Month: October 2022

Terms of the acquisition, including exactly which assets the deal involves, were not disclosed.

Rather than working in gaming, Venuetize deals with the sports, entertainment and hospitality industries. Its clients include the PGA Tour, Churchill Downs and TD Garden Hub, which is an “entertainment district” connected to the home arena of the NBA’s Boston Celtics.

Everi said that Venuetize “collaborates with its clients and partners with their venue ecosystem to elevate the guest experience and strengthen their mobile channel engagement, leading to incremental revenue opportunities”.

Randy Taylor, president and chief executive officer of Everi, highlighted the fact that the deal will mean Everi will expand its footprint beyond casino gaming.

“This acquisition will, for the first time, expand Everi’s addressable market beyond casino gaming and also perfectly aligns with our capital allocation strategy, which has delivered a track-record of success of executing on high-return accretive investments that expand our technology capabilities into new markets and new geographies,” he said. 

“The complementary assets and established customer base of Venuetize being acquired together with our existing financial access and loyalty products are expected to enable further growth into additional entertainment, sports and hospitality venues and also to create new crossover marketing opportunities with our existing customers.”

Everi executive vice-president and fintech business leader Darren Simmons echoed this sentiment.

“Having already established itself as a leading mobile platform provider in the sports, venue and entertainment markets, the addition of Venuetize begins an exciting new chapter for Everi, catapulting us into an expanding mobile space with recognised clients and venues known around the world,” he said.

Meanwhile, Jon Romm, Venuetize’s founder and chief executive, said his business would begin to offer its services in the gaming space through this deal.

“I am thrilled at the opportunity to bring our expertise and leading solutions to the evolving mobile landscape in gaming,” he said. “The knowledge and experience that our team has gained in delivering seamlessly integrated and complex mobile-first platforms to stadiums and other venues will readily create an encompassing fabric to strengthen guest engagement across any gaming enterprise.”

The announcement follows Everi reporting record-high revenue of $197.2m (£162.2m/€193.8m) in Q2.

The six-year tender will allow EveryMatrix to supply its catalogue of 65 online games to Veikkaus, which in turn will be offered to players in Finland.

This will include content from EveryMatrix’s own design studios, Spearhead Studios and Armadillo Studios, as well as its SlotMatrix partners.

This will take place once Veikkaus integrates EveryMatrix’s igaming platform, CasinoEngine, into its capabilities.

“Winning Veikkaus as a client marks another major milestone for EveryMatrix,” said Stian Hornsletten, chief commercial officer of EveryMatrix. “We are already working with several other state-owned monopolies and have enough experience in the field to deliver the best service to Veikkaus.

“Our team looks forward to supporting Veikkaus in their journey, and we are keen to get started as soon as possible.”

Over the last year, Veikkaus’ status as Finland’s state monopoly has been brought into question. In December 2021, Finland’s Constitutional Committee said that there was nothing to justify protecting Veikkaus’ monopoly status in the country.

In the same month, the country’s Administrative Committee proposed an inquiry about whether Veikkaus’ monopoly should come to an end.

“We are very happy and look forward to starting cooperation with EveryMatrix,” said Jan Hagelberg, chief product officer at Veikkaus.

“EveryMatrix’s full-service platform offers us one of the industry’s best catalogues of games, including its proprietary in-house portfolio.”

Gross betting revenue for the month amounted to NZ$31.5m (£15.9m/€18.3m/US$18.1m), which was down on budget by 6.0%, or $2.0m.

As a result, profit in August was below expectations at $10.4m, missing Tab NZ’s budget by $1.4m, while turnover also missed a $210.2m budget by $12.3m. 

This followed similar results in July, when Tab NZ also reported that it missed budgets for both revenue and profit.

Tab NZ said a combination of ongoing factors contributed to this, including soft economic conditions impacting customers’ discretionary spend, Covid-19-related mask restrictions in retail venues deterring a section of customers from visiting and race meetings being abandoned due to weather. 

August also again experienced a drop in starters across all three racing codes, maintaining a trend that began in April. 

Tab NZ also said that operating expenses for the month reached $10.5m, which was slightly ahead of budget by $300,000 as a result of restructuring costs and investments in customer retention and acquisition.

In terms of distribution, Tab NZ made $12.4m in total payments to Racing Codes during the month, which was marginally ahead of its initial budget at $12.3m.

