Month: April 2022

The funding will contribute to the expansion of the Gambling Education Hubs across England and Wales after a successful pilot in Scotland.

GambleAware partnered with Scotland’s national youthwork organsation Fast Forward to deliver locally focused prevention programmes that reached more than 15,800 young people.

In the pilot, the Scottish Hub delivered gambling education to almost 3,000 professionals and volunteers working with young people, as well as young people themselves, parents and carers.

The scheme resulted in 92% of practitioners in Scotland saying they felt confident in identifying the signs of gambling harm, compared to just 35% pre-training.

Zoë Osmond, CEO at GambleAware, said: “At a time when young people are increasingly exposed to gambling, the delivery of local focused programs for gambling education and prevention of harms has never been more important.

“With young people in the UK now growing up being widely exposed to gambling marketing and advertising, these projects represent a meaningful step towards delivering a society where all children and young people are protected from the risks of gambling related harms.”

Following a competitive tender process, the grant to deliver the Education Hubs has been won by GamCare, in partnership with YGAM, ARA, Aquarius, Beacon, Breakeven and Neca to carry out the work in England, and by Adferiad Recovery, which will carry out the work in Wales.

Anna Hemmings, chief executive of GamCare, said: “We are delighted to be receiving this grant to deliver gambling Education Hubs across England.

“We work in collaboration with a number of organisations who bring unparalleled experience of working with young people around these issues, including; Young Gamers and Gamblers Education Trust (YGAM), Addiction Recovery Agency (ARA), Aquarius, Beacon, Breakeven and Neca, to deliver Education Hubs across England.”

“Both GamCare and our partners passionately believe that information on the risks associated with gambling and gaming should be a key part of young people’s education, gaining parity with other risky behaviours such as drugs and alcohol.”

Leon Marsh, director of Hospital and Residential Services at Adferiad Recovery said: “We were delighted to hear that we had been selected to be the providers of Wales’s Gambling Education Hub and are looking forward to replicating the success of the project currently being undertaken in Scotland.”

Under the agreement, Blackmon, a four-time MLB All-Star, will become an ambassador for MaximBet and feature across marketing campaigns, fan events, promotions and social media content.

Blackmon ranks second all-time in hits, games played and at-bats for the Rockies and is third in runs scored and total bases in team history

“As I learned more about MaximBet, I knew this absolutely was the right brand for me,” Blackmon said. “MaximBet has really attached itself to the local Colorado community, and I cannot wait to have some fun with MaximBet and surprising fans with incredible ‘money-can’t-buy’ experiences all season.”

MaximBet chief executive Daniel Graetzer added: “Charlie is one of the most revered Rockies players of all time, and his style and career success makes him a perfect fit for MaximBet.

“We are thrilled to welcome Charlie to the MaximBet family. We look forward to him hitting it out of the ballpark for us as we continue to grow in Colorado and across the country.”

The wider agreement will include MaximBet collaborating with artist SolesbySir to design one-of-a-kind baseball and personal interest items for Blackmon. In addition, MaximBet and SolesbySir will gift select new account holders their own custom items from the SolesbySir Collection. 

The partnership will further enhance MaximBet’s presence in Colorado following its launch in the state in September last year. The Colorado roll-out marked the brand’s entrance into the US market.

Founded in April 2021, MaximBet last year also announced it would offer a wide-reaching Name/Image/Likeness (NIL) deal to all female NCAA college athletes in Colorado.

MaximBet has also set out plans to launch in Indiana and Iowa, while it has secured market access deals in both Pennsylvania and Ohio, the latter of which has not yet launched legal sports betting.

Revenue for the month was down from the $1.9m posted in March 2021, but was 89.1% up from $740,542 in February of this year, which was the lowest monthly revenue total since July 2020.

In contrast, consumer spending increased year-on-year from $15.2m in March last year to $20.4m, with this figure also 6.8% higher than $19.1m in February this year.

Breaking down individual operator performances for the month, Caesars, which runs an online sportsbook and a retail offering at the Capital One Arena, led the way in terms of revenue with $563,801 off a handle of $563,634.

Gambet, operated by the DC Lottery and powered by Intralot, placed second after paying out $5.7m in winnings from $6.2m in player wagers, leaving $511,801 in revenue.

