Month: April 2021

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The effect of the £2 stake limit imposed on B2 gaming machines at the start of April 2019 was immediate and dramatic.

Gaming machine revenue for the year to March 2020, as tracked by the UK Gambling Commission, tumbled by 41% to £1.075bn, while betting revenue fell in sympathy, dropping to £1.28bn or 5.2% down on the previous year.

Combined, retail shop GGY fell to a new low of £2.36bn, or 26% down on the B2-driven high of £3.22bn in 2017.

For the public, the most visible sign of the downturn was in shop visibility. From a peak in 2014 of more than 9,100 shops, by March 2020 that number had fallen by almost 16% to 7,861. It will shrink further once the data is collected for the year to this March following the effect of the pandemic lockdowns. 

The latest data from the listed operators shows the extent of the impact, with the retail operations of both William Hill and Entain tipping into operational losses for 2020. Net revenue at William Hill plunged 50%, Entain suffered a 4% decline and the Flutter-owned Paddy Power was down 28%.

The future is unsurprisingly less than obvious. The complicating factor of the sale of William Hill to Caesars Entertainment confuses matters even more, with the future of its retail estate yet to be decided. Still, sector watchers are confident that once the UK betting shop estate reopens for business in the spring/summer, consumers will return. 

However, long-standing trends towards different products – football and SSBTs in particular – could be exacerbated, while the extent to which B2 play has disappeared is yet to be fully played out. 

What is certain is that the UK retail betting estate will have shrunk or as many have suggested, been right-sized. The question then turns to whether this smaller cohort of shops can manage to hold its own in a UK high street that is suffering from historic changes in consumer behaviour.

Entain last week announced that it had completed its acquisition of the operator, with 94.2% of the shares and votes in Enlabs backing the deal.

During the extended acceptance period that expired on 1 April, the offer was accepted by a further 1.7% of Enlabs shareholders, thus increasing Entain’s overall holding to 95.9%.

Settlement of shares tendered during the extended acceptance period is due to occur on or around 13 April, with Entain confirming that it will not extend the acceptance period further.

Entain also acquired all warrants to purchase shares that Enlabs had issued, but not any shares or financial instruments that give a financial exposure to Enlabs shares outside the offer.

In relation to this, Entain has initiated a compulsory acquisition proceeding in respect of the remaining Enlabs shares it had not yet purchased.

Entain set out to acquire Enlabs in January with an offer of £250m (€290.3m/$344.9m), but this was later increased to £314.6m after Entain raised its acquisition share offer from SEK40 (£3.36/€3.91/$4.64) to SEK53 per share.

Bengtsson has been CEO of William Hill since September of 2019, having initially joined the bookmaker as chief digital officer in April 2018.

Prior to this, he was president, chairman and chief executive of Betsson Group, and also spent time as CEO of the emerging markets pay-TV business at Modern Times Group.

Raketech’s nomination committee proposed appointing Bengtsson as chairman, and should this be approved, the appointment would come into effect from the affiliate’s annual general meeting on May 17.

“With his profound knowledge, connections and experience from the global scene of igaming combined with first-hand experience from large scale international transactions, Mr Bengtsson is perfect for the job to further accelerate our growth,” Raketech nomination committee chairman Tobias Persson Rosenqvist said.

Rosenqvist also paid tribute to the outgoing Lundberg, who has served as chair of Raketech since 2017.

“I wish to express my warmest thanks to Mr Lundberg for his hard work with regards to creating a well-balanced mix between entrepreneurial creativity and well-functioning governance and structure,” Rosenqvist said.

Lundberg added: “When I was appointed as chairman, I had a clear mission. This was to lead the work with creating structure and processes to ensure Raketech would successfully be able to operate in a listed environment, on Stockholm Nasdaq First North.

“Looking back, I am proud and happy to be able to conclude that Raketech now is a stable listed company with a strong and confident management in place, guided by a clear strategy. My mission is thereby done, and it is time for me to hand over to someone else who can take Raketech to the next level.”

Raketech’s nomination committee also proposed the re-election of Fredrik Svederman, Annika Billberg, Johan Svensson and Erik Skarp, as well as the new appointment of Magnus Gottås.

The committee’s complete proposal will be presented at the annual general meeting next month.

In February, Raketech said the impact of its acquisitions during the past year helped to drive revenue up 23.0% year-on-year in its 2020 financial year.

The bill was introduced in February by six state representatives and two senators. 

Under the bill, Wyoming’s Gambling Commission will regulate betting, with licenses available to vendors operating in at least three US jurisdictions.

Initial sports betting operator permits would cost $100,000 and remain valid for five years, after which licensees would need to pay a renewal fee of $50,000.

