Month: May 2022

Betway was issued the SEK100,000 (£8,086/€9,525/$9,922) fine by Swedish gaming regulator Spelinspektionen in June 2021. It related to a 200% match-deposit bonus, which was made available to all Swedish customers, rather than those registered with one as intended.

While the bonus was not actively marketed to customers, 52 took advantage over the promotion over the course of three hours.

Betway argued that the penalty should be lowered. The operator argued that the definition of a bonus is open to interpretation, and that as the offer was not promoted, it was not used to incentivise players to sign up to the brand.

Betway pointed out that it had taken action to ensure a similar situation did not arise in future, and noted that no players had lost any money as a result. Therefore, it argued, the infringement should be considered minor, and the fine reduced as a result.

However, the Administrative Court ruled that the 200% matched-deposit offer did in fact constitute a bonus. As such, it ruled, there was no reason to reduce the fine levied, which it described as neither disproportionate nor too high.

Group revenue for the three months to 31 March 2022 was $37.5m (£30.3m/€35.9m), up 38.4% from $27.1m in the corresponding period last year.

GAN said it experienced growth across both its B2B and B2C segments during the quarter, but it was the latter that contributed most to the overall increase in revenue.

B2C gaming revenue was up from $14.3m to $24.4m, helped by the acquisition of the Coolbet brand in January 2021. GAN said strong organic demand for the Coolbet product offering led to a 57.0% rise in the amount wagered by customers during the quarter.

Turning to B2B and revenue here was 4.7% higher at $13.0m. Platform and content fees for the quarter reached $10.7m and development services and other revenue $2.4m, though GAN noted that the prior year included $3.0m worth of patent licence revenue, which did not recur in Q1 of this year.

Looking at spending during the period and total operating expenses were 29.6% higher at $41.6m, with costs higher in all areas, with the exception of general administrative spend, which was down 6.0% to $9.4m.

As spending exceeded revenue, this left an operating loss of $4.1m, though this was an improvement on the $4.9m loss reported in Q1 of 2021. Other expenses for the quarter were minimal, so pre-tax loss figures were the same as operating loss.

GAN paid $386,000 in tax, which left a net loss of $4.5m for the quarter, shorter than the $5.6m loss posted at the end of Q1 2021.

The provider also noted that its adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) for the quarter rocketed by 453.3% from $537,000 to $3.0m.

“We delivered an encouraging start to 2022 driven by organic revenue growth in both our operating segments coupled with cost rationalisation efforts to deliver strong growth in adjusted EBITDA,” GAN chief executive Dermot Smurfit said.

“We continue to demonstrate the value of our integrated B2B and B2C portfolio, soon to be joined on one unified platform and our ability to deepen our presence in both new and established markets as we add to our offering.”

Smurfit also highlighted a number of events that happened after the quarter that could help drive further growth in Q2 and beyond. These included launching PlayEagle.com for Soaring Eagle Casino & Resort in Michigan in April, while the Coolbet brand also went live in the Canadian province of Ontario in the same month.

“We expect each of these efforts to drive significant year-over-year revenue growth which, when coupled with our laser focus on profitability, will yield much better scale and improved margins compared to last year,” Smurfit said.

As a result of its first-quarter success, GAN was able to affirm its previous full-year forecasts for 2022. These include achieving revenue of between $155.0m and $165.0m with adjusted EBTIDA expected to be in the range of $15.0m to $20.0m.

In the newly created role, Noifeld will assume responsibility for the oversight of the FanDuel online casino business.

Noifeld moves into the position after eight-and-a-half years with PokerStars, which is also owned by Flutter. He first served as director of product and innovation for the brand before going on to become managing director of casino.

Prior to this, Noifeld spent four-and-a-half years at 888 and also worked as a project manager at Comverse.

“Asaf brings deep experience building online casino businesses across the globe,” FanDuel president and chief executive Amy Howe said. “I am delighted to add him to our leadership team, as he has extensive knowledge in the space which will help grow our online casino business in North America.”

FanDuel operates its online casino in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Michigan, West Virginia and Ontario in Canada, while it also runs the Stardust Casino brand in New Jersey and the Mohegan Sun Casino brand in Connecticut.

The Gambling Harms Research Centre (GHRC) will be led by research experts from multiple disciplines, who will spearhead the Centre’s gambling harms prevention and awareness efforts.

The experts will apply a public health approach to research, with the aim of deepening understanding of gambling harms and increasing research capacity into the issue.

The GHRC will work with other institutes at the University of Bristol, including the Bristol Digital Features Institute, the Bristol Poverty Institute and the Bristol Population Health Science Institute.