Looking at betting activity, the most popular sporting event to wager on was the national team’s rugby union clash between New Zealand and Argentina on 27 August, which drew $978,000 in bets. For racing, the Waikato Stud Foxbridge Plate at Te Rapa on the same day attracted $500,000 in wagers.

Revenue for the six months to the end of June amounted to €5.26bn (£4.59bn/$5.22bn), up from €4.92bn in the corresponding period last year, according to new figures published by French regulator Autorité Nationale des Jeux (ANJ).

Française des Jeux (FDJ) remained the leading operator in the market, posting €3.22bn in revenue for the half, up 12.4% on last year. Lottery revenue was 16.0% higher than the year before at €2.73bn, though sports betting revenue slipped 4.5% to €485.0m.

ANJ also revealed that player spending with FDJ increased by 9.9% to more than €10.0bn for the period.

Pari Mutuel Urbain (PMU) reported €969.0m in gross gambling revenue for the six-month period, up 14.5% from €846.0m in 2021, and is now approaching the level it was at prior to the pandemic.

This revenue came exclusively from wagering on horse racing, with ANJ also noting that stakes climbed by 18.0% to €3.9bn, helped by the return of players to retail locations following the removal of Covid-19 measures.

Turning to online gambling, ANJ said this fell by 11.2% from €1.21bn in the first half of 2021 to €1.07bn this year.

Online sports betting revenue fell 11.8% to €685.0m with stakes also down 8.3% at €4.0bn. However, ANJ said that the corresponding period last year produced record sports betting figures, driven by the Euro 2020 football tournament.

Revenue from online horse racing betting slipped 17.6% to €169.0m, with stakes down by 17.5% to €727.0m, primarily due to more players returning to retail following the lifting of Covid-19 restrictions.

Online poker revenue was also down by 3.1% to €216.0m, though ANJ noted that compared to before the pandemic this level remains high.

Playtika offered to pay $11.58 per share, which is above the price the social gaming business has traded at for the majority of the month, to acquire 51.8 million shares. This is around 12.6% of Playtika’s issued share capital.

As is typical for share repurchases, the shares will be cancelled immediately.

Upon the announcement, Playtika’s share price rose sharply, opening today (4 October) at the purchase price of $11.58. This was up 16.4% from closing on Monday. It then declined from there, but remains notably above the previous day’s closing price at $10.80 at the time of writing.

This rise has helped to offset declines that occurred earlier in the year.

Since Playtika’s $1.67bn initial public offering (IPO) in January 2021, the company has lost a large amount of its share value. Since the stock price peak in February of that year at $33.81, the share price has steadily declined to a low of $9.39 on 30 September, a 72% fall.

The goal of a share repurchase is often to return cash to shareholders. Companies have the option of buying back shares instead of increasing cash dividends; the process can offer the business’ management more flexibility than cash dividends by not setting expectations that more cash will be returned at specific times in the future.

During the previous year, the business has pursued an M&A strategy as the company returned to profit in H1; in March announcing an acquisition of Justplay.Lol.

In Playtika’s Q2 financial report, the company’s revenues remained steady, while EBITDA and net income declined – with the business blaming “the challenging economic environment”.

“We delivered strong revenue growth as a result of our continual efforts to improve and refine our monetisation programme and increase retention of our players,” said company founder and CEO Robert Antokol.

“We continue to lay the groundwork for future growth by making investments in the business to support new game development, recent acquisitions, offline marketing campaigns and investments in our workforce,” added Craig Abrahams, president and CFO.

“These investments in marketing are weighted more heavily to the start of the year and will position the company well for sustainable growth.”

This is the second state the app has launched in, after debuting in Colorado in 2020 through a deal with Full House Resorts.

With all online operators in the state needing a land-based partner for market access, SBK will operate using Full House Resorts’ sports betting licence for the Rising Star casino in Indiana.

Read the full story on iGB North America

Donelan – who also heads the department responsible for gambling – announced plans to replace GDPR with a UK-specific set of rules at the ongoing Conservative Party conference in Birmingham, framing the reforms as part of the government’s wider move to slash regulation in the wake of the UK’s exit from the European Union.  

“There remains a significant amount of red tape in our way, red tape that, as a newly independent nation free of EU bureaucracy, we can tailor to fit our country’s needs. One example of this is on data,” said Donelan.

