Month: December 2023

Publishing its annual statistics, GambleAware said 6,645 people contacted the National Gambling Treatment Service (NGTS) during the reporting period. The gambling harm data covers the 12 months from 1 April 2022 to 31 March 2023.

Of those that got in contact, 5,621 people (85%) accessed treatment from the NGTS. The other 15% received support to address the impact of someone else’s gambling.

Some 37.9% of those who accessed treatment were in relation to online slots, with internet sports betting second on 15.6%. Fixed-odds gaming machines in bookmaker shops followed with 12.8%, while sports betting and gaming machines in bookmakers each accounted for 10.1%.

Overall, some 67.2% of consumers being treated did so for some form of online gambling. Bookmaker-related cases amounted to 36.0%, casino 8.9% and adult entertainment centres 5.4%. Other sources of less concern included pubs, bingo halls, family entertainment centres and private members clubs.

Most players seeking treatment aged under 45

Of those who contacted GambleAware and the NGTS, 75% were under the age of 75. The highest number were reported in the 25-29 and 30-34 age bands, accounting for 38% of all clients.

Some 69% of clients identified as being male. Of all players, 90% were from a white ethnic background, with 6% Asian or Asian British, 3% black or black British and 2% mixed race.

Most clients were employed (72%) while people living with long-term disabilities/illness and not in work accounted for 12%. Unemployed made up 9% of contacts, retired 2%, looking after family or home and not working 2% and students 1%.

GambleAware hails success of treatment programmes

The charity also highlighted the success of treatment in the period, with 64% completing their courses. This, however, was slightly lower than the past five-year average of 67%.

Some 88% of those who completed treatment reported an improvement in their behaviour. For those who completed treatment, the proportion experiencing “problem gambling” fell from 86% at the start of treatment to 13% after.

GambleAware said 28% dropped out of treatment before a scheduled endpoint, compared to 30% the previous year. The remainder of clients were referred to other services or discharged following assessment without receiving treatment.

Half of clients were seen within five days of contact, with this rising to 75% for a nine-day period.

“Today’s data clearly demonstrates the value of the prevention-focused approach applied through our network,” GambleAware chief commissioning and strategy officer, Anna Hargrave, said.

“It is a timely reminder of the importance of investing in early treatment – especially as recently reported figures from the Gambling Commission suggest prevalence of harmful gambling may be much larger than previously estimated.”

GambleAware urges caution over statutory levy

GambleAware used the publication of statistics to issue a reminder for caution over plans for a statutory levy. 

Announced in the government’s Gambling Act white paper recommendations, this would see a certain amount paid by operators to the Gambling Commission. This would be used to fund research, education and treatment (RET) for gambling harms.

A consultation will launch soon, but GambleAware is seeking reassurance that this will not leave third-sector services at risk of collapse.

“We welcome the government’s forthcoming statutory levy on gambling operators – it is a measure we have long called for to make sure that funding for vital research, treatment and prevention of gambling harms is both long-term and transparent,” GambleAware CEO Zoë Osmond said.

“However, the focus on specialist-led services means right now, hundreds of dedicated third sector support workers are deeply concerned about their future and the future of the communities they serve.

“There is an urgent need for reassurance from government that these essential services will be protected during and following the transition. We cannot lose the vast years of experience and expertise contained in the National Gambling Support Network and the wider third sector.”

“Tell us something in confidence” can be used to report a range of activities and issues to the Gambling Commission. These include match fixing and betting integrity, underage gambling, money laundering concerns, suspicious activity and unlicensed gambling or criminal activity.

Users can anonymously upload supporting information connected to their report such as photographs and documents. Additional information can be sent across via email or post.

There is also an option for users to share contact details should they wish to be contacted about the case.

Although billed as a one-stop service, the Commission says the new offering is primarily for signposting criminal and suspicious activity. Should consumers want to complain about a gambling business, they should do so via the existing complaint process.

The Commission added its confidential telephone service to anonymously report criminal or suspicious activity will continue to operate as usual.

“The tell us something in confidence service can be used to provide any information that people believe relates to criminal activity under the Gambling Act 2005 or any other information that people may think could be useful to the Commission from a regulatory perspective,” the Commission said.

