Month: January 2022

The report was created in conjunction with Swansea University.

The data was collected though an online survey taken by 2,000 RAF personnel, and followed up with qualitative interviews with a smaller sample of individuals.

Participants were placed in categories using their problem gambling severity index (PGSI) score and systematic sampling was used to identify individuals from each category.

The categories were non-problem, low-risk, moderate-risk and problem gambling.

Out of those who had reported gambling activity in the past year, 84.3% reported that they had no gambling problems, 9.8% gave responses that indicated low levels of risk, 3.9% gave responses that indicated moderate risk and 2.0% had PGSI scores that indicated problem gambling.

According to the RAF Benevolent Fund, 13.7% of participants reporting a level of at-risk gambling is high compared to those found in other armed forces. For example, only 5.7% of Australian Military members who took part in a 2020 study reported at-risk behaviours.

In the follow-up interviews, participants pointed to factors within the RAF that incentivised them to gamble, including deployment, higher exposure to risk in their roles and an existing gambling culture in the RAF.

Out of all those who responded to the survey, 55.1% reported symptoms of depression while 60.1% reported symptoms of anxiety.

In addition, 5.8% of those surveyed reported problematic behaviours with alcohol. Out of this amount, 3.4% gave responses that indicated a higher risk of harm, while 2.4% reported potentially dependent drinking.

“The health and wellbeing of our personnel is of utmost importance, so this research provides a valuable insight into some of the challenges faced by the serving community,” said Maria Byford, chief of staff personnel and air secretary at the RAF.

“Now, with a greater understanding of these issues, we will be able to better support personnel with the assistance of service charities like the RAF Benevolent Fund.”

The report also found that being male, being between the ages of 18 and 24 and being of non-commissioned rank are particular risk factors for problem gambling among RAF personnel.

“This internationally significant, large-scale study shows, for the first time, that serving members of the RAF are vulnerable to gambling-related harm,” said Simon Dymond, Professor of Psychology and Behaviour Analysis at Swansea University.

“It is important that we follow up this finding with targeted help and support, including the early identification of potential harms that arise from gambling among currently serving personnel from all services.”

According to Sky News, this could see separate disposals of Playtech’s business-to-business division and Italian consumer arm Snaitech, However, this would only be the case if the Aristocrat acquisition were not to go ahead.

Australian slot machine manufacturer Aristocrat in October 2021 brokered a deal to acquire Playtech for approximately £2.70bn (€3.23bn/$3.65bn).

Playtech previously stated that its directors recommended unanimously shareholders vote in favour of the Aristocrat offer, saying it would provide “certainty and liquidity”. 

However, last week Playtech said there was still uncertainty as to how some shareholders will vote on the Aristocrat bid at a meeting next week. The meeting is due to take place on 2 February, but Playtech said some material investors “have not to date engaged meaningfully about their views on the Aristocrat offer”.

Playtech said this means it is now approaching the court and general meetings “without a clear understanding ” of whether these shareholders are supportive of the Aristocrat bid.

This has led to speculation in the media that if the Aristocrat acquisition does not go ahead, Playtech could instead break up its business and sell off its operations in parts.

Sky News reported that Playtech’s concerns are centred around a collection of Asia-based shareholders who own approximately a quarter of all Playtech stock. The acquisition would require the approval of 75% of shareholders in order to proceed.

Responding to the reports, Playtech did not state whether it was considering a break-up sale if the acquisition were to fail but did reiterate its recommendation that shareholders vote in favour of the Aristocrat offer.

“Whilst Playtech has made significant strategic and operational progress and is in a strong position for the future, Aristocrat’s proposal provides an attractive opportunity for shareholders to accelerate the delivery of Playtech’s longer-term value,” Playtech said.

Aristocrat’s chances of acquiring Playtech had seemingly improved last week after it was announced that JKO Play, a business controlled by former Formula 1 team owner Eddie Jordan and industry veteran Keith O’Loughlin, had withdrawn its interest in making an offer.

JKO Play emerged as a potential bidder for Playtech in November 2021 and was provided with due diligence. This led to Playtech postponing the shareholder meeting in relation to the Aristocrat offer to allow additional time to hold talks with JKO Play about a potential bid.

