Month: May 2021

The updated website allows users to follow live scores from major football leagues around the world, including the English Premier League and Spain’s La Liga.

The new-look Livegoals site also enables users to pin the matches they are interested in and receive instant notifications when live events are happening.

In addition, Livegoals will provide users with information about the best odds on the games they they are following, as well as compare odds both pre-game and during the match.

“I am excited to launch the new version of Livegoals.com, which is part of our ongoing initiative to recycle domains to drive growth and sustainability,” GiG’s chief marketing officer Jonas Warrer said. 

“In addition to creating a new user-friendly design, we have also added some exciting new features to improve the user’s experience, such as the pin feature, which will allow users to pin the matches they’re interested in, and receive instant notifications when live events are happening.”

The relaunch comes after GiG this month reported a 64.0% year-on-year increase in revenue in the first quarter of 2021, with its media services business hitting an all-time high of €10.0m.

Revenue for the three months to 31 March 2021 came to €18.3m.

Cole said that following the release of documents ahead of a court hearing on Friday (21 May), there had been a number of “inaccuracies” in the way the case was reported. In a new statement, he moved to dispel claims that were “not open to debate or interpretation”.

One of these claims concerned a business named Fame Ventures, to which Football Index paid £9.0m in “support fees” in its 2020 accounts.

Cole said that while a business currently known as Fame Ventures lists only himself as a director and has no bank account, this was not the business being paid. Rather, this refers to the business now known as Index Labs, which according to Companies House filings changed its name from Fame Ventures in December 2019.

Index Labs is the parent company of Football Index and, as it performed work on the operator’s platform, Cole says it is “where the bulk of technical costs are incurred”.

Cole – who stepped down as Football Index chief executive in December 2020 – then revealed that the amount he had received from all businesses in the BetIndex group was £236,692 over the six years since its launch. However, he said he also received full repayment of a zero-interest loan he gave to the business, the size of which was not disclosed.

In addition, the Football Index founder clarified that the business had not paid any dividends to shareholders at any point in its history. While documents related to the business made frequent reference to dividends, these referred to a form of winnings on the platform, paid out when a footballer makes an achievement such as scoring a goal, not shareholder dividends.

“Over the last five years we have seen an incredibly loyal customer following, who truly believed in our unique concept and were passionate about seeing the business succeed,” Cole said. “The staff and management of Football Index are to a man, and woman, devastated by what has happened to those customers and understand the resentment, loss and anger that has occurred.”

Cole added that if there was any misconduct on directors’ behalf, administrators Begbies Traynor would investigate it.

“All we can do as a team right now is fight for the best outcome for those customers,” Cole said. “As officers of the court, the administrators are duty bound to provide a thorough investigation of the conduct of directors of the company and the events that led to the administration of BetIndex.”

The documents in question were released ahead of a court hearing to determine how funds in BetIndex’s £4.5m player protection account should be allocated. The funds are intended to cover money held in player accounts, but the administrators asked a High Court judge to determine a cut-off date for winnings, as these would continue to accrue if a date was not selected, eventually bringing the account into deficit.

The judge, Robin Vos, ultimately postponed his decision, but said his ruling should come by the end of next week (4 June).

BetIndex entered administration on the night of 11 March, and had its licence suspended by the Gambling Commission at the same time. This followed a change to the operator’s dividend structure on 8 March that BetIndex said was necessary to keep the business running.

However, documents released last week show the business was already taking steps to enter administration after agreeing to do so at a 5 March board meeting, even though the platform reopened and took bets following the dividend change.

Further documents released showed that BetIndex directors hope to relaunch the Football Index brand, as part of a company voluntary arrangement (CVA), with customers who are owed funds receiving a 50% equity stake in the new business if they approve the deal. Administrators said this was possible as “the underlying business model is attractive to customers and financially sustainable” and added that “the directors consider that there is a real prospect” of the operator being relicensed.

After Football Index’s collapse, the government Department of Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) announced an inquiry into how the operator failed, after pressure from groups such as the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Gambling-Related Harm.

This investigation will look into not only the business itself, but also whether more could have been done by the Gambling Commission, which revealed that it had been investigating Football Index for almost a year, but opted not to suspend the operator’s licence, partly due to concerns that doing so would have only accelerated its collapse.

The deal will include marketing opportunities on the operator’s BetwayTV streaming platform, as well as “international cross collaborations” between Betway and Furia.
“We are proud and excited to be announcing our partnership with Furia,” Betway esports director Adam Savinson said. “Continuing our growth in the Brazilian esports market, we’re committed to providing the dedicated fans the best content and partnerships possible.”

