Month: August 2021

The exclusive deal will see BetMGM work with Liv Hospitality’s Tin Lizzie Gaming Resort and Cadillac Jack’s Gaming Resort in Deadwood, South Dakota. The Deadwood Sports Betting Legalization Amendment was approved by voters back in 2020, legalizing sports betting statewide.

After gaining the necessary regulatory approval, the BetMGM app will be available in Tin Lizzie and Cadillac Jack from next month. It will be accompanied by a retail BetMGM Sportsbook equipped with kiosks and counter wagering.

Read the full story on iGB North America.

The algorithm is set to be used throughout various stages of esports tournaments, with the technology generating instant odds across a number of betting markets.

“I’m extremely proud of our quant and modeling team, which continues to develop potential industry-leading data solutions,” said Bart Barden, COO of Esports Technologies.

If the technology is implemented, potential bets could include bets on which team places in the top three, which team places outside the top five, or how far a team will make it in a tournament.

“Harnessing cutting-edge modeling and artificial intelligence to create the technology for this planned next-generation wagering tool demonstrates our commitment to innovation and our focus on the needs of esports enthusiasts and bettors everywhere,” continued Barden.

“We continue to advance and innovate the esports wagering experience for customers.”

Last week, Esports Technologies joined the Esports Integrity Commission (ESIC) as an anti-corruption supporter.

In July, the company announced that Michael Holm would join as its new affiliate director.

WynnBet customers will be able to earn rewards through mobile, desktop or on-site playing. These can be redeemed for prizes such as further online play, meals, hotel stays and in-person experiences.

Wynn Rewards will be available to players in Colorado, New Jersey, Virginia, Indiana and Tennessee by the end of August, while Michigan-based customers can expect the system to be in place in the autumn.

Wynn Interactive CEO Craig Billings said: “One of WynnBET’s unique advantages is its connectivity to the best integrated resorts in North America.

Read the full story on iGB North America.

Rank’s digital division brought in more revenue than any other, but was down 5.9% to £136.3m. It said the decline in digital revenue was due to a combination of new affordability restrictions and the extended closure of the Grosvenor and Mecca estates, as Rank’s online and land-based operations are linked.

Rank’s Grosvenor brand of land-based casinos, ordinarily its largest source of revenue, brought in £79.2m, a 71.4% decrease. Rank noted that Grosvenor casinos were closed for 66% of the year and were required to operate with reduced occupancy and social distancing for the remaining 34%, as well as undergoing a curfew for part of the year.

Its Mecca retail bingo venues, meanwhile, saw revenue drop 56.7% to £55.2m. Mecca’s venues were closed for 58% of the year and reduced capacity and social distancing for the rest.

Revenue from Rank’s international venues was down 34.8% to £17.5m.

This left like-for-like revenue before the operator’s 2019 acquisition of Stride Gaming at £288.2m, almost exactly half of the revenue it made without Stride in 2019-20.

Stride, meanwhile, brought in £41.1m, down 19.1% from 2019-20, for which its entire year of results are counted even though it was part of Rank for only part of the year.

After accounting for foreign exchange differences, this led to underlying revenue of £329.6m, down 48.0%.

The business then paid £305.4m in costs of sales, leaving a gross profit of £24.2m, down 90.1%. 

While the business made other operating income of £64.1m – mostly related to its Grosvenor and Mecca businesses – it paid other operating costs of £174.1m. In addition, it made a net loss of £8.4m from one-loss items, such as integration costs and amortisation for Stride, restructuring costs and income from selling the Blankenberge Casino in Belgium to Kindred.

This meant Rank’s operating loss was £92.9m, compared to a £49.1m operating profit the year before.

Rank paid a further £14.4m in costs of financial items, resulting in a pre-tax loss of £107.3m, after having made a £35.7m profit the year before.

After a £10.4m tax benefit, Rank’s loss was £96.9m, down from a £25.9m profit in 2019-20.

The business then made £24.9m from discontinued operations – such as the Blankenberge Casino – for a final loss of £72.0m, after recording a £27.1m profit a year earlier.

John O’Reilly, chief executive of The Rank Group, said that while the year was a particularly difficult one for Rank, things have improved at the start of 2021-22.

“The year to 30 June 2021 was exceptionally challenging for the Group and, frankly, we are delighted it is over,” he said. “We are now well into a new financial year with our venues open and trading positively. 

“Good progress is being made in our digital businesses and there is a renewed sense of confidence as we focus on the growth initiatives within our clearly defined transformation programme.”

Introduced in April, Senate Bill 688 (SB 688) would allow sports betting across online and retail, though online wagering would only be permitted at or close to sporting venues in North Carolina.

Senators voted through the bill at a second reading by 26-21, with only minor amendments in relation to costs and funding for problem gambling services in the state.

