Revenue was higher across all operating segments during the three months to March 31, with total revenue for the period amounting to $433.6m.
Of this total, $430.0m came from Red Rock’s Las Vegas operations in Nevada, while the remaining $3.6m was generated from corporate and other activities.
PointsBet Racing – which is now live in 25 states – was created in partnership with 1/ST Technology, a subsidiary of thoroughbred racing company The Stronach Group.
The app will feature many famous tracks around the world, including content from each lef of the Triple Crown American horse racing championship.
The operator said that over 180 tracks total will be included on the app, from venues in the US, UK, Ireland, Hong Kong, Japan and Australia.
The platform will have in-built live streaming and replay capabilities, single user account sign-on and “deep link” integration across the business’s digital products. Also included will be statistical and factor compilation, new user education tools as well “seamless” deposit and withdrawal services.
The product is a result of an October 2022 agreement between 1/ST Technology and the business, who then announced a multi-year strategic partnership to build a pari-mutual wagering platform.
“The launch of PointsBet Racing marks a significant milestone in our efforts to expand our product portfolio and capture the tremendous potential of the US horse racing market,” said Johnny Aitken, PointsBet USA CEO.
“We are optimistic about replicating the success we have seen in mature global betting markets where racing is a huge engagement channel next to sports. This new offering will contribute to the growth of online horse racing in the US and we are excited to get live in advance of one of the most important racing events of the year.”
The licence was revoked after an investigation took place into a number of facets of Goldprest Impex SRL’s operations, including its fee payments.
Romania’s Gambling Supervisory Committee initially believed that Goldprest Impex SRL had not paid the correct amount for its licence fee. The Committee stated that the operator had only paid RON97,753 of the RON366,573 fee owed. This was RON268,820 less than is stipulated in Romanian gambling law.
According to Romania’s National Agency for Fiscal Administration (ANAF), the full amount – RON366,573 – was paid in two installments on 16 November 2022 and 21 November 2022. However, ANAF said the total amount was reduced to RON97,753 on 24 November 2022, after certain compensations were taken into account.
On 20 March and 22 March 2023, Goldprest Impex SRL submitted a statement which rectified the licence fee difference. It paid RON268,869 – more than the RON268,820 initially owed due to the exchange rate.
The Committee said that Goldprest Impex SRL declared the correct amount of taxes for Q4 of 2022 and Q1 of 2023. However, a number of rectification statements had been submitted during these quarters in relation to Q4 2021.
The Committee said that, in Q4 2021, the operator declared an authorisation fee that totaled at RON46,935 less than the one due.
A rectification statement submitted by the operator on 6 April 2022 stated that it had increased the authorisation fee by the stipulated RON46,935. But this was then followed by another rectification statement issued on 10 November 2022, which declared tax that was, again, RON46,935 less than what was owed.
Six further rectification statements were then submitted – three on 19 January 2023 and three on 20 March 2023 – reducing the authorisation fee for Q4 2021 to varying degrees.
In total, there were seven rectifications, totaling RON444,348.
The Committee voted to cancel the submissions, stating that they were “without legal basis”.
If these rectifications had not been cancelled, the RON6,516 overpayment would have been removed, and the RON437,832 outstanding debt in regards to the authorisation fee would have remained.
The Committee added that a similar situation had taken place in regards to Goldprest Impex SRL’s defect tax, in which two rectification statements were submitted.
The Committee confirmed that Goldprest Impex SRL’s slots operating licence has been cancelled, and that the operator must repay the remaining difference on the authorisation fee.
Goldprest Impex SRL can enter a complaint against the decision within 30 days of its publication. The licence termination takes effect immediately.
The Committee stated that it expects Goldprest Impex SRL to file an appeal.
This year’s edition of the Betfred St Leger Festival will take place on 14-17 September.
The sponsors will also have branding tied to other races, including the May Hill Stakes, the Doncaster Cup and Champagne Stakes.
“To have the Betfred name attached to the St Leger Festival is not just a sponsorship but a privilege,” said Fred Done, CEO of Betfred. “I am proud to be associated with the world’s oldest classic which is obviously synonymous with great horses like Triple Crown winner Nijinsky, Dunfermline for the Queen and Oh So Sharp for Sir Henry Cecil.”
Martin Cruddace, CEO of ARC, said the company was pleased to have Betfred involved in sponsoring the St Leger Festival.
