Month: March 2022

Ultimate Odds, a betting-themed fantasy sports platform, has been supported by Philadelphia-based entrepreneurs Justin Batushansky and Jonathan Bierig.

Other participants in the seed round include Seth Young, former PointsBet chief strategy officer, Benjie Cherniak and former managing director of Don Best Sports Quinton Singleton.

Additional supporters include Joey Levy, Stephen Jurgella and Seth Schorr.

In Ultimate Odds, traditional starting positions on a fantasy team are replaced with drafted bets – such as the moneyline or over/under for a certain game – and are played head-to-head against an opponent.

The winner of each contest is determined by which player has the longest calculated parlay odds based on their successful drafting and management of their roster of “bets” on a daily or weekly basis.

“We are thrilled with our seed investment team,” said Justin Batushansky and Jonathan Bierig, co-founders of Ultimate Odds. “Our investors understand there is a shortage of standout innovative and engaging games in the market. Ultimate Odds was created to bring the fantasy sports and sports betting world closer together because the players are often one and the same.”

Benjie Cherniak said he believed the project would have a particular appeal to modern sports fans.

“The Ultimate Odds experience is not only highly engaging but also differentiates from the pack, presenting a true competitive gaming experience within the fantasy and sports betting space. The offering is perfectly suited to an emerging generation of sports enthusiasts.”

“I’m thrilled to be a part of the Ultimate Odds journey. The game concept is fantastic, and I love the company’s fresh approach to fan engagement,” said Seth Young, chief strategy officer at FSG Digital and managing partner at The Strategy Organisation.

“It’s unique, it’s compelling, it’s fun, and it also addresses a unique angle in the burgeoning affiliate market in the USA.”

The Nairobi City County Betting, Lotteries and Gaming (Amendment) Bill, 2021 would amend the country’s Gaming Act, which only became law last year.

The bill was approved at its second reading last week, bringing it one step closer to becoming law.

It would add new provisions to the country’s gaming laws, including only allowing betting, lotteries and gaming facilities to be “domiciled in a five-star hotel”, as rated by Kenya’s Tourism Regulatory Authority.

In addition, licenced premises would only be allowed to operate between the hours of 8pm and 6am.

Meanwhile, gambling advertisements may not be broadcast during the watershed period, which occurs from 10pm to 5am. Physical advertisements such as billboards would be banned entirely.

The law would also require all operators to only accept cashless payments from six months after it becomes law.

The proposed rules in Nairobi come after years of uncertainty around national-level gambling laws in Kenya.

In July 2021, a new finance bill was signed into law, reintroducing a controversial betting stake tax, but at 7.5% rather than the 20% rate that caused leading operators Sportpesa and Betin to leave the market before it was repealed last year. The tax was initially set to be brought back at the full 20% rate – as previously promised by the treasury – but a committee lowered it at the end of June.

This is an increase of 23.5%, from the previous adjusted EBITDA projection of $1.7bn.

This rise was explained on DraftKings’ investor day call, where the company gave background information on its 2021 full year results.

The results included a net loss of $1.52bn, despite revenue growth of 110.3% to $1.30bn.

Jason Robins, CEO of DraftKings, attributed the increase in adjusted EBITDA to belief in the company’s various operations.

“We are increasing our long-term adjusted EBITDA guidance to $2.1bn from $1.7bn,” said Robins. “The increase is due to the conviction we have as a result of our revised total addressable market (TAM) estimates and our continued strong position in both online services business (OSB) and igaming.”

DraftKings upped its TAM estimate in North America from $67bn to $80bn, a rise of 19.4%.
He added that the adjusted EBITDA estimate “does not include any long-term costs associated with predicted Golden Nugget Online Gaming (GNOG) synergies, or any upsides from new initiatives such as marketplace and media.”
DraftKings announced its acquisition of GNOG in August 2021, in a deal worth $1.56bn.
Robins also confirmed that any estimated GNOG adjusted EBITDA synergies, which are projected to be $300m, would be subject to the acquisition closing.

