Month: October 2022

The deadline was given to allow operators to apply for and receive licences, which would allow them to operate in the regulated market, and give unlicensed operators time to exit the market.

From now on, the AGCO can take legal action against operators who are still unlicensed in the market.

It was put in place earlier this month, when the AGCO updated its Registrar’s Standards for Internet Gaming. At this time, the AGCO noted that it would also provide a notice period to help those further transitioning into the regulated market.

The updates made the biggest change to standard 1.22, which was amended to impose the transition period deadline of October 31.

Today also marks the beginning of a number of other standards being enforced – including standard 4.09, which requires gaming systems to be installed and maintained in a way that ensures the safety and security of the users.

In addition, standard 4.35 – which restricts access to live dealer games to anyone with a business need – also comes into force today.

This marks one of the first important moments in Ontario’s regulated igaming market, which opened on 4 April this year.

Net gaming revenue for the three-month period fell from HK$290m to HK$116m, which resulted in a EBIDTA loss of $123m. This compared to an EBIDTA loss of $59m the previous year.

While revenue has fallen and losses have rose in 2022 compared to the previous year, the 2021 results were themselves dramatically below the pre-pandemic trend. SJM Holdings recorded $1.03bn in revenue in the three-month period ended 30 September 2019, the last year unaffected by the pandemic.

The more than 88% fall in revenue is principally the result of the continuing disruptions on the land-based gaming trade in Macau, where the majority of SJM’s operations are concentrated. Macau gaming revenue in September was 50% below 2021 levels, and well below the 2019 total.

The special administrative region had been more than three months without a recorded case until Sunday when an outbreak was reported at the MGM Cotai casino, which may lead to further restrictions that will impact revenue.

Amid the continuing anti-viral measures, visa rules are set to be relaxed from Tuesday in a boost to the sector – which will allow both group and e-visas.

SJM has $578m cash on hand in the form of cash, bank balances, short-term bank deposits compared to $3.41bn in debt.

At the business’s flagship Grand Lisboa casino, in the three months ending September 30 SJM recorded $14.7m in revenue compared to $16.3m the previous year. This resulted in a EBIDTA of $-28.9m compared to $-22.4m in 2021.

Revenue from VIPs dropped 100.2% from $30.7m to $-64,000. Mass market revenues fell 71% and slots declined by 77%.

Real Luck said it received two proposals from Arviv, who it described as an “activist investor”.

The first was a merger with a “private gambling company”. This merger would have valued Luckbox at CA$0.09 per share, slightly below the CA$0.10 per share it closed at yesterday (27 October).

Luckbox claims that Arviv “then appeared to have changed his mind”, as he proposed a wind-down of Luckbox. The operator said that this proposal was “ignoring the group’s now finished platform and growing player base”.

Both, the Luckbox board said, “would not be in the best interests of the company and its shareholders”.

“Neither proposal reflects the value represented by the company’s significantly growing business and is also well below the company’s net cash position,” it said. “The company is undervalued. Real Luck Group has a strong cash position, no debt and a robust plan to reach profitability and scale in the next six-to-ten months.

“This makes the company an industry outlier and a target for individuals such as Mr. Arviv, seeking to gain access to the company’s cash, with no regard for its stakeholders. The board therefore has a duty to resist such opportunistic conduct.”

As a result, the Real Luck Group board said it retained the services of law firm McMillan LLP.

The board added that it was prepared to meet Arviv in his capacity as a shareholder, and said it had already attempted to set up a meeting that Arviv had declined.

The provider said it went live with six new platform operators during the quarter, taking the total number of platform and managed trading services customers within its Global Betting Services segment to 24 by the end of Q1.

A further three clients have also launched since the end of the quarter including NTD, a new wagering venture by News Corp Australia and Tekkorp that signed up BetMakers as its tech partner.

The parties struck an initial agreement in April to collaborate on the venture, though this was updated in August, with the new deal setting out how NTD would acquire assets from local operator TexBet. 

The updated deal also included the potential for BetMakers to earn a further AUS$20.0m (£11.2m/€12.9m/US$12.9m) from the NTD partnership, in addition to the $300.0m set out in the original agreement. 

