Month: May 2021

Casino revenue was down by 9.6%, but it was still the biggest contributor to the total, drawing in $516.2m. Rooms generated $76.1m, food and drink added $68.5m, while entertainment, retail and other revenues came to $64.9m.

Read the full story on iGB North America.

The hearing was initially set to be heard before the Insolvency List within the Business and Property Courts of England and Wales. In the hearing, administrators hoped to receive clarity on how the contents of a £4.5m trust account may be distributed.

The administrators said that the best course of action was not completely clear as there was a question of how to deal with bets that were active when the operator collapsed.

While claims of money held in customer accounts came to £3.2m, the administrators said further payments may be required in dividends – winnings when a player “bought” through the platform makes an achievement such as scoring a goal. However, if all of these payments were made up to 22 April or beyond, the account would go into default and no customers could receive the full value they had lost.

As a result, administrators put it to the court to determine the date dividends must be paid until. They did recommend 26 March, when the administration proceedings began, however.

This would leave a surplus of £1.0m in the account, suggesting dividends worth around £250,000 would be paid out.

However, iGB understands that this hearing has now been moved to a more senior judge, now being heard before the High Court. A date for the hearing has not yet been selected, with the next steps involving administrators and others involved setting out a date for the determination.

The delay caused by the change of court comes despite the administrator calling for the case to be heard “as soon as possible”, both because of stress for customers who had lost money and because those involved hoped to see the platform relaunch for the 2021-22 football season, which starts in August.

Football Index went into administration in March, soon after a dividend change it said was necessary to keep the business afloat. As it entered administration, its license was suspended by the GB Gambling Commission. The government has since announced plans to open an inquiry into the platform’s collapse.

The regulator later revealed that the business had been under review for almost a year but said there was no grounds to suspend its licence at this time. It argued that the move could have worsened the business’ financial struggles, and therefore put more customer funds at risk.

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Game Type:	Video Slot
Go Live Date (expected):	Out Now
Game special features:	Free Spins, Bonus Game, Boost Bet
Number of paylines:	30
Number of reels:	5×4
RTP% (recorded/theoretical):	95.77%
Variance/volatility:	Medium
Number of symbols to trigger feature/bonus?:	3
Can feature be retriggered?:	N/A
Number of free spins awarded?:	15
Stacked or expanding wilds in normal play?:	Single Wilds
Stacked or expanding wilds in feature play?:	Single Wilds
Number of jackpot tiers?:	N/A
Auto-play function?:	Yes

If you are able to find 3 or more telephones, you get free spins for big prizes. You
can also collect balls of wool – the more you collect, the bigger your final prize.

Go Live Date (expected):	May 21st
Game special features:	Cascading function
Number of paylines:	243
Number of reel:	5
RTP% (recorded/theoretical):	96,06%
Variance/volatility:	Low
Number of symbols to trigger feature/bonus?:	3
Can feature be retriggered?:	yes
Number of free spins awarded?:	10
Stacked or expanding wilds in normal play?:	No
Stacked or expanding wilds in feature play?:	No
Number of jackpot tiers?:	0
Auto-play function?:	Yes

The regulator said that especially now that the opening of the legal online gambling market is imminent, it is alert to illegal operators and advertisers who “want to make a quick move.”

In its previous round of action against affiliates, the KSA said it examined 44 websites, which were reported upon and sanctions were subsequently imposed.

Of the websites examined, 26 were found to be promoting online gambling and were forced to remove the adverts, with 20 removing them immediately, 3 upon warnings from the KSA that a penalty may be applied, while 3 were subject to further investigation.

Advertising online gambling remains illegal in the Netherlands until the country’s online market opens on 1 October.

In January, the regulator issued €600,000 in illegal gambling fines to a Curacao-licensed operator which was found to be offering online gambling products to customers in the Netherlands.

The Remote Gambling Act which allows the activity came into effect on 1 April this year, after several delays saw the launch of the market pushed back to 1 October from its planned date of 1 January.

In March, the KSA said it expects to receive around 40 licence applications and approve around 35 licences for online gambling. As of last month, it has received 28.

The combined company is estimated to have a post-transaction value of $3.2bn (£22.6bn/€26.3bn), a total 4.5 times the revenue projected by Wynn Interactive by 2023. Austerlitz will help fund the business with the $640m in cash that it currently holds.

Post-closing, the combined company will act under Wynn Interactive and will list its shares on the stock exchange under the ticker symbol WBET.

Read more of iGB North America.

The pair previously worked together at the PGCB, developing the licensing regulatory structure for Pennsylvania, which has grown into the second largest commercial gaming market in the US. 

They are now targeting domestic and international clients with Hensel Grad, providing gaming-related services across the country to operators, manufacturers, suppliers, investors, start-ups and others seeking to participate in the industry. 

