Month: August 2022

NTD agreed to purchase certain assets owned by O’Shea Bookmaking Pty, which trades as TexBet, with support from BetMakers. TexBet is a long-standing SaaS platform customer of BetMakers. 

Effective from completion of the sale of TexBet, BetMakers shall receive ownership and IP rights for the betting platform technology currently owned by TexBet, while BetMakers will also support the migration of TexBet users to the NTD platform.

This follows an initial deal, agreed in April when the NTD venture was first announced, which stated that News Corp will run the venture with backing from gambling executives Matt Davey of Tekkorp and Matt Tripp, while BetMakers’ technology will drive NTD.

The deal said that BetMakers’ OM Apps subsidiary would provide B2B platform technology and wagering solutions to NTD, which will focus on Australia and New Zealand. 

At the time, BetMakers said the arrangement included the potential to earn over AU$300m (£175m/€207m/US$210m), with the revenue share agreement meaning at least $80m in revenue for BetMakers over the initial 10 years of the deal.

The cap on the annual fee payable by NTD will now be increased by $2m each year of the 10-year deal, allowing for a maximum cap increase of $20m during this period.

Net gaming revenue (NGR) generated from the TexBet customer base will form part of the NGR used to calculate the annual fee payable to BetMakers.

In addition, it was agreed that BetMakers will contribute a total of $2.5m over two tranches towards the purchase of TexBet by NTD.

The NTD venture is scheduled to launch in Australia later this year.

Consumers bet a total of $11.3m (£9.4m/€11.2m) on sports during the month, down 11.7% from $11.3m in July 2021, while the monthly total was also 18.1% lower than $13.8m in June this year.

Gross gaming revenue from sports wagering stood at $1.2m, which was 33.3% lower than $1.8m in July last year, but 20.0% up on June 2022’s total of $1.0m.

Looking at individual operator performances, Caesars again processed the largest amount of bets during the month, posting a handle of $4.3m and $378,662 in revenue.

Gambet, which is operated by the DC Lottery and powered by Intralot, claimed top spot in terms of revenue, as after paying out $2.8m in winnings from $3.3m in bets, this suggested revenue for July was $457,616.

BetMGM, which operates in DC in partnership with Major League Baseball franchise the Washington Nationals, ranked third with $154,732 in revenue from a $2.8m handle.

Flutter Entertainment-owned FanDuel, which only launched in DC on 8 July when it opened a FanDuel-branded retail sportsbook at Major League Soccer team DC United’s Audi Field, posted $127,360 in revenue off a handle of $710,362.

Finally, Grand Central Restaurant, Bar and Sportsbook, which offers sports betting via an agreement with Elys Game Technology, generated $47,840 in revenue from $313,998 in player bets.

The ICRG will invite scientists from around the world to apply for funding to help with their research projects into gambling and what can be done to better protect players.

The organisation will also sponsor programming to extend the research findings of projects beyond academia and provide guidelines to the gambling industry for effective responsible strategies.

In addition, the Bally’s donation will help fund several programs designed to educate treatment providers, responsible gambling professionals, regulators and public policymakers about gambling disorder and responsible gambling.

Founded in 1996, the ICRG has become a prominent funding source in problem gambling research, yielding hundreds of articles published in peer-reviewed scientific journals.

Projects currently in process include an evaluation of self-imposed limits on time and money spent gambling, as well as the national impact of sports wagering in the US.

“With this grant, Bally’s has taken a giant stride toward understanding the health risks of young adult gamblers and improving the effectiveness of existing responsible gambling tools,” ICRG president Arthur Paikowsky said. “The ICRG salutes Bally’s for making such a huge impact on the field of gambling studies.”

Bally’s president of interactive Robeson Reeves added: “We take seriously our responsibility to educate the public, including young adult gamblers, and our employees about responsible gaming, Bally’s is committed to this work.

“We look forward to working with the ICRG on cutting-edge scientific research on gambling among young adults and the usage and effectiveness of responsible gambling tools.”

The law received 91 votes in favour at Peru’s Congress last month. There were no opposing votes.

The law was then signed and published in Peru’s official newspaper, El Peruano, last week.

It will take effect 60 days after its publication in El Peruano.

The law names the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Tourism of Peru (Mincetur) as the country’s official gambling regulator. Mincetur will have the power to monitor all gambling activities in the country, which includes ordering the blocking of URL and IP addresses that infringe upon the law and ensuring all technological software and hardware used to provide online gambling is in working order.

The tax rate has been set at 12% of the total tax base, which will be collected monthly. The total tax base consists of net income minus maintenance costs. The tax will be monitored by Sunat, Peru’s customs and tax body.