A final vote will be held on the bill this afternoon and, if successful, it will progress forward to the North Carolina House of Representatives for further debate.

The bill, which was granted a second reading after a favourable report from the Senate’s Committee On Rules and Operations of the Senate, states that the North Carolina Lottery Commission would act as regulator and issue licenses to operators and suppliers in the market.

Read the full story on iGB North America.

Players in Canada can now visit Theslotbuzz.com to access reviews on licensed operators, their websites and the latest online slot games.

Users can also access online casino bonuses and find out about latest offers from operators.

The launch coincides with the legalisation of single-event sports betting in Canada, saying it expects this will lead to an increase in online gambling traffic in the country.

Single event sports betting also comes into effect from 27 August after the bill to legalise the action was reintroduced last year. The province of Ontario is also taking steps to open up its online casino market having published regulations for the vertical.

Read the full story on iGB North America.

This is a fall of 10.9% compared to its full-year 2019-20 results.

Domestic gaming revenue made up a grand majority of the gross revenue, at $1.36bn. This was a rise of 9.6% compared to full-year 2020. International VIP revenue accounted for $9.5m, a significant decrease of 96.7% due to travel restrictions, while non-gaming and other revenue came to $183.8m, another fall of 16.4%.

After accounting for player rebates and commissions, which cost $11.7m, the net revenue totaled $1.54bn, up 3.9% from $1.48bn year-on-year.

Star’s Sydney location made $828.2m, down by 29.1% what what it made throughout 2020. Most of this- $458.1m- was from domestic table games. Slots made up $277.7m, while non-gaming activities generated $77.1m.

Last month, a Star Sydney employee was jailed after running an illegal betting scam in the casino, which resulted in the casino losing $467,000.

The company’s Gold Coast location brought in $381.3m of the total, up by 16.3%. Slots generated the most revenue, at $203.9m, with domestic table revenue following at $100.8m. Non-gaming revenue came to $74.5m.

The Brisbane location generated $347.6m, a rise of 38.1%. Slots brought in $173.8m, while domestic tables and non-gaming activities totaled at $149.5m and $22.8m respectively.

The total gross revenues for each of the regions were affected by the novel coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic, which caused casinos to shut periodically.

Player rebates and commission expense dropped by 95.5% year-on-year to $11.7m

Gaming taxes and levies cost $378.7m, up by 0.3% year-on-year. Operating expenditure was down by 10.5% to $740.0m Taking these two expenses into account, earnings before interest, tax depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) amounted to $426.7m. This was an increase of 51.3% year-on-year.

Depreciation and amortisation costs amounting to $210.5m and other costs at $4.4m brought the earings before interest and tax (EBIT) to $211.8m, which was up by 172.6% in comparison to full year 2020.

Other costs, which involved net funding, tax and significant items, totaled $153.9m. This left the total net profit at $57.9m, a substantial increase of $152.7m year-on-year following a $94.8m loss the year before.

Star also reported normalised results, which are results that are adjusted for volatility using an average win rate of 1.25% of turnover.

The normalised gross revenue was reported at $1.56bn, a fall of 20.8% year-on-year. Star’s normalised location results stated that its Sydney location brought in $832.0m, while Gold Coast and Brisbane totaled at $382.0m and $348.0m respectively.

Normalised EBITDA amounted to $430.0m, while EBIT came to $219.0m.

“The Group continued executing its strategy well in the context of the extraordinary COVID-19 related challenges,” said Star chairman John O’Neill.

“The fundamental earnings prospects for The Star’s domestic business remain attractive. They are underpinned by valuable long-term licences in compelling locations, and the transformation of our properties into globally competitive entertainment destinations is nearing completion.”

Revenue for the six months to 30 June amounted to €103.9m (£88.5m/$121.3m), up 34.2% from €77.4m in the corresponding period last year.

B2B remained the primary source of income for Aspire in the half, with revenue rising 28.8% year-on-year to €68.7m, excluding inter-segment revenue. Aspire said it experienced growth across all B2B areas and highlighted its acquisition of sportsbook provider BtoBet in October last year as a major contributing factor to growth.

The supplier also experienced growth within its Aspire Core B2B sub-segment, helped by the launch of the new Aspire Core gaming platform brand in February of this year, which came after the acquisitions of both BtoBet last year and Pariplay in 2019.

Turning to B2C and revenue here in the first half was 44.3% higher at €35.2m, with Aspire seeing growth across all main B2C brands. This, it said, was particularly apparent in the UK, helped by the launch of the Griffon Casino brand in Q4 2020, as well as the roll out of the new iOS native Karamba app and optimisations across all marketing channels.

Breaking down geographical performance in the period and while the rest of Europe was the largest region, revenue here only increased 0.4% to €49.6m. In contrast, UK and Ireland revenue was 131.1% higher at €34.2m and rest of world revenue hiked 179.5% to €12.3m, though Nordics revenue dipped 11.4% to €7.8m.

