Month: April 2022

Kemp will bring more than 20 years of experience to Dazn Bet, a venture that was only announced last week.

Kemp has been CEO of BoyleSports since July 2021, when he joined the bookmaker from UK Tote Group, where he had served as managing director for just under two years.

Prior to this, he spent three years with Ladbrokes Coral, first as product director and later managing director.

Kemp also had a spell as gaming director for digital, retail and omnichannel at Coral, prior to which he held various roles outside of gaming with the MJTB Consultancy, Travelodge, De Vere Group and Whitbread.

“I am delighted to be joining Dazn Bet to launch such a new and exciting international brand,” Kemp said. “With the strength and expertise of Dazn in sports media, we will deliver something recreational and relevant to today’s audience.

“I am looking forward to working with the new team and DAZN to build an engaging and responsible new entertainment proposition for sports fans across the world.” 

Dazn Group executive vice president of betting, Ian Turnbull, added: “Sports betting partnerships are just one of the ways in which Dazn is going to deliver more exciting and richer content for its customers. 

“We know that fans want more integrated, immersive, and interactive experiences as they enjoy long form content. Dazn is giving them that.” 

Last week, Dazn announced that it had partnered with betting and gaming supplier Pragmatic Group in order to roll out Dazn Bet, which is set to soft launch in August.

Dazn will launch a new business, headquartered in Gibraltar, to operate sports betting under the new brand, which will do business “in multiple regulated territories”. 

The platform for this product will be provided by Pragmatic, which only announced its sportsbook product earlier this month, through an exclusive multi-year deal with the media group.

House Bill 5277 was first introduced in the state House on 21 April. It is sponsored by representatives William Herbkersman and Tom Rutherford.

If passed, it would add new provisions to the Code of Laws on South Carolina 1976, allowing interactive sports betting in the state.

Read the full story on iGB North America.

Gray was appointed to the position in 2019 to oversee the formation of the ITIA, which replaced the Tennis Integrity Unit (TIU) in January 2021, and as of January this year is also responsible for the administration of the Tennis Anti-Doping Programme.

The ITIA said Gray will remain with the organisation for the coming months, with details of his replacement to be announced in due course.

“It has been a pleasure and a privilege to set up and lead the ITIA at the start of its journey,” Gray said. “Tennis is leading the way in its integrity programme, and I am thankful to the Tennis Integrity Supervisory Board and the sport as a whole for their support. 

“My primary role as the first CEO was to oversee the change from TIU to ITIA and the subsequent integration of the Tennis Anti-Doping Programme. With this completed, now is the right time to move on and hand the baton on to the next person to lead the organisation into the future.”

ITIA chair Jennie Price added: “Jonny has done an excellent job in challenging circumstances. Within weeks of attending his first tennis tournament as CEO, the entire global landscape was drastically altered due to the pandemic, and Jonny’s consulting background and change management experience stood him in very good stead during a challenging period. 

“He leaves the new ITIA in a strong position, and we wish him well in his next chapter. On behalf of all the tennis governing bodies, I would like to thank him for his significant contribution to integrity in tennis.”

Both Walker and Isidoro will join the Blexr management team and support the business with its ongoing growth and expansion plans.

Walker takes on his new role having served as head of agile delivery at iTech Media for over two years, while he also previously had a short spell as head of delivery for the Sporting Group.

Prior to this, he spent three years with News UK, first as head of delivery for newspaper The Sun and later head of delivery for core platforms.

Walker also worked for the Financial Times newspaper for three years, working across a number of roles.

“I am so pleased to be joining at such an important time, starting our next chapter together and being able to play my part in helping everyone achieve their goals,” Walker said. “Together we’re going to make Blexr into an even more prominent player within the lead generation industry.”

Isidoro also joins from iTech Media, where he spent 18 months as its global head of SEO and content marketing, following a spell as head of marketing acquisition for The AA,

His also spent more than one year as head of SEO for Dyson, while during almost five years with GoCompare, served as group head of SEO and also SEO, outreach and social media manager.

Earlier in his career, Isidoro also spent time with Box UK, Liberty Marketing, Peter Sommer Travels and the University of Worcester.

“I am thrilled to have joined such a wonderful bunch of people at an important stage of the business’s growth,” Isidoro said. “I joined because I believe Blexr’s potential is unlimited, and I look forward to working with the entire team to build and accelerate the portfolio’s momentum in the months and years to come.”

Player spending during the month amounted to $47.9m (£37.3m/€44.2m), a drop of 12.5% from $50.5m in March of 2021, but 8.1% higher than $40.9m in February this year.