“We desperately need interdisciplinary research on a large scale to truly understand the complexities of gambling harm as a serious, current public health issue,” said Agnes Nairn, pro vice-chancellor of global engagement and professor of marketing at the University of Bristol. “The University of Bristol, home to world-leading research centres in health, innovation, poverty, co-production and digital futures, has already brought together researchers from every faculty to be part of the new hub.”

“Our aim is to attract the very best international researchers from computer scientists to anthropologists to work with us on tackling this very under-researched area.”

GambleAware’s grant was awarded over a five-year span.

“This investment, awarded following a rigorous selection process, underlines GambleAware’s commitment to independent, world-class research to build the evidence base on gambling harm,” said Zoë Osmond, CEO of GambleAware. “The new Gambling Harms Research Centre is a major step forward, bringing together new and exciting methodologies with a clear focus on impact in one of the country’s top universities.”

“We are incredibly excited by the long-term benefits that this work will bring by driving new public health approaches to reduce gambling harms for a wide range of communities.”

Chris Philp, the UK’s Gambling Minister, praised GambleAware’s donation and added that the government’s own review into gambling regulation – the 2005 Gambling Act Review whitepaper – will have a focus on player protection.

“I welcome this additional resource from GambleAware to help deepen our understanding and awareness of gambling-related harms,” said Philp.

“We are currently undertaking our own comprehensive review to ensure that the protections in place to prevent harm are right for the digital age, and we will be publishing a white paper shortly.”

Acquired by William Hill in 2019, 11.lv has operated under a local licence in Latvia since 2012, offering online sports betting and casino to customers.

William Hill said it would leverage existing media partnerships to promote the new brand and raise awareness of William Hill among players in the country.

The rebrand coincides with a number of major sporting events popular with consumers in Latvia, including the 2022 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship and the Responsible Gaming Latvian Cup national club football competition that William Hill supports financially.

“I am very proud of the work done building 11.lv brand in the Latvian market, becoming one of the leading brands in the country,” William Hill International managing director Nir Hakarmeli said

“This makes us well-positioned to take this strategic step, and we look forward to introducing one of the strongest brands in the industry and proving to our Latvian customers that William Hill is who you play with.”

The rebrand comes after shareholders of 888 this week approved the operator’s acquisition of William Hill’s non-US assets from Caesars for £1.95bn (€2.32bn/$2.43bn).

888 agreed in September 2021 to acquire the non-US business of William Hill, soon after land-based operator Caesars acquired the entire William Hill business for approximately £2.90bn, with the intent to dispose of all but its US assets.

As the William Hill assets are larger than the current 888 business, the deal is considered a reverse takeover, and so must be approved by shareholders of 888.

Shareholders voted yesterday (16 May) on the proposed acquisition.

The operator’s Hard Rock Digital arm has now launched the mobile sportsbook in Virginia, with players in the state able to place wagers across a range of sporting events.

Virginia becomes the second US state in which Hard Rock has launched its updated mobile sportsbook app, following an initial roll-out in Arizona last month via a partnership with the Navajo Nation Gaming Enterprise.

The latest version of the sportsbook app allows users to bet live on a wider range of sports, offers the option for same-game parlay bets, includes a selection of new reward features and has additional deposit methods.

“We’re excited to expand Hard Rock Sportsbook to Virginia and proud to offer more gaming options on the sports Virginians love on our easy-to-use mobile platform,” Hard Rock Digital chief executive and executive managing director Marlon Goldstein said.

The app will operate alongside a retail sportsbook facility, which will be located at the new Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Bristol land-based casino site.

Slated to open in July this year and expected to create over 600 new jobs, the Hard Rock Bristol casino will be the first land-based casino to open in Virginia, after Hard Rock was handed an operator licence by the Virginia Lottery Board last month.

Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Bristol president Allie Evangelista added: “We can’t wait to welcome sports fans from across the region to our retail sportsbook location in Bristol. The Hard Rock Sportsbook mobile app will be an extension of our Bristol property, allowing sports fans to continue their legendary entertainment experience throughout Virginia.”

Revenue for the three months to 31 March 2022 was $21.2m (£17.0m/€20.2m), significantly up from $5.5m in the corresponding period last year.

Lottery.com said growth was mainly driven by the sale of LotteryLink credits to an affiliate of its LotteryLink brand. The broker said this was done mainly to acquire pre-paid promotional rewards that may be issued by the affiliate to consumers for their purchase of lottery games and services from Lottery.com upon activation of an account.

Cost of revenue increased 10.3% year-on-year to $3.2m, leaving $18.0m in gross profit for the quarter, up 620.0%.

However, Lottery.com also reported an increase in spending, with operating costs rising by 537.7% to $33.8m, primarily due to personnel costs rocketing 2,263.6% to $26.0m. Other costs were also higher but did not rise at anywhere near the rate of personnel expenses. 