“Aspire Global has consistently demonstrated its ability to execute its growth strategy and create value,” Aspire’s chief executive Tsachi Maimon said. “We see tremendous growth opportunities by expanding with existing partners, gaining new partners and entering new markets.”

Looking at costs for the period and operating costs were 31.8% higher at €82.4m, but the increase in revenue meant earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) was 49.6% up to €18.4m.

Depreciation and amortisation expenses reached €4.1m, leaving an operating profit of €14.3m, up 49.0% year-on-year, while after the majority of finance costs were offset by interest income and foreign exchanges difference, pre-tax profit improved from €7.6m in 2020 to €14.2m this year.

Aspire paid €1.2m in income tax during the period and after accounting for €612,000 in loss from its share in associated companies, the provider ended the half with a profit of €12.4m, up 90.8% year-on-year.

Looking at the second quarter, revenue increased 27.7% to €55.8m, with B2B revenue up 24.4% to €36.3m excluding inter-segment revenue, while B2C revenue also increased 45.5% to a record €19.5m.

Rest of Europe revenue fell 9.4% to €25.1m and Nordics revenue slipped 2.3% to €4.2m, but revenue in the UK and Ireland rocketed 123.6% to €19.9m, while rest of world revenue also jumped 135.7% to €6.6m. 

Operating costs climbed by 26.8% to €44.5m, while EBITDA jumped 39.4% to €9.9m and after including finance expenses, pre-tax profit was 56.3% higher at €7.5m.

Income tax of €638,000 and a €501,000 loss from its share in associated companies meant Aspire was left with a profit of €6.4m, up 45.2% on last year.

“Aspire Global reports its sixth consecutive quarter with solid growth,”  Maimon said. “We made significant progress in the quarter by growing our business with both existing as well as new partners in the US, Europe, Latin America and Africa. 

“Taking into account our strong business momentum and deal flow, we are confident to reach our 2021 financial targets.”

Under the deal, Stats Perform will serve as the league’s official data partner for the next three years.  

Stats Perform will exclusively manage and collect Opta data for nine domestic competitions in the Netherlands, as well as support the league’s broadcast partner ESPN with live feeds and editorial support services.

Feeds, incorporating advanced Opta Analytics, will be delivered from all games across the men’s Eredivisie, Eerste Division, KNVB Beker and Super Cup, in addition to live updates from the men’s Tweede Divisie and the women’s Eredivisie and KNVB Becker.

The arrangement will allow ESPN access to tools from Stats Perform’s PressBox platform and PressBox Video, the latter of which comprises an archive of video content for use in broadcast. 

“Opta data enables us to share a wide range of facts and stories with our audience and through the utilisation of PressBox, I am confident that we will be able to share even richer player insights with fans of Dutch football going into 2021-22,” Eredivisie Media & Marketing’s head of digital Matthijs van Elk said.

Stats Perform’s chief right officer Alex Rice added: “As the Official Data partner of Eredivisie, we are looking forward to seeing Opta data powering the league’s entire digital ecosystem, covering men’s and women’s competitions, as well as across the official channels of the league’s broadcast partner, ESPN. 

“At Stats Perform we aim to empower our partners by helping them develop and evolve their coverage and through the implementation of PressBox, we are confident that we will be able to help ESPN deliver fast, compelling stories on the standout performers each week, courtesy of advanced data insights.”

The investment group and Playtech shareholder added that it would now work to negotiate with the Playtech board on a bid of its own.

Playtech shareholders voted against the consortium’s deal which the board had initially accepted in May. 68.3% (164.3 million shares) of shareholders opted against the bid worth up to $210m (£148m/€171m).

Gopher, meanwhile, had submitted a $250m bid of its own in July, prompting Playtech to delay its general meeting by a few weeks at Gopher’s request.

The delay allowed the board to seek further information about Gopher’s bid, after having concerns about its ownership structure, regulatory obstacles and possible links to China. After using the delay to seek information on these questions, Playtech’s board said it failed to receive enough clarity on Gopher, and reiterated its support for Barinboim’s bid.

A statement from Gopher said: “Gopher Investments welcomes the result of yesterday’s shareholder vote at Playtech’s General Meeting in which shareholders voted against the offer for Finalto from Finalto’s management team backed by a consortium led by Barinboim Group.

“Gopher looks forward to engaging with the Board regarding its $250 million offer for Finalto and working to complete the acquisition in an expedient and transparent manner.”

Despite the rejection, Barinboim remains confident that it will eventually resume negotiations with Playtech, believing that if a deal between Gopher and Playtech hasn’t been reached within three weeks, it will show that Gopher’s interest in Finalto wasn’t genuine.