Month: May 2021

Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed but Sportradar said it expects to complete the deal before the end of the second quarter, subject to regulatory approvals.

InteractSport’s range of solutions includes a suite of digital sports management platforms with competition management capabilities, electronic scoring, registration management and fan-friendly web and mobile applications.

The provider also offers a data collection tool for cricket and an automated live streaming and in-game production and management solution for cricket called ‘FrogBox’.

InteractSport currently partners with major cricket bodies such as Cricket Australia and the England & Wales Cricket Board, as well as other established organisations including Netball Australia and Football Australia.

Sportradar said that by combining its commercialisation and distribution framework with InteractSport’s products, content creation capabilities and subject matter expertise, this will unlock significant growth within regional and global markets for its customers.

“This acquisition provides Sportradar with the opportunity to widen its data and content offering,” Sportradar Group chief executive Carsten Koerl said.

“With cricket being one of the most popular sports in the world, we see this as a growth opportunity for the company, especially given the significance of the sport in the Asian region.

InteractSport chief executive Sam Taylor added: “InteractSport has always been driven by innovation and delivering cutting edge solutions that benefit sports organisations and their fans.  

“Aligning with Sportradar is a natural step in achieving our company vision – it enables us to scale our operation to develop exciting new products, reach new markets and deliver even greater benefit to our current and future customers.”

The deal represents Sportradar’s third acquisition agreement to date in 2021, with deals also in place to purchase US-focused automated sports technology solutions and data and video analytics provider Synergy Sports and marketing personalisation platform Fresh Eight.

Gamcare’s user data also revealed that 20% of under-18s that contacted its services had concerns for family or friends, while 8.5% were considered “at risk” of irresponsible gambling.

Additionally, 77% of under-18s that accessed Gamcare support services gambled online with esports skin betting a paritcuarly popular channel.

In total, 353 young people contact GamCare in the past year.

To address this, Gamcare has launched BigDeal, a website where young people can find support if they are concerned about their gambling habits or the gambling habits of others.

The site also offers sources for parents and those that work with young people, such as teachers and social workers.

“Since lockdown, we’ve not only heard stories from our helpline that reveal young people are increasingly experiencing more parental gambling but there is also rising concern for potential harms to young people who gamble themselves.” said Anna Hemmings, CEO of Gamcare.

“That’s why we hope Big Deal will be a resource that speaks to young people in plain terms on the core issues related to gambling, the harms they could encounter, plus how they can get further support from our helpline.”

As the data range involves under-18s, Gamcare is also calling for mandatory gambling education in the UK school curriculum.

Last year Gamcare partnered with gambling-blocking software provider Gamban to provide self-exclusion software for free.

Gaming revenue was the biggest contributor to the total figure, drawing in $152.9m, which is more than double the $75.8m gaming brought in last year.

Read the full story on iGB North America.

Growth in its lottery, digital and social gaming segments helped offset a drop in gaming machine sales over the three months to March 31, with group revenue up 0.6% to $729m.

Revenue from services came to $463m, up 7.9%, with instant products’ contribution growing 20.0% to $162m. Revenue from product sales, however, fell 38.1% to $104m.

Breaking down revenue by company segment, the SG Lottery division became the largest source contributor to group revenue. Revenue was up 17.0% to $248m, with most of this growth coming from the US.

Read the full story on iGB North America

Olga Bajela, CCO of Stakelogic, said: “Super Wild Blaster is a gripping slot that builds anticipation with every spin. Players will be captivated as Wilds land, expand and multiply to deliver truly staggering wins.”

You can play a demo of the slot here!