Furia is best known for Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, competing in the ESL Pro League.
André Akkari, Co-chief executive of Furia, said Betway’s promotion of responsible gambling was one area that made the deal seem especially appealing.
“We are very proud to announce Betway as our new partner,” Akkari said. “They are a global leader in esports betting who promote safe and responsible gambling.
“It’s a very exciting time for both brands and we’re looking forward to working with them on some creative content campaigns for our loyal fan bases.”
The deal comes as Brazil continues to take steps to regulate sports betting. Last week, the State Lottery of Rio de Janeiro (LOTERJ) opened the bidding process for operators interested in providing the creation, distribution and sale of lottery and fixed-odds sports betting products in the state.
In August last year, Brazil’s president Jair Bolsonaro signed a decree formally adding sports betting to the country’s Investment Partnership Programme portfolio and appointed managers for the country’s sportsbook licensing process.

Betway, meanwhile, intends to go public this year after agreeing to merge with special purpose acquisition business Sports Entertainment Acquisition Corp. (SEAC) in a $4.75bn deal.

Casinos across the state will be able to operate in line with their usual capacity limits, while customers will not be required to social distance while on the gaming floor of a casino.

The Board noted that if the status of the spread of Covid-19 in Nevada were to change and the state were to reintroduce measures, then the restrictions could return.

The most recent data released by Nevada’s government showed the state recorded 227 new cases of Covid-19 yesterday (May 26), with the seven-day average at 219, the lowest level since mid-June last year.

Earlier this month, certain casinos in Las Vegas, Nevada were permitted to return to full capacity, with social distancing measures on the gaming floor also eased.

Read the full story on iGB North America.

The operator signed an agreement with the arena’s owner, Monumental Sports & Entertainment, in October 2019 to build and operate a sportsbook at the arena.

In July 2020, it opened a temporary sportsbook space at the venue with betting windows and self-service kiosks.

William Hill’s complete offering is now available inside the arena, spanning 18,000 square feet over two floors, and featuring sports memorabilia including news headlines highlighting the biggest sporting moments in Washington, D.C. history, and jerseys hung up throughout the sportsbook from some of the city’s most recognised athletes.

The sportsbook also features a new restaurant, run by chef and owner of the Michelin-starred restaurant Masseria, Nicholas Stefanelli.

In addition to ticket windows and self-service kiosks for betting, the William Hill D.C. Sportsbook app is available to use within a two-block radius around Capital One Arena.

Read the full story on iGB North America.

The Uefa Appeals Body decided to fine Ibrahimović after he was found to be in violation of article 12(2)(b) of the Uefa Disciplinary Regulations, which prohibits financial investment in a betting company.

Ibrahimović was also handed an order to cease all association with the betting operator.

Uefa also handed a warning and a fine of €25,000 to AC Milan for violation of article 12(2)(b), because the club’s player was found to have financial links to a betting company.

Uefa first announced the disciplinary investigation into Ibrahimović in April. Although the betting operator Ibrahimović was found to have ties with was not officially named, Swedish newspaper Aftonbladet reported that the player has ownership in Bethard through his Unnamed AB business.

Ibrahimović began working with Bethard in March 2018 in a developmental and ambassadorial position.

This month, Esports Entertainment Group agreed to acquire Bethard in a deal worth €22.1m (£19.1m/$27m).

Lesson #13: Warm colours vs cold colours

Graphic artists will tell you that there is a big difference between warm colours and cold colours.  And, of course, there is. They will automatically assume that because it is true that warm versus cold colours help us make decisions in almost everything, then that affects slots as well. 

One assumes that’s correct as well. 

But I tested that pretty early in my career. 

This is the test I did: I looked at the top games at the time and saw that warm colours and cold colours had no influence on a game being a top game.

That was a shocking revelation, and yet, it was true. 

To be a top game you need many, but not all, of this list: a great theme, a great math, great symbol choice, and sometimes great features. But you do not need warm colours nor do you need cold colors to be a top game.

Small sidenotes: Tastes also change regionally. I had the opportunity of testing top games in various casinos. For some casinos the top games were all warm colours while for others the top games were all cold colours.

The lesson here: create slots in both warm and cold colours, and don’t be afraid to use either one. 

Lesson #14: Social is fun

This was the major breakthrough of Playtika: when it launched Slotomania. 

Social slots were nothing before Playtika created Slotomania. You could basically say that even though there were a few attempts at creating slots on Facebook not for real money, until Slotomania skyrocketed, there were no social slots. 

The top team of Playtika came from real money slots with 888. But when they created Slotomania they did some things you never do in real money. 

Slots are a serious business. Slots were almost always serious in how the symbols were drawn. There was little humor in it.

One of their main changes was to make the art fun and humorous and funny. The characters were exaggerated. The non-characters were exaggerated. 

They realised that to play not for real money, players would expect the game to be a lot more fun. 

And they were right. 

Players’ expectations when playing social slots was to have fun more than to make money (since they couldn’t make money in social). Later, I would find out you can create more ‘fun’ in math as well. 

This is one of the few things that real-money slots companies find very hard to understand when trying to create their own social slots.

Guy Hasson worked for Playtech for three years before becoming Playtika’s content manager, responsible for the content of Slotomania and Caesars Casino. He is now a social slot consultant, specialising in game popularity.

