Month: September 2022

Revenue from igaming reached $1.30m (£1/14m/€1.30m) in August, up 37.2% from $945,512 in the same month last year and marginally higher than the previous record of $1.25m that was set in July this this year.

Players spent a total of $36.8m playing igaming during the month, up 69.6% year-on-year, but 6.6% down from $39.4m in July 2022.

Online video lottery games accounted for $1.0m of total igaming revenue, with consumers having spent $21.8m. Internet table games generated $221,330 in revenue off $15.0m in bets, while poker rake and fee revenue reached $37,169.

Delaware Park remained the leading operator in igaming sector with $558,272 in revenue off $15.8m in bets, ahead of Bally’s Dover on $412,044 from $12.1m, then the Harrington Raceway with $326,657 from $98.9m in wagers.

Turning to sports betting, the $354,444 generated during the month was 439.7% up from $65,678 last year, but 7.5% lower than $383,249 in July this year.

Players wagered $2.9m on sports in August, down 40.8% from $4.9m in the same month last year and also 7.4% ahead of $2.7m in July.

Delaware Park also claimed top spot in the sports betting market with $162,795 in revenue off a $1.4m handle. Bally’s Dover was second with revenue of $101,243 from $837,814 in player bets, then Harrington Raceway with $54,472 in revenue and a $448,645 handle.

Online wagers were 8.5% higher than $103.3m in July, but the August total was the second lowest full monthly amount since the state opened its regulated internet betting market in January of this year.

Revenue from online sports wagering in August reached $7.3m, down 62.0% from $19.2m in July and also the second lowest full monthly total on record.

Turning to retail and players spent $16.2m, which was 6.7% higher than $15.2m in July and the first month-on-month growth since May.

Retail revenue reached $2.2m, which was an increase of 37.5% from $1.6m in July and the highest monthly total since $2.7m was generated in May.

Looking at the market as a whole, consumers in Louisiana wagered $128.3m on sports in August, up 8.3% month-on-month, though revenue dipped 54.3% from $20.8m to $9.5m.

The Louisiana Gaming control board also revealed that $1.8m was collected in sports betting taxes, $1.6m of which came from online wagering and $211,900 retail.

Lotteritilsynet will impose a fine of NOK1.198m every day that Kindred’s Trannel subsidiary does not withdraw from Norway. 

The daily fine will come into effect three weeks after the day that Lotteritilsynet decided to implement the fine. That decision came on 14 September this year, after it previously warned the operator it would issue fines if it did not exit the market.

These fines will only stop when the amount owed reaches Trannel’s annual gross profit, which the regulator estimated to be approximately NOK437m, or when the operator withdraws from the country.

Trannel does not hold a licence to operate in Norway, but Lotteritilsynet said the operator’s Unibet, Mariacasino, Storspiller and Bingo brands are accessible to players in the country. As such, the regulator deemed Trannel to be operating illegally.

Kindred previously spoke out against the order, saying it believed that it was not breaching Norwegian law and as such would not cease operations.

Norwegian state-owned Norsk Tipping and private trust Norsk Rikstoto are the only two operators licensed to offer online gambling services in the country under the national Gambling Act.

“When a gaming company that operates illegally in Norway can earn NOK437m from its illegal activity in the course of a year, we owe it to the Norwegian people and those who struggle with gambling problems to do what we can to stop the illegal business,” Norwegian Lottery and Foundation Authority department director Henrik Nordal said.

“Surveys show that six out of ten Norwegians do not know Unibet, Mariacasino, Storspiller and Bingo are illegal gambling in Norway. You can lose much more money on these games than you can on similar legal games in Norway. 

“One of our most important societal missions is to protect those who have gambling problems or who are at risk of developing gambling problems. We expect Trannel to take social responsibility and withdraw from the Norwegian market.”

The case dates back to April 2019 when Lotteritilsynet ordered Trabbel to cease all online operations in Norway. Tranell appealed against the decision and also took the validity of the decision before the Oslo District Court.

In early 2020, the appeal bodies of the Ministry of Culture and the Lottery Board decided the complaint was unsuccessful, and that Lotteritilsynet’s decision was valid. Lotteritilsynet, the Norwegian Lottery Board and the Ministry of Culture also all considered and refused Trannel’s request for deferred implementation of the decision pending court proceedings. 