JKO Play was initially given until 5 January to submit a bid for Playtech, but this date was pushed back to the day of the rescheduled meeting (2 February). 

JKO Play had been required to clarify its position and confirm whether it would make a bid by 5pm on 26 January, but last week announced that it would not pursue its interest in making a bid and withdrew from the process.

It was initially hoped that a takeover deal would complete during the second quarter of 2022.

In December 2020, Playtech shareholders approved the sale of its financial trading division Finalto to Gopher Investments, a key step that was required for Aristocrat’s deal to take effect.

Gopher also previously also expressed an interest in acquiring Playtech, but withdrew from the running shortly after.

Widerström will officially depart next month, with David Vaněk, currently general manager of the business’s Fortuna Game division, to assume the role of interim CEO from 1 March.

During his time as CEO, FEG said Widerström oversaw a period of growth where its business grew more than five times in size.

FEG added that Widerström had opted to leave the business in order to pursue new career opportunities. 

“Seven years is indeed a long time and there are so many people I would like to thank for having been with me and FEG during this journey, be it our customers, business partners or other stakeholders,” Widerström said.

“Leaving FEG at this time feels right, in particular knowing that the company is well poised for further growth, as well as being in the very good hands of David Vaněk and the rest of the group executive team.” 

Vaněk added: “I am proud to have been given the opportunity to lead FEG into the next phase of its development.

“I am truly excited about the tremendous potential that the company has, and I am looking forward to leveraging the group’s extensive know-how to deliver a market-leading value proposition to all our customers.”

The overall number represents a 13% decrease on 2020’s figure, when 270 suspicious cases were flagged. The alerts spanned 13 sports across 49 countries.

69 alerts were recorded in the fourth quarter of 2021, following on from the 65 recorded in the third quarter.

Tennis produced the most alerts of any sport with 80, down from the 98 recorded in 2020. The 66 football alerts represented am 8% increase on the figure reported for 2020.

Table tennis added a further 40 alerts, with esports contributing 30, basketball seven and volleyball six. Ice hockey, beach volleyball, squash, horseracing, futsal, cricket and handball all added a single alert each.

IBIA alerts are flagged via member operators, who raise suspicious activity to the association involved and all other members. Should IBIA determine, following a review, that the event warrants more investigation, it then raises a suspicious activity report to the sport’s governing body as well as any relevant regulators.

Europe accounted for exactly half of all alerts, with 118 coming from the continent. 27 of which came from Russia – the highest number recorded for a single country.

43 alerts came from Asia, 18 from Africa, 17 from South America, and 10 from North America – a 54% decrease for the continent compared to 2020.

11 successful sporting or criminal sanctions came as a result of IBIA alerts in 2021.

IBIA CEO Khalid Ali expressed relief that alerts appear to be experiencing a downward trend and a return to pre novel coronavirus numbers.

Ali said: “Another challenging year for the sector has passed with the spectre of Covid and its impact on sporting events declining, and hopefully a potential endgame in sight.

“Challenges however persist, notably with the growth of private sports events and establishing integrity protocols to the levels seen in traditional sports bodies. The association is working with a number of stakeholders in this area to improve integrity provisions.”

In a letter to the Bally’s board, Standard General – which currently owns more than 20% of the business – said it would pay $38.00 for every share of the business that it does not own. This would price Bally’s as a whole at $2.07bn.

“Our proposed transaction would allow the company’s stockholders to immediately realise an attractive value, in cash, for their investment and provides stockholders certainty of value for their shares, especially when viewed against the operational risks inherent in the company’s business and the market risks inherent in remaining a public company,” Standard General chairman Soo Kim said.

Kim also noted that the $38.00 price represented a 30% premium compared to Bally’s closing share price of $29.27 on 24 January. Bally’s share price has since risen on the news, closing on 25 January at $35.85.

Kim added that if Bally’s were to reject the proposal, this would not affect Standard General’s future relationship with the business, and it would intend to continue to be a minority shareholder in that case.