He went on to explain that the increase in EBITDA is based on legalisation rates in the US and Canada. The business assumed it would reach this target when 65% of the US has access to legal sports betting and 30% has access to legal igaming, while 64% of Canada has access to both.
“Our multi-year plan supports a path to 30%+ EBITDA margins, and based on out TAM and share outlook, we believe there is a path to $2.1bn of EBITDA once we reach 65% and 30% for legalisation rates for OSB and igaming respectively, and 64% legalisation of the Canadian population,” said Robins.

In the investor presentation DraftKings included a net revenue figure of $6.7bn, which it expects to attain once legalisation rates are reached. Online sportsbook revenue is expected to account for $3.3bn of this, while igaming is estimated to make up $2.5bn. Digital financial services and Canada revenue are expected to reach $400m each, while the remaining $100m is attributed to other revenue forms.

Elsewhere, Robins commented on DraftKings’ state-by-state operations, saying that the company expects a rise in contribution-positive states in FY 2022.

“Five of our states, including New Jersey, turned contribution-positive in FY 2021 and we anticipate five more states to become contribution profit positive in FY 2022,” said Robins.

Jason Park, DraftKings’ chief financial officer, added that this would make a “total of ten states, representing 18.7% of the population while the remaining 17.4% of the population would still be in the investment phase in 2022.”

Earlier today DraftKings agreed to pay $150,000 as part of a civil penalty after it was found to have violated proxy betting rules in New Jersey.

The majority of the revenue – DKK2.79bn – came from lottery operations, up from DKK2.63bn in 2020. Danske Licens Spil – which offers licensed products such as sports betting and gaming – added DKK1.82bn.

Revenue from gaming hall arm Elite Gaming contributed DKK207.8m and revenue from fantasy sports platform Swush totaled DKK15.1m.

58% of GGR came from online gambling in 2021, whilst the remaining 42% of revenue came from offline sources.

After paying DKK615.8m in state taxes, DKK472.8m in dealer commissions, and DKK278.3m in other gaming related costs, gaming profits amounted to DK3.46bn, up slightly from the DK3.40bn recorded in 2020.

External costs of DKK712.7m, depreciation of DKK369.8m, and staff costs of DKK318.6m offset additional financial income of DKK26.3m, diminishing profits to DKK2.10bn.

With income tax of DKK447.5m and further financial expenses of DK48.1m, overall profit for the year amounted to DKK1.63bn, up 11.6% from 2020.

Much of the profit was attributed to Danske Lotteri Spil, which brought in DKK1.48bn, while Danske Licens Spil brought in DKK163.3bn. Swush brought in DKK6.7m and Elite Gaming made a DKK6.9m loss.

During 2021, the Danish government announced its plans to merge Danske Spil with the Danish Class Lottery (Danske Klasselotteri).

Speaking about the performance of Danske Lotteri Spil, Danske Spil CEO Nikolas Lyhne-Knudsen said: “The year ended with a record profit after tax of DKK1.48bn. It is a result of innovation and new products, successful sales and effective marketing, digitization and a strengthening of the subscription business, where Danske Lotteri Spil in 2021 received a total of approximately 7,500 new customers.

“In 2021, we have again increased our focus on responsibility and on creating the greatest possible value for Danish society. We have an attitude to entertainment. We are responsible for responsible entertainment that creates dreams and experiences.”

The LEWO licences will allow Kindred, in partnership with horse racetrack Turf Paradise, to conduct event wagering at Turf Paradise, Brookside II, Charley’s Sports Grill, Gallagher’s 16th, Gallagher’s Baseline, Harold’s, R.T. O’Sullivan, Boston’s Bar and Midtown Tavern.

Kindred’s senior vice president for North America Manuel Stan said: “Being awarded nine of the ten LEWO licenses is a great outcome for Kindred, Turf Paradise and our partners in the state. This is a great opportunity for Kindred Group to expand the Unibet brand in Arizona and build on the early success in the state.

“Over the next few months, we will work closely with our partners to prepare the launches in the different locations and are excited to be able to bring our best-in-class product to more customers in Arizona.”

Sports betting has been legal in Arizona since the market launched back in September 2021.

Kindred’s Unibet brand debuted in the state at this time, with a mobile sportsbook in partnership with the Quechan Tribe of the Fort Yuma Indian Reservation.