Trannel’s deadline for complying with Lotteritilsynet’s decision expired in March 2020, with the regulator issuing notice of compulsory fine to Trannel in February of this year.

Trannel sent two letters to Lotteritilsynet with comments on pre-notification of compulsory fines, but the regulator said that the operator did not make any objections that would be of importance to its assessment, in terms of whether a compulsory fine should be imposed or the size of the fine.

The Oslo District Court heard the case on the validity of Lotteritilsynet’s decision in May and June of this year, but eventually concluded the regulator’s decision to impose a suspension was valid.

Tranell appealed the Oslo District Court’s judgment on 2 September 2022, but again came down on the side of Lotteritilsynet. Trannel is yet to comply with the original order issued in April 2019.

Bwin said that the campaign, titled Love Knows No Boundaries, is “all about the fans – bringing them together through the love of football.”

Bwin is an existing partner of the UEFA Europa League and UEFA Europa Conference League.

The multi-platform campaign will feature on TV, online and in stadiums across Bwin’s key markets.

The campaign involves a short film that features football fans from around the world discussing the experience of being a football enthusiast.   

“With the Europe-wide roll out of our new campaign, we at Bwin are taking an important step towards an internationally uniform and distinctive brand positioning for customers,” said Stephan Heilmann, Bwin managing director, Europe.

“This will see us consistently position Bwin in premium environments throughout national and international football to make it visible to our customers wherever the ball is rolling.”

“By partnering with the UEFA Europa League and the new UEFA Europa Conference League, as well as the DFB competitions and our club partners, we have created an important basis to emphasise our claim as market leader in terms of quality and responsibility.”

“From this platform, which also includes corresponding partnerships in other countries, we aim to reach fans in regulated sports betting markets around the world.”

Spelinspektionen published updated responsible gambling regulations, covering a wide range of areas.

A key element in the rules will be a ban on the autoplay feature for slots. This applies whether this is indefinite or for a defined number of spins.

Autoplay has previously been banned in some other markets, including Great Britain and Ontario.

Reverse withdrawals – where players can cancel a withdrawal before the funds arrive in their bank account – will also be banned.

These two rules, Spelinspektonen said, may be unpopular with some players, and so the body recommended that operators communicate the changes to players before they are implemented.

“It is likely that players who use these features will react to their removal, and it is therefore good to communicate that the change is taking place in light of the fact that these features are risky and coexist with problem gambling,” it said.

The new rules also state that licensees must not give players suggestions for their deposit, loss or time limits, the regulator said.

In addition, if a player is logged in for more than two minutes on a gaming site without being “active”, they must now be logged out, or given an option to ask if they want to remain logged in.

Employee training requirements on responsible gambling matters, meanwhile, will be expanded. Training must now also cover the impact of harmful gambling on loved ones, while other aspects of training rules were reworded to fully clarify the required focus on topics such as game design.

“The purpose of the proposed changes is to strengthen the protection of players and to simplify licensees’ work with gambling responsibility by clarifying the requirements,” Spelinspektionen said.

Players must also have the right to communicate with operators, while operators must show the logo of self-exclusion scheme Spelpaus.

For retail slots at non-casino locations, Spelinspektionen have added an additional element beyond operators being required to provide players with information on their annual losses when they log in. Players must now confirm if they are still happy to play while these figures are on the screen.

Reporting rules will also change, with operators now required to report the number of players with deposit limits of more than SEK10,000 (£813/€929/$928) per month, and the number of players who reached their time or deposit limits. Operators must also report on the number of players who have returned from self-exclusion.

New government

The new rules come just days after results were announced in a historically close Swedish election. Ultimately, a right-leaning coalition led by the Moderate Party with support from the Sweden Democrats won control of the Riksdag by three seats.

Ahead of the final results being announced, Gustaf Hoffstedt – secretary general of Swedish trade association Branscheforenigen för Onlinespel  (BOS), and a former Moderate Party member of the Riksdag – told iGB that the industry would welcome a new government.

He noted that the parties that will now come into power had supported more market-friendly concepts such as a break-up of state-owned Svenska Spel and relaxation of the country’s strict bonus limitations.

