The group and its joint venture said GameSense enhances both businesses’ guest and customer service models by focusing on positive, transparent and supportive conversations with players about how to gamble responsibly. The extended deal will run for a five-year period.
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Under the agreement, FanDuel will serve as a co-exclusive official sports betting partner of MLB, building on its existing designation as an authorized gaming operator of the league since 2019.
FanDuel will stream MLB.TV’s Free Game of the Day through its sportsbook app and via its FanDuel+ OTT platform, subject to local blackout restrictions.
Consumer spending was 6.3% ahead of $58.6m in January of last year and 5.2% more than in December 2022, while the total surpassed the existing monthly record of $61.2m set in November 2022 by 1.8%.
Online betting accounted for $37.5m of all wagers placed during January, while retail spend was $24.8m, split $17.2m at Twin River and $7.7m the Tiverton Casino.
Gross gaming revenue for the month amounted to $35.5m, which was marginally up from $34.6m in the same month last year but 13.2% behind the $40.9m reported in December 2022.
Almost all revenue in January came from online wagering, with this segment generating $35.4m in revenue. Retail sportsbooks were responsible for just $106,592 in revenue.
Coinciding with National Problem Gambling Awareness Month, the first of the new policies will include Caesars expanding its self-exclusion program from the end of March.
The policy will encompass Caesars’ offerings, including Caesars Sportsbook, igaming and its land-based facilities, with the exception of limited properties not yet fully integrated into Caesars’ IT environment.
Eyres becomes the leader of the UK business after previously spending more than 14 years with its parent company, Northern & Shell. Her most recent role at the group was as editor-in-chief of ‘New!’ and ‘Star’ magazines, publications she headed between 2013 and 2018.
Eyres, who has worked as a freelance journalist for a number of national titles during the last five years, replaces outgoing chief executive Des Duffy at The Health Lottery.
“We are delighted to welcome Lebby back into the Northern & Shell family,” said Martin Ellice, joint group managing director at Northern & Shell. “In her previous roles she was a strong leader and played an integral role in the company’s strategy. In particular, she was a key player in the transformation of the media business from print-led to digital-first prior to its sale to Reach PLC.
“The Health Lottery is going through a similar transition, and is moving towards a more data-driven approach. We believe Lebby will do an excellent job of managing the different and exciting opportunities presented by both the digital and retail arms of the business.”
Eyres will oversee a relaunch of The Health Lottery’s website this summer, as well as the introduction of a new brand identity. As well as drawing on her experience managing business transformations, she plans to put her health journalism background to good use by improving the storytelling used in the business.
She said: “Our Good Causes work is built into our name, unlike any other lottery, so people know that the money raised through The Health Lottery goes towards health issues.
“However, some people don’t realise our focus is on addressing health inequalities and the most disadvantaged members of society, and I want to make that clear by publicising the stories of the people who benefit. These compelling stories will focus on individuals whose lives are being transformed by the projects funded through us, and will get to the heart of how we’ve helped them. I think today’s players really want to know where the Good Causes element of their ticket is going.”
Penalties were given to N1 Interactive, Videoslots, BetPoint Group, Probe Investments and Fairload Limited in December 2022, but were not published until today (3 March) after the operators asked the court to stop the fines being made public.
However, the court turned down the request earlier this week, allowing KSA to publish the details of each case in full.
N1 Interactive was handed the largest fine of €12.6m for a repeated violation, having first been penalised in July 2021 for the same offence of operating without a licence in the country.
Videoslots was fined €9.9m for incorrectly displaying the mark of KSA on its website, despite having not received a licence from the regulator to offer online gambling in the Netherlands. KSA said its branding is a way for players to check if an operator is licensed.
Meanwhile, Betpoint Group was fined €1.8m for operating without the relevant licence in the Netherlands, while Probe Investments was issued a penalty of €1.1m and Fairload €900,000 for the same reasons.
KSA added that all fines took into account the turnover of each operator, in line with its new fines policy that was adopted in September of 2021.
