Month: February 2022

The announcement came in the form of a banner on the operator’s GB-facing website Novibet.co.uk.

In this message, Novibet said it would cease to operate in the UK and asked customers to withdraw funds from their gaming accounts.

Novibet stated that its withdrawal is due to commercial reasons.

The GB Gambling Commission confirmed that Novibet had given up its licence, adding that it must adhere to normal closure standards.

“We have been informed by Novigroup Ltd that it is surrendering its licence,” said a spokesperson from the Commission. “The operator is aware that we expect an orderly closure of its website to GB consumers and this includes providing consumers with clear information on how to obtain their funds.”

“If a customer has questions concerning their account they should contact the operator via its website.”

The Commission’s standards for leaving the British market stipulate that operators must communicate clear information to customers through all available avenues, such as direct contact and social media.

As well as this, customers who wish to register a complaint must be provided with information on who to contact. The operator must also meet any outstanding liabilities, which may include honouring bets that are due to be settled post-closure.

Amid the ongoing review of the Gambling Act, both the LGA and APCC said local councils should be given greater powers to determine where and how many gambling premises can open in their areas.

This would include councils being given more legal flexibility and power to approve or reject applications for a premises depending on local circumstances, taking into consideration the interests of the local economy, community impact and views of local residents. 

The LGA and APCC referred to research that highlighted gambling and betting premises are typically located in more deprived areas, where residents may be more vulnerable to issues stemming from gambling and betting.

However, local councils in Britain currently have only limited powers to prevent the opening of a gambling premises, even if there are already others nearby or there are reasons why it may not be an appropriate location.

“Councils are not anti-gambling, but it is time we have a regulatory framework for gambling that above all else prioritises protecting vulnerable people from gambling-related harm and gives powers to local communities,” chairman of the LGA’s safer and stronger communities board Cllr Nesil Caliskan said.

The associations also called for the government to crack down on the volume of gambling advertising and marketing in Great Britain, saying this could help break the link between problem gambling and spiralling debt, homelessness and relationship breakdowns.

The LGA and APCC said they were concerned about reports of people who are vulnerable to gambling-related harm being targeted with free bets and other marketing offers, even when they are trying to stop gambling. 

The two associations said since the Gambling Act was first introduced in 2005, technological development has seen a significant increase in the numbers of people gambling remotely, linked with a shift towards operators advertising online and via social media. As such, the LGA and APCC said changes are needed to address the changes.

Other suggestions put forward by the LGA and APCC include the government introducing a statutory levy on all gambling operators to replace the current system of voluntary industry donations funding research, education and treatment.  

This, the two associations said, would help fund an expansion of support provision, ensuring those experiencing gambling-related harm have access to care and would also help remove concerns over the independence of funding routed through voluntary donations.  

Yesterday (21 February), the UK’s National Health Service (NHS) said it would cease its dual commissioning and funding arrangement with the GambleAware charity for specialist gambling clinics from 1 April.

The NHS said the decision was “heavily influenced” by patients who previously expressed concerns about using services paid for directly by industry, adding that clinicians felt there were conflicts of interest in the clinics being part-funded by resources from the gambling industry.

“The review is a golden opportunity for the Government to implement further measures that empower local communities and their elected representatives to determine what and how many gambling premises they have in their local areas,” Caliskan said. “It is unacceptable that councils have such limited powers to refuse applications for new premises.” 

APCC joint leads for addictions and substance misuse, Joy Allen and David Sidwick, added: “We know that people are committing serious crimes to fund gambling addictions and Police and Crime Commissioners are committed to taking action to make our communities safer. 

“We support calls for councils to have more legal flexibility and power with respect to local gambling premises and we want to see measures to get to grips with problem gambling online. 

“Problem gambling can do a great deal of harm, to both the individual and to society, and we want to ensure that support is available to those affected and, where the industry has acted irresponsibly, it is held to account for its actions.”

Alina Yakirevich is CMO of Fonbet. She has extensive experience in all areas of marketing – TV, digital advertising, below the line communications, printed and radio advertising, PR, SMM, SEO and context, content and native advertising. She has also reorganised and established all divisions of Fonbet’s marketing team, setting KPIs which reflect the key business goals of the company.

While the proliferation of digital marketing channels has been increasing the demands on CMOs for some time now, this has been intensified by the pandemic.

As businesses work to scale products to an online audience, speed and innovation have become paramount. CMOs are now required to radically evolve content for ecommerce platforms, where messages need to be personalised and targeted to individual consumers.

Alina Yakirevich, CMO of Russian-facing betting operator Fonbet, highlights two key areas that marketing directors now need expertise in, that they didn’t necessarily have before.