Gambling Commission: Land-based gambling surge in 2022-23

The launch comes after the Commission last week published the latest statistics for Britain’s gambling market. Covering the period from April 2022 to March 2023, the data shows a rise in land-based gambling.

Gross gambling yield (GGY) grew 6.8% year-on-year to £15.10bn ($19.13bn/€17.61bn). This figure, accrued from all licensed remote and land-based gambling operators, was also up 6.6% on the last pre-lockdown period to March 2020.

GGY was up slightly more compared to the prior period when removing reported lotteries from the figures. The £10.9bn total was up 9.3% compared to 2021-22 and 7.6% compared to 2019-20.

Charity GambleAware also published annual figures for the National Gambling Treatment Service (NGTS). This showed people experiencing gambling-related harm from online slot games accounted for over a third of all contacts to support services in 2022-23.

Some 6,645 people contacted NGTS in the period. A total of 5,621 people (85%) accessed treatment from the NGTS, while the other 15% received support to address the impact of someone else’s gambling.

Of all contacts, 37.9% of those who accessed treatment were for online slots. Internet sports betting was second on 15.6% and fixed-odds gaming machines in bookmaker shops third at 12.8%. Sports betting and gaming machines in bookmakers each accounted for 10.1%.

When we first spoke with Morrison in August, he was adamant about ESPN Bet’s potential to be the best sportsbook on the market. At the time it had only been weeks since ESPN had clinched its $1.5bn (£1.18bn/€1.37bn) deal with Penn Entertainment, officially choosing the operator to manage the ESPN Bet sportsbook.

Just over three months later, ESPN Bet has burst onto the scene. With the launch being so highly anticipated, the best place to start is by establishing how it went.

“Really smooth,” according to Morrison. “We’re thrilled. Everything is working very well. Some of the early reviews we’ve seen are really good. Teams are energised and excited on both sides.”

The whirlwind saw ESPN Bet hit 17 US states on 14 November, which Morrison praises as “above expectations”.

“We moved pretty fast,” he explains. “We reached the agreement in August and three months later, we’re in the market with a new sportsbook, a new brand, a new experience for fans. A lot’s happened fairly quickly.”

With the launch now behind him, Morrison admits the mammoth opportunity presented here is not taken lightly. “As many famous people have said, pressure is a privilege. We absolutely feel that here.”

Will ESPN buckle under pressure?

It’s no overestimation to call ESPN Bet sports betting’s biggest launch. So, it’s fair to assume there’s a lot riding on its success.

“We’re surely in a position where we want to be very successful here,” Morrison asserts. “We are, by our natures, competitive and excited on high levels of achievement.

“You have a lot of what we’ll call Type-A personalities on both sides and we desire to be successful here.”

ESPN’s presence in the sports betting market stands out for more reasons than one. To no one’s surprise, ESPN Bet will rely on the existing trust in its brand – a household name trusted by millions.

“From our perspective, there’s great intention to be successful here,” Morrison continues. “And to get this right, we’re leaning into our brand, which is significant. There’s a huge amount of trust built up in that brand.”

On the operator side of things, Penn is also managing all market access and all negotiations for ESPN Bet. A responsible gaming initiative between ESPN and Penn was announced a few weeks ago, with Morrison revealing “there’s a lot of work involved that we’re going to be doing there. There’ll be a separate campaign attached to that.”

One of a kind

For ESPN Bet to continue to succeed, ESPN and Penn will make it a priority to take feedback aboard.

“We’re going to take a lot of feedback,” he explains. “We’re going to get a lot of feedback from our own organisation, from the marketplace, from lead partners, from fans, from people in the industry.

“All that feedback is incredibly important to us. We want to be responsive to that, and I think that is going to be a big part of how you see this evolve too.”

With so many other sportsbooks out there, however, what makes ESPN Bet the best choice for bettors? For Morrison, it’s simple – “It’s the first sportsbook designed for sports fans.

“We’re really looking for this experience to be best-in-class for sports fans.”

Morrison is tight-lipped on what exactly is upcoming on ESPN Bet for fans, as Penn is operating that side of the deal. But he takes pride in ESPN Bet’s integration efforts, which he says will create a one-of-a-kind experience for bettors.