“Offering online games of chance to players in the Netherlands is only allowed with a license from the KSA,” the regulator said. “Strict rules and regulations apply to ensure that there is a safe legal offer, whereby players are assured of a fair game and are protected against gambling addiction.”
KSA chairman René Jansen added: “We mean business. Player safety is paramount. A fine is to hit where it hurts, so in the wallet. With such amounts, we think we can impose an appropriate sanction, given the illegal earnings.”
Prior to publication of the fines, Videoslots earlier this week said that it would challenge the ruling, accusing the regulator of abusing the mystery shopping regime.
In preparation for a KSA application in April 2022, Videoslots said the regulator’s logo was mistakenly visible for a short period of time on its website before being quickly removed.
When the KSA became aware of the mistake, Videoslots said the regulator tried to sign up as a Dutch customer and failed because of measures in place. KSA was then said to have gained unauthorised access by pretending to be a German customer, managing to make a deposit and a single bet of 20 cents.
As soon as Videoslots learned a KSA official had unlawfully accessed its site, the operator said it implemented further measures to prevent this happening again.
However, KSA said Videoslots violated the Dutch Gaming Act by allowing access and issued the fine, with the operator having denied the allegation and confirmed it would challenge the decision.
“Videoslots does not target but restrict the Netherlands, so the Dutch Gaming Act does not apply to its services,” Videoslots deputy chief executive Ulle Skottling said. “No Dutch players were able to access our site during the disputed period and there was no violation as a result.
“It is absurd that the KSA should fine us after gaining unauthorised access. It is simply not possible to protect fully against unauthorised access, and the KSA has no guidelines on what measures are sufficient.
“Furthermore, there was no demonstrable damage, and the interests of Dutch consumers were never compromised at any point. The KSA calculated the fine based on several guesstimates. There is no basis for it and all sense of proportionality is missing.
“Videoslots takes its legal and regulatory obligations extremely seriously, but we dispute the KSA’s actions and conclusions, which we believe are unlawful. We are confident of a positive outcome in this case.”
The recovery of the Macau market – which has historically represented the largest share of the company’s revenue – would be a boom to the business, which has suffered a turbulent few years since the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020.
In the company’s full year financial statement, the business pointed to the suspension of testing for visitors arriving in Macau from mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan. This resulted in a 233% rise in gaming revenues in the special administrative region from MOP3.5bn in December 2022 to MOP11.6bn in January 2023 this year.
Melco CEO Lawrence Ho described Melco’s performance during 2023 so far as “highly encouraging”.
Ho said that during the peak days of Chinese New Year, which ran from 22 January to 5 February, earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) reached MOP6m in gross gambling revenue per day.
He added that the business, post new year, is also holding up well – with the daily average volume in February being in line with the previous month.
“This recent performance supports our continued belief in the return of pent-up demand and our view that Macau will continue to develop as a leading international destination for entertainment and leisure,” said Ho.
On 1 January 2023, Melco’s new 10-year concession officially began, having been awarded the new licence in November. Ho said the business was “honoured” at this development.
“We greatly appreciate the consideration given to our proposal and our investment propositions that we believe will continue to build on our existing strengths in entertainment and nongaming attractions.”
The business achieved US$337.1m in revenues in the three-month period ending 31 December, a 30% fall compared to $480.6m in the same period the previous year.
The company’s operating costs and expenses also fell, declining by 8% during the period from $585m to $537m.
This was partly driven by reductions in casino costs, which fell 20.1% during the period from $286m to $227m. Costs also fell in the amortisation gaming sub concession, from $14m to $2m. Meanwhile, costs declined in for food and beverage costs – from $22.7m to $20.9m – and rooms, where costs were reduced from $12.6m to $11.1m.
The business saw its operating Q4 operating losses rise 91.1% from $104.4m to $199.5m, while net loss rose from $159.9m to $251.9m during the same period.