New marketing rules, he noted, might also be less likely to be approved under the new government.

A report from Guardian chief political correspondent Jessica Elgot concerning general government plans to scrap a number of legislative proposals noted “rumours” that the Gambling Act review was among the proposals that could be axed.

Long-delayed process

The Gambling Act review has been in motion since late 2020, having initially been on the a Conservative Party manifesto in 2019.

However, various delays have meant that a white paper outlining the government’s wish list for reforms has still not been published.

A major factor in the repeated delays appeared to have been changes in personnel, with four different ministers having overseen the legislation since it began.

Chris Philp, who at the time was responsible for the review, said in his July resignation letter that the document was “with No 10 for final approval”. However, his exit and the resignation of prime minister Boris Johnson – beginning of the subsequent Tory leadership contest, then slowed down the process further.

It had been widely believed that the white paper would be published in the early stages of the new Prime Minister’s premiership.

Not so good news

Regulus Partners analyst and partner, Dan Waugh, opined on the potential outcome. Despite the fact that the white paper was reported to include a number of strict new rules for the industry, especially around affordability and free bets, he said that abandoning the project at this stage may be worse for the sector than going ahead.

“It is a question of whether the process of review itself is a distraction, or simply that there isn’t sufficient parliamentary time to implement the outcomes,” he said. Given everything that is going on in the world, one could make a legitimate case for the latter – but we have surely come too far to turn back on publishing the findings and policy implications of the review.”

“I would hope that after all the efforts that have gone into this, especially from the DCMS, that at the very least they publish what they have learned. Otherwise, it will have been a catastrophic waste of time and resources that leaves unaddressed a number of legitimate concerns.”

Waugh continued, predicting that its industry implications could be dire, as new rules could instead be implemented in a less transparent manner.

“If the gambling review were chopped that could be worst outcome for the industry and consumers. This is because of the risk that the Gambling Commission might then seek to exploit the situation by imposing its own agenda without the benefit of public and parliamentary scrutiny and due process.”

Section 21 (2) of Germany’s First State Treaty on Gambling (GlüStV) prohibits sports betting and casino activities from taking place in the same building.

Germany’s Fourth State Treaty on Gambling came into force in July 2021.

The complaint states that administrative courts did not provide adequate protection for operators that had sports betting facilities in the same building as casino activities, when the GlüStV and, subsequently, section 21 (2) was enacted.

The complaint also cites a lack of temporary protection.

Section 42 (1) of the LGüG – Baden-Württemberg’s state-level gambling act, which was brought in in 2012 – states that gambling facilities must be at least 500 meters apart, measured from entrance door to entrance door.

The complaint will be discussed on 21 November 2022 at the Higher Regional Court of Stuttgart.

The Nasdaq Stockholm-listed group, whose brands include Unibet and 32Red, has revealed new financial targets and priorities ahead of its Capital Markets Day in London later today (Wednesday). These include the new revenue target as well as an ambition to achieve underlying EBITDA margin of 21-22% through continued cost optimisation and scalability, and a distribution policy of 75-100% of free cash flow (after M&A) by 2025.

Kindred said the expected revenue increase – 27.1% higher than its total revenue figure for 2021 of £1.26bn – would be achieved via growth in existing markets.

It has unveiled the targets after revealing a 32.2% decline in revenue during H1 2022, criticism from its largest single shareholder, Corvex Management, and reports that representatives have contacted a number of operators and private equity groups in an attempt to sell the business.

“Kindred operates a balanced portfolio of markets in different stages of maturity, providing opportunities to benefit from both the expected underlying market growth and further market share gains,” the group said in a statement. “The Netherlands is expected to be an important contributor during the coming years along with improved product differentiation and unique content supply.”

Priorities for the business include gaining further market share in its existing core markets in Europe and Australia, which are expected to grow by 7% annually between 2021 and 2026.

It will also look to develop a strong position in the Netherlands, a market which it recently re-entered after a nine-month absence due to licensing requirements that devastated its performance in the early part of 2022. Kindred said trusted brand recognition and local experience would assist its growth in the Netherlands.

Other priorities include leveraging strategic investments such as supplier Relax Gaming, which it recently acquired, and the development of its own sportsbook platform.

It will also look to grow its presence in North America.