In addition, the firm aims to act as a consultant for other jurisdictions in the US and beyond that are developing gambling regulations. 

iGB columnist Hensel is an experienced industry regulator, and was the PGCB’s first employee in 2005, and its first director of licensing, overseeing the certification of more than 100,000 individuals and businesses. She stepped down from her role at the regulator in April this year.

Her tenure with the regulator spanned a period that saw the market evolve from one in which slots were the only legal product, to one in which multiple products, verticals and channels are legal. She was also named one of iGB’s Most Influential Women in Gaming in 2020.

Her co-founder Grad previously ran is own legal practice, providing services in gaming, corporate and healthcare to a range of clients. He represented a host of different clients through his gaming practice, and has advised state gaming authorities, most recently serving on Colorado’s Sports Betting Working Group.

He was also one of the first attorneys hired by the PGCB, working there between 2005 and 2010. He served as its assistant chief counsel, and special counsel for corporate finance and governance.

“We believe the time is right for a law firm with a solid understanding of how US gaming regulation is created, implemented and enforced,” Hensel explained.

“[We] have the knowledge, experience and relationships necessary to serve all of a client’s regulatory needs and believe a boutique law firm is the ideal platform from which to deliver the highest quality gaming law services to clients.” 

Grad added that the firm would focus on advising new and recent entrants to the US market, whether they are foreign entities, early-stag US companies or state bodies tasked with overseeing the development of new verticals. 

“[From] a client’s decision to enter a jurisdiction to post-licensing compliance and at all points in between, we will be their partner in navigating the US gaming landscape,” he said. 

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Game Type:	Video Slot (Megaways)
Go Live Date (expected):	19th May 2021
Game special features:	Megaways, Playerselect, Free Spins, Multiplier Modifiers, Wild Modifiers
Number of paylines:	117,649
Number of reels:	6
RTP% (recorded/theoretical):	96.70% (Puma) – 96.72% (Lion)
Variance/volatility:	High
Number of symbols to trigger feature/bonus?:	3
Can feature be retriggered?:	Yes
Number of free spins awarded?:	8 (Lion) or 15 (Puma)
Stacked or expanding wilds in normal play?:	Expanding
Stacked or expanding wilds in feature play?:	Expanding
Number of jackpot tiers?:	N/A
Auto-play function?:	Yes

Magic Services has been operating the Bet8.eu and Bet8.gr websites under a B2C gaming service licence issued by the MGA.

However, the regulator said Magic Services breached Regulation 3 of the Gaming Licence Fees Regulations by failing to pay its annual licence fee for the period from 1 August 2020 to 31 July 2021.

According to the MGA, this licence fee amounted to €71,035.54 (£61,079.77/$86,211.50).

The MGA said Magic Services will have 20 days from 10 May to show in writing as to why its licence should not be cancelled and also ordered Magic Services to pay the outstanding licencing fee.

Should Magic Services fail to respond accordingly, the MGA will proceed with cancelling the licence.

The ruling comes after an MGA source last month revealed to iGB that the regulator is set to announce Ryan Pace as its new chairperson after he was recommended to the role by the country’s Public Appointments Committee.

Lawyer Pace was deputy chairperson of the MGA throughout the past year and also took on the functions and responsibilities of chairperson when Heathcliff Farrugia stepped down in October. 

Over the past couple of years, speculation has been rife about potential bidders for the UK’s fourth National Lottery licence, with everyone from Richard Branson to Tabcorp reported to be mulling a bid.

But despite the large number of names being thrown about – some of which were likely nothing more than unsubstantiated rumours – the latest company to officially throw its hat in the ring seems to have taken most by surprise.

The news last month that Italian lottery operator Sisal was in the running was likely not a welcome surprise for Sazka in particular, which until that point had seemed the most formidable rival to incumbent Camelot.

The Czech operator went up against Sisal for tenders for Turkey’s national lottery Milli Piyango and Italy’s SuperEnalotto, with Sisal awarded the tender on both occasions.

Indeed, Sisal has made much of its success in winning all three of the tenders it has bid for since beginning its international expansion drive, the third being Morocco’s Société de Gestion de la Loterie Nationale.

It’s something that Camilla Folladori, international business development director at Sisal, puts down to the “passion that we put in bidding”. 

“It’s a process that involves the entire team. It’s not just a few people. We set up, of course, a war room but there is an overarching effort of the entire group. There is a vast number of persons that are involved in creating the best possible bid,” she says. 

“And I think it’s something that is shown by having won the last three bids against the most important competitors in the world, and to name a few, some of them are still into this bid for the UK National Lottery.”

In it since the ‘very beginning’

Given the deadline for expressing initial interest has long passed, it’s clear Sisal did not come out of nowhere but rather has been in the frame for some time. 

“We were interested in the bid since the very beginning,” says Folladori. “We started discussing the National Lottery with the Gambling Commission back in 2019, when they started contacting the industry to receive feedback. So since the very onset, Sisal was in the process.”

