Month: July 2021

Booth will primarily take charge of Europe, the Middle East and Africa and Elias will oversee the Americas.

Both will manage Continent 8’s network functions and the company’s public and private cloud framework.

Booth has 26 years of experience in various IT roles, including a number of positions with PokerStars.

“Continent 8 is a fast-growing business, delivering market-leading products and services to many of the biggest brands in igaming,” said Booth.

“It is great to join this exciting and agile company and I look forward to sharing my knowledge and experience with the team.”

Elias has also worked in IT roles during his 23 year career, including time in the shipping and banking sectors.

“I am thrilled to join a company that is so technically advanced and that can offer its partners the best solutions in the market,” Elias commented.

“The US igaming market is growing rapidly, so it’s a particularly exciting time to be on board and play a role in the businesses success.”
As part of their new roles, Booth and Elias will manage and lead a team of Continent 8 engineers.

“It’s fantastic to welcome Simon and Teddy onboard and I’m confident that both will have a transformative effect on our team,” said Edward O’Connor, technical operations director at Continent 8.

“Simon and Teddy will play a critical role in the daily operation of our company and the support of our growing customer base. I look forward to working closely with them as we continue to expand our global infrastructure and deliver market-leading managed connectivity, cloud and security services to the industry.”

Revenue came to AUD$210.1m (£111.4m/€131.0m), a rise of $128m compared to the operator’s revenue in its full year 2020 results. PointsBet’s total net win from gaming, however, was reported as $208.5m.

PointsBet noted that this discrepancy was related to its Banach Technology acquisition in April this year, as this brought in around $1.5m in B2B revenue.

Sports betting made up $207.0 of the total, while igaming at $1.5m brought up the remainder.

The company’s full-year turnover came to AUD$3.7bn, a rise of 228.3% compared to its full year 2020 turnover of AUD$1.1bn.

The successful year is due to strong results in both of PointsBet’s main territories, Australia and the US. A total of $166.1m was generated in Australia. The remaining $42.3m came from PointsBet’s US operations.

However, amounts wagered were almost equal in the two territories. Australia’s handle totalled $1.99bn, a 63.3% rise year-on-year. Gross win from the country – before bonuses were accounted for – also increased by 155.0% to $257.3m, and net win was also up by 121.2% to $166.1m.

US operations saw handle amount to $1.79bn, a drastic rise of 458.4% compared to 2020. Gross win rose by 481% to $95.8m and net win also rose 481% to $42.3m.

Combined, the overall handle total was $986.1m, a year-on-year increase of 182.2%.

The US operations comprise of the six states PointsBet operates in. The most revenue, $23.8m, was generated in New Jersey. Illinois was second with $14.6m, while Iowa came in third with $1.6m. Michigan, Indiana and Colorado collectively totaled at $2.3m.

Expenses left PointsBet with an operating loss of $119.1m, however.

Advertising and marketing costs amounted to $166.1m, while sales costs came to $100.0m. Leased assets, staff costs, administration and interest further affected the operating result.

Currently, only the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation may offer online gambling, but that is set to change with the provincial government taking steps to liberalise the market.

Operators will be allowed to take bets on individual sporting events, after a bill to permit single-event wagering was signed into law. Before this, only bets on three or more events were permitted.

The Canadian Gaming Association (CGA) pointed out that the rules do not include any product restrictions, as betting exchanges, daily fantasy sports, esports bets, and live in-game wagering all permitted.

Read the full story on iGB North America

Under the agreement, Sportradar will use its Universal Fraud Detection System (UFDS) to monitor the Energie Burgenland ÖTV State Championships in Austria.

The deal covers both the ladies’ and men’s singles and doubles draws, as well as the event’s mixed doubles matches.

UFDS utilises a team of qualified integrity experts to analyse irregular betting patterns, with any suspicious matches reported to partners 

Sportradar Integrity Services detected more than 600 suspicious matches across global sport in 2020 and has reported over 6,000 suspicious matches during the past 15 years. 

“We recognise that match-fixing and other associated integrity issues pose a significant threat to fair sporting competition,” Austrian Tennis Association managing director Thomas Schweda said.

“This agreement for Sportradar Integrity Services to monitor the ÖTV State Championships through their UFDS solution will give us valuable integrity protection, as their team will be able to alert us to any potential irregularities they may encounter.”

Sportradar Integrity Services managing director Andreas Krannich added: “At Sportradar, we are committed to helping our sporting partners detect and prevent manipulation, and to identify and mitigate all forms of integrity risk. 

“Our dedicated team of integrity analysts who specialise in tennis will help to ensure that the ÖTV State Championships are put in the best place to succeed, and we look forward to a fair and exciting on-court experience the fans can enjoy.”

Venues set to offer Gambet’s self-service betting kiosks include well-known local bars and restaurants such as Ben’s Next Door, Lou’s City Bar, Takoma Station Tavern, and Dirty Water.

Businesses are expected to celebrate the launch of the vertical on Friday, July 30 by hosting events for their patrons. The events will showcase the self-service betting kiosks and feature local sports figures such as Brian Mitchell, Rick ‘Doc’ Walker, Fred Smoot, and Santana Moss.