Revenue across all verticals dropped to €288.1m in April, down 8.7% on March’s total, though this figure still represented an 83.5% increase on the same month last year.

While comparisons with last year are perhaps irrelevant due to the first wave of the pandemic having been in full swing then, the month-on-month fall this April shows a worrying pattern when compared with previous years.

Though the Italian market has been growing strongly over the past five years, there are seasonal dips in the calendar. However, in all years prior to 2020, the month of April showed a jump in revenues when compared with March.

It was sports betting that dragged the market down last month, with revenues falling to just €103.5m, the lowest monthly total since last June, and a 21.7% drop on March’s total.

Online casino, on the other hand, performed well, with casino and slots hitting their second-highest monthly total ever in April. The €161.2m in revenue represented a 1.6% rise on March’s GGR and a 64.1% increase on last April’s total.

The end result of the strength of casino last month and the weakness of betting was that the former saw its share of the market grow further, reaching 55.9% against 35.9% for sports betting.

In terms of market shares, PokerStars continued to lead the casino, tournament poker and cash poker markets, with shares of 10.48%, 51.28% and 43.58%, respectively.

Snai climbed to the top of the leaderboard for combined online and retail sports betting revenues, even with retail outlets remaining closed all month. Its market share rose to 14.5% last month, up from 12.2% in March.

Sisal fell back to second place with 12.8%, followed by the online-only Bet365, which climbed back into third place with 12.6%.

With retail outlets having started to reopen from May, it will be interesting to see how the market shares of betting operators develop during the rest of the year.

All data and figures from the regulator are processed by leading European corporate advisory firm Ficom Leisure, a specialist in all segments of the betting and gaming sector.

Ficom Leisure also provides monthly figures on the New Jersey online market in the New Jersey iGaming Dashboard, Pennsylvania in the Pennsylvania iGaming Dashboard and Iowa in the Iowa iGaming Dashboard, all of which are available on iGB North America.

It also provides quarterly figures on the Spanish online market in the Spain iGaming Dashboard and the Portuguese market in the Portugal iGaming Dashboard.

In a statement released ahead of the business’s annual general meeting today (27 May), chief executive Stuart Simms said revenue is likely to reach between $65m (£46m/€53m) and $70m.

The lower end of this estimation would represent an 18.2% year-on-year increase on the $55m posted in 2020, while the upper end of the forecast would mean a 27.3% rise.

Simms said this forecast was based on what he described as a “solid start” to 2021 by the business, supported by a good performance in the personal finance and European sport verticals

He also noted XLMedia’s recent acquisitions in US sports vertical will continue to partially offset ongoing declines across its European casino assets.

In March, XLMedia acquired sportsbook review website Sports Betting Dime for $35.6m, while the affiliate in December also purchased US-focused sports gaming and sports betting business CBWG Sports.

“The integration of our US sports assets is progressing well and is expected to add materially to the group revenue for the current financial year and beyond,” Simms said. 

“However, and as previously disclosed, we expect revenues in the casino vertical to decline further in 2021 and will continue to adjust our cost base accordingly as we further stabilise this vertical in the medium term.  

“We expect this decline to be partially offset by the improving performance of both European sport and North American personal finance.”

Simms added that XLMedia plans to we continue to invest in the ongoing transformation of the business, including the systems and technology to support its growth plans. 

“This investment, and the additional operating costs associated with the recent acquisitions, will hold back profit progression in the current year,” Simms said.

“In the medium term, the company expects to deliver year-on-year profitable revenue growth and to leverage the infrastructure investment to reduce ongoing operating costs, leading to a gradual return to the operating margin levels last experienced in 2019.”

Victoria’s government today (27 May) said that the state would enter a week-long “circuit-breaker lockdown” from 11:59pm local time this evening until 3 June, in response to a rise in Covid-19 cases in Melbourne.

The latest figures released by the government show 12 new cases of Covid-19 in the state, the highest daily total since 12 October last year.

As such, all non-essential retail will be required to close until the end of the lockdown, with Crown confirming all gaming activities at its Crown Melbourne casino will be halted.

Crown Melbourne will also pause food and beverage, retail, banqueting and conference facilities, though hotel accommodation will continue to be provided for approved purposes.

The closure comes at a time when Crown Resorts is the subject of a takeover proposal from private equity giant Blackstone Group and a merger offer from rival Star Entertainment.

Last week, Crown turned down a revised takeover proposal from Blackstone Group, saying the offer undervalued its business.

Blackstone had offered AUS$12.35 in cash per Crown share, representing a 4% increase on its previous offer of $11.85 per share submitted in March.

However, Crown’s board unanimously concluded that the latest proposal undervalued the business and would not be in the best interest of shareholders.

In regards to the Star Entertainment proposal, Crown said its board had not yet formed a view on the “merits” of the offer, saying it had requested further information from Star “to better understand various preliminary matters”.