He also noted that his business expects Bally’s to appoint a special committee to consider the deal, and it would only agree to an acquisition if it was approved by such a committee.

The proposal is not considered a binding bid, and may be withdrawn or modified.

Bally’s has undergone a number of transformational changes in recent years. Previously known as Twin River, it rebranded after acquiring the Bally’s brand name from Caesars. Following this, it began an acquisition spree, as it acquired betting supplier Bet.Works, fantasy operator Monkey Knife Fight and UK-based online gaming operator Gamesys. With the Gamesys deal, agreed in March, Bally’s paid £18.50 per Gamesys share, valuing the business at £2bn ($2.70bn/€2.40bn).

DRF launched the sportsbook following the success of its free-to-play sports website and sports prediction app that launched in October. Affinity said it is the latest part of its strategy to meet increasing demand in the US sports wagering industry. 

The site offers wagers on all approved major US and international sports, with multiple different bet types, including moneyline, points spread, over/under parlays and live/in-game betting.

“The launch of our first sportsbook is a significant event for Affinity Interactive and DRF as we continue our ambitious plans to deliver a world-class, digital sports betting product to sports fans across the US,” said Itay Fisher, chief digital officer at Affinity Interactive.

“The sportsbook website and app launch represent our third major sports product rollout in recent months, and further illustrates our ambition and commitment to providing best-in-class sports betting products for customers. This is another important step as we continue to deliver on our pipeline of innovative offerings that will position us to grow our presence nationwide and take bets in every state.”

James Zenni, chariman of Affinity Interactive continued: “The DRF sportsbook launch is a key event for Affinity Interactive’s ever-growing platform. Iowa was a natural choice for our first sportsbook offering given our established presence at Lakeside Casino in Osceola. ”

“As we continue to optimise and integrate our complementary land-based and interactive properties, we are highly focused on positioning our platform as the go-to sports betting destination.”

The news comes after Affinity Interactive partnered with Golden Nugget Online Gaming (GNOG) in Missouri last week to secure market access in the state if it legalises online betting.  

Revenue for the 12 months to 31 December is expected to reach £14.5m (€17.3m/$19.6m), which would be 27% more than in the previous year.

Gaming Realms also said that earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBTIDA) is likely to increase by 70% year-on-year to approximately £5.6m.

This expected growth, Gaming Realms said, is mainly due to its expansion into a number of new markets around the world and launching with 35 new partners internationally.

This included securing licences to offer its igaming content in the US states of Pennsylvania and Michigan. Gaming Realms picked up its new Pennsylvania licence in May last year and its Michigan permit in November.

Elsewhere, Gaming Realms in December partnered with JVH Gaming and Entertainment Group to launch content in the newly regulated Dutch market under the Jack’s Casino and Sports brand.

In November, Gaming Realms also entered the regulated Romanian igaming market through a partnership agreement with digital and retail betting operator Superbet. 

Gaming Realms in September struck a third-party distribution deal with 4ThePlayer.com and has since released its first 4ThePlayer.com slot game in the form of ‘9K Yeti’ with Paddy Power Betfair and Gamesys. Content is initially being distributed this content to targeted European operators, with North American markets to follow.

In addition, after the financial year-end, Gaming Realms entered the regulated Spanish market via a long-term strategic partner Gamesys under its Monopoly and Botamania brands. An initial 15 games have been approved for launch in the market. 

“We are delighted with the performance in 2021, where we launched in new markets and increased the distribution of our expanded Slingo portfolio,” Gaming Realms executive chairman Michael Buckley said.

“We have a strong pipeline of opportunities, and the outlook is very encouraging, with further expected expansion of our international footprint coupled with additional deals within the markets where our content is already distributed. 

“We believe that the strong momentum of last year will continue into 2022 which is demonstrated by entry into regulated markets announced today.”

Gaming Realms expects to report its FY21 preliminary results during the week commencing 25 April 2022.

Planet Sport will work with operators, suppliers and affiliates in the region, initially focusing on content covering cricket, football, tennis, hockey, badminton and esports.

Content will be delivered in both English and Hindi, written by native speakers based in India. 

