Month: March 2023

The BetDex Exchange already offers soccer, football and basketball betting on its blockchain-based platform.

The addition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) will correspond with the beginning of the 2023 cricket season.

The IPL is the men’s Twenty20 cricket league in India. A total of 10 teams participate, and the event takes place across 7 cities.

“The addition of IPL on the BetDEX Exchange is an exciting milestone and a celebration of the ongoing expansion of our betting markets,” said Varun Sudhakar, CEO and co-founder of BetDex. “Adding the IPL has been a key goal of the team as we continue to add more sports markets across the globe for our community.”

Nigel Eccles, founder of FanDuel, first launched BetDex in October 2021.

Just over one year later, in November 2022, BetDex Exchange became licensed and regulated by the Isle of Man Gambling Supervisory Commission. This made it the first regulated blockchain betting exchange.

House Bill 127 was introduced by Democratic representative Matt Birong as well as nine other house members (6D, 3R). 

The act aims to authorise the State’s Department of Liquor and Lottery to operate sports betting through contracts with operators, as well as also granting the office regulatory authority over the activity.  

If passed, a bidding process will be conducted for the state to approve qualified operators to enter the new market. 

Under the bill, at least two but no more than six operators can be contracted by the commissioner to operate an online sportsbook in the state.  

Additionally, there are a number of regulations set out in the bill to ensure safe gambling practices are put in place. Among these is the creation of the Responsible Gaming Special Fund, which is to be used by the Department of Mental Health for problem gambling related services.  

The bill will now go on to be considered by the senate. If passed, Vermont would be seeing sports betting in the near future.  

The regulator issued the approvals in anticipation of 1 July, when having such a licence is to become mandatory for all suppliers looking to offer their services to operators in the Swedish regulated market. The new gaming software licences – which have a five-year term – were awarded to a mixture of well and lesser known businesses.

Spelinspektion awarded licences to igaming providers Arland Gesellschaft Fur Informationstechnologie Mbh, as well as Everymatrix Software. Hacksaw received a licence –as did two of its subsidiaries – Hacksaw Operations and Hacksaw Studios.

Fellow games providers Yggdrasil, Relax Gaming and Thunderkick also all achieved licences, with the latter achieving two total for both its Swedish and Malta branches of the business.

These authorisations are in addition to the three that were awarded earlier in the month to Synot Games, Skill on Net, as well as Norkkoping AB.

Channelisation hopes

Spilinspektion have said that 60 applications for licences have been received since the submission process opened on 1 March this year. Under the rules, an application fee for a B2B supplier licence costs SEK120,000.

The purpose of introducing B2B licensing requirements is to attempt to channel consumers into the regulated sector by depriving illegal operators of their technology providers. While domestic industry has not been necessarily opposed to the measures, there have been some doubts as to whether the imposition will have a large effect on channelisation.

“I perceive that there is a generally positive attitude towards B2B permits from both the industry and Spelinspektionen,” Gustaf Hoffstedt, secretary-general of Swedish trade association Branscheförenigen för Onlinespel (BOS) said in December.

“Possibly there is a deviating picture of expectations in that we on the part of the industry have lower expectations that this will really be able to block the larger outflows from the Swedish licensing system.”

After launching the company’s new esports product in Colorado and New Jersey, Jacob Howard and Aaron St Pierre join the growing operation.  

Howard is joining the company as esports product manager. He comes from Kambi-aquired Abios as one of its leading esports data and odds providers.  

Aaron St Pierre has been appointed SIS’s new trading manager and has over ten years’ experience in trading roles.  

Adam Conway, head of esports and competitive gaming expressed his enthusiasm over the new hires. 

“We are delighted to welcome Jacob and Aaron to SIS. Their knowledge and skills will only strengthen our Competitive Gaming offering as we continue to make positive strides with our industry leading product”, he notes. 