The minister stated that the new data system would provide more flexibility for small businesses and help reduce the regulatory burden:

“No longer will our businesses be shackled by unnecessary red tape. At the moment, even though we have shortages of electricians and plumbers, GDPR ties them in knots with clunky bureaucracy. In its place, we will co-design with business a new system of data protection. We will look to those countries who achieve data adequacy without having GDPR, like Israel, Japan, South Korea, Canada and New Zealand.

“Our new data protection plan will focus on growth and common sense, helping to prevent losses from cyber-attacks and data breaches, while protecting data privacy. This will allow us to reduce the needless regulations and business-stifling elements, while taking the best bits from others around the world to form a truly bespoke, British system of data protection.

“It is time we seize this post-Brexit opportunity fully and unleash the full growth potential of British business. We can be the bridge across the Atlantic and operate as the world’s data hub,” she continued.

Implications for industry

With no detail on what the new rules would be, the effect on industry that a new data policy would have remains ambiguous. Charles Cohen, CEO of affordability solutions business Department of Trust, doubted that the imposition of affordability checks – expected to be part of the Gambling Act review – will be much affected, however.

“It’s unlikely that affordability checks for gambling will be much affected by any changes,” Cohen said.

He continued, arguing that financial data was always going to be something protected by data laws.

“Ultimately, the data which matters is information on your bank transactions and balances,” he said. “This stuff is privacy kryptonite. No one is going to allow it to be on general release without consent and accountability. I imagine a lot of people would revert to cash under the mattress if that happened.”

Meanwhile, a spokesman from the GB Gambling Commission said that efforts at implementing a single customer view remained ongoing, whatever the data protection standard.

“We will continue to work closely with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) to ensure that a single-customer view solution is implemented in accordance with data protection law,” the spokesman said. “The Betting & Gaming Council (BGC) is currently working within the ICO’s regulatory sandbox to trial a SCV solution.”

Two sets of regulations

The response to the announcement has not been universally positive. Alison Williams, member of the UK Trade and Business Commission and global head of data at DunnHumby said in a statement on the Trade and Business Commission website that in effect the new rules would increase, rather than decrease the administrative burden for business. As most businesses already need to be compliant with EU GDPR, she said it would lead to two sets of rules instead of one.

“Despite the spin, scrapping GDPR would, in practice, double the administrative headache for the hundreds of thousands of British businesses who trade with or operate within the EU. They would be burdened with the overhead of two unique sets of regulations.

“Instead of making up policy on the hoof, ministers must recognise that smooth, barrier-free data sharing with the EU is essential to ensuring British businesses can trade and operate and commit that they will not pursue such an unnecessary and disastrous course of action.”

The updated standards, the AGCO said, will support the province’s goal of creating a safer, competitive and well-regulated igaming market for the people of Ontario.

The most significant change comes to standard 1.22. Under the new rules, the transition period for unregulated igaming operators and gambling-related suppliers will end. The process was intended to allow those within the unlicensed space to move into the regulated market without causing significant interruption to their Ontario customer base.

However, the new standard establishes that operators and suppliers active in the unregulated market, or have agreements and arrangements with those in the unregulated area, must end their activities here to avoid jeopardising their eligibility for registration.

The regulator added that “as with any instance of non-compliance, the AGCO will take appropriate regulatory action against any registrant that does not meet this standard (once it comes into force)”.

The change will come into effect from October 31 this year.

The AGCO added it will provide a reasonable notice period to support further transitioning to the regulated market, including making customers and players aware of any potential blackout periods due to pending registration.

Meanwhile, the AGCO also announced amendments to standards for live dealer games offered in Ontario, having noted a rise in popularity of this form of igaming since the market opened on April 4 this year.

The regulator said amendments to the standards are necessary to address potential risks related to the use of physical gaming equipment including, roulette wheels and playing cards, as well as the risks related to the use of live presenters.

Standard 4.09 will be amended to read that gaming systems and supplies shall be provided, installed, configured, maintained, repaired, stored, and operated in a way that ensures the integrity, safety and security of this equipment

Meanwhile, standard 4.35 will state access to live dealer gaming supplies shall be restricted to individuals with a business need.

In terms of requirements, access privileges will be granted, modified, and revoked based on employment status and job requirements and all activities associated with these actions logged. These will be independently reviewed and confirmed periodically.

Similarly, AGCO said standard 4.36 will require operators to have in place to ensure live dealer game presenters do not compromise the integrity of a game.