This resulted in an operating loss of $15.8m, compared to $2.8m last year. After taking into account $3,389 in other expenses, compared to $2.7m in other net income last year, this left a pre-tax loss of $15.8m, almost three times the $5.5m loss posted in Q1 of 2021.

Lottery.com did not pay any tax during the period, nor did it receive tax benefits, but the broker did note $129,222 in profit attributable to a non-controlling interest. As a result, it ended the quarter with a $15.7m net loss, compared to $5.5m last year.

However, adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) turned from a loss of $2.6m in Q1 of 2021 to a positive figure of $7.7m.

“I’m pleased with our first quarter results and the team’s continued focus on our core business and generating strong adjusted EBITDA,” Lottery.com co-founder and chief executive Tony DiMatteo said.

“Once again, LotteryLink has demonstrated its ability to contribute to our top and bottom-line growth and expand our user base with limited advertising spend. 

“In our B2C business, our focus on market testing and securing permission to advertise on large digital media platforms has solidified our foundation to launch accretive user acquisition campaigns over the balance of the year.”

Overall revenue from the market reached $422.5m (£342.4m/€404.5m), up from $352.2m in April 2021 and also 10.3% higher than $382.9m in March of this year.

Land-based casinos remained the primary source of revenue in the state, generating a total of $235.3m in revenue for April, up 24.1% on last year. Slot machine revenue jumped 26.9% to $175.2m and table game revenue increased 16.4% to $60.1m.

Online gaming revenue was also 27.0% higher at $136.9m in April, with online slot revenue having hiked 27.8% year-on-year to $134.6m, though internet poker revenue was down by 6.3% to $2.3m.

The Borgata, running a BetMGM online product, claimed top spot in the igaming market with $39.9m in revenue for the month, ahead of Golden Nugget Online Gaming (GNOG) with $38.1m, then Resorts Digital on $29.1m.

Turning to sports betting and revenue here was 8.2% down year-on-year to $50.3m, despite the state’s handle having increased by 23.9% to $926.9m. Of this handle total, $863.1m was wagered online, with the remaining $63.8m spent at retail sportsbooks.

Looking at individual operator performance in this market, Meadowlands, partnered with FanDuel, retained its grip on top spot with $33.3m in revenue for the month.

Resorts Digital, which has sportsbook deals in place with both DraftKings and Flutter’s Fox Bet, ranked second with $7.4m in sports betting revenue, then the Borgata on $4.5m.

In terms of year-to-date, total market revenue for the four months to the end of April in New Jersey stood at $1.60bn, up 19.0% on the same point last year.

Land-based casino revenue for the four-month period was 24.2% higher at $848.0m and igaming revenue jumped 30.2% to $545.4m, though sports betting revenue was 14.9% lower at $207.8m.

This newest partnership follows on from Rank’s previous work with GambleAware, which saw Rank employees in customer service, digital and the company’s Mecca Bingo business receive training over the last 18 months.

The partnership kicks off with 150 days of training delivered to Rank employees by GamCare. This gets underway later this month.

A total of 950 employees will take part in GamCare’s Social Responsibility and Interaction intermediate course, which will be delivered over a single day to both digital and land-based personnel. The training will provide employees with the skills needed to interact meaningfully with customers and aims to strike a balance between compliance and customer engagement.

A further 500 mainly senior employees will then take part in an advanced level course over two days, which will see them learn to communicate with at-risk customers and master how to intervene effectively.

“I am delighted that our partnership with GamCare is now being rolled out at such a significant scale,” said John O’Reilly, CEO of Rank. “It underlines our relentless commitment to improving how we interact with customers to give them the safest and best experience when they are with us.

“Safer gambling is a strategic pillar of the Rank Group and it requires investment, expertise and a deepening of all our knowledge.”

Anna Hemmings, CEO of GamCare, said that the partnership would work to increase knowledge about gambling harm and customer interaction within Rank.

“We are pleased to be extending our partnership with Rank to deliver safer gambling training across all their brands,” said Hemmings. “The investment in their people’s skills and knowledge around customer interaction responsibility should help to reduce the risk of gambling harm in their venues and online.

“Our training incorporates the experience of our service users, the huge level of collected evidence and industry research across numerous fields and GamCare’s many years of experience working across the sector.” 

House Bill 778 was passed after its third reading on May 12, following an amendment. It was first introduced on February 4 2021, initially allowing both tribal and commercial betting.

It was adopted by the Committee for Finance and Policy in March this year, along with House Bill 167, which initially focused on sentencing hearings. Both bills were amended to permit sports betting to be operated by the state’s tribes.

Read the full story on iGB North America.