“What I can say is that there are things we’re doing from an integration perspective on our platform; we’re bringing in assets to drive activity, drive promotion, integration with talent,” he explains. “The level of commitment and seamlessness we’re seeking between the ESPN platform and ESPN Bet platform is market leading.

“There isn’t any other scenario where you have a market-leading sports platform, where you get all your news and information and coverage of us, or watch live games and game content and then have that high-level connectivity with a sports betting app. Not in the US, right?”

A seamless transition

Even for the biggest sports media brand in the US, entering the sphere against the likes of DraftKings, FanDuel and BetMGM is a daunting prospect. So, what makes Morrison so sure of ESPN Bet’s continued success?

It’s what’s yet to come, he says. Together, ESPN and Penn will continue to build upon the capabilities within ESPN Bet.

“There are a lot of things in development that haven’t been announced yet,” he concedes. “That will prove that connectivity, that seamlessness. I think if we’re doing this well, it will be intuitive to fans.”

Among what’s to come is activity tracking and the ability to opt out. “All of this is in development,” Morrison assures.

As for the heart of the product, Morrison comes back to the unique attraction of ESPN Bet – what it presents for sports fans, not solely what it can offer sports bettors.

“As I’ve said before, we’re announcing this with sports fans in mind, not just sports bettors,” he says. “And I think that’s important.”

Based in New York, Bombassei will report directly to Sportradar CFO Gerard Griffin. He will be responsible relationships with the global investment community and have oversight of corporate finance.

He joins just over a year after becoming CFO at SciPlay, having taken on the role in October 2022. Prior to this, Bombassei was senior vice president of investor relations at Light and Wonder. 

Before entering the gambling space, Bombassei spent over 27 years at mass media business Viacom. This included spells as senior vice-president of investor relations and treasurer and senior vice-president of investor relations.

In addition, Bombassei worked as a consultant for the media and entertainment group at Ernst & Young’s audit practice.

“We are pleased to welcome Jim to the Sportradar team,” Griffin said. “He is a talented and respected finance executive, with a wealth of investor relations experience and a track record of success. 

“Jim will be a great asset as we continue to communicate our vision and strategy to the market and our investor community.”

Operating profit down 63.8% at Sportradar in Q3

The appointment comes after Sportradar published its Q3 results last month, revealing a 63.8% drop in operating profit.

This came despite overall revenue from continuing operations rising 12.4% to €201.0m in Q3. Sportradar saw growth across all segments, particularly in its Rest of World Betting AV segment, where revenue grew 15.0% to €38.0m.

RoW Betting revenue brought in €112.1m in revenue, up 11.1%, while US revenue also increased by 11.1% to €35.0m. Revenue from all other segments crept up to €15.7m.

Sportradar CEO Carsten Koerl was upbeat on the Q3 results, saying the figures suggest it will deliver growth in the full year.

Attorney General Ashley Moody claimed the petition brought by pari-mutuel betting operator West Flagler Associates is “unjustifiable”. The submission defended the state’s gambling compact between the Florida authorities and the Seminole Tribe, which was signed in 2021.

Last month, the Seminole tribe, which has the exclusive right to offer gambling in Florida, re-launched its Hard Rock Bet service in the state.

Among the reasons Moody puts forward for the dismissal is the more than two years West Flagler took to submit its petition, following the signing of the gambling compact. Moody also argues that West Flagler’s petition for writ of quo warranto fails to meet legal standards.

Finally, Moody argues the petition is incorrect to claim sports betting is “casino gambling” as defined in the Florida Constitution.

“For all these reasons, the petition should be dismissed or denied,” Moody writes in his submission to the Florida Supreme Court.

West Flagler fails to stop Florida betting

West Flagler has already seen petitions fail in the US District Court for the Northern District of Florida and the US District Court for the District of Columbia. Last month, the Florida Supreme Court rejected West Flagler’s motion to suspend Hard Rock Bet and its online sports betting offering until a final ruling is handed down.

The service will be expanded to sports betting, roulette and craps at all six of its casinos across the state this week. A star-studded party will mark the launch at Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Hollywood, with guests including Jon Bon Jovi, Mike Tyson and Sofia Vergara.

