal builds on a long-term partnership between Playtech and Novomatic, via which the two parties jointly operate more than 10,000 kiosks worldwide.

“This combined service will deliver a best-in-class experience and is a further example of Playtech’s ability to partner with leading companies and leverage its scale in the rapidly growing US market,” Playtech’s US managing director Jonathan Doubilet said.

Read the full story on iGB North America.

As part of its expansion strategy, the supplier has applied for a remote gambling software licence, which will enable the business to provide its suite of betting products to operators in the UK’s igaming market.

In addition, its wholly-owned subsidiary E.G.G. Ltd has applied for a remote betting licence, allowing it to deploy its B2C wagering platforms in the UK.

“The U.K. gambling licenses are widely regarded as the gold standard for lawful gaming operations and we are pleased to have formally submitted our application with the commission,” said Scott Burton, chief executive of FansUnite.

“The first step to our expansion in the U.K. is to obtain the relevant licenses from the country’s Gambling Commission, which will allow us to license our betting solutions as well as operate our B2C betting platforms in the United Kingdom.”

“By doing so, we will be in a position to advance our operations to capture market share in one of the most lucrative online betting markets in the world.”

The supplier was awarded a gaming service licence and critical gaming supply licence by the Malta Gaming Authority in December last year, allowing it to provide both its B2B and B2C products.

The B2B critical gaming supply licence was issued to Askott Entertainment, the white label solutions provider FansUnite acquired in August 2020, while the B2C gaming service licence was awarded to its E.G.G. Ltd subsidiary.

The agreement will allow DraftKings to offer in-game promotions, activations, in-broadcast odds integrations and UFC branding across its daily fantasy and betting products. 

It will also run a series of weekly free-to-play games, as well as enhanced prop bets and other sportsbook activations. This includes a $10,000 free-to-play pool, that will be accepting entries in the run-up to UFC 259 on 6 March. 

The operator also becomes the presenting partner of the UFC Fight Clock, the championship’s new proprietary timekeeping system. 

It displays on multiple screens at each event, to ensure players and fans have a view of time remaining in each round. The DraftKings-branded version will debut during the bout between Jan Blachowicz and Israel Adesanya at UFC 259 in Las Vegas this Saturday (6 March).

DraftKings’ branding will also appear on the Octagon canvas at select UFC events and in bouts held as part of Dana White’s Contender Series, which takes place in Las Vegas. 

Linear and digital broadcasts and pay-per-view fights, social media assets and programming on the competition’s streaming service UFC Fight Pass will carry its branding. 

“This is a massive deal that will benefit UFC, DraftKings, and most of all the fans,” UFC president Dana White said. 

Read the full story on iGB North America.

Overall revenue for the 12 months through to December 31 stood at $372.8m (£266.8m/€309.7m), down from $523.6m in the previous year, when it still used the Twin River brand name.

Revenue was down across all business segments as the temporary closure of its casinos due to novel coronavirus (Covid-19) restrictions in states across the US.

Gaming remained by far the operator’s primary source of income, but revenue fell 20.7% year-on-year to $291.7m, while racing revenue more than halved from $13.1m to $6.4m.

Closures meant hotel revenue fell by 36.7% to $24.7m, while food and beverage revenue declined 54.1% to $32.1m and other revenue 47.0% to $17.8m.

Read the full story on iGB North America.

The suit was filed by players who accused the platform of running an illegal gambling enterprise. It accused DraftKings and fellow daily fantasy operator FanDuel of using money deposited by new players to fund awards for experienced, high-volume players.

After arbitration in November 2019, the players and DraftKings decided to attempt to settle the case without FanDuel’s involvement. FanDuel’s part of the case therefore remains open.

Under the agreement reached, which still needs to be approved by US District Judge George A. O’Toole, DraftKings will create two settlement funds, one consisting of $7.28m in “DK dollars”, or site credit, for class members with open DraftKings accounts.

For players who closed their accounts, a $720,000 fund will be disbursed among anyone who made a first-time deposit on the site before January 1 2018 and is not a lifetime net winner with the operator.

In addition to the monetary settlements, DraftKings has agreed to implement a number of changes to its site for two years, including limiting players to one account, preventing prohibited platform employees from entering any public contest with an entry fee, and flagging all highly experienced players with a symbol attached to their usernames.

Read the full story on iGB North America.

In the latest convergence of broadcasting and betting in the US, the DraftKings app will be integrated on the Dish TV Hopper platform. Dish customers with an internet-connected Hopper receiver will be able to access the DraftKings app to view betting odds and fantasy contests. They can initiate bets or contest entries with DraftKings directly from their TV, then set recordings and watch the live sports that correspond with those bets or fantasy teams.

The two groups said the agreement also allows for subsequent DraftKings sportsbook and daily fantasy experiences with Dish Network’s Sling TV and Boost Mobile in the future.

“The integration with DraftKings is an exciting enhancement for our customers and a great addition to the growing Dish TV Hopper platform — a one-stop entertainment hub,” said Brian Neylon, Dish’s group president.

The partnership comes in the same week that sports-focused streaming platform FuboTV, a rival service to Dish’s Sling TV, completed its acquisition of sportsbook operator Vigtory as it accelerates towards the launch of its own Fubo Sportsbook.

Read the full story on iGB North America.

The London-headquartered technology supplier said it will now target the expansion of its sports betting enterprise in the US’s most established state for gambling through the PlaySports solution, which is now live in 16 US states.

IGT initiated the required Nevada field trial process for its PlaySports technology at Boyd Gaming properties in August 2020 and is currently powering Boyd Gaming’s entire sports betting enterprise in the state.

PlaySports has processed almost two billion bets globally since it was launched more than a decade ago, powering operators in Europe, Latin America and Asia, including customers such as OPAP and Lottomatica.

Read the full story on iGB North America.

Bacta has instructed legal firm DWF Law to challenge the thinking behind the delayed reopening, it said.

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson recently set out the nation’s plan for easing lockdown measures.

This will see non-essential retail including betting shops reopen from 12 April. AGCs, alongside bingo halls and casinos, are to follow from 17 May.

In a letter addressed to the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, Oliver Dowden, DWF Law said: “Bacta had hoped it would not need to subject the decision to legal scrutiny and/or challenge, but it simply cannot ignore the decision’s discriminatory impact and the long term hit to the AGC industry which would flow from it.”

DWF claimed the decision to delay the opening of AGCs is irrational, as they have proven themselves to be able to operate safely, with no reports of infections arising from the use of the premises and usually having few customers present at any one time.

It went on to claim the government was discriminating against AGCs, as licensed betting offices (LBOs) are to be allowed to reopen earlier.

“Our client has never been told any good reason why the disparity of treatment between LBOs and AGCs exists,” the law firm said. “It therefore remains plain that the disparity is not based on any good evidence justifying it.

John White, chief executive of Bacta, said the trade body would do everything to focus attention on the unfair – and potentially illegal – treatment of AGCs in the reopening roadmap.

“The decision to prevent this one venue on the High Street from opening with all other retailers is not only discriminatory, evidence for it is absent and it lacks any logic,” he said.

England entered into its third period of national lockdown in January, forcing all gaming venues to close once again. This followed earlier lockdowns, from March 2020, then again from November.