Month: March 2023

Under the new agreement, Stats Perform will provide the BWF Integrity Unit with a range of advanced integrity services to help protect badminton from manipulation.

The deal will strengthen the BWF’s capabilities to investigate suspicious betting activity on badminton matches, with the organisation able to gather intelligence on specific matches and competitions that may be connected to suspicious betting activity.

The BWF Integrity Unit will have access to a suite of tools, while the partnership will also include integrity education, intelligence analysis support, and Stats Perform’s performance integrity analysis service.

“Having Stats Perform onboard will strengthen our commitment to protecting the integrity of the sport from betting-related corruption,” BWF secretary general Thomas Lund said. 

“We now have top industry standard resources at our disposal to monitor suspicious betting activity taking place at HSBC BWF World Tour tournaments and BWF Major Championships.”

Stats Perform’s global head of integrity services Jake Marsh added: “We are delighted to add BWF to our stable of clients and deliver a progressive approach to integrity risk management that will see us working closely with the international governing body’s own integrity unit to protect the sport from match manipulation and related threats.”

The business already manufactures its self-service fully integrated cash access kiosks, loyalty kiosks and other FinTech products in Las Vegas, with this production, assembly and distribution to also be relocated to the new 182,500sq ft site.

The location will include space to co-locate lab facilities for both the games and FinTech businesses, as well as service and customer installation teams and administrative staff, and have room for future expansion.

Read the full story on iGB North America.

Developed in collaboration with Everi Holdings, MGM Riches will allow customers to play certain slot games online via BetMGM and as a traditional land-based slot games MGM Resorts properties across the country.

MGM Riches will comprise an initial two themes in MGM Riches Triple Ruby and MGM Riches 5x Sapphire, with gameplay consistent and MGM’s casino properties and while playing online with BetMGM’s internet casino platform in Michigan, New Jersey and Pennsylvania.

Read the full story on iGB North America.

Revenue for the month amounted to $1.27bn, up from $1.08bn in January 2022 but 3.1% lower than $1.31bn in December of last year.

Slots accounted for $874.5m of all revenue for the month, 15.9% up on the same month last year. Multi-denomination slots generated $459.1m in revenue, with penny slots revenue at $285.9m.

Read the full story on iGB North America.

The funding, issued by GambleAware’s Aftercare Funding Programme (AFP), will be used to support the delivery of additional support people might require as part of their ongoing recovery.

Organisations were chosen following a selection process that involved a panel of experts, including two members with lived experience of gambling harm. 

Each applicant had to demonstrate how they would work towards helping people have sustained recoveries from gambling harm. This included improving mental health and wellbeing, increasing practical skills and increasing people’s confidence and self-belief in their abilities.

Two levels of funding were available; up to £150,000 for smaller or newer organisations or for those looking to test an approach, and £350,000 for larger, established organisations that wanted to grow or develop their work further.

Cyrenians, one of the chosen organisations, will use the funding to enable one-to-one and group trauma-informed support for those within the homeless community in Edinburgh. The Acta Community Theatre, another successful applicant, will provide a creative peer support group in Bristol, open to people from all backgrounds in recovery.

“Enabling people to access treatment and support to reduce or stop their gambling is essential,” GambleAware’s chief commissioning officer Anna Hargrave said. “But there is less known about how to ensure this recovery can be sustained over the long term. 

“This is why our Aftercare Funding Programme was set up to fund projects which support recovery for people to help them rebuild their lives. 

“These 10 organisations were chosen to receive funding because of their innovative approaches, as well as their abilities to reach specific communities. We look forward to seeing how the projects develop.”

The funding comes after GambleAware last month also announced it would distribute £1.2m to 22 organisations across Great Britain through its Community Resilience Fund to support individuals and communities affected by gambling harms.

The deal will see Better Collective running the sports betting section of Goal across all the brand’s domains, which is featured in English, Spanish and Portuguese.

Better Collective will also provide Goal with sports betting content, as well as technology and data insights.

