Month: May 2021

Better Collective issued a total of 6,880,734 shares at a price of SEK218 each, saying that the offering was “significantly oversubscribed” due to high demand from institutional and other professional investors.

The issue will see the total number of outstanding shares and votes in the business increase from 46,984,072 to 53,864,806, while its share capital will also rise from €469,841. to €538,648.06.

Better Collective said investors who subscribed for the shares should receive their shares by 31 May.

“I am pleased to see the high level of support of our company from both existing as well as new shareholders,” Better Collective co-founder and chief executive Jesper Søgaard said. 

“With the proceeds from this transaction, we maintain a flexible capital structure in order to be able to act on future strategic opportunities.”

Søgaard also said that interest in the issue demonstrated a positive response to its recent agreement to acquire US sports media business the Action Network for $240.0m, in the largest deal of its kind in the affiliate’s history.

“We’re very excited about the transaction and the market’s receptiveness of the acquisition of Action Network, which underpins our strategy to capitalise on the unprecedented market opportunity in the US within sports betting affiliation,” Søgaard said.

The affiliate’s board added that Better Collective “will be well positioned to continue to execute on its growth-oriented strategy – including through additional acquisitions beyond Action” because of the flexibility provided by the share issue.

Better Collective this month also reported a 77% increase in revenue for its first quarter as revenue from paid media skyrocketed following the acquisition of Atemi. Revenue came to €38.8m, an increase of 85.6% compared to the first quarter of 2021.

Senate Bill 2-A, which was signed by DeSantis on May 25, will allow sports betting in the state only through sportsbooks and online platforms operated by the Seminole Tribe, or in partnership with pari-mutuel betting operators.

The bill outlines that the Tribe will also be able to offer fantasy sports bets and certain class III games such as slot machines, banked card games, raffles, craps and roulette.

Read the full story on iGB North America.

A statement from the Costa Rica-based Bovada declared that the “future climate” of the New York’s online gambling environment, referring to the introduction of new regulations in the state, led Bovada to decide to ban its residents.

These new regulations came alongside the state’s plans for legal online betting, which were included in the FY2022 budget signed by Governor Andrew Cuomo last month. Among the measures set out under the budget bill are that the New York State Gaming Commission will issue a request for proposals to select at least two platform providers to operate sports betting, with these to receive licences and offer at least four betting skins.

Read the full story on iGB North America.

Under the deal, Esports Entertainment will serve as the team’s official esports tournament platform provider and operate three co-branded esports tournaments each year for the Cavaliers using its Esports Gaming League (EGL) platform.

Esports Entertainment will leverage the team’s digital marketing efforts across social, email, mobile and online channels to promote the co-branded tournaments

Other aspects of the deal include courtside LED signage at all Cavaliers regular season home games during the 2021-22 season and be the presenting partner of an esports themed night each season of the deal.

The partnership also covers the team’s Cavs Legion GC NBA 2K League esports affiliate, with brand exposure on the player’s physical jerseys and virtually in-game.

“We are delighted to announce the Cavs as our first NBA team partnership; our robust tournament platform will help the Cavs strengthen connections with their fans, while providing new avenues for engagement,” Esports Entertainment chief executive Grant Johnson said.

Read the full story on iGB North America.

Esports is a booming sector and one that has seen even higher levels of consumer interest during the pandemic. Yet despite a diversity of efforts, land-based casinos have failed to successfully embrace the vertical. Will a dynamically changing regulatory environment and the introduction of sports wagering give the sector another boost?

Among the areas up for discussion in this webinar will be:

• A critical review of casinos’ approaches to esports to date – why haven’t casinos adopted esports successfully?
• What role could brick and mortar entities play in the esports ecosystem?
  • Should esports be seen as an amenity or something more? A review of the models that would incorporate esports in the land-based environment
• Betting on esports – assessing its viability, regulatory future and prospects
• Professionalising esports – Nevada’s regulatory experience and efforts to create a professional body
• Ensuring integrity in esports betting

Watch past webinar recordings here.