Read the full story on iGB North America

Senate Bill 1352 was introduced by Senator Louis Luchini and calls for authorization of a sports wagering license for the state under the Department of Public Safety Gambling Control Unit.

Sports betting licensees must be either a commercial racetrack, an off-track betting facility, a slot machine or casino operator or a federally recognised tribe. Each operator may receive one licence, with the fee set at $20,000.

Read the full story on iGB North America.

While this figure is still shy of the $1.7m posted in January, it is a 40.9% increase compared to March 2020.

Though revenue increased, Delaware saw a handle decrease for a second consecutive month; the figure posted was $6.7m which represents an 8.8% decrease from February and a 42.8% decrease from January.

Read the full story on iGB North America.

MaximBet will offer users sports betting and casino services under MaximBet.com, both on its website and on iOS and Android apps. Bettors will be able to bet on casino and sports in the US and internationally.

Carousel will support Maxim’s print, digital and experiential platforms throughout the partnership.

Read the full story on iGB North America.

Kemp joined the Tote Group in 2019, having previously worked for Coral, first as gaming director, serving through both its merger with Ladbrokes and its acquisition by GVC Holdings, taking on new roles with the new post-merger business each time. 

“The Boylesports CEO role provides an excellent opportunity to lead an already strong, well-performing business, with its own technology and very experienced teams,” Kemp said. “I look forward to working with those teams to further grow BoyleSports across both the digital and retail channels, targeting market share growth in existing markets while continuing to seek out new ones”

Kemp’s accomplishments at the UK Tote Group include agreeing a seven-year strategic agreement with Tote Ireland last year. Under this deal, the UK Tote Group will operate Tote Ireland’s off-course business and the two organisations will work together to jointly distribute and promote Tote betting on Irish and British racing around the world.

“I am delighted to welcome Mark to BoyleSports,” John Boyle, the operator’s founder and chairman, said. “He brings with him a wealth of senior leadership experience in the sector at a time when BoyleSports is increasingly looking for expansion opportunities internationally. 

Boyle added that Kemp’s work in the online betting sector was a particularly important factor in his selection.

“There are few people within the industry with Mark’s digital leadership expertise, which is a critical channel of growth for BoyleSports.”

Gray joined BoyleSports in 2013, handling the operator’s international business development. He became chief executive in 2017, succeeding Boyle.

In his new role, Gray will work on the “continued expansion of BoyleSports in Ireland, the UK and further afield”.

“I would like to thank Conor Gray for his invaluable contribution to the growth of BoyleSports,” Boyle said. “In his five years at the helm of our company he has added 150 shops to our retail network and has grown our digital business by more than 100%. 

“This restructuring will allow Conor to seek out and realise new opportunities for BoyleSports across the globe.”

The breach of the Tennis Anti-Corruption Programme (TACP) that Palcatova was found guilty of states that no person shall contrive or attempt to contrive the outcome or any other aspect of any tennis event.

The sanction means she will be prohibited from playing in or attending any tennis event authorised or sanctioned by the governing bodies of tennis for the period of the suspension, including the WTA and ITF.

Palcatova has a current International Tennis Federation (ITF) singles ranking of 1685, and a doubles ranking of 1046.

In addition to her 3-year ban from the sport, she was ordered to pay a fine of $5,000 (£3,612/€4,232), with $3,500 of this suspended.

Palcatova’s is the latest in a series of sanctions brought forward against tennis players found to be in breach of the TACP throughout 2021.

Early January saw a trio of players, from Egypt, Slovakia and Uzbekistan, banned for offences related to sports betting and match-fixing.

Two Russian players were subsequently banned for match-fixing, including in matches which saw the pair play as doubles partners.

Another Russian player, Nikita Gudozhnikov, was then issued with a 30-month ban in February for failure to co-operate with an integrity investigation.

In March, lifetime bans were brought forward against Nigerian players Abiodun Oyegoke and Bukola Popoola, after both were found to be guilty of match-fixing offences.

Then last week, Venezuelan player Roberto Maytín was issued with a 14-year ban by the ITIA, following multiple breaches of the TACP rules.

Under the agreements, FanDuel will become an official gaming partner of both teams, with its sportsbook to benefit from branding placement on a range of surface inside the Tigers’ Comerica Park and the Red Wings’ Little Caesars Arena.

In addition, the FanDuel sportsbook will be promoted across the Detroit Tigers and Detroit Red Wings radio networks in Michigan.

MotorCity Casino is also an official partner of both the Tigers and Red Wings.

FanDuel has been working with MotorCity Casino in Michigan for more than one year, with the operators having jointly launched their land-based sportsbook in March 2020.

Earlier this year, FanDuel and MotorCity Casino also rolled out a new online sportsbook and casino offering, with the state having opened its legal internet gambling market on January 22.

Read the full story on iGB North America.