Month: July 2022

This will permit GiG to partner with operators based in the newly regulated province. Legal igaming businesses have been allowed to launch in Ontario, pending licensing, from 4 April this year. The registration granted to the supplier covers its B2B sportsbook and player account management (PAM) system. The secured licence will be the 22nd issued to the business, with four more pending in different jurisdictions.

Claudio Caruana, general counsel for GiG commeneted: “In receiving the registration from the AGCO, we have reached another important milestone in our resolute commitment to supporting the igaming industry for regulated markets, and we’re delighted to be prepared to power new and potential partners in the province.”

The news follows the recent announcement of GiG subsidary Sportnco signing a platform services deals with Caravel Entertainment Limited in Portugal – and an unnamed online operator in Spain.

GiG divested itself of its B2C business in 2021, selling off its portfolio of B2C brands to Betsson -deciding to pivot to a purely B2B model – a move which the CEO Richard Brown claims to have been a success.

Brown said to iGB last August: “The business has been able to focus and structure itself extremely well over a short period of time to set us on a path to growth. I think we’ve also seen changes in the industry and a number of new markets rapidly regulating, and how they are regulated has created great opportunities for B2B businesses.”

“On a personal level we had a fantastic team on the B2C business, and we always miss our colleagues who perform such valuable tasks, but on a business level I’m happy with the decision we took last year.”

Under the multi-year deal, Betfred will become the team’s official sports betting partner.

The partnership will also include a range of fan engagement activations, promotions and free-to-play gaming opportunities.

Betfred has plans to launch a mobile sports betting app in Ohio, pending the appropriate licensing and regulatory approvals. The US state is due to open its legal sports betting market on 1 January 2023.

Earlier this week, the Bengals applied for a sports betting licence in Ohio, becoming the first professional sports team to submit an application. If the franchise was to secure a licence, it would become a type-A sports gaming proprietor, allowing it to offer an online product

“The Bengals continue to look for exciting new ways to enhance the fan experience and this partnership will provide additional opportunities to engage with our fans,” Bengals vice president and chief marketing officer Brian Sells said. “We look forward to working with Betfred to create fun, fan-focused activations that add to the excitement on gameday.”

Betfred Group chief operating officer Mark Stebbings added: “This is an exciting opportunity to partner with the Bengals as we continue to expand Betfred across the US and into Ohio with the launch of sports betting in the near future.

“The Bengals are a premier franchise with a passionate fanbase and a history of innovation that aligns with our brand. We look forward to engaging with fans across the state as we introduce them to unique betting promotions and content throughout the year.”

During an audit of the casino venue, the AGCO looked at a number of alleged breaches of the Standards for Gaming, as set by the AGCO registrar.

Some 36 violations were identified during the audit, including that the casino was alleged to have provided advertising and marketing materials to individuals who had self-excluded from gambling activities.

The AGCO also said HR Ottawa repeatedly failed to implement, follow and enforce required anti-money laundering policies and procedures, while it also did not address matters of concern identified by internal auditors in a timely manner.

HR Ottawa failed to maintain a compliance oversight function that was not independent of its operations, as is required, neither did it sufficiently protect gaming systems and data from security vulnerabilities in accordance with established industry and technology good practices.

In addition, the AGCO said HR Ottawa did not ensure that staff completed necessary training in areas such as anti-money laundering policies and procedures.

“The AGCO has the mandate and the responsibility to ensure casinos are operating with honesty, integrity, and in the public interest,” AGCO chief executive and registrar Tom Mungham said.

“These penalties are intended to drive the improvements needed at the Rideau Carleton Casino, and we will be carefully monitoring the casino’s activities to ensure these significant audit findings are addressed.”

HR Ottawa will have the option to appeal against the findings to the Licence Appeal Tribunal, an adjudicative tribunal independent of the AGCO and part of Tribunals Ontario.

RAiG, whose membership grew to 12 last year after its formation by the Racing Post, Oddschecker and Better Collective in 2019, threw its support behind “a statutory licensing or registration regime for affiliates who are active in the British gambling market” in June 2020.

However, yesterday’s leaked report of the forthcoming Gambling Act white paper – published by industry commentators Earnings + More – revealed that the UK government “is not persuaded by arguments for online affiliates to be licensed”.