NTD launched with Betr on BetMakers’ platform on 12 October, ahead of the Melbourne Cup Australian horse racing event, but after the end of the quarter.

BetMakers said this launch would likely drive further growth in Q2 and beyond, building on its success in the first quarter, during which revenue increased from $21.0m last year to $23.8m.

Aside from growth within the Global Betting Services segment, BetMakers also reported a 34% year-on-year rise in Global Racing Network revenue, driven by expanded wagering operator integrations and commencement of Penn National Gaming content offering.

In addition, Global Tote revenue climbed 7%, with highlights from Q1 including the ongoing implementation of a new tote betting system in Norway, as well as the delivery of a betting application for UK Tote Group customers.

Turning to costs and operating expenses for the quarter reached $29.7m, up 32.0% year-on-year, primarily due to a 65.4% rise in staff spend from $10.7m to $17.7m.

Expenses related to investing activities amounted to $10.2m, down 7.3% year-on-year from $11.0m in Q1 of 2022. However, net cash used in financing activities was $8.1m, whereas last year, BetMakers took $303,000 from such activities.

BetMakers did not reveal net profit figures for the period, but it did note that it ended the period with $64.0m in net cash, compared to $108.8m in the previous year.

Publication of the quarterly results comes after BetMakers this week also announced that it had acquired ABettorEdge, trading as Punting Form, for up to $20.0m. 

Punting Form uses proprietary IP and artificial intelligence to create sectional times and benchmarks for horse racing, which are used for time-based ratings systems. Professional wagering syndicates, betting operators, content creators and form analysts use the service. 

BetMakers said the purchase will further strengthen its position as a provider of B2B data and technology services for horse racing and form part of its Global Betting Services division.

Collins confirmed the news in a post on Twitter yesterday (27 October), though at the time of writing, he is still listed as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Tech and the Digital Economy by the Department of Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS).

He first took on the role in July this year, replacing Chris Philp, who left office during the month’s swathe of resignations protesting Boris Johnson’s continued leadership of the Conservative party.

Last month, following the arrival of Liz Truss as prime minister, it was confirmed that Collins would remain in the position.

However, it appears Collins will become the fourth minister to step aside as head of the review, with John Wittingdale and Nigel Huddleston having both also held responsibility. 

“It has been a real pleasure to work with the team at the DCMS to take forward the Online Safety Bill and other measures to strengthen our digital economy,” Collins said in his Twitter post. “I will now continue to support these efforts in parliament from the backbenches.”

Collins’ apparent departure comes after it was confirmed this week that Michelle Donelan is to remain as the secretary of state for DCMS under new prime minister Rishi Sunak.

Donelan was appointed to the ministerial position last month by Sunak’s predecessor Liz Truss, replacing Nadine Dorris, who had served in the role since September 2021 under Boris Johnson. Donelan will continue to oversee the  review into the 2005 Gambling Act.

In 2020, the government launched a review of the Gambling Act with an initial consultation that closed in March 2021. The next stage is a white paper, though this has been repeatedly delayed due to personnel changes in government and at the Gambling Commission. 

The paper was only weeks away from publication when Truss announced her resignation and it has not yet been announced when the document can be expected.

Revenue in September 2022 was higher than $1.16bn in the same month last year, while the total was also up 3.3% from $1.21bn in August of this year, according to the Nevada Gaming Control Board (NGCB).

Slots remained by far the main source of gambling revenue in the state, generating $858.8m in revenue for the month, an increase of 10.0% from $780.5m last year.

Multi-denomination slot machines were responsible for $448.1m of this total, while penny slots revenue amounted to $299.7m.

Revenue from table, counter and card games reached $390.8m in September, up 3.5% from $377.6m in the same month last year.

Blackjack accounted for $86.4m of this amount, while baccarat revenue stood at $80.1m and roulette revenue for the month amounted to $40.4m.

Turning to sports betting, reported as part of the table, counter and card games segment, revenue from sports pools was $70.6m, up 30.3% year-on-year. Mobile sports wagering accounted for $27.7m of all sports wagering revenue for the month.

Figures from the NGCB showed football was responsible for $51.7m of all sports wagering revenue in September, primarily due to the start of the new NFL season that also kicked off during the month.