“The first is the product,” she explains. “I interact a lot with UX and UI research, making product decisions, offering ideas and making recommendations. The product team and I have the same goals. I have to really understand the product well.”

“The second area is customer service. Today, in Russia, the fight for customers is a major focus, and the winning company is the one with the best loyalty programme, the lowest churn, best retention, steepest conversions and highest lifetime value (LTV). All this is closely related to the way we handle customer service.”

Battling with the evolution of technology 

With analytics and data-driven roles becoming a key part of the industry’s conversion to online, Yakirevich agrees that Fonbet has had to adapt its strategy.

“Primarily, I maintain a solid budget for R&D. Recently, we’ve been using consultancy services a lot at Fonbet alongside hiring specialists to work in-house.”

“However, our focus is on data-driven marketing. We create our own B2B products which are strategically crucial for a company with a strong development team like Fonbet. If we like something, we’ll often purchase a B2B solution, use it for one to two years, and then create our own in parallel.”

By working closely with analytics and marketing performance data, Fonbet’s efficiency is maximised and the return of investment increases. Being able to measure website traffic and SEO success rates makes recruitment specifications far more niche than they used to be, and Yakirevich doesn’t deny that roles are becoming harder to fill.

“Analytics are crucial to marketing, and we’re always looking for good analysts. To be honest, we don’t have enough of them! 

“Demand has been huge lately, but this is an area we are determined to grow and improve in.”

Working on a global scale

With operators such as Fonbet holding licences across a wide range of jurisdictions in Europe, they need to adapt their marketing aims to optimise results in different countries. Yakirevich explains that, at Fonbet, this is achieved through a combination of research-driven tasks.

“When we enter a new market, we always research and analyse it first. We always have country managers or local marketers who help us develop creative campaigns appropriate to the environment.”

With regulations having become a hugely influential part of the industry, Fonbet recognises that understanding a country’s values is the first step to successful marketing. 

“This goes as far as regulations and policies surrounding gaming. In some places, the message is ‘have fun’, and in others, it’s ‘if you know a lot about sports, make money from it’. These are absolutely diametrical approaches to the same activity: from an emotional message to a strongly rational one.”

The need to outsource

There is a clear increase in the role of third-parties in corporate marketing decisions, drastically changing the managerial demands of a CMO. Yakirevich highlights the importance of outsourcing, and how in some countries, and particularly Russia, it is as much an internal struggle as external.

“Every year we use the services of auditors and consultants more and more. Fonbet sometimes hires business advisers, which I personally think is an excellent decision.

“However, marketing directors in Russia are cautious about this approach, which I disagree with. They feel it is hiring someone to look for their mistakes. However, the truth is, when it comes to strategically important business decisions, you always need second and third opinions.

“I also want to note that when a third-party specialist is involved, there are two possible outcomes: they’ll look and say that everything is fine and they have nothing to add, or they’ll say that things need improving, and the company would benefit from knowing these changes.”

If Covid-19 has taught industry leaders anything, it is the need to address uncertainties and seek to find answers quickly. Yakirevich tells iGB how essential it is for a CMO to be fluid when faced with problems, and the importance of learning from mistakes and accepting specialists’ opinions in order to achieve the best outcome for the business.

“Even if we do make some mistakes, it’s crucial for us to stop making them as soon as possible. If we’re headed in the wrong direction or doing something ineffective for the company, it’s important for us to face the truth and say, “okay, what we’re doing could be better”, and work on a solution ASAP.”

Changing profile of gaming marketers

Not only are the day-to-day activities of a CMO changing, but so is the typical profile. As a female CMO, Yakirevich touches on what the industry could do to create a more diverse environment for women heading sectors in the gaming vertical. 

“Betting companies are recruiting more and more women. I seem to be a bit of a trendsetter, because I’m one of Fonbet’s top managers and most visible faces in general. The fact that I’m a young woman and have a solid career history gets people’s attention.”

Yakirevich is keen to point out that this conversion stems from how Fonbet operates internally- and that it is only sustainable through a unanimous attitude within. She comments on how the company “trusts young professionals, where there’s no ageism or sexism.”

However, despite the fact that this should be the norm, in Russia, there is still a long way to go.

“If we’re talking about Russia in general and our industry in particular, then we can say that there is discrimination against women. I do think that this will change with time though. 

“The more we talk about our employees, who come from a variety of countries with different religions, the more we’ll be able to speak with pride of their success and support an inclusive culture.”

Sports betting and igaming service provider FSB has marked a number of firsts through its SZRT Slovakia supply deal.  

The agreement to power the Betring sportsbook signals FSB’s first venture into the Slovakian market. It also marks the first time the business has partnered with a World Lottery Association (WLA) member in Hungarian state lottery Szerencsejáték Zrt (SZRT).  