“We are absolutely delighted to welcome Betfred as the headline sponsors of the St Leger Festival and of the Betfred St Leger itself,” said Cruddace. “Fred Done and his team have long been keen supporters of British racing, and the inclusion of this historic race meeting into their sponsorship portfolio is another indication of their commitment to the sport.”
“The whole sport is extremely fortunate to benefit from working in partnership with Fred and his team and we very much look forward to a fantastic Betfred St Leger Festival in September.”
Last month, it was announced that Betfred would be the new sponsor of the Oaks and the Derby at Epsom Downs.
The partnership will cover the CTFA’s premier competitions, including the Taiwan Football Premier League, the Taiwan Mulan Football League and the 2nd Division Taiwan Football League.
As part of the partnership, Genius will provide its data insights and technology to the CTFA, with the aim of bolstering fan experiences. Genius will also help the CTFA to commercialise its sports data and promote their streaming content.
“We’re proud to enter this wide-ranging partnership with the Chinese Taipei Football Association, providing our proven official data, streaming, competition management and integrity solutions,” said Jagdish Singh, head of customer success, APAC at Genius. “Our technology will be central to their strategy to drive new revenues, engage fans and protect their competitions.”
In addition, Genius will provide the CTFA with its integrity service, as well as the Fifa Competition Management System.
“We are happy to enter a four-year agreement with Genius Sports,” said Mr. Liang-Chen Chen, deputy general secretary of the CTFA. “This is a giant step for us in modernising our domestic leagues and maintaining our sports integrity.”
“With the experience of Genius Sports, we can deliver higher quality content to our fans.”
The business was able to deliver its 13th successive quarter of growth despite Q1 normally being a sequentially weaker quarter, with the increase also coming on the back of a record Q4 that included a Fifa World Cup.
GiG was able to grow its media business in the quarter after completing the acquisition of casino affiliate sites Askgamblers.com from Catena Media in January. The deal included a number of other assets such as Johnslots.com and Newcasinos.com.
Reflecting on the quarter, GiG chief executive Richard Brown said that these “successful and impressive” steps will help the group pursue and achieve further growth in the longer term.
“The business continued positively across the delivery roadmap and it was commercially a successful quarter with the signing of additional seven new agreements,” Brown said. “We have an excited and packed roadmap for the coming year that will help underlie the future growth potential and margin expansion of the segment.
“I am also pleased to report that the focus of the segment has resulted in 91% of its operators revenues coming from locally regulated or soon to be regulated markets.”
Revenue in the three months to 31 March reached €28.4m (£25.0m/$31.5m), up 48.7% from €19.1m in the corresponding period in the previous year.
The GiG Media arm accounted for €18.4m of all revenue in Q1, a 30.5% increase on 2022, helped by the addition of AskGamblers part-way through the quarter. Some 65% of this was drawn from revenue share agreements, while 31% came from paid media, 24% listing fees and other services, and 11% cost per acquisition.
The group also noted that GiG Media referred 110,800 new first-time depositors (FTDs) to operators in Q1, up 65.4% on the previous year.
Turning to platform and sportsbook, revenue doubled from €5.0m in 2022 to €10.0m this year. This was despite a negative, year-on-year impact of €400,000 due to the expiration of premium fees from Betsson from 15 April 2022.
Of all revenue in this area, 91% came from locally regulated or soon-to-be regulated markets where there is a clear timeline or progress towards local regulation. Some 64% of operator revenue came from Europe, 13% North America, 14% South America and 9% Rest of World.
Turning to spending, cost of sales hiked 944.8% to €303,000 while marketing costs climbed 50.0% to €5.7m and other operating costs 24.4% to €10.7m. Total operating expenses were 33.3% higher at €16.4m.
Depreciation and amortisation costs increased by 58.3% to €5.7m, while after also including financial and other expenses, this left a pre-tax profit of €4.2m, up 147.1% year-on-year.
GiG paid €200,000 in tax, meaning net profit from continuing operations hit €4.0m, a rise of 150.0%, while after accounting for a €400,000 loss from discontinued operations, total net profit was €3.7m, up 236.4%. In addition, adjusted EBITDA increased 72.3% to €11.2m.
“The first quarter of 2023 had a multitude of successful and impressive steps forward for Gaming Innovation Group,” Brown said. “Many of which are contributing to create excitement within the business of further potential of the companies within the group.”
Brown also referenced the strategic review that launched in February, with the intention to distribute one of its subsidiaries, Innovation Labs, to shareholders. The distribution would effectively split GiG into two independent publicly listed companies.
