Month: January 2022

In a market update, Super Group said that net gaming revenue for the 12-month period is set to amount to approximately $1.53bn (£1.13bn/€1.35bn), a 36% year-on-year improvement and in line with management guidance.

This, Super Group said, would be down to a robust performance during the second half of the year, despite a lower trading margin in October, and the impact of new regulatory regimes coming into force in Germany and the Netherlands.

Super Group noted that growth was strong in both November and December, while for the six month period as a whole, it saw in excess of 2.7 million additional average monthly active customers, up 45% compared to the same period in 2020.

Other factors that helped growth over the whole year included the launch of the Betway and Spin brands in nine new regulated markets, compared to just two in the previous year.

This included the roll-out of Betway’s igaming offering in the US states of Colorado, Indiana and Iowa, as well as igaming and sports betting in Pennsylvania and New Jersey.

In addition, such was the impact of growth in the early part of the year that Super Group said its earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBTIDA) for the first half is expected to be 87% higher than in FY20.

In August 2021, Super Group revealed it was on track to hit full-year targets after revealing that net gaming revenue for the first half was expected to reach $762.6m. 

The business, at the time, also said estimated EBITDA for the period will be “well within” management expectations.

In April, Super Group also entered a definitive agreement to merge with special purpose acquisition business Sports Entertainment Acquisition Corp. (SEAC).

The arrangement will see Super Group combine with SEAC and apply to list shares on the New York Stock Exchange under the new ticker symbol ‘SGHC’, with the new business to operate under the name Super Group. The deal was expected to complete late in 2021, but its shares are yet to make their stock exchange debut.

The acquisition will see Playmaker boost its social media presence significantly. Cracks has four million followers across Facebook and Instagram, with over one million more coming from Twitter, TikTok and Twitch.

Cracks’ Spanish-speaking sports news channels across YouTube has also accumulated a further 12.5 million subscribers.

The deal presents Playmaker with the chance to break further ground in the Latin American market, the business explained, as Cracks has YouTube channels covering Mexico, Colombia and Argentina.

It will also provide additional opportunities for further partnerships, such as the creation of on-premise original content created during the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar featuring founder Manuel Bravo as lead talent.

Playmaker executive vice president Federico Grinberg believes the deal will enrich Playmaker’s commercial offering going forward.

“Cracks’ story is one of passion, persistence and professionalism, led by “Manu” since the company’s inception,” he said. “We are thrilled that he chose Playmaker to take Cracks to the next level.

“Cracks will give us access to a completely new revenue stream: original video creation and monetization through syndication on third-party platforms, mainly YouTube and Facebook.”

Bravo added: “Cracks started as an amateur project that maintained a continuous upward growth trajectory despite its limitations.

“Now that Playmaker is acquiring Cracks, we will not only continue to be leaders in our field but can also aspire to make a leap in quality across the board. Ultimately, we are confident our audience will benefit, as we continue to build the best possible version of Cracks.”

Cracks represents the latest in a long line of recent Playmaker acquisitions. In addition to Brazilian media group Grupo SuperPoker in November, Playmaker also struck deals in 2021 with digital betting and media solutions provider Two-Up, Brazilian online football community Fanáticos Por Futebol, and digital media property Yardbarker.

The first bets were placed on 9 December, limited to in-person sportsbooks, with the MGM National Harbor the first property to go live. 

It was joined in the market by Caesars’ Horseshoe Casino and Live! Casino on 10 December; Churchill Downs’ Ocean Downs on 17 December, then Penn National’s Hollywood Casino on 23 December.

Over the remaining 22 days of the month, customers wagered $16.6m, of which $7.1m was staked via FanDuel at the Live! venue in Anne Arundel County. MGM National Harbor in Oxon Hill – just south of Washington, DC followed with $6.0m staked. 

Caesars’ Horseshoe, in Baltimore, followed on $2.6m, with $554,218 wagered at Ocean Downs and $319,001 at Hollywood Casino. 