Revenue from sports betting across the state reached $4.1m, down 21.2% year-on-year from $5.2m in the same month last year, though this figure was 115.8% higher than $1.9m in February 2022.

Breaking down performance by region, coastal casinos continued to the lead the way in terms of both revenue and handle. The Mississippi Gaming Commission said revenue at these casinos totalled $2.2m in March, with players having wagered $31.1m.

Central casinos generated $1.5m in revenue from $9.3m in total consumers bets, while northern casinos posted $413,306 in revenue, having processed $7.5m in wagers during the month.

Basketball was the most popular sport to bet in all regions, drawing $22.7m in bets in coastal casinos, $3.8m in central venues and $5.5m at northern locations. 

Casinos across the state had a total win percentage of 8.4% for the month, down 17.1% on the previous year.

The country’s Treasury has published its 2022 Finance Bill, where it looks to increase the controversial tax on betting stakes from 7.5% to 20%. In addition to betting and lotteries, gaming and “prize competitions” are also covered by this levy.

In an analysis of the bill, professional services firm KPMG said that the government likely sought to use excise taxes to “bridge the revenue gap” caused by growing inflation.

In addition to the stake tax, the Treasury also aims to impose a 15% excise on for gambling advertisements.

The stake tax has been a long-standing subject of controversy in Kenya, which was exacerbated by a decision to double the rate from 10% to 20% in 2019.

This increase – which itself had followed a long dispute over a different 20% tax on player winnings – led to local market leaders Sportpesa and Betin pulling their services from the market.

However, in 2020, the Parliamentary Finance Committee noted that the higher rate had led to lower tax revenue, in part as a result of these market exits. It therefore proposed scrapping the tax entirely, a proposal that was accepted and signed into law by President Uhuru Kenyatta.

Treasury Secretary Ukur Yatani then immediately said that the tax should never have been scrapped and that the government was working to bring it back.

It worked to do just that with the 2021 Finance Bill, which again stated that excise duty should be 20% of the amount wagered or staked on betting products.

However, the Finance Committee again made changes, this time reducing the stake levy to 7.5%.

This came after the committee heard evidence from a number of stakeholders, including Sportpesa. The operator, which resumed operations in Kenya in November 2020 after an earlier attempt was derailed by a legal challenge, argued that the tax on stakes was contrary to the country’s excise duty law.

The 2021 bill also added lotteries – which had previously been exempt – to the tax base.

After receiving a first reading last week, the 2022 Finance Bill has been submitted to the Departmental Committee on Finance and National Planning.

The committee will take evidence from stakeholders until 4 May.

Under the deal, FanDuel will be designated as the exclusive sports gaming partner of the seven-division boxing champion, ahead of her title fight against Katie Taylor at Madison Square Garden in New York on 30 April.

FanDuel will have access to Serrano’s name and likeness, while Serrano will create unique content on her social channels and include the FanDuel logo on her trunks during this month’s fight. 

In addition, FanDuel will offer custom promotions on its FanDuel Sportsbook ahead of the title fight later this month.

“I am honoured to be the first boxer to partner with FanDuel, who are showing their unwavering dedication to supporting and elevating female athletes and I will proudly wear their logo in the ring during my historic battle against Katie Taylor on 30 April,” Serrano said.

FanDuel Group chief executive Amy Howe added: “We are incredibly proud to partner with Amanda Serrano, a game-changer making history being the first- woman ever to headline a fight at Madison Square Garden alongside Katie Taylor.

“At FanDuel, we are deeply committed to women in sports, from the office to the boxing ring, and partnering with Amanda is part of our ongoing support to invest in female athletes.”

WSOP Online, which is powered by 888’s proprietary next-generation poker platform, will run bracelet events and weekly tournaments for players in Michigan.

The WSOP brand launched in 1970 and has awarded approximately $3.5bn (£2.7bn/€3.2bn) in total prize money.

888’s entrance into the legal Michigan market means its online gambling products are now available across six US states.

“We are delighted to support WSOP with its eagerly anticipated launch in Michigan, bringing the world’s most renowned poker brand to players in the Great Lake State,” 888’s US business development director John Atkinson said. 

“This is not only another important milestone for WSOP but a key moment for 888, providing an opportunity to introduce our newest poker platform to more players across North America while strengthening our relationship with our long-term partner Caesars Interactive Entertainment.”

The launch comes after 888 this week reported an 18% year-on-year drop in revenue for the first quarter of its 2022 financial year, which it expects to be the final full quarter before it acquires William Hill’s non-US assets.

Revenue for the three months through to 31 March amounted to $224m, down from $273m in the corresponding period last year, 888 said in a trading update.