BetMGM, which is active in DC via a partnership with Major League Baseball franchise the Washington Nationals, followed with $240,545 in revenue and handle of $5.3m.

Grand Central Restaurant, Bar and Sportsbook, which offers sports betting in partnership with Elys Game Technology, completed the quartet with $50,012 off $471,180 in total player bets.

The Nagasaki government selected CAI as its preferred bidder in September of last year, but the proposal still needed to be approved by the prefectural legislature in order to be sent to the Japanese national government.

Of the 45 members of the Assembly that voted, 42 approved the plans for a CAI resort at the Huis Ten Bosch theme park and 3 opposed it. The three that opposed the proposition were Sakamoto Hiroshi, Tsutsumi Noriko and Hori Kōhitomi.

When the resort plan was first announced, there were concerns from the public about CAI’s ability to finance the project. However, a “draft development plan” was announced in March, which detailed the operator’s proposal to finance, build and operate the integrated resort.

The proposal also faced opposition from competitors, as rival bidder Oshidori International withdrew from bidding, saying that the RFP process was not ‘implemented ethically or fairly’.

The business said it had encountered “multiple suspicions of ethical fraud in the RFP process.”

The total investment in the resort will be JPY483.3bn, which will be used to purchase the real estate and build and run the resort.

JPY175.3bn of this budget will come via investment, with businesses including CAI providing funding in order to become shareholders of the operation.

CAI will contribute 60% of the JPY175.3bn, non-Japanese businesses 30% and the remaining 10% will be from Japanese businesses.

Elsewhere in Japan this week, the proposal for a resort in Wakayama was voted down. While the central government can approve up to three locations for IR development, Nagasaki and Osaka are the only two to be approved so far.

The proposal comes in the form of an amendment to a bill first introduced in the Chamber of Representatives in 2019, to ban operators from offering different classes of game on the same website. 

The amendment was put forward as the debate on the 2019 bill finally began, having been postponed for more than two years.

Originally, it would have allowed players to use the same account across different URLs with the same operator. However, the coalition government has now proposed banning the use of a single account for multiple game verticals.

“It is not permitted to use the same player account for participation in games of chance that are operated on the basis of different licenses,” the amendment read. “It is also prohibited to transact between different player accounts.”

This followed advice from the Belgian Gaming Commission (BGC), which said that the requirement to operate different URLs may not have a significant impact on player behaviour.

“Due to all kinds of technical methods online, an operator can strictly speaking use a different URL for each type of game as the proposal dictates, but in practice this may not benefit the player much as the operator can work with some kind of sub-URLs,” the regulator explained.

However, operator body the Belgian Association of Gaming Operators (BAGO) warned that the proposal could be “a serious threat to consumer protection”.

BAGO said that players may lose control of their spending with more accounts to keep track of, while operators will find it harder to track player behaviour and to share consolidated data with the BGC.

In addition, it warned the added friction may cause some players to turn to unregulated sites “that by definition do not comply with the rules and therefore do not offer player protection”.

“BAGO therefore advocates maintaining the single player accounts per operator and thus offering more, better and substantiated player protection,” it added.

In Belgium, casino games and sports betting require different kinds of licence, meaning the 2019 bill would have prohibited the two being offered via the same site. A number of court rulings in Belgium have already determined that operators cannot offer different game verticals on the same website, in order to preserve parity with the land-based sector. 

In 2019, Casinos Austria International had its licences annulled for offering both online casino and sports betting together via one website.

Earlier this year, the Belgian government introduced new restrictions on stakes, betting times and advertising for the country’s newsagents, which may offer bookmaking services.

This came after gaming operator Golden Palace acquired the retail network of national postal service Bpost, prompting concern about betting at newsagents.

Less than two weeks after it announced a new advisory arm, Tekkorp Capital flexed its muscles by playing a key role in the deal that creates a formidable new competitor for Australia’s sports betting sector. 

News Corp Australia has created NTD: a consortium involving Tekkorp Capital and TGW, which was formed by Sportsbet and BetEasy founder Matt Tripp.

This group has struck a ten-year supply deal with BetMakers to power a new sportsbook product. The offering is due to launch in the second half of 2022, in time for the pinnacle of the Australian racing season, the Spring Carnival. 

Two of Tekkorp’s senior team, chief executive Matt Davey and president Robin Chhabra, will join NTD’s board. Chhabra explains that while Australia has long been a successful market, online growth has accelerated as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, making the conditions right for the News Corp Australia project. 