It was also noted that revenue from parti-mutuel sportsbooks reached $2.7m for the month, up 8.0% on the previous year.

Hannigan confirmed the news in a post on his LinkedIn page last night (27 October), having led the business since February 2017. He was previously senior vice president of the group.

Prior to his time at Allied Esports, Hannigan was vice president of overseas operations at Lianzhong Games and also spent time as Asia sales director for Target Fiber. He was also a director at WPT China and a manager for partnership development at the NYC Marketing Development Corporation.

“It’s been an incredible journey over the past seven years building this business from inception in China, to operations on three continents, to producing some of the most watched moments on Twitch, to a public listing on the Nasdaq, and diving into the emerging Web3 space with the creation of the EPICBEAST NFT community,” Hannigan said on LinkedIn. 

“As an entrepreneur, it’s surreal taking an idea from a collection of PPT slides in my bedroom in Beijing to a bell ringing ceremony at the Nasdaq in Times Square.

“The best part of the countless lessons learned and the tremendous achievements along the way has been doing it alongside the many wonderful and highly talented individuals who’ve played a critical role in the Allied Esports story throughout the years for whom I am forever grateful.”

While serving as CEO of Allied Esports, Hannigan was also managing director of Big Turn International, a role he has been in since January 2007 and continues to hold.

“Creating and operating the world’s most dynamic physical assets in esports, debuting the first esports truck, building a beacon for gaming and content creation in the heart of the entertainment capital of the world on the Las Vegas Strip, and earning the trust and respect of the gaming industry, our incredible partners and of course the many communities of players, viewers, followers and EPICBEAST NFT holders around the world have been sources of both pride and motivation every step along the way,” he continued.

“I’ve been blessed to be able to steer this ship through both difficult and gratifying times and it’s been an honour building and leading this team, who I’m confident will continue to build on our success thus far.”

Yesterday, France announced a series of new rules and recommendations on bonuses. The contents of the regulations published by regulator L’Autorité Nationale des Jeux (ANJ) are interesting for sure, but there may be more to think about beyond that.

The new rules on transparency are good, and other markets would largely benefit from requiring operators to make the terms surrounding bonuses as clear as possible. 

Other rules, particularly the ban on sending bonuses to “excessive” gamblers, are clearly well-meaning but likely too vague to be implemented in the way that is hoped.

The non-binding “recommendations”, meanwhile, are hard to judge without knowing how motivated operators would be to implement them without external force.

But the timing – which was noted by the regulator – may be the aspect that would be most interesting to operators looking in from outside of France.

World Cup warmup

It seemed important to the regulator that these rules would be implemented before the 2022 Fifa World Cup. This was likely due to the backlash against the French sector over advertising at Euro 2020, which ultimately prompted the ANJ to implement new rules for ads.

Ahead of the World Cup, the ANJ didn’t even wait to see what operators would do, instead preemptively cracking down on bonuses out of fear of the reaction if it did not.

France is unlikely to be alone here. 

In the Netherlands, a ban on “untargeted” gambling ads will come into effect soon after the end of the World Cup. 

In theory, that would mean a last chance for operators to attempt to obtain customers without having its hands tied.

But knowing how anti-industry campaigners and MPs in that country have usually acted, they will surely wish to see operators already limiting ads.

In Sweden, the country France may have been trying to emulate with its new bonus rules, things may finally begin to look up as a new government takes charge, seemingly with more sympathy towards the industry and a willingness to reform bonus laws.

In this case, the sector may have a chance for reprieve, but a World Cup-induced backlash could change all of that.

And in the UK, of course, it seems that the Gambling Act review may be pushed back further by the latest changes in terms of who takes the lead on reform, after Gambling Minister Damian Collins stepped down. That means the Gambling Act white paper may not be published until after the World Cup begins. The event may be front-of-mind as the public learns of the once-in-a-generation reforms under consideration by the government.

Two approaches

So there’s two ways to approach this. One argument would be that the industry must be on its best behaviour in marketing during the event. Any slip-ups and there will be serious consequences.

The other argument is that those opposed to the industry will simply look for perceived slip-ups and – if the industry is on its best behaviour – attempt to manufacture controversy. If so, there is little the industry can do, and it might as well continue on the same path as before.