For the year as a whole, revenue fell 32.8% from $2.01bn to $1.35bn for the 12-month period ending 31 December. The majority of the revenue came from casino, which fell from $1.68bn to $1.08bn compared to the same period the previous year.
Both food and drink revenue and room revenue made up a relatively smaller amount of the Melco’s overall total. Food and beverage revenue fell from $97m to $85m in revenue over the period, while rooms revenue declined from $157m to $116m in revenue.
This equated to an operating loss of $743.1m, and a net loss $930m.
Revenue has continued to be affected by restrictions put in place due to the Covid-19 pandemic – including large scale lockdowns during the summer.
“The decrease in total operating revenues was primarily attributable to the heightened travel restrictions in Macau and mainland China related to Covid-19 during the quarter,” said Melco in the report.
Full-year revenue was up by 18.4% year-on-year.
For the fourth quarter, revenue was $205.3m – 13.8% higher than in Q4 2021.
In a preliminary results announcement, the operator said its US-facing FanDuel brand continued to increase its market share, with this reaching 50% in the online sportsbook segment in Q4 and 21% for igaming, with the US business expected to be earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) positive in 2023.
Elsewhere, Flutter was able to strengthen its presence in other countries around the world, including in Italy through the acquisition of Sisal in August. Both revenue and EBITDA were up at Sisal in 2022.
In addition, Flutter acquired bingo operator Tombola in January last year, with this leading to a 4% increase in UK and Ireland revenue for the full year.
With both Sisal and Tombola being part of the Flutter business for the entirety of 2023, and further expansion plans in the US, including recent launches in Ohio and Maryland, Flutter chief executive Peter Jackson (pictured) said the business is on track for further growth in 2023.
“Flutter delivered a strong performance in 2022, continuing to execute on the strategic priorities we outlined last March,” Jackson said. “Growth in our recreational customer base delivered 2022 revenue growth of 27% and we ended the year with a record 12.1m average monthly players in Q4.
“We have an unparalleled number one position in the US where we continue to go from strength to strength. The combined power of the ‘FanDuel Advantage’ and the ‘Flutter Edge’ delivered our most successful launches to date in Maryland and Ohio.
“Outside of the US we have been pleased with the performance of the business as we faced into regulatory changes and challenging comparatives. We are well placed to build on gold medal positions in our mature markets while we are delivering very strong growth in a range of attractive high growth markets.”
Revenue for the 2022 financial year at Flutter amounted to £7.69bn (€8.66bn/$9.21bn), up 27% from £6.04bn in the previous year. Of this, £4.79bn came from sports betting, a year-on-year rise of 27%, while gaming revenue also climbed 28% to £2.91bn.
Flutter also noted the number of average monthly players across its business jumped 26% to 10.2m.
Breaking this performance down further, US revenue was up 67% to £2.60bn, with Flutter saying its FanDuel business was number one in 15 of the 18 states where it is active during the fourth quarter of the year.
Away from the US, UK and Ireland revenue increased 4% to £2.14bn, helped by a 54% hike in retail revenue to £272m, though Australia revenue fell by 2% at £1.26bn. International revenue jumped 31% to £1.68bn, helped by strong performances in Italy, India and Turkey.
In terms of spending, expenses were higher across the business, with cost of sales, sales and marketing expenses, other operating costs, corporate expenses and amortisation and depreciation all increasing year-on-year.
After also taking into account a 25% rise in finance expense, Flutter was left with a pre-tax profit of £518m, down 17% on the previous year due to higher spending. Flutter also paid £182m in income tax, resulting in a net profit of £336m, a 26% drop from £454m in 2021.
In addition, Flutter said adjusted EBITDA for the year was 4% higher at £1.05bn.
“2023 is off to a pleasing start driven by positive momentum from the end of last year,” Jackson said. “With our combined US business on track to deliver a positive EBITDA for the full year 2023 for the first time, the group is currently at an earnings’ transformation point and we look forward to delivering future growth and progressing further against Flutter’s strategic priorities in the coming year.”