Services will also include website and app design and development, while Planet Sport will offer its proprietary live score centre to deliver up to date information on sports.

Planet Sport said it has already signed its first client in India and is in talks with a number of brands.

“This is a major milestone for Planet Sport as we see the Indian market as having tremendous potential and one where our B2B products and services can help a wide range of stakeholders leverage the opportunity on the table,” Planet Sport’s head of sales Dean Rayson said.

“In particular, we are proud to be able to offer editorial content en-masse in Hindi as we believe this sets us apart from others in the market. India really is the place to be, and this is the first in a number of exciting developments on the B2B side of the business.”

The launch comes shortly after Planet Sport rolled out Planet Vision, its new live casino cross-sell tool that allows operators to integrate video and live odds streams into the live casino environment to deliver continued engagement between each bet.

Under the deal, Interwetten will become an official partner of the NHL in both Austria and Germany.  

Interwetten will be able to use official NHL branding, marks, logos and official designations for marketing campaigns and across its digital sports betting offerings in both countries.

The operator will also receive premier marketing positions on NHL digital assets including NHL.com/de, the official German-language version of the league’s official website.

In addition, Interwetten will have access to a full portfolio of NHL-controlled media assets, such as custom digital, social and email marketing campaigns focused on building brand awareness and driving new customer acquisition.

“We are excited to welcome Interwetten as an official partner of the NHL,” NHL’s vice president of international business development and partnerships, John Lewicki, said.

“Interwetten is a leader in the sports betting category, delivering great entertainment to their customers through creative marketing initiatives. We look forward to working with Interwetten to engage the ever-growing hockey fanbase across Austria and Germany.”

Interwetten board spokesman Stefan Sulzbacher added: “As a reliable sports betting provider, we focus our engagements and collaborations in sports with long-term partnerships that enable maximum entertainment. 

“We are proud that we have a multi-year partnership with the NHL – the best ice hockey league in the world – and the SIG Group.”

This partnership will be supported by Sportradar, the NHL’s official betting data rights partner of the NHL. 

The two parties entered a 10-year partnership in June 2021, under which NHL is utilising ad:s, Sportradar’s data-driven marketing solution, to develop sports betting partnerships outside of North America.

The majority of the revenue total – $25.1m – came from support, maintenance and subscription services. Product revenue came to $8.1m, while revenue derived from professional services amounted to $6.2m.

Costs of goods sold totaled $14.7m, leaving gross profit of $24.7m.

Operating expenses came to $23.1m, down from $26.0m last year. Product development was the largest expense with $11.2m, followed by general and administrative costs of $6.8m. Sales and marketing expenses were $3.9m, while other costs came to $1.1m.

Pre tax income for the quarter came to $1.6m. After accounting for $24,000 worth of income tax, net profit for the quarter amounted to $1.5m, up from a $2.0m loss suffered last year.

Adjusted earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation totaled $6,6m for the quarter, down 13.1% from last year.

Q3 also saw Agilysys complete its $25m acquisition of property management software company ResortSuite – a deal which Agilysys CEO and president Ramesh Srinivasan believes is benefitting the hospitality industry as a whole.

He said: “The previously announced acquisition of ResortSuite closed early January as expected. Only a handful of technology providers currently have the experience and expertise to offer robust, comprehensive and end-to-end integrated property management solutions and the merger of two of them – Agilysys and ResortSuite – is progressing well on all fronts, among internal teams, customers and the overall hospitality industry community.”

Srinivasan added that the third quarter saw record numbers in terms of both subscription and overall recurring revenue, before suggesting that the upcoming quarter could follow a similar trend.

He continued: “We are pleased with our continued consistent growth in subscription revenue despite partial to high business environment challenges across Asia, Europe, managed food services, cruise ships and hotel chains.

“We expect the current business environment pressures on one-time hardware product and services revenue to get better soon. We expect Q4 fiscal 2022 to be a record high for overall total revenue getting us to the low end of fiscal 2022 annual guidance with profitability remaining at Adjusted EBITDA being slightly above 15% of revenue.”