In response, a spokesperson told iGB: “RAiG believes that the best way to raise standards across the gambling affiliate sector and improve safeguards for consumers is for affiliates to be licensed by the Gambling Commission.

“Despite engaging with HM Government on this over the last 18 months we’ve expected that this would not form part of the Gambling Act review. In the absence of this being taken forward as part of the review, we’re already engaged with the wider gambling ecosystem on initiatives to drive improvements in the sector.”

David Da Silva, CEO of UK super affiliate EasyOdds and a long-standing opponent of a licensing or registration regime for GB-facing affiliates, told iGB: “My view is that affiliates representing regulated UK operators are already well managed through existing regulations, so this news is welcome.

“I’m not surprised that the arguments for licensing affiliates have been rejected as they provide no material benefit to players or operators. In fact, adding unnecessary regulatory burdens to smaller affiliates would only serve to reduce competition in the affiliate industry – most likely disadvantaging players and operators alike.”

The agreement includes GiG’s technical platform, portfolio of managed services, frontend development, CRM and marketing. The business will provide Asper’s Group with a fully-managed solution to operate Asper’s online casino – with GiG claiming the deal will reduce the complexity of moving the retail business online, as well as lessen the operator’s cost of entry.

The news follows an April announcement by the supplier that it had signed a head-of-terms agreement with an entity it termed “a tier-one” UK land-based operator. 

The contract is set to last for three years, with options of renewal follow this term. The operator’s online offering has a planned launch date in Q4 2022, with an expectation of turning a profit by Q1 2023.

Aspers CEO Richard Noble commented on the deal: “We are delighted to join forces with GiG to provide a first-class omni-channel solution for our guests and launch our own branded online site extending the Aspers casino experience to both online and retail customers. Through this new platform we will continue to prioritise safer gambling as this is at the heart of everything we do.”

The provider said that it expects the UK online casino market to generate £4bn ($4.72/ €4.72) in gross gambling revenue (GGR) in 2022.

Richard Brown, CEO of GiG added: “I am extremely excited to partner with Aspers, a prominent operator within the land based industry that shares our values on responsible gaming, CSR and passion about the power embracing digital transformation,” he said. “We see great potential in the UK, particularly when we can harness ‘brand equity’ and the retail footprint that Aspers holds with our omni-channel solutions.”

“We look forward to working closely with the Aspers team to maximise their potential through a successful digital transformation and anticipate that Aspers will become a significant and high value client for GiG. This type of deal is directly in our ‘wheelhouse’, helping land-based operators digitally transform and showcase our product in the UK market.”

The deal is expected to expand into verticals beyond online casino at later, as of yet undetermined, date.

Bacta chief executive John White made the appeal in a letter to Damien Collins, who was recently appointed Minister for Tech and the Digital Economy at the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS).

In his new role, Collins will be leading the government’s efforts on gambling and lotteries policy, overseeing the much-anticipated review into the Gambling Act 2005.

Writing in the letter, White said raised concerns over reports that the white paper into the review may not support Bacta’s request over debit card transactions for gaming machines and urged a rethink in order to help futureproof the land-based gambling industry.

“It is vital that the upcoming review recognises the importance of the land-based sector to the wider industry, whilst also taking steps to ensure that those businesses on our high streets, seafronts and across the supply chain are given the support they need to flourish,” White said.

“It is our view that, while the review is supposed to be about bringing the act into the digital age and redressing the balance between online and offline, such a move disadvantages members like ours, and stands in contrast to the wider societal trends towards cashless payments. 

“This was a view we set out in a letter to the Prime Minister last week, and we would welcome the opportunity to discuss this with you directly.”

White also referenced the wider review, saying it provides a “vital opportunity” to update legislation to reflect the modern and rapidly changing nature of the industry. 

“The result must be a system which delivers the most socially responsible products, provides the Gambling Commission with the powers it needs, and is fit for purpose in the 21st Century,” White said.

“Ahead of the publication of the review, which we have heard could be as soon as next week, we would welcome the opportunity to meet with you to discuss our views on the review and how it can support our members.”

Announced last month, BetStop will allow people to self-exclude from all Australian licensed online and phone wagering services, from three months to permanent exclusion.

Once a player is registered with BetStop, licensed wagering providers will be required to close the individual’s betting accounts and block them from placing a bet, opening a new account and not send any marketing messages.

