Month: March 2023

Norder will assume responsibility for all commercial strategies for BGaming, working as part of a larger team to increase the developer’s presence in local markets and expand into new regions around the world.

An experienced industry executive, Norder was most recently chief commercial officer at QTech Games, where he oversaw its expansion across Asia and into new markets.

Norder also worked in a number of senior positions for igaming businesses such as Evolution Gaming, Tain, NYX and SG Digital.

“I am excited to apply my knowledge and experience to BGaming,” Norder said. “Our priority will be to establish trust and foster strong relationships with the company’s partners.

“Our goal is to introduce the necessary tools to increase consumer interest, strengthen player retention for businesses, and continue to shape the future of the gambling industry.”

BGaming chief executive Marina Ostrovtsova added: “We will benefit from Ulf’s expertise as we continue growing our business and expanding our reach globally. Asia will be a big focus, utilising Ulf’s experience there, but so too will regulated markets like Greece, Bulgaria, Georgia, Slovakia and Spain.”

Since its inception, social slots pioneer Livespins has led with shared experiences as its unique selling point. It is built around the “bet behind” concept, allowing viewers to bet alongside streamers as they play slot games.

This was not far from CEO Chris Scicluna’s mind at ICE London 2023, where Livespins was launching an updated version of its user interface (UI) product.

“Basically, it’s a more immersive experience,” says Scicluna. “You can actually turn the phone landscape and then you can get the full experience.”

This encourages communicative play, he adds, with incentives such as reactions and the all-important jackpot.

“We have reactions, so you can react with the community while you are playing,” he says. “We have the lightning drops, which is a progressive jackpot.”

It’s similar to other products on the market; the more players engage, the bigger the jackpot becomes. It then drops randomly to one player, when it hits a certain threshold.

What’s different, however, is the fact that Livespins makes it a communal experience. Already it’s had a “great reception”, he adds.

Enter the Ambassador

Push to engage customers resulted in Livespins’ Ambassador product. With Ambassador, consumers curate their own gaming experience, by selecting the slot streamers they want to watch.

Scicluna says that Ambassador was created in response to a demand from the industry.

“The Ambassador product was born as we saw a gap in the market when speaking to our partners and operators,” Scicluna explains.

“At Livespins we recruit streamers and train them rigorously and they become great entertainers – the community is built within the operator products.”

This means operators can curate a pool of streamers for their existing players, rather than focusing on player recruitment.

“From this we saw a need,” he continues. “Operators are already investing a lot in external streamers and their own brand ambassadors, so how about if they could leverage this talent to stream also for their existing players?”

Enter the metaverse

For better or for worse, the metaverse is currently one of the hottest topics in the online casino space.

Scicluna says Livespins is looking to leverage the metaverse as a way to enhance its streamer offerings through virtual reality (VR) technologies.

“What we’re exploring with the metaverse is actually to have virtual streamers, which is a topic that’s being talked about a lot in the Asian market,” he says.

“Basically, the streamer would be like a character. We’re going to try that very soon, because it’s appealing to some markets.”

But Scicluna is not completely convinced by what the metaverse has to offer. He views it as just one virtual world in a sea of others.

“In general, the metaverse is a bit of an overused term,” he continues. To him, the metaverse is an environment where the player can immerse themselves and enjoy an experience. This means the focus is on building the immersive experience, rather than the world.

Going stateside

In line with the majority of online gaming operators, Livespins is looking for opportunities to expand in North America.

Last year, it entered the US online casino space through a partnership with Wynnbet. Scicluna says that the US is of particular interest to Livespins, as he believes the industry there holds a similar vision to Livespins – a mission to make the online gaming experience better.

“We are excited about the US because US operators and partners are in general more in tune with Livespins’ vision, they already have great talent and ambassadors they work with,” he says. “The US has Las Vegas as a backdrop, which is the pinnacle of entertainment, so they are very excited to bring the same level of entertainment they offer offline to their online experience.”

And according to Scicluna, Livespins’ expansion across North America could happen sooner rather than later.

“We are in the licensing process with Michigan, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Ontario which will see Livespins debut its product in these great markets.”

Despite the prospect of a stateside expansion, new technological opportunities and developments in Livespins’ assortment of products, Scicluna has not been convinced to drastically change what Livespins has to offer.