“The Seminole Tribe of Florida is proud to point to a new era in Florida gaming with the unveiling of our new casino games,” said Seminole chairman Marcellus Osceola Jr. “With the addition of craps, roulette and sports betting, we now offer a full complement of casino games and we join the ranks of leading casinos around the world.”

Florida stand-off: how did we get here?

The Attorney General’s submission marks the latest development in a case that has been rumbling on for two years.

Hard Rock Bet launched in 2021 after the DeSantis signed off on a gaming compact. This allowed the tribe to offer sports betting exclusively in Florida.

However, this was abruptly halted in December 2021 when the District of Columbia ruled the compact violated the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (IGRA). West Flagler and Bonita-Fort Myers had questioned whether offering sports betting through tribal-based servers was the same as betting on tribal land.

Skipping to August this year, West Flagler began to ramp up its legal challenges. First, it filed a rehearing petition for the case it lost against secretary of the interior Debra Haaland in June.

West Flagler in September then filed a legal challenge against DeSantis and the Florida state legislature. This challenged whether DeSantis and the legislature exceeded their respective authorities with the 2021 gaming compact approval.

However, doubt was cast over West Flagler’s efforts when  the US Supreme Court rejected West Flagler’s motion to stay in October.

This did not quite pave the way for the Seminoles to launch sports wagering unchallenged. However, it gave the tribe a window to launch in, with Hard Rock Bet going live a matter of weeks later.

Lottery.com, which has had something of a turbulent few years, posted revenue of $285,523 (£225,800/€261,703) in Q3. This was 59.9% down from the $711,477 reported in the three months to 30 September last year.

The business did not go into further detail about Q3 revenue performance on its Form 10-Q. However, it did set out information over spending, including the fact that cost of revenue was down 73.4% to $72,171.

Operating costs were also reduced 47.7% to $3.4m after savings across the board. The main outgoing for Lottery.com was depreciation and amortisation at $1.4m, with this falling 6.7% year-on-year.

Higher interest costs meant other expenses rocketed from $4,571 to $246,529. Coupled with operating costs this meant a pre-tax loss of $3.4m, compared to $6.1m in Q3 last year.

Lottery.com did not pay any tax but noted $34,256 in negative foreign currency translation impact. It also accounted for $72,277 in income from non-controlling interests. As such, net loss for Q3 hit $3.4m, an improvement on last year’s $6.0m.

Lottery.com slashes costs in year-to-date

Looking at the year-to-date, revenue in the nine months to 30 September dropped 74.2% to $1.6m. However, this also meant lower revenue costs of $203,001, down 95.1% from last year.

Operating expenses were also slashed by 78.0% to $11.9m in the period, while other costs were 91.4% lower at $346,166. This left Lottery.com with a pre-tax loss of $10.9m, which was in contrast to last year’s $56.4m loss.

No tax was due for the period but Lottery.com did note $182,607 in negative foreign currency translation. The business also noted $212,064 in income from non-controlling interests.

As such, net loss for the nine-month period was $10.8m, a significant improvement on last year’s $56.1m loss.

Concerns remain for Lottery.com

While the reduced net loss will offer some respite to Lottery.com, concerns remain over its future, with 2023 being another turbulent year for the business.

Key developments include Mark Gustavson being removed as CEO in July despite only taking on the role in February. Matthew McGahan took temporary charge of the business.

Gustavson had been appointed to replace Sohail Quraeshi. Incidentally, Quraeshi also only held the position for a few months, after he was named as permanent CEO in October of 2022 following an interim spell.

Meanwhile, Lottery.com in May revealed it faces “material weakness” over accounting non-compliance. This was in the face of an ongoing class action suit served in August 2022 on behalf of investors and former high-ranking employees.

The suit alleges that the business made “materially false or misleading statements”, as well as failing to disclose that the company lacked adequate internal accounting controls.

In addition, Lottery.com was served with a lawsuit by John Brier and Bin Tu, the founders of lottery data business TinBu, in March, alleging it failed to give them promised compensation after the company was acquired.

Some glimmers of hope?

