Month: November 2022

Spending was down from $98.2m in October 2021 but 16.8% ahead of the $78.2m wagered by consumers in September this year.

Of the $91.3m spent in October, $68.2m was bet online with the remaining $23.1m at retail sportsbooks.

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Issued by the Ohio Casino Control Commission (OCCC), the Type C sports gaming proprietor licensure will enable Elys to roll out its sports betting technology in the state.

Ahead of this launch, Elys has entered an agreement to purchase 100 point-of-sale terminals and 100 self-service betting terminals for installation at host locations throughout Ohio.

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Additionally, Charles-Jones has been appointed as the designated non-executive director for workforce engagement, also with effect from 1 January 2023.

Charles-Jones – who has more than 25 years of executive-level experience in human resource roles, including as the chief people and corporate responsibility officer for the UK and Ireland at insurance provider AXA – was initially appointed to Rank’s board as a non-executive director back in June.

In recent months she has served on Rank’s Remuneration, Nominations and ESG committees.

Esom is stepping down at the end of 2022 after having served for more than six years on the company’s board.

“On behalf of Rank I would like to thank Steven for his valuable contribution as a director on the board and as chair of the Remuneration committee for the past six years,” chair Alex Thursby said.

“Steven’s wealth of experience in consumer-focused industries, coupled with his long-standing strategic and shareholder experience, has had a strong influence on the board and helped lay the foundations for Rank’s future growth. His experience has also been crucial in broadening the scope of our remuneration policies. Steven will leave the Rank board with our best wishes.

“I am delighted to have Lucinda step up as chair of the Remuneration committee and as the designated non-executive director for workforce engagement, and the board looks forward to working with her in her new role.”

In its quarterly financial update last month, Rank warned that inflation would continue to present an increasing challenge in the coming months, particularly in its venues businesses due to wage and food input price increases, as well as supply chain pressures. 

Novibet will run in the country via a partnership with Big Bola Casinos, a major land-based operator in Mexico.

Players in Mexico will be able to place bets on a wide range of sports and events, including the ongoing 2022 Fifa World Cup, in which the Mexican men’s national team is competing. Users can also access a selection of igaming services.

Novibet said the Mexico launch marks the first step in its wider expansion plans within both the Latin American and North American markets.

The operator in August also set out plans to launch in New Jersey in the US, while it has applied for a licence in the Canadian province of Ontario. 

“November is a key month for us as we strategically planned the launch of Novibet in Mexico to coincide with the much-anticipated World Cup tournament,” Novibet chief marketing officer for international markets, Christoforos Bozatzidis, said.

“The upgraded online sports betting and igaming entertainment experience we offer through our innovative technology platform is already available in Mexico and our team is ready to meet the special preferences and entertainment needs of the demanding local audience. 

“So, leveraging our award-winning technology combined with excellent timing, our goal for the next period is to stand out as one of the leading online entertainment options in Mexico and gradually in the wider LatAm region.”

However, among those who stopped receiving treatment in the period, 30% opted out before the scheduled conclusion, illustrating the ongoing challenge facing the industry.

The NGTS, which is commissioned by GambleAware, showed that 7,072 people received treatment between April 2021 and March 2022, including 1,076 people who were impacted by someone else’s gambling.

Of those, 92% registered an improvement on the Problem Gambling Severity Index – a widely used metric – while 86% reported reduced psychological distress around gambling.

While 70% of clients were male, three-quarters were aged 44 years or younger. The proportion of female gambling clients increased from 13% in 2015-16 to 21% in 2021-22, the NGTS said.

Among online gambling platforms – relevant to 75% of those who received treatment – casino slots represented the most common activity, followed by sports betting and casino table games.

Zoë Osmond, CEO of GambleAware, said: “It is extremely encouraging to see that the National Gambling Treatment Service continues to improve the lives of those who experience gambling harms and remains a highly effective treatment option.

“It is also encouraging to see the fall in those accessing more advanced treatment balanced out with more and more people accessing the helpline and other services as a means of support. Gambling harms can affect anyone and it is important to encourage people to seek support and treatment early on.