Maintenance tax will consist of 2% of an operator’s monthly income.

Breaking the law could result in a fine of up to SOL200 (£42.79/€50.47/$51.24). Other sanctions include the freezing of assets or a licence disqualification, for up to 10 years or permanently.

Under the deal, BtoBet will provide its proprietary sportsbook platform and other sports betting services, including risk management, to UtopBet in the East African country.

The Ethiopian online and retail sports betting operator will offer betting on both local and international sports events, while it will also add esports betting to its offering for the first time.

BtoBet’s deal with the UtopBet brand means the supplier has a presence in 28 different jurisdictions around the world.

“We are pleased to further strengthen our presence in Africa, by going live in the highly competitive Ethiopian market,” NeoGames’ chief executive Moti Malul said. “UtopBet is one of the more well-known brands in the local market and I am pleased that the choice to power their retail and online channels fell on our flexible solutions and services.”

The deal comes after NeoGames last week reported a 63.6% year-on-year rise in revenue for the second quarter of its 2022 financial year, driven by its acquisition of Aspire Global towards the end of the period.

NeoGames completed its purchase of the B2B igaming technology solutions provider in June. Though the provider is still integrating Aspire Global into its operations, it said the acquisition has already had a significant impact on its operating results, contributing $8.3m in revenue since the deal went through on 16 June.

CEO Malul described the acquisition as a “truly transformative transaction”, saying it positions the business as a leading global provider in technology and content across ilottery, online sports betting and igaming.

BtoBet was acquired by NeoGames as part of the Aspire Global purchase.

The business – formerly Esports Technologies – changed its name in May, six months after paying $75.9m (at the time worth £56.1m/€65.5m) to acquire Aspire Global’s B2C brands, which include Karamba, Hopa and BetTarget.

The business had incurred heavy losses before the acquisition, but for the three months ended 31 March, it recorded positive earnings of $7.1m.

Now, though, the business announced a “profitability plan”, with the aim of producing positive monthly earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) immediately. 

The most significant action taken in the plan will be a 54% reduction in Ebet’s total number of employees and contractors. 

In addition, the business will “escalate and expand” its focus on igaming, rather than the esports sector, where investment will be cut.

Other parts of the plan include “optimizing the efficiency of marketing campaigns” and “generally reducing the operating costs of the business” and elimination of “non-material contracts”.

EBET chief executive Aaron Speach said that the business had reached an “inflection point”, as it is now earnings positive with the cost-cutting.

“We are on a current run rate to achieve positive EBITDA this month and feel that we have reached a major inflection point for Ebet’s business,” said Aaron Speach, chief executive officer of Ebet. “I have never been this excited about Ebet’s future for our executive team and our shareholders. We are seeing significant scalable gains and look to continue the path to increase profitability and shareholder value.”

However, given the reduced investment, the business said it no longer expects to hit its revenue guidance for the year of $70m, but it declined to offer new guidance.

Earlier this month, Ebet chief operating officer Bart Barden announced his departure from the business.

According to the Reuters news agency, people close to the deal said that Inspired had tabled an offer of $10 per share in cash to take ownership of the business.

News of the reported deal broke on 12 August, with PlayAGS shares ending the day at $7.25, up 25% on their opening price. 

In a filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission, PlayAGS confirmed that it had received a non-binding indication of interest to purchase the business for $10 per share in cash from a third party. 

PlayAGS added that while this initial proposal had not been accepted, it remains in discussions with the interested party, the identity of which it did not disclose.

“There can be no assurance that any transaction will be completed at this price or at any other price with such third party or any other third party,” Play AGS said.

“The company’s board of directors and management team are committed to acting in the best interests of all shareholders. The company’s policy is to not comment on market rumours and does not intend to make further comments regarding potential transactions or provide any public updates regarding proposed or potential transactions, unless required by required law or a regulatory body.”

Inspired also issued a response to the report, but refused to be drawn on the subject, saying in a statement that it “does not comment on market rumours or speculation”.

The report comes after both businesses last week published their financial results for the first half and second quarter of 2022.

PlayAGS said record land-based revenue figures during the second quarter helped it return to a net profit.

The manufacturer reported record revenue for domestic electronic gaming machines operations in the US, while table games revenue also reached an all-time quarterly high during the three months to 30 June.

Meanwhile, Inspired highlighted its expanding virtual sports vertical during a first half that experienced large revenue increases on both a quarterly and year-on-year basis.

Revenue increased from $41.5m to $71.3m for the three months to 30 June, a 72% increase year-on-year. This compares with the $60.6m the business generated in Q1, a 15% quarterly increase.