In total players won back $13.4m across all five sportsbooks, for a 19.2% hold. After deductions of $41,341 – comprising federal excise taxes on handle and losses carried forward – operators were left with $3.1m in taxable revenue. 

Again, FanDuel and Live! Casino were the clear frontrunners on $1.4m, followed by MGM National Harbor on $975,203. Horseshoe Casino came third on $535,356, with Ocean Downs’ revenue coming to $167,936, and Hollywood Casino’s to $94,796. 

From the state’s 15% tax, $469,297 was generated for the Blueprint for Maryland’s Future Fund, which supports public education programmes in the state. 

“We are truly excited that sports wagering is available, and we’re eager to do our part to keep the market growing,” said Maryland Lottery and Gaming director John Martin.

Further operators are expected to roll out retail betting in the coming weeks, with Maryland Lottery and Gaming’s Sports Wagering Application Review Commission in the process of developing the process and criteria for mobile licensing. 

Legislation was signed into law by Maryland Governor Larry Hogan in May 2021, after the state’s citizens backed legal betting in a 2020 referendum.

CasinoFriday will utilise Flows’ workflow features to advance its offering.

CasinoFriday launched in the fourth quarter of 2020, on an API-based online gaming platform designed by Pragmatic Solutions.

Since integrating Flows’ features, using Pragmatic’s modular platform, CasinoFriday has implemented real-time data software and applications into its system.

Flows came to fruition after former Gaming Innovation Group CEO Robin Reed saw a space for no-code software development in the online gaming market.

“We’re really excited to have partnered with CasinoFriday and humbled that a team of industry veterans saw the potential and value in Flows at such an early stage,” said James King, CEO of Flows.

“From a practical point of view, this partnership has allowed us to prove our agnostic ability and speed of integration in both the pragmatic integration but also with other third parties used by CasinoFriday.”

Playtech will roll out its IMS platform, casino, live casino, poker and bingo technology for NorthStar’s launch in Ontario.

The new partnership will provide NorthStar with the technology platform to deliver a Canadian-focused online casino and sports betting experience, following the completion of regulatory approvals and licensing processes. 

Ontario, which released final igaming, sports and event betting regulatory standards in October, is preparing to open the province to private competition, the first in Canada to establish a licensing system.

 “NorthStar Gaming is thrilled to be the exclusive Canadian partner in the media and publishing sector with Playtech, the world’s leading gambling technology supplier,” said Michael Moskowitz, chief executive officer and founding partner of NorthStar Gaming.

“Playtech’s industry-leading suite of tools will give us an unmatched edge in the marketplace, given our proprietary content and localisation – something we know consumers are looking for.”

Playtech CEO Mor Weizer added: “We are delighted to announce our partnership with NorthStar Gaming as it prepares to launch its market leading online gaming business in Canada.

“Our success is driven by strategic partnerships with industry leading operators around the world and we are excited to partner with a leading entertainment company like NorthStar Gaming.

“At Playtech, we are driven to deliver a sustainable, commercially viable and engaging entertainment experience – for the benefit of all stakeholders.”

This comes weeks after Playtech’s launch of two live casino facilities in the neighbouring US in a multi-state rollout.

After the launch of NorthStar Gaming as a made-in-Ontario online betting brand and sportsbook in March 2021, the company partnered with local media giant TorStar Corporation.

Torstar is an established brand operating in Canada since 1892, and NorthStar Gaming said the collaboration “will provide customers with an all-encompassing online casino and sports betting experience.” 

MGM Grand accounted for 43% of Detroit’s casino revenue, with MotorCity contributing 35% and Penn National’s Greektown the remaining 22%.

Slot games were the largest contributor to the total with $998.8m, or 77% of revenue. Table games contributed a further $268.0m (21% of casino revenue), with $27.0m coming from retail sports betting retail sports betting revenue amounted to 2% of the revenue total.

For sports betting, Greektown led the way with revenue of $9.5m. MGM Grand’s sports betting revenue came to $8.8m, while MotorCity added $8.7m.