All of this follows private equity giant Clairvest Group’s £23m investment in the business in 2019. At the time, the deal was heralded as a driver of future growth. Sure enough, the injection of funds helped facilitate FSB’s move from being a supplier focused predominantly on the British market to one with designs on international expansion.  

“Over the past 18 months we’ve established divisions in North America, Europe and the rest of the world,” chief executive David McDowell explains. “We’ve built strong development and delivery teams focused on those regions and we’ve invested heavily into scaling up the technology resources and the delivery model of getting more sites live.” 

SZRT Slovakia therefore feels like a natural next step. “We’re at the stage of our evolution where we’re really equipped to target these major tier one opportunities,” McDowell says. “Securing this partnership feels like the next step on that journey. 

“We have a vision of becoming the industry’s number-one supplier of sports betting services – and we’re no slouch in igaming either. I think we’ve already firmly established ourselves as the number-one challenger brand so I think this deal is just a fantastic step along that journey.” 

Local heroes 

McDowell’s confidence in FSB’s future prospects come from the strength of its offering, he says. That product is built around an agile framework that he says lends itself perfectly to localisation and regulated market conditions.  

This has allowed FSB to build out a solution tailored for the Slovakian market, with localised hosting, Know Your Customer (KYC) and payment solutions, as well as coverage of local sports such as floorball, a variant of indoor hockey.  

But key to ensuring Betring’s success will be working closely with SZRT Slovakia, McDowell continues.

“What we try to do, which we did with SZRT, is we worked in collaboration to curate what we think is the right sports betting solution and igaming experience for the market,” he explains.  

“Their huge breadth of offering combined with our in-house expertise and the agility of our technology is a winning combination.” 

While the customers in the Slovakian market bring new opportunities for FSB, they also bring with them a set of challenges. One in particular that the company has encountered through its dealings in the US is bonus abusers – customers who only come for a sign-up bonus with no intention of playing further.

McDowell believes FSB and SZRT Slovakia are well-equipped to deal with the problem.  

“How do you build a brand and attract customers to try your brand while at the same time weeding out the bonus abusers? That’s where our strength around the risk management platform and marketing CRM tools – which are excellent – really comes into play.  

“What we’re trying to do is use proprietary AI models to spot bonus abusers early to make sure that the marketing promotion spend is targeting the right customers. SZRT in Slovakia are using our managed trading service and that means our risk management team have been instrumental in navigating through those teething issues of trying to spot and combat bonus abusers. 

“Once you get beyond the technology of the services it’s about building a strong working relationship and making sure you’ve got a strong partnership to prosper in the territory together.” 

Starting something 

Of course, Slovakia as a market represents a new horizon for FSB, and SZRT is its first WLA client. This adds additional pressure to get it right – especially when it marks SZRT’s first expansion beyond its native Hungary.  

But McDowell argues FSB is more than capable of meeting its expectations.  

“When working with a tier-one operator and WLA partner, the hard work starts after the product goes live. That’s really where we scaled up the organisation so that we could have the right operating model and right cadence of communications – not only across the C-level team but a good solid working partnership with the operations, trading, marketing, compliance teams.  

“At FSB what we’re really trying to do is focus on building transparency and trust through an open dialogue at every level and that resonates really well with the WLA sector.” 

And should it succeed, he remains confident that SZRT Slovakia will be the first in a series of WLA clients. McDowell stresses that the deal is the first in a series of high-profile deals already in the works, rather than the test case that will be used to bring in more.  

“I think what’s really exciting is we’ve got some more tier-one operators that we’re actively working on in the delivery phase which we’ll be able to announce in the coming months,” he says.  

“2021 was really a transformational year for the organisation and 2022 is a year where I think we’re just going to see explosive revenue growth.” 

A decade ago, I was playing Team Fortress 2 as part of a top 20 European team. TF2 is a fantastic first-person shooter that still remains a fan favourite.

Back then, competitive play was mostly 6v6 and matches were built around controlling certain areas of the map. Arriving in the centre of the map a second ahead of the opposing team and in better health could already decide the round in your favour.

As a team, we would practice these so-called “rollouts” for each map – everyone knew their exact place and path to the middle. We also developed clear plans of action for certain common situations, often depending on the team we were going to face.

After practice, I would write our tactics down in my playbook, that I still have and sometimes nostalgically leaf through.

Game-changing tactics

Solid tactics are arguably one of the most important factors of success in team sports – and that includes esports, too. At the highest level, a lot of elements like mechanics or aim are mostly equalised. It’s non-tangible things like decision-making and team cohesion that will decide a match. 