In a statement accompanying the financial results Inspired executive chairman Lorne Weil pointed to the “resiliency of our [company’s] diversified business model” and the “continued strength of consumer spending across our segments – notwithstanding ongoing macro trends” as being behind Inspired’s performance.

Ward has expertise in business management, strategy, governance, risk and finance and broad industry experience spanning financial services, banking, insurance, technology, healthcare, government, education, tourism and entertainment.

Until recently, Ward served on the board at Crown Resorts, standing down in June this year following the completion of the takeover by Blackstone. She is also currently chair of ecommerce group Redbubble and communication software provider Symbio Holdings.

Foster has worked in the financial services sector more than 25 years, including over five years as chief executive of Suncorp Bank.

He has also served on boards across a range of industries including financial services, retail, government, education and professional services, while he currently holds directorships at a number of business including Bendigo and Adelaide Bank Ltd.

“Anne and David bring a relevant set of skills to our board at this important juncture,” Star’s interim chairman Ben Heap said. “They have extensive experience in highly regulated industries, impressive backgrounds in risk and compliance, and invaluable leadership insights forged during their respective careers in law and banking.

“Along with fellow non-executive directors, Michael Issenberg, Richard Sheppard, Katie Lahey and Gerard Bradley, I welcome Anne and David as we continue to refresh the board.”

The double appointment comes after the parliament of New South Wales last week passed a bill creating a new land-based regulator for the state, which will oversee its two operators – Crown and Star – as they recover from wide-ranging scandals around their operations.

The new body will take over following the passage of the Casino Legislation Amendment Bill 2022. This law outlines new requirements for the two casinos, including enhanced anti-money laundering checks, and outlining exactly what type of training is expected for staff.

Earlier this month, Star also said it expects to post AUS$1.53bn in normalised revenue for its 2022 financial year – a year in which its licences faced major scrutiny – following a strong recovery domestically during the fourth quarter.

This licence will allow Novomatic to have its subsidiary, BluBet Operations, operate under the novoline.de domain in the country.

Mernov, a joint venture between Novomatic and Merkur, was the first operator to be given an online slots licence. Tipwin and Ruleo received licences in June this year. However, this business changed its name to Deutsche Gesellschaft für Glücksspiel (DGGS) earlier this month, as it implemented a “new shareholder structure”.

Last week, Slotmagie and Merkur became the fourth and fifth operators to receive online slots licences in Germany.

This means that each joint venture partner involved with setting up Mernov now has a licence of its own.

The new slots licensees came about with the introduction of Germany’s fourth state treaty on gambling, which was enacted on 1 July last year.

This put a number of controversial rules in place, including a 5.3% tax on turnover for online slots and online poker.

After it came into force, no online slots, poker or table game operators were listen on the official whitelist for close to one year after the treaty was enacted. The state of Sachsen-Anhalt handles licensing in Germany.

The business reported revenue of S$663.1m (£399.3m/€472.2m/US$481.8m) for the half-year, up by 19.5% year-on-year.

Gaming brought in S$475.2m, up by 7.5%. Hotel room revenue was S$63.6m, while revenue from attractions more than doubled to S$69.7m and other non-gaming sources contributed S$43.6m.

The Genting Singapore board said the recovery came thanks to high demand for casino gaming following the impact of Covid-19, which was enough to make up for continuing challenges in international travel.

“While international tourism visitorship remained significantly below pre-pandemic levels due to limited flight capacity, extraordinarily high airfares and varying reopening protocols by our regional markets, the group has benefited from pent-up demand and made good progress towards recovery in the first half of 2022,” it said.

Rental income contributed a further S$6.7m, though this was the only segment where revenue declined, while hospitality and support services brought in S$4.4m, after minimal revenue in 2021.

However, while revenue rose, costs of sales – which include gambling taxes – grew faster, by 33.4% to S$463.0m. The new taxes came as part of an overhaul to the gaming industry in Singapore, which also included the launch of a new regulator and new definitions of illegal gambling.

As a result, Genting’s gross profit declined by 3.8% to S$200.1m.

Operating expenses also increased, mostly due to impairment of property, meaning that operating profit was down by 9.4% to S$110.2m. After finance costs, results from joint ventures and tax, Genting Singapore’s net profit was S$84.4m. This was a decline of 4.3% when compared to a year earlier.

As a result, earnings per share also declined, from S$0.73 to S$0.70.

Although profit was down, adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) was S$289.0m, compared to S$256.8m for the same period of 2021.

After the quarter ended, media reports alleged that MGM Resorts had approached Genting Singapore about a possible takeover. However, Genting denied these reports.