“I am delighted to share a more detailed view of our strategic direction and priorities we have set out at Kindred,” said Henrik Tjärnström, chief executive of Kindred Group, in a statement.

“We have been a driving force in the transformation of the industry and understood early on the requirements to succeed in a locally regulated and complex environment. We now have critical building blocks in place, and I am fully confident in the direction we are taking.

“It is also very encouraging to see the progress being made in the development of our Kindred sportsbook platform, with key milestones already achieved, towards a selected market launch around year-end 2023.

“The entry into the Netherlands has also exceeded our expectations and we are well under way to reach our ambition of a 15% market share by the end of the year.”

After a poor H1 2022, Kindred today said its performance so far during Q3 “shows a solid gross winnings revenue development driven by high activity across markets”.

While average daily gross winnings revenue for the period from 1 July to 11 September was 12% lower than Q3 2021, it was up 6% when excluding the Netherlands. Kindred said daily gross winnings revenue for the Netherlands has increased gradually throughout the period, and it estimates the revenue for the third quarter of 2022 to be in the range of £270m-280m.

In August, activist investor Corvex Management – which has pushed the board of Kindred to pursue a sale – became the largest shareholder of the operator. It also asked to be involved in the nomination of its next board of directors.

At the time, Corvex founder Keith Meister said: “We look forward to working on the newly comprised nomination committee with representatives of Kindred’s other largest shareholders and Kindred chairman Evert Carlsson. In our view, the committee should seek to nominate directors with a mandate to maximise long-term, risk-adjusted value for all Kindred shareholders.”

The lottery received DKK2.35bn (£271m/$317m/€316m) total GGR in the first six months of 2022, which results in an after-tax revenue of DKK796m.

This result is largely similar to the total which the lottery achieved in the first half of 2021; with the lottery receiving DKK11m less in GGR in that period. However, after-tax revenue slightly fell by DKK4m.

The small increase in GGR can be explained by the increased popularity of lower-revenue-per-unit games such as lottery draws in tandem with a small decline in sports betting and casino. The decline in sports betting revenue can be attributed, in part, to the 2021 UEFA European Championship football tournament which was delayed a year due to the Covid-19 pandemic, with the games beginning 11 June that year. The fact that 2022’s Fifa World Cup has been delayed until the winter will have also influenced revenue totals in the first half of 2022.

Impacting casino revenue was the introduction of a package of social responsibility measures which included deposit limits on casino games.

The verticals which most significantly added to revenue were the lottery’s chain of retail slot arcades, Elite Gaming, which increased its number of retail venues in the relevant period. The venues were closed during much of H1 2021, complicating the comparison.

The other important positive financial trend during the period was the merging of Danske Spil with other Danish lottery – the Danske Klasselotteri – with the merger happening on 1 April 2022, contributing the group’s revenue total from this date.   

The decline in after tax revenue can be largely attributed to unrelated financial effects, such as price falls in financial markets along with fewer depreciations compared to the first half of 2021. In Q1, net profit declined at the operator due to increased costs.

Most recently, White worked as the chief marketing officer at MTV, where he oversaw marketing initiatives across the company’s brands.

Before this, White was the global head of marketing for headphones brand Beats by Dre, where he was in charge of advertising campaigns.

He also worked at advertising agency Wieden and Kennedy, becoming the managing director of its Shanghai office, as well as serving as chief marketing officer of Curaleaf.

“Jason has a proven track record of helping to build globally recognised brands who are disruptors in their categories, and we’re thrilled to have him join Fanatics Betting and Gaming as we ramp up to our official launch,” said Matt King, CEO of Fanatics Betting and Gaming.

“As this competitive space continues to evolve, Jason will be invaluable to our long-term strategy of creating a dynamic and innovative product offering for all sports fans.”

White said that he supports the rise of sports betting, and believes Fanatics Betting and Gaming could prove to be a popular product.

“I’ve spent a large part of my career working at moments of cultural disruption, from Beijing 2008 to the legalisation of cannabis and the rise of Beats by Dre, and I believe legal sports betting is the next cultural touchpoint that is ripe for transformation,” said White.

“Fanatics’ vision for the future of sports fandom is incredibly special and, under Matt King’s leadership, I believe Fanatics Betting and Gaming is the next great disruptor.”