“This is a hugely exciting time for SIS, and to make such key hires is a testament to the company and our continued success in creating engaging esports betting opportunities for our partners and bettors alike.” 

Christopher Herbert, J.D., director of the Gaming Division at the Louisiana Attorney General’s Office succeeds Stacy Shaw as chair of the advisory board. Herbert has acted as an assistant attorney general for more than eighteen years and has led on problem gambling awareness initiatives in the state of Louisiana.

His leadership saw the creation of the Problem Gambling Resource Services (PGRS) program, created in partnership with the Louisiana Department of Health. The new chair emphasised that he recognised the important role the NPGC has had on industry.

“The National Council on Problem Gambling is unrivaled in its efforts to mitigate gambling-related harm in our country,” said Herbet. “I am humbled by the opportunity to serve as advisory board chair for an organisation at the forefront of protecting our citizens.”    

NCPG leadership role

For vice chair the body nominated senior VP of American regulatory affairs and responsible gambling at Entain Martin Lycka. Lycka currently serves as a trustee for Entain Foundation U.S., a nonprofit focused on responsible gambling, sports integrity, and corporate compliance.  

Lycka highlighted the organistion’s historic authority on gambling harms, arguing that “the National Council on Problem Gambling is widely recognised as a nationwide leader in problem gambling awareness, education and advocacy.

“I have been very supportive of their work for years as a member of their Advisory Board, and as such, it is an honor to be appointed their Vice Chair,” he added. 

NCPG executive director, Keith Whyte, embraced the addition of the two new members. 

“We are incredibly pleased to have Christopher and Martin leading the NCPG Advisory Board. They have both been highly engaged leaders in our field for years, and we are excited to utilise their talents and expertise in a new way.”  

“I look forward to working closely with the full Advisory Board to advance the organisation’s mission and our ambitious goals for the future.”  

The Dutch ban on “untargeted” advertising was previously announced by minister Franc Weerwind in July 2022.

The initial plan banned advertising in public spaces, television or radio 1 January. However Weerwind delayed its implementation in October, due to public consultations regarding the law being ongoing.

The new date provides clarity to a subject which has been the cause of much public consternation in the Netherlands, namely the issue of children seeing gambling advertising.

Two strikes and you’re out

The topic has been such a controversial one that one member of parliament asked Weerwind whether a “two strikes and you’re out” model of regulation may better deter gambling businesses from deliberately targeting children.

Under such a system, an operator – if found to be advertsing games of chance having already been warned by the regulator the Kansspelautoriteit (KSA) – would have its licence revoked.

Weerwind spoke out against the creation of such a system, arguing that regulatory actions must be “proportionate” to the violation, and must have in mind the intended goal.

“Experience shows that norm transferring discussions often already lead to compliance with the rules and orders subject to periodic penalty payments are not necessary,” said Weerwind.

“If an order subject to periodic penalty payments does not lead to compliance with the law, a fine may also be imposed in addition to or instead of an order subject to periodic penalty payments.”

Weerwind further outlined that the country’s Betting and Gaming Act (KOA) gave the KSA powers beyond the ability to impose payments and finds on delinquent gaming operators, including the power to impose binding instructions.

The minister said that this could be used to prevent entities that enable online gambling – such as payment service providers – from offering their services to such businesses.

“This requires customisation and I think it is important that the regulator has the scope to provide this customisation. A two-strikes-you’re out model does not fit in with that,” said Weerwind.

Tightening rules

Weerwind said that it was his aim to prevent online gaming from being normalised to underage consumers in any way.

“For example, advertising may not be aimed at minors and, for high-risk games of chance, also not at young adults,” he said.

“In addition, I am committed to more information. In collaboration with the KSA and the Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport (VWS), I am exploring how we can raise awareness of the risks of online games of chance among young people,” said the minister.

“In order not to encourage this group to participate unnecessarily, I look at targeted activities that are also largely intended for the environment of young people, such as teachers and parents,” he added.