But – as is often the case – it’s an oversimplification to simply present two polarised options. 

The truth is that, while anti-industry groups and legislators wield a lot of influence, the public and governments will not simply follow their tune. 

Opposition to the sector is inevitable, but that does not mean that it has no reason to think about negative publicity.

So the industry should desperately avoid giving campaigners easy ammunition for a crackdown during the World Cup, but it also must accept that it’s likely going to face potential smears no matter what it does.

If the sector shows that it can market responsibly during the World Cup it would be naive to think it would be universally praised, or even that the critics would be substantially quieter. 

But when those critics speak up – if the industry has been responsible without bowing to those opponents’ most extreme requirements – it might have a real opportunity to show that many opposed to the industry will never be satisfied.

If you’ve made it this far through a column on the World Cup, you can probably expect a worn-out football analogy, so here we go. The industry can’t hand an open net to its biggest critics. But as those critics push forward, the sector might have a genuine opportunity to spring a counter-attack.

The bill was first introduced on 27 May this year. It was passed by Spain’s Chamber of Deputies on 22 September, and then was sent to the Senate.

Spain brought in wide-reaching advertisement restrictions in November 2020. This meant that advertising could only be on television and radio between 1am and 5am, and that gambling sponsorships with football teams were banned. Ongoing deals were allowed to continue until the end of the season.

Many of these restrictions formed part of Spain’s initial response to the Covid-19 pandemic, when initial ad limits were put in place. Those restrictions were later lifted in June, but many were reintroduced in the November decree.

Now, the new bill looks to reintroduce more restrictions that were part of the temporary Covid-19 rules.

The bill emphasises social responsibility measures in advertising. Operators must not market their products as beneficial to social status, physical health, economic stability or mental health.

Advertisements must also not link gambling to personal or social success, use depictions of money or luxury goods or imply that family and friendships should be second to gambling.

The bill also outlines provisions regarding loot boxes and other digital assets. The Spanish government will develop guidelines to regulate the use of loot boxes, non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and other monetisation mechanics. This will cover advertising restrictions, communicating the correct information on these products to the consumer, and security measures.

The bill will also introduce the Global Betting Market Research Service, a body that will process personal data to combat against fraud in Spain’s gambling sector. It will be managed by the Directorate General for the Regulation of Gambling (DGOJ).

Penalties for infractions of the law range from between €150 and €10,000 for minor offences, between €10,001 and €100,000 for serious offences, and between €100,001 and €1m for very serious offences.

The bill will officially become law one day after it is published in Spain’s Official State Gazette.

In his new role Ashford will oversee Fanatics’ human resources team, and will report to CEO Michael Rubin on matters including culture, talent and diversity and inclusion. He will also report to Fanatics CFO Glenn H. Schiffman regarding HR infrastructure, startegy, policies and operations.

Ashford will work within Fanatics’ three business areas – commerce, collectibles and betting and gaming.

“From the moment I met Michael Rubin and listened to his vision for expanding the Fanatics business, which was rooted in empowering the company’s incredible global workforce and creating a world-class culture, I knew that this was the perfect place for me,” said Ashford.

“Fanatics is a special company, one that I’ve long admired, where I can take my energy and expertise to further establish a diverse, platform-wide company culture comprised of the best and brightest people that want to be a part of a once-in-a-generation company.”

Previously, Ashford held senior HR roles at a number of Fortune 500 companies, including Coca Cola and Motorola. Later, he moved beyond HR to become president of cruise ship company Holland America Line.

“Culture is everything and our success is directly related to our incredible associates based around the world,” said Rubin.

“As we continue to grow and expand, it becomes even more important to double down on organizational development, and I can’t think of a better person to lead this charge than Orlando.”

While Fanatics currently deals mainly with sports apparel sales, its long-rumored foray into gambling appears to be imminent.

Earlier this month, Rubin said that Fanatics’s sports betting arm, Fanatics Betting and Gaming, is set to launch in January after a number of new hires to bolster its team – including Andrea Ellis as chief financial officer, Jason White as chief marketing officer and ex-FanDuel executive Matt King as CEO.

The business is yet to announce the technology provider it will use, after quashing rumours earlier this year that it would partner with Amelco.