Wagering providers in the country will also be required to promote BetStop through their website, mobile apps and marketing.

“BetStop will help those at risk of gambling harm to take control of their situation, allowing them to block themselves from all licensed online and phone wagering services in a single process,” ACMA chair Nerida O’Loughlin said.

“BetStop will be up and running in the coming months. It is now time for industry to get ready and to have their systems and processes in place to protect their customers and use BetStop.

“People who want to change their gambling habits can also start exploring whether Betstop can play a role to help them make those choices.”

Confirmation of the program name and initial rules comes after ACMA this week requested internet service providers (ISPs) in the country block access to a further 11 offshore gambling websites.

ACMA found Pokie Island, Rich Palms, Lucky Tiger Casino, Megaslot, Bitkingz, Parimatchwin, Casino Rocket, Montecryptos, Cabarino, Robin Roo and Jackpot Jill VIP were all operating in breach of the Interactive Gambling Act 2001.

As such, the ACMA said the sites were illegally offering online gambling in the country and called for ISPs to block access.

This was a rise of 7.9% from May 2021, in the earlier stages of recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic.

Slots continued to generate the most gross gaming revenue (GGR) overall, at $2.94bn, down just 0.1% year-on-year.

GGR from table games amounted to $873.9m, a rise of 10.5% year-on-year, while sports betting revenue came to $487.5m- up significantly by 78.2%.

Online gaming revenue also grew, by 30.9% to $406.4m.

For the year to date, total GGR is $24.39bn, up 20.6% from the same period in 2021.

Slots revenue for the year so far increased by 11% to $14.08bn and table games revenue grew by 38.2% to $4.05bn.

Sports betting revenue for the year to date jumped by 73.5% to $2.64bn. Online gaming GGR also grew significantly to $2.03bn, up by 45.6%.

The AGA also noted that March, April and May have been the three most successful months for gaming in industry history, with each surpassing $5bn in revenue.

In May the AGA reported the highest ever first quarter for commercial gaming revenue.

This is the second acquisition for the company this year, following the March purchase of Dundee-based mobile messaging and marketing business Kumulos.

The Optimove board said it hopes that the acquisition will enable the addition of new personalisation features to their platform, which will take advantage of Graphyte’s AI-driven autonomous system.

It will do this through its new customer data platform, which will unify different data sources to give a single customer view.

Pini Yakuel, CEO and founder of Optimove, commented on the deal: “With the addition of Graphyte, marketers can transform their customer data into personalized customer-led journeys at scale. Our platform seamlessly delivers real-time symmetric messaging across any channel and touchpoint.

“The Graphyte acquisition was a natural next step in our evolution. It is part of Optimove’s relentless journey of empowering marketers to optimize customer data into deeper relationships, incremental sales, and loyalty at scale. The winner in these acquisitions is our clients and their customers.”

Among the new features that Optimove claim the new system will have are bespoke customer models, predictive analytics, AI multichannel decisioning and optimization, native mobile push, in-app messaging, mobile inbox, web push, and deferred deep linking.

Damien Evans, CEO of Graphyte added: “Optimove’s CRM Marketing capabilities are second to none. Our goal has always been to create unprecedented freedom for brands to realize their CRM marketing visions. We are confident that our machine learning personalization models, combined with Optimove, will enable brands to connect with their customers intelligently. We couldn’t be happier to join forces with Optimove as an integral part of their offering.”  

Optimove also claims that it will continue making acquisitions this year.

Are esports titles monetised effectively?

Esports is a vertical in its relative infancy, but growing at a phenomenal rate. Already, the gap between the market leaders and new entrants is growing. There is evidence that the leading titles are being successfully monetised, but whether this is being done efficiently remains to be seen.

Efforts are also concentrated around these top-tier games, meaning other emerging titles may not be getting the attention that can help them become drivers of revenue.

Ultimately the future success of the esports industry is reliant on diversification. In this webinar, in partnership with Bayes Esports, will looked to bring together companies from across the ecosystem who are taking the lead in helping create a thriving and lucrative industry.

In this webinar we discussed:

How to optimally monetise a sector in its infancyHow to understand your different audiences and embrace the diversityHow to make esports accessible on a global scaleHow non-endemic sponsorship has changed the game forever