However, amid this turbulence, there has been some good news for Lottery.com. In April, it announced the resumption of ticket sales to support affiliate partners through its Texas retail network.

During the first week of operations, Lottery.com said it sold more than seven million tickets for Texas lottery games. the business also signed an exclusive affiliate agreement with International Gaming Alliance (IGA) to supply Texas lottery tickets in the Dominican Republic.

More recently, Lottery.com regained compliance with Nasdaq Stock Market rules over a year after falling foul of regulations. In September, Nasdaq’s Listing Qualifications Department confirmed the broker evidenced compliance with minimum bid price requirements. 

Nasdaq Listing Rule 5450(a)(1) states ordinary shares cannot fall below $1.00 over the previous 30 consecutive business days. Nasdaq contacted Lottery.com in August last year to say that it had breached this rule.

Lottery.com shares closed yesterday (30 November) at a price of $1.75.

Revenue was ahead of $1.28bn in October 2022 and also 3.9% more than $1.27bn in Nevada in September this year. It was also the best October revenue total in the history of the state’s market.

Slots drew the lion’s share of revenue, generating $894.9m in revenue in October. This was 2.0% higher than in the same month last year.

Multi-denomination slots were the single highest revenue source with $527.8m for the month, up 16.3%. Incidentally, almost all other slot games reported a decline in revenue, including penny slots, with revenue dropping 11.7% to $271.9m

Baccarat growth continues in Nevada

Figures released by the Nevada Gaming Control Board showed table, counter and card game revenue edged up 4.2% to $420.3m. This was helped by ongoing growth within the baccarat segment, with revenue jumping 35.3% to $89.8m. 

Blackjack, also known as 21, was the main source of table, counter and card game revenue. However, revenue from these games slipped 12.6% year-on-year to $114.1m.

Craps revenue jumped 8.2% to $40.4m and roulette 4.2% to $34.5m. Ultimate Texas Hold’em revenue dipped 13.9% to $13.5m while three-card poker revenue also fell 5.6% to $10.0m in October. 

NFL betting drives sports pool revenue up 19.8%

Sports pool betting is also reported as part of the table, counter and card game segment in Nevada. Here, revenue was 19.8% up year-on-year at $61.1m.

Football betting accounted for $48.3m of sports pool revenue during October. Some $9.5m came from baseball betting, $3.2m basketball and $2.2m ice hockey. A further $1.5m was attributed to parlay cards and the remaining $3.5m other sports. 

The Nevada Gaming Control Board also noted $35.1m of all sports pool revenue in October came from mobile betting.

Las Vegas Strip revenue hits $714m in October

The Las Vegas Strip drew 54.3% of all gambling revenue in Nevada in October. This total was 1.2% ahead of the same month in 2022.

Strip slots revenue edged down 1.1% to $406.0m but table, counter and card game revenue climbed 4.4% to $308.5m. The latter included $89.8m in baccarat revenue and $87.3m from 21.

Sports pool revenue on the Strip jumped 27.9% to $26.9m, some $10.8m of which was from mobile betting.

Every so often, I see someone posting something personal on LinkedIn and, before long, some kind soul will point out to them that it’s not Facebook, as though they might have forgotten and just plain got it wrong.

It’s never me that points this out though, I was dragged up far better than that. But every time I see the responses explaining to people that it’s not Facebook, or The Platform Formerly Known As Twitter (can we just call it Twatter? It’s really slid downhill fast), or whatever, I die inside a little bit.

I’ve worked in several industries, sometimes on the consumer publishing side, sometimes on the business publishing side and of all the areas I’ve worked, none is even close to being as relationship-driven as the casino industry. Not one.

The gambling industry is one hundred per cent about the people. We all know who has dogs, who has kids; we know bits and bobs about each other, the smaller details that are the building blocks of simple social relationships. We see each other all over the world and it’s generally always very nice when we do, isn’t it?

There are people who have seen me wearing a bowl of nuts on my head and trying to smuggle an alabaster lampshade out of a bar down my trousers. These kinds of shared experiences are priceless and they are a huge part of doing business when you work in a hospitality-adjacent industry.