The casinos paid a combined total of $102.6 million in wagering taxes to the state of Michigan, compared with $50.3 million in 2020. $1.3m of retail sports betting tax was also submitted to the city of Detroit.

For December 2021, revenue from the three casinos totaled $112.5m. $111.4m came from table games and slots – a 405.0% increase on December 2020 when the casinos were closed due to the novel coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic. Sports betting revenue added a further $1.1m.

MGM’s $51.4m revenue in December was up 576.5% from 2020.

MotorCity reported a 284.9% increase to $35.0m, and Greektown’s revenue of $35.0m was up 365.9% year-on-year.

The combined betting handle for the three casinos came to $30.1m in December.

Filed in the US District Court for the District of Columbia, the legal challenge said the state is using the IGRA “inappropriately” to give tribes exclusivity to gaming such as sports betting, which are currently not allowed in non-tribal gaming properties in Washington.

Washington Governor Jay Inslee in March of 2020 signed into law House Bill 2638, which legalised in-person sports betting at Class III gaming facilities in the state. Nine tribal casinos were then given the go-ahead to offer betting in September last year, after amendments to their gaming compacts with the state were ratified.

However, this was not extended to non-tribal venues such as commercial cardrooms in the state, with a bill seeking to do so having not progressed into law.

Cardrooms are restricted to offering up to 15 tables for house-banked card games but are not able to offer any form of sports betting. There are currently 44 licensed cardrooms in Washington State, 19 of which are operated by Maverick.

Maverick Gaming is seeking to challenge this approach, employing a legal team that includes Theodore Olson, who successfully represented the State of New Jersey in the 2018 case that saw the Wire Act repealed and states permitted to create legal, regulated and taxed sports betting markets.

“The IGRA was intended to guarantee parity between tribal and non-tribal gaming, but unfortunately Washington State is misusing IGRA to instead create tribal monopolies on certain types of gaming, such as sports betting,” Olson said. 

“Contrary to IGRA’s own words, the law is being used to insulate tribes in Washington State from competition that exists in many other states with legal gaming marketplaces.”

Maverick co-founder and chief executive Eric Persson added: “We support and respect tribal equality and sovereignty. Our decision to file this litigation is founded on the same values that we have brought to all of our efforts at Maverick Gaming. 

“We are proud of our union-led workforce in Washington that offers family-wage jobs with benefits and a pension, helping create access to economic opportunity in communities across my home state. 

“That access to economic opportunity relies on a fair application of laws such as the IGRA and I am hopeful that this lawsuit will resolve successfully so that tribal casinos and smaller commercial cardrooms like those owned by Maverick Gaming may offer the same types of legal gaming, such as sports betting, just like commercial cardrooms and tribal casinos already offer in other states.”

Responding to the filing, Rebecca George, executive director of the Washington Indian Gaming Association (WIGA), criticised the challenge, describing it as a “desperate attempt” that could be “dangerous and destructive” for the state.

“Maverick Gaming’s newly announced federal lawsuit is a desperate attempt to overturn federal law, the will of the Washington State legislature, state and federal agency decisions, and the clearly expressed sentiments of the general public in Washington State,” George said.

“It would severely undermine the well-regulated and safe system of limited gaming that has been established in Washington State over three decades of carefully negotiated compacts between the State of Washington and Native American tribes.

“Those compacts are fully in keeping with the federal Indian Gaming Regulatory Act, as well as with state law, and have been repeatedly vetted at multiple levels of regulatory oversight. 

“In short, this dangerous and destructive lawsuit is without merit, and were it to somehow be successful it would cause irreparable harm not only to historically marginalised tribal communities but also to the broader public, which opposes a massive expansion of gambling in their neighbourhoods and communities. 

“We will be reviewing their complaint more carefully, but Washington State’s tribes stand united in opposing any attempt to undermine the IGRA, tribal compacts, and what the tribes have worked so hard to build.”

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