Month: May 2022

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Day previously worked as the managing director of media business Sky Digital before progressing to its board as a non-executive director.

Her expertise lies in digital transformation projects. At Sky UK and Ireland, she led a marketing team in product design and development, including the customer journey across Sky.com and the My Sky App digital platforms.

John Kelly OBE, Buzz Bingo’s non-executive chairman, said “We’re thrilled that Jennifer is joining our board. She brings with her exceptional experience in driving digital brands which will prove  invaluable to us as we continue our omni channel journey and build on our success as the market leader in retail bingo.”

Commenting on the appointment, Jennifer said, “I’m excited to be able to support the Buzz Bingo board as it continues on its journey to be an omni-channel operator.

“While its online platform only launched three years ago, it is already one of the leading online Bingo brands in the UK. In my role as non-executive director, I’ll be advising on how we build on that success using my experience gained across entertainment, retail and financial services sectors.”

The interactive gaming manufacturer licence allows Inspired to offer its online games to licensed operators in the US state.

Inspired said it expects its interactive content to launch in Pennsylvania this summer, with multiple titles to be rolled out for operators.   

“Pennsylvania is one of the largest igaming states in North America and we are excited to add it to our North American geographies, which already includes New Jersey, Michigan, Connecticut, Quebec and Ontario,” Inspired president and chief operating officer Brooks Pierce said.  

“Many of the licensed online operators in Pennsylvania are already Inspired customers in other jurisdictions, which should allow for us to launch our top-performing content quickly and seamlessly into the market.  

“With the growing popularity of our content, increased brand awareness and rapid speed to market, we are confident we are well-positioned to capitalise on this opportunity.”

The new licence comes after Inspired earlier this month revealed that it was able to return to profit in Q1 2021, as growth across all verticals meant revenue increased by 165.8%.

The self-serve solution scans thousands of web pages for content including igaming code red words, links and regulatory requirements across multiple jurisdictions.

GiG Comply also enables operators to fully oversee their marketing campaigns and ensure these are operating in line with local regulations across a range of markets.

“Compliance is one of our top priorities when it comes to advertising our brands and we are conscious of the great effort we should dedicate to it,” Rainmaker chief operating officer Nataliia Golik said. 

“We are happy to have found in GiG Comply a strategic partner to assist us on this important part of the business as we trust that the experience and expertise they have acquired in the igaming industry will be highly beneficial. We are looking forward to making the most of the tool and all the features available.”

GiG chief marketing officer and GiG Media managing director, Jonas Warrer, added: “We are excited to have added Rainmaker to our growing list of partners for GiG Comply and look forward to supporting them with their marketing compliance strategy. 

“Our automated marketing and compliance technology will help Rainmaker to strengthen their affiliate marketing compliance, while ensuring that they remain in control of all their affiliate marketing and comply with responsible gaming conditions.”

Issued by the British Gambling Commission, the licence will enable Leap to provide content to licensed operators also active in the regulated British market.

Leap also holds licences in Sweden, the Netherlands, South Africa and Greece, while the provider also secured a licence in Romania earlier this year.

“We are delighted and honoured to have been granted the supply licence,” Leap chief executive Yariv Lissauer said. “The UK is a very important territory for Leap as it is one of the prime gaming markets in the world. 

“The UK is a key benchmark and a trendsetter for most of the gaming jurisdiction globally and serves as a hotbed of innovation. 

“Moreover, the UK is also within the footprint of many of our live and contracting partners, and we look forward to rolling out our content there shortly.”

A pilot scheme run in Spring 2022 produced results suggesting that 1.3% of the British population would be classed as problem gamblers, far higher than the 0.4% estimate from Health Survey for England 2018 (HSE 2018). However, the regulator noted that this could be for a number of reasons, unrelated to genuine increases in harm.

As a result, the Commission warned that the new figure “should not be used as an estimate of problem gambling at this stage”.

The percentage of respondents that were classed as being at moderate risk and low risk of gambling harm were also higher in the pilot scheme survey, at 2.3% and 7.8%.

In particular, it highlighted the fact that a larger portion of the pilot scheme sample were gamblers when compared to a random sampling of the population. For the pilot, 63% of respondents gambled, compared to 54% in the HSE 2018, with the starkest difference in online gambling rates. 

In its assessment of the pilot, NatCen social research – which won the tender to conduct the scheme – noted that the difference cannot be explained by a genuine spike in gambling activity. This, it said, would have been picked up by the Commission’s quarterly surveys on participation.