Kindred has also launched its Unibet sportsbook in states such as Iowa and Virginia.

Katsaros will also join OPAP’s Top Management Team.

Katsaros has 20 years experience in the industry and has held senior roles in various commercial functions across the USA, Greece and Germany.

Before joining OPAP he spent eight years with Adidas as a senior director of sales in Europe, more than seven years at Korres Natural Products as general manager and a further four years at beverage alcohol company Diageo as senior brand manager.

As part of his role in OPAP he will be maintain their retail network as well as “exploring and leveraging growth opportunities for the company and partners”- which is in line with the company’s ‘Fast Forward’ business strategy.

This follows the company announcing their growth across sports betting and online casino operations, along with a year-on-year increase in revenue and net profit during the third quarter of 2021.

Earlier this week OPAP agreed to a partnership with the Hellenic Basketball Federation (EEC).

This followed the news of Allwyn Entertainment, the lottery giant that recently rebranded from Sazka Entertainment, increasing its stake in OPAP to 48.1% last month.

The regulator revealed that total gaming sales in Sweden came to SEK26bn during 2021, which was 5% more than in 2020. The 2020 figure had been almost exactly level with pre-pandemic 2019.

Online gambling revenue was up by 6%, despite the fact that a SEK5000 monthly deposit limit was imposed on all online casino players for almost the entire year, before it was removed in November.

The Swedish government considered bringing back the deposit cap at an even lower level, but ultimately abandoned those plans.

Elsewhere, state lottery and slot machine sales – from lottery operator Svenska Spel – were also up by 6%.

The report did not mention land-based casino revenue – through Svenska Spel’s Casino Cosmopol brand – or revenue from “restaurant casinos” but noted that both sectors were heavily impacted by Covid-19.

Spelinspektionen’s income for the year from control and supervision, from sources such as gambling levies, came to SEK53.1m, which was 0.8% more than in 2020.

However, costs in this area increased much more significantly than revenue, by 39.1% to SEK43.4m.

The regulator processed 622 licence applications in 2021, which was up from 518 in 2020. During the year, 287 applications were accepted and eight were rejected. This brought the total number of active licences or permits in Sweden at the end of the year to 2,252.

Many applications were submitted towards the end of 2021, with decisions then made in early 2022, so the number of licence decisions was much lower than the number of applications.

The regulator received SEK7.3m in application fees, but this was vastly outweighed by the SEK21.5m cost of processing the applications, resulting in a SEK14.2m deficit in this area.

In addition, Spelinspektionen received SEK13.7m from penalty fees, which was 25.7% more than it received in 2020.

This meant the regulator’s total revenue was SEK74.2m. This was 0.9% more than it made in 2020.

During the year, Spelinspektionen issued eight injunctions against offshore operators that it judged to be targeting Swedish players, while seven previous injunctions were revoked after it determined that the operators in question had stopped targeting Sweden. As a result, at the end of the year, there were 24 active injunctions in place.

The regulator also applied for one payment blocking order, but this was revoked when it turned out that the business in question had filed for liquidation.

As of the end of the year, there were 71,000 people registered with national self-exclusion scheme Spelpaus, compared to around 60,000 a year earlier. Of this total, about 75% were men and 25% women.

Licencees have been warned to carry out due screening processes prior to entering business relationships, and any new sanctions should be treated as a triggering event to run new background checks on customers.

MGA operators should also stop any transaction from going through, freeze any assets, and inform the Sanctions Monitoring Board of any customers whose funds may originate from Russian sources.

The MGA said: “The Authority is stressing the importance that licensees ensure that any systems used to monitor sanctions are being run in an effective and efficient manner, that they are informed with any updates regarding the Russia/Ukraine situation and, as a result, calibrate their sanctions monitoring systems in order to reflect any additions made to the applicable lists being monitored.

“They should react swiftly in ensuring that their customer databases are subject to the most recently updated and applicable sanctions lists.”