“It’s always been growing fast but it has exploded as a result of the pandemic,” he says. “There was a step change. People who tried online for the first time, having been dedicated shop users, a large portion of their wallets has stayed online.”

For Tekkorp and TWD, there is the prospect of working with Australia’s “preeminent media outlet”, across TV, radio and print, he explains. The team also has an existing working knowledge of the wider Murdoch empire, through Sky Bet in Great Britain and Fox Bet in the US (which Chhabra led as CEO), as well as Tripp’s Australian media deals with News Corp. 

For News Corp, he credits Tripp as being a particularly big draw. “His record is second to none,” Chhabra says. “News Corp were clearly keen to get his expertise on board.

Furthermore, NTD is an independent venture. “They don’t have to deal with a large independent group sitting above us, whose priorities may change over time.

“News Corp have significant skin in the game. They are investing directly into the venture, we’re all equal partners, but this isn’t just leveraging their media presence. They have a presence on the board, they are investors, so there is absolute alignment.”

Blueprint for success

And when it comes to the convergence of media and betting, it’s a Murdoch-linked business, Great Britain’s Sky Betting & Gaming, that remains the business that every operator is looking to emulate. 

Fox Bet, which looked to take that model to the US, could have been a contender to do so, Chhabra argues, if it was not for corporate priorities changing. 

“With Sky Bet and Fox Bet, from an organisational cultural perspective, it worked very well,” he says. “These were real partnerships – at Sky Bet the team had a constant and large presence in the Sky media organisation. At Fox Bet we were seen as part of the Fox family; we had access all areas, we were persistent fixtures, and a lot of the best ideas came informally – the fabled water cooler conversations, chatting to executive producers to come up with content to stimulate traffic. 

“That way of working, the fact these were genuine joint ventures and not just a media deal with some bells and whistles, they really liked that,” he says of News Corp.

In Australia, there is a “very compelling organic plan” that will be executed, using News Corp’s “phenomenal” assets to create a distinct way of offering sports betting to the audience. “We want to do something different, and can do so with this partnership.”

M&A can’t be ruled out, he adds. “It’s a fast consolidating market,” Chhabra says. “The fact there has been so much consolidation actually creates an opportunity for us; as punters want choice, so with fewer large scale operators in the market and we can fill that gap. 

“[But] you can’t rule out M&A – that’s just the reality of life in most regulated territories.”

More of the same

And the scope and scale of the deal can act as a template for further, similar partnerships and projects that Tekkorp is aiming to establish. 

“We’ve got a few of these types of deals in the works and want to do more,” Chabbra says. 

“We’re not just dealmakers, we have been operators, we started businesses, operated mid-sized and large companies so we’ve been in our clients’ and portfolio companies’ shoes,” he explains. 

“With that blend of capabilities we can provide a rounded service. We can invest, we can advise, we can work on corporate strategy, build management teams, advise on launch and roll-out strategies, strengthen governance and compliance structures, we can provide a range of services relevant to where the company is in their life cycle.”

He feels Tekkorp is almost uniquely positioned to offer such a range of services, and while it has already hired a number of senior industry figures, the team is likely to expand further. That, in turn, gives it the capacity to do more deals similar to the News Corp Australia transaction. 

So while the scale of the project with News Corp Australia is vast, Tekkorp is only just getting started.

As an exchange platform, customers may enter their own odds and bet against other customers, with the option to either back or lay a chosen bet.

“We’re always looking at ways to bring PokerStars players something new, and to be able to do that in collaboration with our colleagues over at the world’s largest betting exchange is a huge privilege,” said Richard Garrod, director of product at PokerStars.

“Our research suggests that our customers would welcome the addition of an exchange product, with 70% of current sports bettors saying they want to get involved.”

Existing customers will be able to access the exchange immediately through the PokerStars Sports portal on both Pokerstars.com and Pokerstars.eu. It will then become available in locally regulated jurisdictions through the year.

“The PokerStars Exchange gives our players access to a brand-new sports betting experience alongside a global community of sports fans, with all the convenience of a single account and wallet.

“After months of hard work and execution, we’re thrilled to offer PokerStars players this addition to the PokerStars portfolio.”