Instead, the regulator said some of the difference may have been caused by the “push-to-web approach” of the survey, which “uses offline contact methods to encourage people to go online and complete a questionnaire”. This was complemented by a shorter postal questionnaire in order to reduce selection bias toward frequent internet users.

As a result, the higher sampling of gamblers may be due to the fact that gamblers are naturally more inclined to fill out a survey about gambling. NatCen expressed a similar sentiment but also raised the possibility that respondents to telephone surveys could be “reluctant” to report gambling.

“It is very difficult to distinguish between these competing hypotheses, and all may be true to an extent,” it explained.

In addition, it noted differences in the way some respondents filled out surveys. NatCen noted that levels of low and moderate levels of risk were higher in the pilot survey even after controlling for their level of gambling activity.

For example, even among HSE 2018 participants who had taken part in only one gambling activity in the past year, 2% had a Problem Gambling Severity Index (PSGI) score of one or more. In the pilot survey, the total was 8%.

Overall, after controlling for gambling activity, the estimated odds of having a PGSI score of 1+ was found to be 2.9 times higher for the pilot survey than for HSE 2018.

“So, something in the nature of the pilot survey means that pilot survey participants with the same gambling behaviour as those in HSE 2018 responded to the PGSI items in a way that resulted in their gambling scoring as low or moderate risk or problematic,” NatCen said.

NatCen found that the discrepancy in both harm rates and overall gambling levels was most apparent with younger people, and particularly women, while the rates recorded among older people were similar in the two surveys.

NatCen also added that the new survey producing higher figures was “not unexpected”, as a review of a prior GambleAware/YouGov survey had suggested that similar surveys may over-estimate prevalence.

Despite the rates of harm being higher than phone surveys, NatCen also noted that they were “lower than those typically generated by online panel surveys”.

In terms of participation rates, NatCen said the pilot was successful, exceeding response rate expectations.

The Commission noted that “offering a postal survey completion option is a must” for future surveys given that 40% of respondents submitted their answers by post.

As a result the regulator concluded that the pilot survey had been a success, opting to use a similar methodology of survey in the future, after putting these recommendations in place.

“The pilot survey has demonstrated that we have a sound base for a methodology and can now move forward into the experimental stage of our project,” it commented.

NatCen offered a number of recommendations for future editions of the survey. It suggested that further work be taken to eliminate a bias towards gamblers in the sample, such as changing invitation letters to focus more on mental health rather than gambling specifically.

In addition, it said the sample size should be increased to up to 20,000, in order to allow for analysis of sub-samples, as well as shortening the survey so it can be completed in 20 minutes.

The regulator started investigations of Unigames’ Uniclub and Betsson’s Betsafe in October 2021.

For Betsafe, the regulator drew attention to a section of its website where it said players can “immerse yourself in a live betting vortex”, and that the site offers “the most valuable offers and promotions in one place”. 

In addition, it flagged a page describing the history of the Betsafe brand.

These, it said, were “aimed at drawing attention to the company, its offer, persuading and encouraging persons to participate in the company’s games”.

For Uniclub, meanwhile, the regulator noted that the operator detailed its live casino offering, as well as telling players they could  “choose from 1,000+ casino games”. 

The messages on both sites, it said, were “aimed at drawing attention to the company, its offer, persuading and encouraging persons to participate in the company’s games, which is considered to encourage participation in games”.

The regulator said these pages amounted to a violation of Lithuania’s ban on gambling promotions, that came into effect last year. 

Unigames was fined €12,662, while Betsson received a €25,000 fine.

In addition to fining both operators, both were “warned about the possible suspension” of their licence.

The regulator said that if the operators did not remove the promotional messages from their sites by 20 June, approval to operate in the market could be temporarily withdrawn.

A number of other operators have also been fined after being deemed to be in violation of the ban, including Top Sport and 7Bet earlier this month.

In two trademarks filed to the US Patent and Trademark Office, BetFanatics is listed as a “downloadable mobile application for betting and gaming”, as well as for use in fantasy sports leagues and for providing previews, alerts, replays, video clips of sporting competitions, and webcam feeds of sports.

The trademark also applies to casino facilities and online gaming, including free-to-play gaming.

This follows prior filings for Fanatics Casino and Fanatics Sportsbook, both filed in October.

Fanatics Sportsbook was given the same description as BetFanatics.

Fanatics casino, meanwhile, is listed as “a website for online gambling” as well as “betting and gambling services and information services relating thereto”.