Weerwind provided an update to Parliament following a number of motions about the gambling sector that have come along in a little over six months since the market opened.

Most notably, this included a motion from Michael van Nipsen calling for a ban on “untargeted advertising” which was passed in Parliament at the end of 2021. 

In his update, Weerwind commented on time and spend limits. Currently, all players must limits themselves when they set up an online gambling account.

While this rule is in place, regulator de Kansspelautoriteit (KSA) noted that some operators allowed players to choose extremely high limits, which it said was not in the “spirit of the law”.

Addressing these criticisms, Weerwind said he would look into two possible solutions to the problem.

“I want two options for investigation,” he said, “Setting a maximum to the existing limits and examining whether a limit can apply across all providers.

“For privacy reasons, it was not decided in the Gambling Act to monitor gaming behaviour,

including playing limits, across all providers, but I am now investigating whether technology has

advanced to such an extent that this mode can still be found specifically for playing limits.”

Weerwind also answered specific questions about the plans to implement van Nipsen’s motion and further steps to limit advertising. 

The Socialist Party and ChristianUnie both criticised Weerwind for determining that the issue of a ban on untargeted ads needed further research, rather than setting out to ban all these advertisements immediately.

“The motion was crystal clear: untargeted advertisements for high-risk games of chance are undesirable and it must therefore be ensured that these advertisements stop as soon as possible. There is therefore no need for further research,” the parties said.

In response, however, Weerwind said that some ads were still necessary to attract players to legal sites.

“The objective of the Remote Gambling Act is to guide players to a legal offering of games of chance,” he said. “This requires some form of advertising.

“I am of the opinion that it would be good to map out the broader social costs and benefits. I am therefore currently exploring the possibilities of a social cost-benefit analysis.”

Weerwind also reiterated his comments from last month, when he said that he “will make every effort to achieve further restrictions on advertising for high-risk games of chance as soon as possible”.

In addition, he again said that the government was looking into only permitting online ads within certain time limits, though he noted that the feasibility of this would depend on the type of ad.

“In light of my commitment to make maximum use of in anticipation of the ban on untargeted advertising, including a time window for online advertising could be a logical step,” Weerwind said.

“I would like to ensure that the advertising offer does not largely move to the online environment. That is why I will look at possibilities to include a time window for online banners and videos in the Decree on recruitment, advertising and addiction prevention.”

Dutch operators have already taken steps to reduce advertising, bringing in a voluntary code of conduct for online operators last year.

In the regulator’s 2021 annual report, it found that both customer and turnover numbers reached a record high for Norsk Tipping, one of the country’s two monopolies alongside racing operator Norsk Rikstoto.

“There may be several reasons for the growth,” the regulator said. “One of the reasons may be that people through the corona pandemic have had more free time due to restrictions in leisure activities.”

This came despite the operator reducing its monthly loss limit for “high-risk” games from NOK10,000 (£869/€1,037/$1,117) to NOK7,500 in December 2020, before cutting it further, to NOK5,000, in September 2021.

While it noted that this represents a success for channelisation, the regulator added that it had asked the operator to strengthen its player protection measures even further.

“Lotteri-og Stiftelsestilsynet has in particular assessed casino gaming and [Norsk Tipping sportsbook brand] Oddsen against requirements for responsible gaming, and we have asked the company to strengthen measures to reduce gaming activity and turnover among risky players,” the report said. “Among other things, we have proposed reducing the availability and reducing the number of games at [casino brand] Kongkasino.

“Furthermore, we ask Norsk Tipping to consider introducing a loss limit for Oddsen.”

In addition, Lotteri-og Stiftelsestilsynet hailed the success of its measures to limit unlicensed gambling. In particular, it said it had taken action to block transactions to offshore sites, following new payment blocking rules that came into effect in 2020.

“The banks make frequent contact with customers who gamble, to inform them about the ban and that this is why they stop deposits to and winnings from illegal online games,” the regulator said. “Many of the gamblers who contact us and the banks have gambling problems and often large gambling debts because they play for money they cannot afford to lose. 

“Many people are not aware that they are playing gambling games that do not have a licence in Norway. According to the banks, many of the customers stop playing, or use legal providers, when they become aware that only Norsk Tipping and Norsk Rikstoto are allowed to offer casino games and sports games online.”

After the year ended, Lotteri-og Stiftelsestilsynet threatened Unibet operator Kindred with daily fines of NOK1.2m (£99,447/€118,649) if it did not stop operating in Norway following a legal appeal related to unlicensed gambling. However, Kindred said that it would continue to do business in the country.