“We remain committed to ensuring that we work closely with our partners to understand how we can further optimise uptake and retention. We also acknowledge the urgent need to raise awareness of the service and improve access to it across the diverse range of populations and people that could stand to benefit from treatment.”

Under the agreement, Betfred branding will appear on a range of surfaces during the fight, which will take place at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on 3 December.

More than 60,000 fans are expected to be in attendance for the fight, during which Fury will defend his titles against Chisora.

“I am delighted to be title sponsor of this WBC World Heavyweight Championship fight,” Betfred founder Fred Done said.

“It is the heavyweight division that really captures the attention of both the public and punters alike and I am really looking forward to another great battle between Fury and Chisora at the fantastic Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.”

The fight will be Fury’s first since he successfully defended the titles against Dillian Whyte at London’s Wembley Stadium earlier this year.

Operators – and in fact any businesses – must differentiate themselves from the competition and have their own identity. Not only in the offers they give, but also in the way their brand looks and feels as well as the level of service they offer to customers.

The igaming industry has always been a very competitive space. Depending on the data they’re collecting and monitoring from their players, operators can evolve their personalised offers continuously if they have the right innovative technology that enables them to do so.

This ensures a player feels that they are receiving a hand-picked promotion or offer which takes into account their habits, spending amounts, locations and favourite games. That can be an incredibly powerful marketing tool for casino brands.

Navigating roadblocks

Currently, the main roadblocks for online casinos that prevent them from easily changing with the landscape come down to two factors.

The first is access to real-time data. It’s not that the sites don’t react or work for the players in real time, it’s that some operators struggle to pull the data in real time. For example, if you wanted to create something that is based off a spin, or off a player’s activity in real time, it either can’t be done or it’s hard to do it. Therefore, you need to make sure that you are passing data in real time and that you can allow access to that stream in real time.

The other factor that plays a big part in restricting innovation is the technology stack. A lot of the foundations architecture and technologies that businesses are built upon were originally put together decades ago. As the years have passed, these technologies have been built upon, had systems stuck on to them and had patches added for updates rather than full rewrites. This has caused tech debt.

The repercussions of this can be seen in long integration time frames, with it taking months to launch new products, and months – if not years – to certify to new markets.

Ultimately this will require the businesses facing these blockers to make some big decisions around their current tech stacks and systems. The answer doesn’t necessarily need to be a complete rewrite, but some change is needed to adapt to more modern times.

An emphasis on marketing

Operators must take into account what’s working and what’s not.

There are a number of marketing strategies that are currently very popular – for example, if you go stateside, it’s all about huge promotional offers with some of the largest risk-free bet amounts ever seen.

But to play in this market you need incredibly deep pockets. It’s a very financially aggressive approach, but one being deployed to gain market share at speed.

In other more mature markets, we’re seeing granular-level customer engagement and smart targeting of players to really gain their long term loyalty. Players are being segregated into more groups than ever before and then specifically targeted by these definitions, which is proving very effective.

Long-term landscape

In my opinion, gamification is really the key to long term buy-ins from users. Specifically within the gaming space, it’s great to be able to get additional value from your entertainment beyond the slot spin itself. It creates great buy-in and dwell time if someone is not just working directly towards a win, but also working to achieve a higher loyalty level or jackpot unlock.

Another area I’m seeing gain traction – and one I see only growing in future – is the bet with and bet behind streamers option and community engagement. At the minute we’re just seeing this in slots, but I also think there’s a huge future for it within sports betting too.

For example, if you have your favourite footballer live, in-play betting with you and hundreds of other fans while watching your team play, it would be a great experience and add a whole new dimension to in-play and community or streamer betting.

For me, these will continue to be hugely important, especially as most areas of our digital life are now focusing on loyalty – from airline loyalty systems through to console gaming. To be rewarded for our time on a site is something we almost expect now.

In consultation with Belgian Minister of Finance Vincent Van Peteghem, the Lottery agreed to halt ads on television, radio and in the written press for the duration of the tournament, which kicked off on 20 November and runs until 18 December.

As the Minister responsible for the Lottery, Van Peteghem said consumers are more likely to place a bet during a national football team competition such as World Cup, He referenced a study by the Commission on the 2018 World Cup, during which half of new registrations were first-time gamblers.