In addition, standard 4.08 will be amended to state that all igaming games, random number generators and components of igaming systems that accept, process, determine outcome of, display, and log details about player bets must either be approved by the registrar or certified by an independent testing laboratory registered by the registrar.

Changes to live dealer regulations will also come into effect from October 31 this year, with the exception of standard 4.08, which will not become effective until April 4 2023 in order to allow operators and gaming-related suppliers to get their equipment certified.

The amendments come after the AGCO last week also issued internet gaming licences for nine new brands, operated by Apollo Entertainment, Betsson and Boyd Gaming-owned Pala Interactive.

Seven licences were issued to Apollo Entertainment Ltd – known for offering casinos of Games Global slots – along with the other two websites controlled by Betsson-owned GWN Limited and Boyd-owned Pala Interactive.

The new rules were first published in April this year, following a consultation.

The consultation followed a report on the subject of gambling and minors from GambleAware.

“The new ‘strong appeal’ test prohibits content that has a strong level of appeal to under-18s regardless of how it is viewed by adults,” read a statement on the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) website.

“This will significantly impact gambling advertisers looking to promote their brands using prominent sports people and celebrities as well as individuals like social media influencers, who are of strong appeal to those under 18.”

Under the new restrictions, possible ambassadors the ASA said would typically not be permitted include “UK footballers who play for top clubs, UK national teams or in high-profile competitions”. Retired or lower-league players may be permitted, though.

Operators are also warned against featuring “an influencer whose content focuses on youth-related themes”.

The consultation attracted 27 responses from stakeholders, including the BGC, which said that restricting sports personalities from advertising would be a “step too far” .

The rules were officially added to the CAP Code on 1 October, meaning that all marketing communication in the UK must abide by them.

The new regulations bring greater emphasis on what can – and cannot – be featured in gambling advertising, to limit the appeal to under-18s.

Originally, ads could not be of “particular appeal” to young people. This meant that the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) could penalise an operator if an ad was deemed to be of interest to young people.

Now, advertisements must not have a “strong appeal” to young people. This means that certain celebrities that have a concentrated audience of under-18s – including influencers and footballers – cannot appear in gambling ads.

The survey asked Swedish users who gambled with websites that did not have a licence with the country’s regulator, representing 8% of the total population, to state their principal reason for doing so.

Of the 77 respondents to the initial 4,400-person survey that said they used unlicensed sites, 32% of said bonus offers are the main reason they did so, an increase from 21% in the previous May 2021 survey.

in 2021, the most cited reason to use these sites had been better odds with the unlicensed operators, which 25% of respondents mentioned. That figure remained exactly steady year-on-year.

Players listing their reasoning as being locked out of licensed Swedish sites by spelpaus.se, the national self-exclusion programme, has increased by 6% from 20% to 26% over the year.

While 16% of users responded in 2021 that the SEK5000 (£402/€462/$458) deposit limit for online casino, the measure was phased out on 14 November 2021, so in 2022 0% of respondents cited this as the main reason.

The number of players who stated that they are unaware which sites are legal and which ones are not increased to 10% from 7% in the 2021-2022 period.

This compares with the principal reason users stated for using sites licensed by the Swedish government. The majority of users of these sites, at 55%, responded that safety, security and control were the most important factor influencing their decision. In comparison, 53% of users made the choice because companies with a Swedish licence are perceived as serious actors, while 40% said it was because licensed sites are controlled by the Swedish authorities.

Bonus limits criticised

The limits on bonus offers have been subject to criticism from both political actors and within industry.

Operators may only offer customers one bonus each, which may only be upon sign-up and cannot be worth more than SEK100.

The Swedish Moderate Party – which is now part of the government – has called for a review of bonuses. Currently bonuses may only be issued to players when they join a site, which may have a negative channeling effect, as the party stated:

“This would make it easier for gaming companies to retain customers in the licensed market and have long-term relationships with the players, both of which increase consumer protection,” the party said.

In September, secretary general of Swedish trade association Branscheforenigen för Onlinespel (BOS), Gustaf Hoffstedt predicted that the incoming government could be more friendly towards the idea of bonus reform.

“It is also reasonable to expect that the tightening of gambling marketing proposed by the outgoing government, so-called ‘adjusted moderation’, will be more difficult to win the Riksdag’s approval,” he said. “And maybe we can also hope for a somewhat more liberal bonus regulation for betting and casino products, but we don’t know much about that yet.”