Logos were also provided for BetFanatics and Fanatics Casino, both simply made up of the brand name in a serif font.

The news follows reports – which were later quashed by the business – that Fanatics had agreed a deal in which Amelco would provide its source code for the business to develop a sportsbook solution, following ongoing speculation about the business’ efforts to expand into betting. Fanatics clarified that no such deal was in place at the time.

However, it has been preparing to expand into betting and igaming for some time, bringing in former FanDuel chief executive Matt King to lead its efforts.

Last year, the business was among the bidders to operate sports betting in New York. Fanatics and Penn National Gaming’s Barstool brand were each listed as operators in a bid from Kambi.

This bid was ultimately unsuccessful, however.

Both the Alberta Gaming, Liquor and Cannabis (AGLC) and Saskatchewan Liquor and Gaming Authority (SLGA) approved the proposed acquisition, which was agreed in August last year.

Jumbo said that subject to the satisfaction of certain closing deliverables set out under the share purchase agreement, it is anticipated the deal will complete on 1 June.

The retailer added that Stride’s contribution to its earnings for the 2022 financial year is not expected to be material.

In August last year, Jumbo entered into an agreement to acquire 100% of Stride, in a deal it said would support its global expansion strategy.

Jumbo initially said the deal would go through before the end of 2021, but the retailer in December said this would not occur until the fourth quarter of its 2021-22 financial year, ended 30 June, when it expected to receive approval to proceed with the purchase.

This delay, Jumbo said, is due to the extensive application and review process of both the AGLC and SGLA.

Calgary-based Stride provides services to over 750,000 active lottery players in the Alberta and Saskatchewan provinces, with the deal to enable Jumbo to move into the Canadian charity lottery market for the first time.

At the time of the original accountments, Jumbo said the acquisition would mark another key strategic step in its international expansion strategy, following the purchase of UK lottery business Gatherwell in November 2019.

Terms of the deal stated 70% of the purchase price would be paid in cash on completion, while the remaining 30% would be payable in cash in two instalments in FY22 and FY23, subject to earnings hurdles being met.

The YouGov survey, based on the responses of focus groups across seven English cities, found almost two thirds of participants believe there is a substantial risk setting limits on the amount of money spent on betting would drive more people to unregulated operators.

The study also found that more than half of punters thought the government should not set limits on how much people can bet, with this having been mooted as one of the potential new rules being considered under the ongoing review of the Gambling Act 2005.

“The issue is that you’re going to push people who don’t even have a problem onto these websites,” a voter in Blackpool said. “Then they’re betting on sites that don’t have the option to do limits or time outs or whatever, and you’re probably going to create a whole new wave of problem gamblers totally unnecessarily.”

The British government is expected to lay out plans for a review of current regulations in a white paper that us due to be published this summer.

Last month, the BGC also stated its opposition to affordability checks, which it said would “undermine the customer experience” and also force players to black market sites.

However, while the BGC said there was clear opposition to a blanket approach to spending limits, which would apply to all players, there was support for a method where mandatory limits could be set for consumers showing signs of problem gambling.

“Where companies know and can see someone is developing a problem then obviously that should be the focus,” a participant in Wakefield said. “But it shouldn’t mean we all have to get regulated. (Football) clubs get told who they can sponsor with and we get told what we should spend money on. That’s ridiculous and too far to solve what is essentially a small problem really.”

The BGC said it does back certain spending checks, but that these must be non-instructive and carefully targeted at vulnerable customers and those at risk. Last year, the BGC also called for an ombudsman to strengthen consumer redress. 

“At the BGC we support the government’s review of gambling as an important opportunity to further raise standards, building on the changes introduced in recent times and the welcome reductions in problem gambling rates,” BGC chief executive Michael Dugher said.

“But ministers need to act in a way that is carefully targeted at problem gamblers and those at risk, not the overwhelming majority of the 22.5 million Brits who enjoy having a bet each month.

Dugher added that imposing unpopular rules on the industry may play into concerns that politicians are out of touch.

“People think politicians live on a different planet as it is,” he said. “Telling them what they can and cannot do with their own time and their own money isn’t going to help fix that perception.

“Ministers should also stop being so complacent about the dangers of the unsafe, unregulated black market online. It’s real and it’s growing, and it is targeting vulnerable people and problem gamblers. This is not an argument against change. It’s an argument for getting changes right. 

“Ministers need to be careful and smart – and they need to wary about overreaching themselves and interfering unnecessarily in people’s lives.”