The bill, which was introduced by Representative Brian Smith, was approved by 28 votes to 6 yesterday (25 May), and now heads to Governor Ned Lamont’s office for approval after which it may be signed into law.

It seeks to formalise agreements made by the Governor with the state’s Mashantucket and Mohegan tribes in March, and would permit the tribes to offer sports betting online and at land-based sportsbooks within the casinos they operate, in addition to igaming and fantasy sports contests.

Under the bill, each tribe would be allowed to operate one skin for online sports betting and another for igaming.

The bill also allows the Connecticut Lottery Corporation to run one skin for sports betting outside tribal lands, as well as retail wagering at 15 locations across the state, provided they are located at least 25 miles from tribal reservations.

Read the full story on iGB North America.

The report acts as a follow-up to the Gambling Harm – Time for Action report first published in 2020, in which peers proposed changes such as stake limits and a ban on gambling sports sponsorship. The new document – through research by Nera Economic Consulting – attempts to work out the economic impact of those reforms.

According to today’s report, the regulatory reforms proposed would see gaming industry profits reduced by up to £974m, but would see the money diverted to other sectors, which the report argues would boost the economy more than gambling spend.

BGC chief executive Michael Dugher said: “We welcome the government’s gambling review and we are confident that Ministers will make sensible decisions for the future that are based on serious evidence, rather than the fantasy figures contained in this report.

“The dream of anti-gambling prohibitionists has always been to somehow force people not to gamble or to gamble less, just because they don’t like betting. A minority of peers may look down their noses at the millions of working people who enjoy a bet, but the truth is that the overwhelming majority do so perfectly safely.

“And the idea that somehow restricting betting would create more jobs is economically daft and frankly for the birds.”

Other proposals in the report included a ban on gambling operators’ direct sponsorship in sports – which Dugher claims will only “drive people to the black market” – classifying loot boxes as gambling, and establishing a mandatory levy to fund research, education and treatment.

Although critical of the report, Dugher said the BGC remains open to change within the industry and said he hoped the document would lead to constructive reform.

“We 100 per cent committed to change and we hope that the White Paper will lead to a package of reforms that continue recent significant improvements in safer gambling.

“Furthermore, our members are spending £100m on research, education and treatment of problem gambling, as well as £10m on the Young People’s Gambling Harm Prevention programme.”

Under the agreement, FanDuel’s sportsbook odds will now appear in AP’s daily sports odds fixtures, game previews and other sports stories where odds are mentioned.

AP will retain editorial control of all content that is published with FanDuel odds.

FanDuel widgets will also be integrated across the sports pages of APNews.com, while select FanDuel content will be distributed across the AP wire.

“As sports betting becomes more commonplace, our customers are increasingly asking for this kind of information,” AP’s global director of text and new markets products, Barry Bedlan, said.

“It makes sense to work with one of the largest reputable sportsbooks in the US to provide a consistent, credible reference point for AP and its customers.”

Read the full story on iGB North America.

April’s handle was down 16.3% on March’s figure of $205.9m, which was the second highest total wagering figure recorded in the state after January.

Total betting handle in the state now stands at $1.08bn since the market launched in November, overseen by the Tennessee Education Lottery.

Read the full story on iGB North America.

The move is part of Novomatic’s ongoing restructuring of its global sales and production logistics division. All departments and areas related to the operation of the Novomatic’s arcades, as well as gaming equipment rental, will be brought under Komnacky’s new division.

Komnacky, who has been with Novomatic since 2014, was previously working in market analysis, strategy development and business development within the company. Throughout his tenure he has played key roles in market entries and company takeovers, as well as acting as managing director for two company subsidiaries.

Novomatic board member Ryszard Presch said: “The clear focus of this restructuring is the creation of a bundled, cross-divisional unit that takes on the support, control and coordination between the headquarters and the international operating subsidiaries. 

“With Thomas Komnacky, an experienced Novomatic manager is taking over the management of this central area, who not only knows the group very well, but has also worked closely with the national companies.”

Komnacky added: “My goal is to make a significant contribution to increasing overall company performance through even closer networking with the subsidiaries as well as the targeted guidance and support from the headquarters.”