She says its recent decision to go public was down to its inking of a partnership with Barnardo’s more than anything else.

While Sazka has set its stall by hiring a series of well-known business names to assist with its UK bid, including the driving force behind London’s 2012 Olympics Sir Keith Mills, Sisal has teamed up with the children’s charity.

From one perspective, a children’s charity might seem an odd choice for a gambling company, particularly given the recent criticism Camelot has faced over sales to under-18s and the general sentiment in the UK around gambling and gaming activity among children.

But Folladori says Sisal takes a different view on it. “We think in fact it’s a great opportunity to have a charity that is against any kind of exploitation of children,” she says. 

She adds that its UK knowledge was another big part of the attraction. “A charity such as Barnardo’s, which has more than 150 years of UK history, was to us the perfect match because of their knowledge of the UK, their recognition among UK customers and stakeholders, their experience also in the retail environment and their ability to give us more understanding of what the good causes really need.”

Keeping everyone happy

Indeed, the retail environment could be a key battleground in the bid for the fourth licence. While Camelot has done particularly well in increasing digital sales in recent years and the bidders’ online capabilities are certain to be under scrutiny by the Gambling Commission, the ability to keep retailers onside while growing digital sales is going to be equally, if not more, important given the dominance of retail in the lottery vertical.

In this respect, Sisal might have something of an edge. In a move that just happened to coincide with the onset of the pandemic, it last year introduced a revenue share affiliation scheme for retailers that signed up online players. It was hugely successful for the operator, increasing the number of online accounts opened in retail shops by 150% and the revenues coming from customers opening online accounts in retail by 300%.

Though bidders are forbidden from discussing the details of their bids and so Folladori is unable to say whether or not the company would introduce such as scheme in the UK  – Camelot does not currently operate anything similar – she says: “For sure the Italian experience has been very, very successful. 

“It’s in the end a win-win partnership with the retailers, because it prevents the retailer from being worried that he or she will lose the customer. But rather it enables us, especially in difficult moments as Covid was, to give them an additional source of revenue.” 

Either way, she’s clear the relationship between retail and online is a key area of focus. “No doubt the retail channel is key in granting access to customers, but it’s not just a matter of granting access to customers. We operate in Italy an extremely large retail network, basically the same size as the one in the UK. We have, again, in Morocco and in Turkey, important retail networks. And we do combine also the online very successfully. 

“We think that more and more in any jurisdiction, retail and online will need to go hand in hand. But we do see how important retail will continue to be in the hearts and minds of specific clusters of customers, whereas other types of customers will be willing to have more blurring, an omnichannel experience that will enable them to move from one channel to another one.”

Regaining relevance

While the specifics of Sisal’s bid cannot be disclosed, Folladori is keen to elaborate on its overarching aim. “We want to place a very ambitious and bold bid to be able to physically create the right conditions for the National Lottery to go back to what it used to be in terms of relevance to customers, in terms of brand image, in terms of the link between customers and good causes, which has been a bit rusty over these last years.”

She believes the National Lottery is yet to fully recover from the overhauls of the main lottery game – first doubling the ticket price in 2013, then adding 10 balls to the mix in 2015. “Unfortunately, over the years, the National Lottery has lost its shine among customers,” she says. “If you look, for example, at what happened when they touched their most iconic product, they lost more than three or four million customers. So more than anything else, I think that what should be done is to regain relevance among customers.”

She concedes that tinkering with longstanding products is always difficult, but believes it is possible to do so without losing customer interest. “Touching an iconic product, it’s always very tricky. We did it with SuperEnalotto back in 2016. That was very successful, the turnover was 60% up versus 2015. And if you look at 2019 versus 2015, it was plus 80% up. 

“But of course it required a lot of study, of analysis, and a 360-degree approach to avoid putting at risk such an iconic product. So we do understand how important and challenging it can be to touch a product. And if you don’t do it in the right way, unfortunately customers can be very punitive.”

In terms of making other additions or changes to the product offering of the National Lottery, Folladori is restricted from commenting too specifically. “I cannot answer in detail what we will offer for the National Lottery,” she says. “But what I could tell you is that for us, responsible gambling is the most important priority, which goes well beyond any other concern. So you can think about it as that if it’s a safe gambling approach, then the rest can follow. If it’s not, we prefer not to go into that area.”

While Sisal hasn’t been able to give away much about its plans for the National Lottery if successful, it has emphasised repeatedly since the announcement a focus on responsible gambling, having clearly judged the prevailing sentiment in the UK market.

Whether or not this and its successful track record in international expansion can help it unseat Camelot from its uninterrupted reign as the UK’s National Lottery operator remains to be seen. 

But one thing’s for sure: the battle has turned into a much more competitive race than it looked likely to be even just a year ago. Asked who Sisal views as its fiercest competitor, Folladori says: “We never underestimate any competitor. But we focus on our own capabilities.”