Businesses offering the service in partnership with GambetDC will receive a 5% commission on all sports betting sales, and a further 1% commission on cashing of winnings.

“We are excited to support these iconic local businesses and to help them return from the pandemic better than they were when it started,” said Nicole Jordan, director of marketing & communications at DC Lottery.

Read the full story on iGB North America.

Under the agreement, RSI will offer GTG’s iSport Genius data facts and insight product in all US states where its BetRivers.com sportsbook operates.

Integration of iSport Genius within the BetRivers.com sportsbook will allow users to access data from all major sports including the National Football League, Major League Baseball, the National Basketball Association and National Hockey League, as well as information on key betting markets.

The operator said the co-exclusive deal makes RSI one of only four US sportsbooks with rights to offer the customer education and sports data information service to its customers.

“BetRivers is dedicated to offering its bettors a best-in-class user experience, and this agreement with GTG Network ensures our players have the top sports betting information at their fingertips,” RSI president Richard Schwartz said.

Read the full story on iGB North America.

Revenue for the six months to June 30 amounted to $839.4m (£601.1m/€706.7m), up 91.6% from $438.0m in the corresponding period last year.

CDI said this increase was primarily due to the withdrawal of many Covid-19 measures, with these having severely impact its performance in H1 of 2020. Last year, its casinos, racetracks and gaming facilities were forced to temporarily close in mid-March in response to state orders to combat the spread of Covid-19.

However, CDI was able to operate its land-based facilities throughout the first half of this year, albeit with some restrictions, including capacity limits and social distancing, still in place.

Gaming was the main source of income for CDI in H1, with revenue here rising 84.5% to $338.0m. Live and historical racing revenue rocketed 365.2% to $239.1m, TwinSpires revenue climbed 23.6% to $235.3m and other revenue more than doubled from $13.0m to $27.0m.

Read the full story on iGB North America.

Delivered through its not-for-profit organisation Entain Foundation, Entain will work with its US partners to help players at potential risk of harm both in the UK and Europe.

Early initiatives within the scheme will include the launch of ‘Mind Your Game’ in the UK in partnership with Game Quitters, a support community for victims of gaming disorder, and Kindbridge, a teletherapy company focused on the treatment of gamblers and gamers suffering mental health issues.

Mind Your Game will provide players and their families with facts about the mental health challenges faced by gamers and advice on how to access support. The Entain Foundation also already sponsors a social media educational initiative to raise awareness of potential addiction among players in the UK.

Mind Your Game was developed with support from Kindbridge, a teletherapy company focused on the treatment of gamblers and gamers suffering mental health issues.

Meanwhile, the Entain Foundation will provide education and support for people at risk of online addiction and gaming disorder in the video gaming and interactive entertainment markets. 

This will be delivered in partnership with EPIC Risk Management – a consultancy specialising in the prevention of gambling harm – and the Counter-Strike Professional Players Association, which represents professional esports players. Entain also works with EPIC on a number of other responsible gambling initiatives. 

“Our business is all about understanding and meeting the needs of customers, which means offering the most entertaining experiences whilst doing everything we can to protect them,” Entain’s director of safer gambling and regulation Grainne Hurst said.

“At the core of our approach to sustainability is our belief that delivering the highest possible levels of player safety and protection is the best way to guarantee our long-term success.”

The interactive entertainment launch comes after Entain last year launched a Sustainability Charter that included responsible gaming and investing in people and communities among its four cornerstones. Entain pledged to invest £100m (€118m/$139m) in the Foundation by 2025 to support educational and support projects.

Entain develops its responsible gambling initiatives with support from a number of leading experts, including Dr Mark Griffiths, a professor of behavioural addiction and psychology, as well as academics from Harvard Medical Faculty School of Addiction. 

This includes working on Entain’s Advanced Responsibility and Care (ARC) project, which launched in November last year when the business rebranded from GVC.

Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

13 Strides creates data visualisation graphics for teams, which Stats Perform clients can now use to broadcast the supplier’s data. The new acquisition will work alongside Stats Perform’s recently launched media platform, PressBox.

“Imagine the power of combining the world’s best repository of sports data, and the most advanced AI, with this simple and fast way to create engaging graphics,” Stats Perform CEO Carl Mergele said. 

“That’s why we are so excited to welcome 13 Strides to our organisation. With their expertise in fan engagement and our data and AI, we can empower our clients with the solutions they need to truly delight their fans.”

13 Strides’ co-founder and chief technology officer Kevin Allinson said the deal would allow his business to reach a much larger audience.

“Our passion has always been around the visual power of sport, and so this opportunity to use data, and AI takes our ambitions to a completely new level,” Allinson said. “We are very excited to be joining Stats Perform and to be accelerating our roadmap into new technologies and sectors of sport.”

Earlier this month, Stats Perform secured the exclusive distribution rights to live streams and real-time stats for the elite men’s, women’s and mixed tournaments of the Badminton World Federation (BWF).

The Red Sox will promote DraftKings as its DFS partner through emails, on social media and on the Red Sox Foundation website.

The DraftKings brand will also feature as title sponsorship for the 50-50 raffle for all home games and on raffle tickets, paddleboards and email blasts.

Read the full story on iGB North America.