Game Type:	Spinning Reels
Go Live Date (expected):	27th April
Game special features:	– Wild Multiplier Feature – Gamble Feature
Number of paylines:	10
Number of reels:	5 reels 3 rows
RTP% (recorded/theoretical):	95.89%
Variance/volatility:	3
Number of symbols to trigger feature/bonus?:	Any winning combination that includes a WILD on the associated reel starts the WILD MULTIPLIER feature
Can feature be retriggered?:	N/a
Number of free spins awarded?:	N/a
Stacked or expanding wilds in normal play?:	N/a
Stacked or expanding wilds in feature play?:	Yes
Number of jackpot tiers?:	No
Auto-play function?:	yes

You can play a demo of this slot here!

Go Live Date (expected):	Out Now!
Game special features:	What’s great about this game is that it mirrors the greatness of the character who inspired it. Genghis’s Reel is a 5×3 slot with 10 winning lines enriched with countless functions that keep the player hooked. At every play Wild, Expanding Wild, Free Spin and Multipliers can appear to deliver endless rewards. First of all, in this slot there’s not just the classic Wild symbol, but also the chance to expand it, making the whole reel function as a Wild. There’s then the chance to win up to 7 Free Spins, but the surprises are not over. Because if during the Free Spin the Wild symbol appears on the first reel two additional symbols in any position will be turned into Wild. To add even more emotions, in the end there’s multipliers that can increase the winning x2 or x4 and the distinctive trait is that the symbols of the winning line, after paying, are cut in half, leaving their spot to others that can compose new combinations to gain additional prizes
Number of paylines:	10
Number of reels:	5
RTP% (recorded/theoretical):	94,15%
Variance/volatility:	1
Number of symbols to trigger feature/bonus?:	N/A
Can feature be retriggered?:	no
Number of free spins awarded?:	3 = 3 free spin 4= 5 free spin 5=7 free spin
Stacked or expanding wilds in normal play?:	The wild becomes expanding when the submarine is above the wild symboand transforms it into expanding
Stacked or expanding wilds in feature play?:	if wild appears on the first wheel, two other symbols are randomly transformed into wild
Number of jackpot tiers?:	1
Auto-play function?:	yes
Other features:	1 symbol multiplies the win x2, 2 symbols multiply the win x4, 3 symbols multiply the win x8, Respin starts automatically and is activated in case of winnings on one or more bet lines. With an unlimited number of respin in succession. During respin the game replaces all symbols composing the winning combinations with the symbols that are adjacent. Respin is played with the same bet it has been activated, All symbols pay from leftmost to right or vice versa. Highest win only on each selected paylina is paid.

You can play a demo of this slot here!

Go Live Date (expected):	May 27, 2021
Game special features:	Gigablox – are reels of colossal symbols. Each round at least 1 gigablox reel appears. Gigablox sizes go all the way up to 4×4. MULTIPLIER WILDS FREE SPINS – Free spins are triggered by landing at least 5 Free Spins Symbols. The number of spins equals the number of symbols. Landing additional FS symbols during the session awards 1 spin for every symbol. During the whole session X2 and x3 Multipliers are added to the reels. GOLDEN GATOR SUPER HIGH PAY SYMBOL – A premium symbol that pays from 2-of-a-kind
Number of paylines:	4096
Number of reels:	6
RTP% (recorded/theoretical):	96%
Variance/volatility:	High
Number of symbols to trigger feature/bonus?:	5 to trigger free spins
Can feature be retriggered?:	No
Number of free spins awarded?:	5 and 1 more for each additional symbol
Stacked or expanding wilds in normal play?:	Yes
Stacked or expanding wilds in feature play?:	Yes
Number of jackpot tiers?:	None
Auto-play function?:	Yes
Other features:	Gigablox mechanic

You can play a demo of this slot here!

Game Type:	Video Slot
Go Live Date (expected):	20 May 2021
Top 3 Target Regions:	Germany, Europe, CIS
Game Features
Number of Paylines:	10,10
Number of Reels:	5,5
RTP% (recorded/theoretical):	95.49%
Variance/Volatility:	High
Number of Symbols to trigger feature/bonus?:	3
Can feature be retriggered?:	No
Number of Free Spins awarded?:	10,20
Stacked or Expanding Wilds in Normal Play?:	No
Stacked or Expanding Wilds in Feature Play?:	No
Number of Jackpot Tiers?:	–
Auto-Play Function?:	Yes

The Covid-19 pandemic forced retail venues across the country to close last year.