The product will use the same liquidity pool and as Flutter’s flagship betting exchange brand Betfair. PokerStars came under the control of Flutter – formerly known as Paddy Power Betfair – in 2020 when The Stars Group completed a merger with Flutter agreed in 2019.

Total revenues for Neogames came to $50.5m, which was up by 2.6%.

Most of NeoGames’ own revenue – $29.9m – came from turnkey contracts. However, this figure was down by 7.2% from $32.2m in 2020.

Revenue from games contracts, meanwhile, was almost exactly stable at $2.0m

Access to IP rights contributed $8.0m in revenue, a 19.4% increase, while development and other services revenue related to NeoGames’ NeoPollard Interactive joint venture with Pollard Banknote grew 72.7% to $7.6m.

The business also made $1.4m from its joint operation of ilottery services for the Michigan Lottery.

Revenue for development and other services related to Aspire – from which Neogames was spun off in 2014 – dropped by 33.3% to $1.6m.

However, operating expenses grew by 37.4% to $51.6m, meaning the business posted an operating loss for the year. NeoGames paid $9.9m in distribution expenses, up 48.1%, and $9.4m in development expenses, up 26.2%.

Selling and marketing expenses, meanwhile, grew slightly to $1.5m and general and administrative expenses were $12.3m, up 64.0%. Depreciation and amortisation costs were $14.6m, which was up 24.9%.

The business then paid $3.8m in new costs related to the prospective acquisition of Aspire. As a result, NeoGames reported a $1.2m operating loss, after an $11.6m operating profit the year prior.

In addition, it paid $4.8m in interest expenses, up 10.1%, and $1.5m in finance expenses, up 100.4%.

However, the business made an additional $34.1m in revenue from its 50% share in NeoPollard Interactive. This was up 256.9%.

After $21.6m in NeoPollard costs, Neogames’ share of profits came to $12.4m, compared to $1.4m in 2020.

As a result, Neogames’ pre-tax profit was $5.0m, down 37.5%. After paying $325,000 in taxes, it recorded a net profit of $4.7m, which was 28.6% less than the year before.

After the year ended, NeoGames submitted a public offer worth SEK4.3bn (£349.0m/€417.6m/$476.0m) to acquire 100% of the shares in Aspire Global. An acceptance period for this bid, where the Aspire board must decide whether to approve the offer, commenced earlier this month and will run until 3 May.

Looking ahead to 2022, NeoGames announced revenue guidance of between $90m and $97m for the combined NeoGames and NeoPollard businesses. The midpoint of this would be up 11.0% from 2021.

Moti Malul, chief executive officer of NeoGames, said that the business expects to see significant growth with Aspire in the Neogames portfolio, and hopes to see the deal close this quarter.

“We carried our momentum into 2022 with our offer to acquire Aspire Global, which continues to be on track for closing in the first half of 2022,”Malul said. “More and more we find our iLottery customers require a broad range of integrated gaming verticals. 

“We firmly believe that combining NeoGames and Aspire Global will drive our strategy to be a leader in providing digital solutions to lotteries globally. We are already successfully collaborating with Aspire to launch their Pariplay content in Alberta and the early results are very encouraging.

“We remain focused capitalising on an expanding market opportunity and continuing to create value for our shareholders.” 

Under the 10-year agreement, BetMakers’ OM Apps subsidiary will provide B2B platform technology and wagering solutions to NTD Pty, which will focus on the Australian and New Zealand markets.

BetMakers said the arrangement includes the potential to earn in excess of AU$300m (£171m/€206m/US$223m), with the revenue share agreement meaning at least $80m in revenue for BetMakers over the initial 10 years of the deal.

NTD was formed by a consortium of Tekkorp Capital, including NYX Gaming Group founder Davey, News Corp Australia and TGW, whose investors include Tripp.

The venture will apply for a sports bookmaker licence, under which it will operate an online wagering product for Australian and New Zealand punters to bet on racing and sports. The initial product is due to launch in H2 of 2022, with the potential for more products to be added in the future.

“We feel this partnership cements the company as a leading provider of B2B platforms and software to the wagering industry,” BetMakers chief executive Todd Buckingham said. “While this deal is focused on the Australian market, we feel this model will play an important part of our international expansion.

“This deal will allow the company to demonstrate that we are a viable pathway for large scale operators that want to enter markets quickly and efficiently, allowing them to focus their resources into marketing strategies.”