Van Peteghem added that as advertising would likely draw more new players to gambling, he made the decision, together with the Lottery, to pause sports betting ads in an effort to reduce the risk of gambling-related harm such as addiction.

“The National Lottery is playing a pioneering role in the protection of players and the fight against gambling addiction,” Van Peteghem said. “At a football world championship, the sport and the supporter experience must be central. 

“Sports betting advertising should have no place in broadcasts or reports via television, radio and written press. The National Lottery is already setting a good example by not advertising its sports betting on these channels.”

The decision came after Belgium last month introduced its latest responsible gambling measure in the form of a new, €200 weekly loss limit.

The lower limit was announced in July by a royal decree, having been put forward by minister of justice Vincent Van Quickenborne.

Previously, net deposits were limited to €500 per week, after an April 2020 decree.

The limit will continue to apply on a per-site basis, after attempts to introduce a “global” limit – to apply across all operators – fell through.

Players may request to have their limit raised, but only if they are not registered as defaulters with the Central Individual Credit Register of the National Bank.

In May, the government also announced plans to introduce a blanket ban on all forms of gambling advertising. The ban would apply to ads for all games of chance available legally in Belgium across online and land-based facilities, with the exception of the National Lottery.

This came after Belgium’s government in March introduced new restrictions on stakes, betting times and advertising for the country’s newsagents as part of a raft of new amendments.

Van Peteghem said that he will soon propose further policies to parliament related to the National Lottery and its commitment to responsible gambling and operations.

The Topikas.lt website challenges players to predict the outcome of matches at the World Cup, which kicked off last week in Qatar and runs until 18 December.

During its investigation, the Authority established that Top Sport, a licenced operator in the country, was the main sponsor of Topikas, while the game itself had several similarities with betting offered by Top Sport.

Specifically, the regulator highlighted how the Top Sport brand was featured in areas across the Topikas.lt website, with consumers able to click on certain banners that linked directly to Top Sport’s own site.

All forms of gambling advertising are prohibited in Lithuania, in line with laws that came into effect in July last year.

The Authority also said the points players could earn by predicting results corresponded to similar information that was published on Top Sport’s website in relation to betting on the same matches.

As such, the Authority ruled the game and Top Sport’s sponsorship were in breach of article 10, paragraph 19 of the Law on Gambling of the Republic of Lithuania, which relates to encouraging people to participate in gambling.

“It should be noted that publishing information about an organised game in any form that may encourage participation in gambling is prohibited,” the Authority said. 

“Therefore, we recommend media representatives and all entities promoting the game – until the game organisers have corrected the deficiencies – to not advertise such games or to stop advertising the game and remove all information related to it from their available means of information dissemination.”

The warning came after the Authority this week also issued another fine to UAB Olympic Casino Group Baltija following a further breach of advertising laws in the country.

The Authority fined Olympic Casino €25,000 after it found that the operator featured information on its website about how customers could watch live sports events on Setanta Sports, but also encouraged users to bet on sports.

Launched in April, Sportradar Integrity Exchange is a free network that allows bookmakers to have a more active role in integrity investigations and strengthen their understanding of the global match-fixing landscape, including providing suppliers with a two-way channel to exchange information and raise integrity-related concerns with a team of experts.

Bookmakers that opt into the scheme also have access to exclusive, data-driven intelligence about anti-match-fixing solutions, an onboarding session with a online education tools, and monthly, quarterly and annual reports covering global trends, regional and market breakdowns, sports being manipulated and competition types most at risk.

Sportradar currently works with over 150 sports federations, leagues, law enforcement and state authorities, while NSoft has relationships with almost 100 bookmakers and brands around the world.

“As an active participant in the sporting landscape, we are proud to be part of the Sportradar Integrity Exchange program. It empowers us to take a more urgent role in the global fight against match-fixing and safeguarding sport,” NSoft’s Seven Sportsbook managing director Robert Matijević said.

“This is important for all stakeholders – sports associations, betting suppliers, operators, bettors, and fans. The betting experience should celebrate sports and sports team performances and should be free from any possible external interventions to alter the result.”