He prefers to enhance what Livespins does best and not reinvent the wheel.

“We’re strengthening our product. We have a new redesign, which is going out very soon, and will make the experience much better.”

By relaunching its brand, Stanleybet said this would support its growth plans in the global market as well as its existing operations across Europe and in Africa.

Established in Northern Ireland and now headquartered in England, Stanleybet currently has a B2C presence in Belgium, Cyprus, Italy, Malta and Spain, with more than 2,000 branches and 3,000 employees and collaborators.

The group is also active in Croatia, Denmark, Germany, Nigeria, Romania and the UK with its Magellan Robotech B2B brand.

“Since we first considered the rebranding, the goal has been to continue to embody the group’s core values – strength, dynamism and balance – while responding to the changes in the industry and, more generally, to new styles and trends used to convey a message,” Stanleybet Group chief executive Giovanni Garrisi said.

Stanleybet Group head of brand, marketing and communications, Ivan Fantasia, added: “My team and I evaluated various options, ranging from more cautious choices to more audacious ones. We ultimately decided to carefully restyle the brand that was already in use, with a final outcome that less accustomed eyes might not even detect initially.”

The Discriminatory Gaming Tax Repeal Act, aims to finally end the 0.25% excise tax, or “handle tax”, subject to all legal sports bets.  

Representatives Titus and Reschenthaler, co-chairs of the bipartisan Congressional gaming caucus, argue the tax is unnecessary and encourages illegal operations.  

In conjunction with the excise tax, companies must also pay a yearly $50-a-head tax on each employee working in sportsbooks. The representatives believe the two measures together discourage employment and enable illegal operations.  

“With the explosive growth of sports betting across the country, it’s time to finally repeal the handle tax which penalises legal gaming operators and punishes sportsbooks for creating jobs,” said Titus.  

“As co-chair of the bipartisan gaming caucus, I’m pushing this legislation to keep legal gaming markets thriving nationwide and help local economies reap the benefits of this growing industry.” 

In Titus’ home state of Nevada, excise taxes have cost the state almost $22m in 2022. The amount is more than four times the national average.  

The IRS was unable to determine how the federal government spent this tax money.  

Reschenthaler commented on the ways the gaming industry adds to the federal economy. 

“The US gaming industry provides over one million jobs, including 33,171 jobs in Pennsylvania, and generates more than 70 billion for state and local governments throughout the country,” he noted.  

“Unfortunately, outdated tax codes and burdensome regulations penalise legal operators and incentivise illegal activity. The Discriminatory Gaming Tax Repeal Act will ensure the gaming industry can support good-paying jobs and promote economic growth in southwestern Pennsylvania and across the nation.  

“I’m proud to join gaming caucus co-chair Titus in introducing this bipartisan legislation, and I urge our colleagues in the House to support it.” 

In light of this year’s March Madness tournament, the co-chairs report that 68 million American adults plan to place $15.5bn in bets on the NCAA Men’s Division I basketball tournament.  

This is not the committee’s first attempt at getting rid of the excise tax, however, given the rapid expanse of sports betting in the US, it is clear why operators and legislators alike are seeking an end to this requirement.

The new order – which will enter force from 1 October 2023 – seeks to bring land-based and retail gambling in Denmark into line with the know your customer (KYC) and anti-money laundering (AML) processes that are the standard in online gambling.

“The partial liberalisation and modernisation of the gambling market, with effect from 1 January 2012, as well as experience with the gambling market after liberalisation in 2012, continuously demonstrate the need for new approaches to gambling addiction, for increased consumer protection and for the fight against crime,” reads the executive order.

The executive order also says that – by requiring the registration of players – the anonymity of the consumer is removed, which the bills says helps achieve the country’s goals when it comes to consumer protections, as well as the fights against money laundering and match-fixing.

Denmark has been engaged in a crackdown on money laundering since July 2022.

Players who are under the age of 18, as well as those who have opted to self-exclude from participating in gambling activities will find it more difficult to place bets at the bookmakers under the new rules. The individuals will also be mandated to set a loss limit, which will also aid player protection.

“When anonymity is removed and the purchase of bets is registered to a player, the gambling provider is better placed to monitor and thus forestall and prevent money laundering and match fixing,” says the order.