Core financial terms of the deal include a platform establishment fee of $2m for BetMakers and a launch development fee of $500,000 per month between signing and go-live date, which should be within the next six months.

The agreement also includes a development and service fee of at least $7.5m annually, tracked to rise with inflation, from the go-live date, representing a minimum base fee of $75m over the 10-year contract.

BetMakers also agreed an annual fee based on a revenue-sharing arrangement starting at 25% of ongoing net gaming revenue, reducing by 1% on each anniversary of the go-live date. This fee is subject to a maximum cap of $20m per annum initially, growing at 10% per annum for eight years following the go-live date and 5% per year thereafter, meaning it will reach $43m at the end of the 10-year period. 

This, BetMakers said, equates to total maximum revenue of $313m over 10 years, plus launch development and platform establishment fees.

Other aspects of the deal include performance rights vesting to Tripp. An entity associated with Tripp was issued 35 million Class A performance rights, which vest upon delivery of a ‘strategic deal’.

As the BetMakers agreement was verified by an independent expert as satisfying the criteria for such a deal, the shares have vested, with Tripp agreeing to increase escrow arrangement to 100% on the Class A performance rights for three years in return for consideration of $15m. 

Tripp will continue to engage with BetMakers, exclusively advising on B2B opportunities.

“I have seen first-hand the technology and solutions that BetMakers has developed and implemented, with the company continuing to set new global benchmarks in delivery for wagering operators and racing bodies around the world,” Tripp said.

“BetMakers provides one of the best end-to-end packages of technology and trading services in the global B2B wagering market, which is why I am happy to invest in a new wagering venture that will rely upon it.”

Meanwhile, given the time commitments of the new venture, as well as other international projects, Davey agreed to step down from the BetMakers board with immediate effect from today (21 April). 

BetMakers said the recent addition of Anna Massion and Rebekah Giles as independent non-executive directors further strengthened its board, allowing Davey to focus on his other activities. Davey will remain a committed long-term shareholder.

“The company has come a long way in a very short space of time and I’m excited to be handing over the reins to a very competent Board that will now drive the company into the next phase of growth,” Davey said.

“As the largest shareholder in the company, I remain a committed shareholder that believes in the vision and direction of the company and hold great confidence the team is in place to execute on this strategy.”

BetMakers’ Buckingham added: “We believe the new deal validates our strategy and supports our view that the end-to-end B2B solution the company provides is an efficient and commercially viable way to successfully launch a wagering platform in today’s global wagering markets.”

The new agreement comes after BetMakers in February posted a net loss of $27.8m in the first half of its 2022 financial year despite revenue rocketing 471.1% year-on-year.

The expansion of its Australia-facing platform and also its managed trading services offering, as well as the impact of its purchase of the racing, tote and digital business from Sportech in June 2021, drove revenue to $43.4m. However, higher operating expenses led to the net loss.

The Assembly was required to approve the plan for the resort development, which would be operated by Caesars Entertainment as part of a bid led by Clairvest Neem Ventures.

Had it been approved, the proposal then would have been sent to Japan’s national government, which must select three resorts to go ahead. The deadline for prefectures to submit their proposals falls on 28 April.

However, in an anonymous vote, 22 legislators voted against the proposal, while 18 voted in favour. Local reports suggest lawmakers raised concerns about funding for the development.

Clairvest Neem Group is made up of Canadian private equity giant Clairvest Group; former Las Vegas Sands president and chief operating officer William Weidner, and a host of gaming and esports executives. 

It was selected as the city’s partner in June of 2021 and has put forward plans for a 569,000-square-metre facility in the city’s Wakanoura Bay, with a 38,000-square-metre gaming floor, as well as conference facilities, a Japanese heritage museum and esports arena. 

Initially, Clairvest Neem Group planned to partner with French operator Groupe Partouche. However, in September, Caesars announced that it was to become the new operator of the site.

Elsewhere in Japan, the assembly of Nagasaki – which selected Casinos Austria international as its operating partner – has approved its own integrated resort plan.

In Osaka, meanwhile, a consortium led by MGM Resorts and financial services business Orix were the only bidders in the process. That proposal has already been approved for submission to the country’s government.

Yokohama, however, withdrew from the IR process last year, after Takeharu Yamakana was elected mayor, having opposed the development during his campaign.