Our LinkedIn should be like Facebook, with a couple of caveats. Politics is really rather tricky and tends to angry up the blood; I know plenty of people whose politics flat-out oppose mine, but luckily I’m from a generation where I can disagree with you and still really like you.

Bringing it all together

But I think on LinkedIn we should mostly avoid politics. Mostly. And religion, of course. If there’s one thing just as divisive as politics, it’s probably religion.

I’m one of those crazy people that believes things work better, are more interesting and far less dull if they have some personality injected into them. Some actual character, a bit of opinion, something. Anything. Even if I don’t agree with it.

There is nothing more interesting to read or hear or see than passion and if we are not careful, we will end up in a sanitised version of social media which is likely to be very, very boring indeed.

Be personal, be passionate and make social media work for you. Why the hell not? Use it to grow a network, because one day that network will make finding a new role much easier. Or they will be able to offer some support when you need it. Don’t get me wrong, I truly loathe social media, but while I loathe it I recognise that sometimes it can be priceless.

A chap I know was extremely ill many years ago and Facebook interactions helped him keep his act together when he was basically incapacitated. When I was in the middle of a two-year drunk, I had late-night conversations with an old school friend who I hadn’t seen to talk to for some time. I later learned she was struggling to sleep because of cancer treatment and she died shortly after. So, social media can definitely be good, but you have to game it and make it work for you.

Working with the algorithm

I don’t use Facebook, haven’t for years, but I learned that I could disable my account so you can’t find me on the platform but I can still use Messenger. Perfect! I WIN.

With LinkedIn, it’s a good idea to figure out what works and what doesn’t, and LI has its own algorithm that plays by its own rules. Different platforms value different things, but luckily I just read an article about this….

There have been weeks where I have posted solely about The Gambling Files podcast; one week the post will hit well over 1,000 views, another only a few hundred. Other weeks, I might share an article with a few erudite words and a bit of swearing, only to see it sink without trace. It has always seemed like there is some arcane force behind what makes a post sing, but it turns out it’s pretty simple.

On LinkedIn posts are filtered into three categories: high quality, low quality and spam. That means, take your time. Make the post good and aim for the high-quality bucket rather than putting out 10 pieces of crap a day. A well-crafted post promotes greater interaction and this is vital because apparently the backend uses machine learning models to predict post engagement, particularly in the first hour.

Playing the game

That’s where some other bits come in – the relevance of the post to your connections is assessed based on keywords, hashtags and comments. Who knew that hashtags would still be useful in 2023? Consistency is also key – post well, and frequently, and you will see the metrics on your posts rise and rise.

And engage with the posts of others, wish people a happy birthday, remind them of the time they tried to smuggle that lampshade down their trousers, don’t just like or whatever, bang a comment in there that you’ve thought about.

Enriching the environment is good for your own posts ultimately too and you will benefit from increased engagement because you’re the person that posted a comment and… you get the idea with that.

All of this applies to your business page as well as your personal, so use it for both. Go on, don’t be shy. But combine gaming the algorithm with a bit of passion and personality and you’ll have the best of both worlds – and LinkedIn will be better for it. Actually, we all will be.

Online sports betting operators, as well as associated sports betting suppliers and providers, can now submit applications. The North Carolina State Lottery Commission will review any applications put forward.

The approval takes North Carolina a step closer to launching its legal sports betting market. Governor Roy Cooper signed House Bill 347 into law in June, officially legalising wagering.

However, a launch date for the market has not yet been confirmed. Commission chair Ripley Rand said this will depend on a number of factors, primarily how long the application process takes.

Rand said the Commission will need to review all applications and supporting information. It will also need to complete background checks and analyse all internal control details before it can set a launch date.

The Commission has 60 days to review each application and operators have 10 days to make any changes flagged. 

Commission still to finalise sports betting rules

The Commission will also need to complete its rulemaking. The state’s Sports Betting Committee instigated the rulemaking process on the proposed rules in October. It also opened a process to accept public comments on the rules, with this having closed on 1 November.

House Bill 347 set out that these rules must be finalised by 8 January next year. With the deadline to launch legal betting 14 June, exactly one year from when the bill passed.

“We know the betting public is very interested in knowing the day that bets can be made in North Carolina,” Rand said. “There are a number of factors in determining what that date will be and only then can we set a date. However, approving the application is a big step in moving the process forward.