“I am in discussion with various parties about this, including addiction experts and experts in the field of financial health. In the spring, your House will receive a letter in which I discuss these awareness-raising activities in more detail.”

The solutions provider said the new licences would allow it to build on its existing presence in North America, with the group already active across New Jersey and Iowa, as well as in Ontario in Canada.

GiG will initially use its Maryland licence to launch the Crab Sports brand in the state, with plans to go live in May this year. Maryland’s online gambling market opened in November and currently features eight mobile sportsbooks.

Read the full story on iGB North America.

Cantwell takes on the role having served as chief of staff for Australia’s Minister for Families and Social Services between September 2017 and June 2022.

Prior to this, he spent over six-and-a-half years with the Department of Social Services, first as a director and later state manager for New South Wales and Australian Capital Territory.

Earlier in his career, Cantwell was a program manager at the Department of Human Services and also had a spell as tournament director for the Australian Poker League.

RWA is an independent body for Australia’s licensed online betting industry, promoting socially responsible wagering and advocating for increased standards in the sector.

“I am honoured to have the opportunity to work with RWA members, sporting and racing bodies, and governments of all levels to ensure we continue to get the balance right between protections, regulation and freedoms,” Cantwell said.

“As we further boost research, data and insights capability, I look forward to leading RWA to further understand problem gambling behaviour and target effective measures.”

Responsible Wagering Australia chairman Nick Minchin added: “With his wealth of leadership experience, Mr Cantwell is uniquely positioned to lead RWA and present a confident and united voice on behalf of its members.

“His deep understanding of social policy, sports, wagering and government position him perfectly to lead RWA and its members as we continue to promote socially responsible wagering and advocate for the highest standards in the sector.” 

NagaCorp’s revenue doubled from $225.8m in 2021 – a trend seen across all the financial results for the 2022 period.

Timothy Patrick McNally, chairman of NagaCorp, said that NagaCorp was one of the only “regional” businesses to become profitable in 2022.

“The gradual recovery of our business and resiliency of our earnings in the face of major market disruptions placed NagaCorp as only one of the two regional gaming companies to achieve profitability during the period,” said McNally.

McNally added that the business environment in Cambodia had been improved by the lifting of the pandemic restrictions.

In 2022, Cambodia received 2.2 million international arrivals, up by 1,059%.

“Despite the continuing effects of Covid-19, Cambodia’s strategy of full resumption of socio-economic activities within an endemic posture, has further increased Chinese arrivals for business and investment purposes, reinforcing an overall business migration into the country.”

Full-year results

Revenue generated from gaming tables made up $321.5m of the total, up by 79.1%, while electronic gaming revenue hit $124.3m – up by 182.6% year-on-year.

Revenue from hotel room, food and beverage and other income made up the remaining $14.8m, a rise of $12.4m.

The overall cost of sales was $59.5m, slightly less excessive than the cost of $70.0m in 2021. Gaming tax totaled at $25.1m, more than double the gaming tax generated in 2021.

This brought the gross profit for the year to $375.9m, a rise of 161.9%.

NagaCorp reported that other operating expenses totaled at $201.4m for the year. This, along with administrative expenses of $52.1m and other income at $9.4m, brought the profit from operations to $131.7m for the year, $235.3m higher than in 2021.

Finance costs were also reduced, from a loss of $37.1m to a loss of $24.2m, bringing the pre-tax loss to $107.4m.

Following income tax of $212,000, the profit for the year was $107.2m, a year-on-year rise of $254.2m.

Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation was $245.4m for 2022.

Consumers spent $39.8m betting on sports during the month, down 2.7% from $40.9m in the same month last year and also 30.4% lower than the amount wagered in January this year.

In terms of revenue, this reached $3.1m, which was 63.1% higher than $1.9m in February of 2022 but 39.2% behind the $5.1m generated in January.

Read the full story on iGB North America.