Jesper Søgaard, Better Collective CEO and co-founder, saids that the deal is the start of bigger things to come from the affiliate.

“Partnering with such a well-recognised and renowned media like Goal perfectly aligns with our media partnership strategy and our overall strategy of becoming the leading digital sports media group,” said Søgaard. “There is no doubt in my mind that we will be able to benefit from each other’s expertise.”

Goal is owned by FootballCo, which operates other sports brands including Mundial, Spox and Voetbalzone.

James Lamon, FootballCo SVP of content and operations, thinks the deal will give more diversity to readers of Goal.

“We understand fans have a diverse range of interests that collectively form their passion for football,” Lamon said. “For many, betting is a part of that passion. We’re excited to work with Better Collective to offer our fans higher quality stats, analysis, and tips to enhance their betting experience.”

This is Better Collective’s first agreement with a digital-only news brand and comes off the back of recent partnerships with The Telegraph and New York Post.

Recent revenue growth

The affiliate company also recently announced increased revenue and growth across the board for its 2022 financial year, following a number of key acquisitions and events such as the 2022 Fifa World Cup.

Better Collective posted 96.2% year-on-year growth for operations, with business activities helping to increase new depositing customers (NDC).

Codere Online’s net gaming revenue (NGR) was up by 48% to €122.9m for full-year 2022. However, the company reported negative cash flow of €46.0m (£40.8m/$49.1m).

“We are reporting better than expected Q4 and full year 2022 performance,” said Moshe Edree, outgoing CEO of Codere Online. “This success is a testament to our team’s dedication and focus on delivering an unparalleled online gaming experience for our customers.”

Looking at the NGR, Edree noted the “effectiveness of our growth strategy and our ability to successfully deploy marketing spend” across Codere Online’s operating locations.

Edree will step down from the position of CEO today (1 March), and current COO Aviv Sher will be take on the role. Edree will still be involved in the business as executive vice chairman of the board.  

Oscar Iglesias, CFO of Codere Online added: “We are pleased to have exceeded out 2022 net gaming revenue outlook of €115m to €120m and follow through on our commitment to investors.”  

Several changes to Codere Online’s business structure took place during 2022, including the sale of its Italian subsidiary on December 30, 2022.

Proceeds of the sale were not material.  

Fourth quarter  

Looking at Codere Online’s Q4 results, the company reported a 70% increase in NGR, from €22.2m in 2021 to €37.7m in 2022. The company attributed this to strong performances in Mexico and Spain.

However, net loss for the quarter was reported at €17.4m.

Total revenue for the quarter was €35.6m.

Marketing spend increased to €31.2m. This is a significant difference of 111.2% compared to Q4 2021, when marketing spend was €14.8m.  

Codere Online attributed its adjusted Q4 earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) for 2022 – which rose by 122.4% year-on-year to €14.5m – to its increased marketing spend.

Full year results

Turning to the full-year results, Codere Online reported net loss of €45.9m. However, this was an improvement of 32.5% from 2021’s €68.0m loss.  

Marketing expenses shot up by 78% in 2022 compared to the previous year, with an expenditure of €96.9m in 2022 compared to €54.4m in 2021.  

The EBITDA for FY22 was a loss of €50.3m, compared to the loss of €23.8m in 2021.

Projections for 2023

Codere Online also provided projections for the year ahead.

NGR for the year is projected to lie between €140m and €150m, while adjusted EBITDA is estimated between negative €20m to €30m.

The company said it aims to launch operations in the Argentinian province of Córdoba, while continuing to pursue licences in Buenos Aires and Mendoza.

Iglesias said that Codere Online was looking forward to establishing a presence in Argentina.

“We continue to be very excited about the future and the opportunities that lie ahead, particularly in Argentina, where we are making significant progress towards starting operations in several new regions this year,” he said.

“We are confident in our ability to execute on our plans and continue delivering sustainable growth for our shareholders.”