Operator Parimatch Tech withdrew its brand from Russia as a result of the ongoing invasion. Companies across the gaming industry have also started fundraising efforts to help those affected by the war. These include Gaming Industry for Ukraine initiative, with the aim of raising £250,000 for people displaced by the war in Ukraine. All proceeds from the fundraiser will be donated to Choose Love’s Ukraine Crisis Fundraiser. So far, just under £130,000 have been donated.

The “law to democratise sport in France” – which was adopted signed into law yesterday (2 March) – mostly dealt with access to sport, but also included a number of measures related to combating match-fixing. These included clauses that would allow the regulator to clamp down on the unlicensed betting sector.

Under the law, ANJ may issue blocking orders to any site that offers gambling accessible to French customers without a licence.

“The president of ANJ may address any person whose offer of online gambling is accessible on French territory… a formal notice to cease this activity,” it said. “This formal notice… orders its addressee to cease this promotion and invites it to submit its observations within five days.”

If the deadline passes without the operator taking action, the regulator may then contact internet service providers and search engines to “order them to take any useful measure intended to prevent access”.

The regulator had already issued blocking orders against a number of unlicensed sites that specifically targeted French customers. It has blocked more than 250 sites in total but rarely publicises individual orders. However, ANJ added an exception to that rule last year, when it announced it had blocked the websites of Stake.com and Cbet, noting that the popularity of the sites meant it should warn customers of the risks associated with using these unlicensed options.

ANJ said that this law would help it fulfill its goal of limiting unlicensed play in 2022.

“This legislative development is a major step forward in the fight against the illegal offer of gambling in France, which the ANJ has made a priority project for 2022,” it said. “It supports the new cooperation strategy that we have been developing for several months, with all digital players (search engines, social networks, content exchange platforms, payment solution providers) in order to hold them accountable and stem the proliferation of illegal offers.”

The law also says that ANJ must collect and analyse any reports of suspicious bets made using French-licensed websites. The regulator pointed out that it has been doing this since 2016.

The survey took place from August to November 2021 and involved 5,003 respondents between the ages of 15-74.

It contained 20 questions and was based on South Oaks Gambling Screen (SOGS) points, which measure how a respondent may be experiencing problem gambling.

For each answer that indicated risk, the respondent was given one point, and a risk level based on the number of points they received over the course of the screening.

Respondents were categorised based on SOGS points into two brackets- risk levels 1-2, which indicate moderate risk, and level 3 and up, which indicates severe risk.

The survey found that problem gambling decreased by 1.8% between November 2020 and November 2021. This was discovered by taking the amount of respondents that had indicated gambling risk and measuring these against Finland’s population.

This estimated that 75,000 people in Finland experienced problem gambling between November 2020 and November 2021, or 0.8% of the population. This is opposed to 100,000 people between April 2020 and November 2020, which made up over 2% of the total population.

In addition, 59% reported gambling in the 12 months before the survey, which was an increase of 9.2% year-on-year.

Breaking down by age, young adults had the highest risk levels.

For those aged between 15 and 17 years old, 1.1% of respondents were recorded at risk levels 1-2. Less than 1% were recorded at level 3 and up.

This increased sharply for the next age bracket, where a total of 15% of 18 to 24 year olds fell between risk levels 1-2 and 3.7% landed in the level 3 and up category.

The answers also revealed that problem gambling was, on average, more common for males. Out of all male respondents, 13% were recorded as gambling at risk levels 1-2, compared to 7.4% of females.

The survey also found that online gambling was most common for 35 to 49 years olds, with 36% of that age bracket participating in it.

If a participant scored three or more SOGS points, they were asked which games they experienced problem gambling with. In total, 50% of respondents named games offered by Veikkaus and 22% named both Veikkaus games and other operators, which are not licensed to operate in Finland.

Online slot machines and other casino games were named as the top gambling machine for problem gamblers in the survey, with 21% of the vote. This was up from 19% in 2020.

In-person slots accounted for 18% of the respondents’ choice, a year-on-year fall from 27%, while online casino and slot machines outside Finland were the choice of 15% of respondents, down from 17%.

In December 2021, Finland’s parliament approved the country’s Lottery Act at its first reading.

If passed into law this bill could see mandatory identification- which already exists for Veikkaus slots– extended to include all forms of gambling, as well as payment blocking for all operators except Veikkaus.