“The quarter also saw the business begin the strategic review and spin off project successfully with strong progress in the early stages of the planning of what is a complex exercise,” Brown said. “We now move into a more executional period over the remainder of the year.
“GiG had a good start to the year with progress and consistent steps forward on our long-term value creation plan, and we early anticipate continuing to execute with a focus and discipline on our growth and margin expansion targets.”
As CEO, Jonker will oversee ongoing expansion plans to launch Blixx in new markets around the world, as well as efforts to improve customer experience and commercial operations.
High experienced Jonker joins the business having worked in the industry for a number of years, most recently as CEO of Hero Gaming between February 2022 and November 2022.
Prior to this, he was CEO and international manager director for Mr Green and William Hill International for two-and-a-half years, while he also had a spell as managing director for Betsson Group from October 2014 to March 2019.
Earlier in his career, Jonker also worked in other senior roles for media agency Initiative, production business Tapa Media Holding, digital start-up Icon & Co, entertainment giant Endemol an Duch-facing De Lotto.
“I’m thrilled to join Blixx Gaming and work alongside its talented team,” Jonker said. “I look forward to continuing the company’s success and contributing my experience to lead it into the next phase of growth.”
HappyHour.io managing partner and Blixx Gaming shareholder, Robin Reed, added: “The brands that Blixx Gaming operates have seen continued profitable growth and the business is now poised for rapid development with an experienced CEO like Patrick at the helm.
“With proven leadership across Tier-1 online gaming brands and a strong focus on commercial success, Patrick brings the drive and ability to deliver great things for Blixx. We are excited about the future of this business.”
The identity of the buyer was not disclosed, but it was confirmed that the deal was worth for over CA$5.0m (£2.9m/€3.3m/US$3.7m), more than double the $2.2m that FansUnite paid to acquire McBookie in March 2020.
Under the ownership of FansUnite, McBookie delivered three consecutive years of revenue growth, while gross win increased 451% and a turnover jumped 305%.
Through McBookie, FansUnite held a remote gambling software licence and remote betting licence from the British Gambling Commission, enabling it to serve as a B2C operator and B2B technology provider in the British online gambling market.
Paul Petrie and Damian Walker led McBookie as directors while the business was owned by FansUnite and will continue to serve in these roles following the acquisition.
“This is a great deal and outcome for McBookie and for FansUnite,” FansUnite chief executive Scott Burton said “We began a path of streamlining and focusing our business in 2022.
“With the UK continuing to tighten regulations on gaming operations, we felt it was time for FansUnite to exit the B2C space. We will be able to focus more resources on the segments of our business that offer the highest growth potential with good margins, specifically the US marketplace and affiliate opportunities.
“This sale will strengthen FansUnite’s balance sheet as the company moves towards being cash flow positive. I want to thank Paul and Damian for their efforts while they were part of FansUnite and wish them well as they continue to grow the McBookie brand.”
The sale comes after FansUnite in March raised an additional CA$2.0m in funding from a non-brokered private placement featuring Tekkorp Capital.
Tekkorp, an investment business focused on the global digital gaming industry, agreed to acquire 13,750,000 units of the financing, securing more than half of the units available in the offering.
In the role, Uysal will oversee the Affinity’s finance organisation in both planning for and executing on growth initiatives across its casinos and digital and media platforms, including Daily Racing Form, DRF Bets and DRF Sports.
Uysal joins Affinity Interactive after a short spell as fractional CFO of Eide Bailly, prior to which she spent just under two years serving in a number of positions for the Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians.
Previously, Uysal was also director of finance and executive director of finance at Chumash Enterprises and a consultant for WinterWyman.
Between December 2022 and November 2014, Uysal served in a series of roles for Caesars Entertainment, including spells as director of finance, financial controller and financial accounting manager for Harrah’s New Orleans.
“Affinity Interactive is at the forefront of gaming innovation with a unique portfolio of technology, digital and media assets, and I look forward to joining the talented and hard-working team,” Uysal said.
Andrei Scrivens, who was appointed chief executive of Affinity Interactive in November last year, added: “Halise is an accomplished finance executive across the gaming and hospitality industries, and we are excited to welcome her to AI as our new CFO.
“Her track record of driving sustainable financial results while building high-performing, diverse teams will benefit all of AI’s businesses and help us execute on our strategic priorities.”
The appointment comes after Affinity Interactive in March appointed Scott Butera as chief executive of its Sports Information Group (SIG) arm and Brad Egnor as chief marketing officer for artificial intelligence (AI).