Responsible gambling measures

The order has a number of subsections that spell out what will be expected of the land-based operators. Companies will be mandated to “become familiar” with a player’s gambling patterns and to step in to prevent an individual’s gaming activity from developing into a case of problem gambling.   

Furthermore, the licence holder will be required to have written internal rules and procedures on responsible gambling “with a view to preventing and preventing problem gambling and gambling addiction”.

According to the rules, this will include communication and control with players who demonstrate traits of problem gambling, a duty to pay attention and record storage of information about player behaviour and consumer risk assessments.

The businesses must also take steps to ensure that no promotional material is sent to players who opted to self-exclude from games of chance.

The total was down from $211.0m in February last year, the first full month of legal online sports betting in the US state, and also 28.3% lower than the record $245.2m wagered in January of this year.

However, revenue from online wagering reached $17.8m, up 6.7% from $16.7m in the same month last year, but 19.1% behind $22.0m in January 2023.

Read the full story on iGB North America

Revenue for the month amounted to $456.8m, up from $375.7m in February 2022 and just 1.6% shy of the $464.4m generated in January of this year, according to the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board (PGCB).

Retail slots remained by far the main gambling revenue source in the state with $202.8m, up 4.2% year-on-year, while retail table games revenue also edged up 0.2% to $74.5m.

Read the full story on iGB North America

The US state opened its legal sports betting market on 31 January with an initial three land-based operators going live: Encore Boston Harbor, MGM Springfield and Plainridge Park Casino.

Plainridge Park proved the most successful of the three operators with $890,555 in revenue for the opening month, just ahead or Encore Boston Harbor on $857,602. MGM Springfield generated $262,066 in sports betting revenue.

Read the full story on iGB North America

Ukraine’s council of ministers approved the 2023 government action plan on 14 March, a document that includes more than 500 government priorities for the year. The list includes a number of draft laws, resolutions and other projects that the government said will aim to systemise its approach to policy in the year ahead.

Process reform

Among the proposals is a draft law that is to be submitted to the Rada – the country’s legislative body – that concerns the procedures of suspending operator licences during martial law, and enumerates formal steps of reviewing these measures after martial law is cancelled.

The law also contains provisions prohibiting the use in Ukraine of gambling businesses’ brands owned by residents of aggressor states, as well as creating processes that would suspend the licences of gaming operators if businesses offer games of chance in any Ukrainian territory occupied by hostile foreign powers.

State capacity improvements

The regulator also proposes a far-reaching draft law that would aim to improve the country’s state capacity in the field of gaming regulation. The proposal seeks to bolster the current procedures in suspending, renewing and cancelling licences, establish a new framework for certifying and inspecting gaming equipment and increase the effectiveness of state supervision of the gaming market.

The law would also aim to strengthen legal mechanisms to minimise problem gambling, increase state revenues, combat the illegal market, as well as improve mechanisms of implementation of investment activity to the country’s gaming market.

Parimatch suspension

The reform of the country’s gambling regime happens against the backdrop of the ongoing invasion of the country by the armed services of the Russian Federation. In that context, Ukraine has been quick to the suspend the licences of operators who conducted operations in Russia or Russian-occupied territory.

This month, sporting betting operator Parimatch found itself the victim of such government sanctions, against charges which the operator vigorously denied.

The new service will allow the company’s clients to create custom auto-generated content and images across its marketing channels. The company says that it hopes to reduce content production times by up to 60% through the engagement of the AI tools.

Symplify CEO Robert Kimber said that the integration of the API will help to futureproof its clients’ businesses.

He added that the business was strengthening that commitment through “optimising the content development” and that Symplify are “helping grow our customers’ CRM strategies at scale, while offering multi communication channel coverage”.

The integration will allow users to create content through natural language prompts within the Symplify Editor, creating automated text and images based on the users input.

Symplify chief marketing officer Paul Crisp added that the software will help reduce the workload of those who use the system.

“When ChatGPT launched, we found it to be an incredibly diverting piece of software,” he said. “We then got to thinking whether we can have this as a plug-in into our actual tool.

“We know, to a lesser or greater extent by the beta testing, that this is cutting down the workflow pretty immensely for the teams that put it together,” he said. “For us, it’s really exciting to be able to shorten that time to market.”