Choosing which point to attack in Counter-Strike or when to pursue a neutral monster in League of Legends can turn the tide of the game and acting correctly when a player went down might save the team from a terrible situation. And of course there are the omnipresent opening tactics – champion selection probably being the one most readers are familiar with.

The need to quantify and evaluate tactics is not new. Professional teams are already engaging full-time analysts and companies like Shadow offer assistance to teams. But so far we are only seeing baby steps – and machine learning can go a long way to help develop a more profound understanding of the games.

On the frontier

In fact, esports are destined to be on the frontier of AI-supported analysis. The sheer availability of high-quality esports data makes it possible to get insights that go way beyond what traditional commentators and analysts can offer.

Take soccer for example. In order to glean any kind of automated insight, somebody needs to first transform the match data into a machine-readable form. Usually this will mean writing down ball possessions, passes, shots and player positions. The data is sparse and extending it is labour-intensive. 

Adding new features, for instance, means rewatching all labelled matches again. Even if the players wear some kind of tracking device, creating a full dataset requires substantial work.

While this is feasible for commercially successful sports like soccer, it is entirely unrealistic for niche sports. This is where esports can truly shine – they already exist as data. If we have the right data provider, we know everything that is going on in a match – where the players were, when they shot and who they hit, even which buttons they pushed. 

At Bayes Esports, we have access to official publisher data, and this means that a dataset can be as rich as we desire. If we find that something is missing, all we need to do to add information is to adjust some lines of code and let our parser run again.

Only the beginning

Some work in this direction has already been done. In 2021, Bayes Esports data scientist Gustav Geißler used machine learning to label various Counter-Strike strategies and compiled statistics on them.

Some very common trends emerged that made us want to pursue this research further. We believe that it is possible to compile a list of all CS:GO openings, just like chess plays, and then rate their success by controlling for different factors.

The analysis can then go deeper and correlate prevalence of plays with the in-game economy, or the reliance on certain team members. There is practically no limit to how far one could take this research.

Very similar studies are possible with MOBA titles, too. Here, we look less at the physical paths that the players took at the start of the map and more toward the objectives they fulfilled and the items they bought.

Having an abstraction for tactics then lets us study how they change from team to team or from patch to patch for the same team. This allows us to consider differences between the playing styles of teams, but also changes that occur within one team after a significant patch has come out.

And yet, all this is only the beginning – and there are far too few academic papers on these topics. Where are the grad students wanting to dive deep into esports data? I would really like to see research into esports tactics flourish in the coming years.

Machine learning experts have already begun teaming up with sports scientists, but the open research questions remain numerous. And many aspects of the games are not uniquely tied to esports – these rich datasets can be used to study team cohesion and cooperation, which can then be used to make hypotheses about other, offline sports.

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The NHS and GambleAware had been working together to deliver clinics at locations across the UK since 2019, funded by donations to GambleAware from the gambling industry.

However, NHS national mental health director Claire Murdoch confirmed in an open letter to GambleAware chief executive Zoë Osmond that the NHS would switch to using general NHS funding to support the network of clinics, as is standard for other, similar services.

Murdoch said the decision was “heavily influenced” by patients who previously expressed concerns about using services paid for directly by industry, adding that clinicians felt there were conflicts of interest in the clinics being part-funded by resources from the gambling industry.

Murdoch said that the NHS would maintain a relationship with GambleAware and continue to work with GambleAware to develop a treatment system to support those with gambling problems.

“The NHS cannot address the harms caused by gambling alone, nor is it the NHS’s job to tackle this on its own,” Murdoch said. “We are therefore committed to maintaining a constructive operational relationship with GambleAware as this change is implemented and continuing to work together on developing a treatment system that is fit for purpose.

“We are very grateful to GambleAware for the funding that you have provided over the last three years, which has allowed us to roll out treatment services faster than would have otherwise been possible.”

Murdoch added that she hoped GambleAware would support the NHS in its calls for the gambling industry to be more heavily regulated and taxed in order to generate more public funds to tackle problem gambling across the UK.

“Gambling treatment services do not prevent people being harmed in the first place and we would like to see the industry take firm action so that people do not need to seek help from the NHS,” Murdoch said.

“We hope that you will continue to join us in calling for the gambling industry to be more heavily regulated and taxed to generate public funding to address gambling harms.”

The news comes after GambleAware earlier this month announced that it received £16.0m (€19.2m/$21.8m) in total donations during the first three quarters of its fiscal year, helped by multi-million-pound pledges from Bet365 and Entain.

The amount donated in the nine months to 31 December was 255.6% more than the £4.5m pledged in the same period of 2020, though the previous year was hampered by the novel coronavirus (Covid-19), meaning operators did not donate as much as usual.