A phased re-opening began in July last year after the government initially eased coronavirus restrictions. However, operators were forced to close again, first in regional restrictions then in a new national lockdown as 2021 began.

In Feburary, the British government published its roadmap out of lockdown for England, with betting shops set to reopen on 12 April and casinos and bingo halls given a provisional date of no later than 17 May.

iGB now understands that this reopening date has been confirmed by the government, with operators officially receiving word that they can open venues from next week.

As for Scotland, the Betting and Gaming Council were initially critical as plans appeared to delay the reopening of casinos until later than indoor pubs and restaurants. However, casinos will now open on 17 May as well.

One operator that has announced its plans to re-open on the 17 May is Rank Group’s Mecca Bingo, which is celebrating its diamond anniversary, having opened its first venue in London in 1961.

John Dyson, national operations director at Mecca Bingo, said: “We’re expecting this to be the year of bingo, and we’re coming back in style. People are going to expect a lot more from their leisure spend and are keen to find new social experiences that are value for money and packed with entertainment. 

“Bingo ticks every box and we expect to see high demand from a new audience who want to have some fun in a safe, spacious and welcoming environment. As such we’ve really ramped up plans to evolve the bingo experience in ways that will appeal to a new audience.”

The bill sets out the tax structure for online slots and poker under the country’s new State Treaty on Gambling (Glücksspielneuregulierungstaatsvetrag). The new regulatory model is set to come into force on 1 July, after it was ratified by all 16 federal states.

It was drafted by the Bundesrat, the body representing the German states at the federal level, and must be approved by the Bundestag before it can be implemented.

But the proposal for a 5.3% tax on turnover for both slots and poker has proved controversial, as it is seen by the gambling industry as prohibitively high. Many experts have warned it is likely to leave licensed operators at a disadvantage when competing against offshore operators, especially when they are subject to other restrictions such as caps on slot stakes and spin speeds, and a €1,000 monthly deposit cap.

Criticism has come from multiple sources. In January, when the Bundesrat was still considering an 8% tax on slot turnover, a report from leading economist Dr Justus Haucap and the Düsseldorf Institute for Competition Economics (DICE) warned the tax could doom Germany’s new regulatory structure by making regulated gaming unviable.

Instead of a turnover tax, the report concluded, tax should be based on gross revenue, and set between 15% and 20%, which would be roughly in line with tax rates in the rest of Europe.

Similarly, a report from Goldmedia – commissioned by Entain, Flutter and Greentube – warned that half of all German slots players may end up playing with unregulated sites if turnover is taxed at 5.3%.

The European Gaming and Betting Association (EGBA), meanwhile, went a step further, arguing that the tax rate is not only worryingly high, but that by taxing online operators at a much higher rate than their land-based counterparts, it violates European law. 

When the state treaty was being debated in Sachsen, operator association the Deutscher Sportwettenverband (DSWV) attempted to get the state legislature make its approval of the Treaty contingent on lower taxes being put in place

It said that if a turnover tax was to be introduced, it should be no higher than 1%, though it said a gross revenue tax of between 15% and 20% would be preferable.

Currently, operators may offer online casino games in Germany through a transitional system ahead of the treaty coming into effect, but only if they abide by these terms of the new treaty.

These restrictions have already had an effect on the bottom lines of operators that have adapted to them.

Betclic Everest-owned online operator Bet-at-home said the transitional regime was the main reason why revenue dropped 5.5% year-on-year, while LeoVegas saw its revenue from Germany drop 55.7%.

The dates of hearings for the bill in these committees have not yet been announced.