“We hope applications will be filed with the Commission before 27 December and we can review that information. We then have until June 2024 to complete that process.”

Cari Boyce, chair of the Commission’s Sports Betting Committee, said the process will ensure a “fair and responsible” market in North Carolina. 

“It is too soon to tell when betting will start,” Boyce noted. “That said, we want to get a fair and responsible programme up and running as soon as possible before the June deadline. We also want to make sure we get as much right up front as possible.”

North Carolina: What do we know so far?

While the final set of sports betting rules are yet to be confirmed, several measures were set out in the bill.

These include bets being permitted across college sports, esports and other sports matches authorised by the Commission.

However, the first set of rules published in October also included a ban on pick’em-style daily fantasy sports (DFS) games.

Tax is set at 18% of each licence holder’s gross gaming revenue. This was previously 14% but was later amended in the Senate.

From this, $2m will be given annually to the Department of Health and Human Services, to fund treatment and education for gambling addiction.

There is also a stipulation whereby operators must have a written designation agreement with a sports team, league or venue in order to launch sports betting.

Harris made the comments at a capital markets event held yesterday (30 November).

Harris said the push to get Grosvenor to at least £7m in revenue per week would happen “largely through activity that is within our control”. However, he conceded the figure is “before the benefits of the Gambling Act review and before we make any material changes to the property estate”.

“All-in, we expect to push the business well above £7m per week in the medium term,” Harris said.

Revenue at Grosvenor venues was £84.2m in the company’s latest set of results, Q1 2023-24.

Continuing on the digital side, Harris said Rank sees an opportunity to grow digital revenue by 8%-12% in the next few years.

“The revenue growth, the operator leverage benefit and the focus on efficiency will also lead to improved margins,” Harris explained.

Harris also made a gutsy claim for Rank’s Mecca venues business. He said Rank believes it can take Mecca from a loss of £5.8m last year “to a double-digit operator profit in the medium term”.

Benefits of the white paper

Elsewhere, Harris offered insight into how Rank was addressing the proposals outlined in the Gambling Act review white paper. Published back in April, he said the company had been “working through the various consultations”.

“We believe the overall outcome for the group is positive and, in particular, allows us to significantly modernise the casino proposition in the UK,” he explained.

Rank’s “main benefit” of the white paper was the increase in the amount of gaming machines allowed in casinos. This was one of the proposals for land-based venues outlined in the white paper.

“The vast majority of our casinos will benefit and we expect to broadly double the number of gaming machines in the Grosvenor estate.”

He added that benefits will also be felt in Rank’s UK bingo operations, due to the 80:20 rule being revised. This will allow businesses to offer a 50:50 ratio of Category B and C/D gaming machines.

Harris also said that electronic payments in casinos and bingo venues would allow Rank to “make the customer journey much simpler”.

Jon Martin, chief operating officer at Rank, added that in the bingo market Rank currently holds “27% and 38% of the casino land-based market”.

He said Rank wishes to “leverage the strength” of its venues brands “and take full advantage of the cross-channel opportunities they provide”.

Potential disadvantages

The white paper’s proposals for maximum stake limits on online slots and the increase in statutory levy would hold disadvantages, Harris stipulated.

“The most obvious downside of the review for Rank is the impact from the maximum staking limits for online slots,” he continued.

“In addition, there will be some costs associated with the increase in the statutory levy. This will be from the blanket 0.1% we pay today, to 0.4% for Grosvenor casinos and 1% for the UK digital business, both by 2027.”

Wednesday (29 November), also the saw the GB Gambling Commission open the second round of consultations for the white paper’s proposals.

This round will consult on removing the current requirement to contribute to Research, Prevention and Treatment (RET). This will then be replaced with the levy.

Harris confirmed that Rank would begin the process of implementing the white paper’s measures “in the new year”. Optimising the number of gaming machines in Grosvenor venues will take priority, “once the secondary legislation comes into force”.

Rank Group’s pandemic fallout

Harris also gave insight into the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic on Rank’s performance, specifically in terms of bingo. He detailed that the group reduced the number of its clubs from 80 to 55 in the wake of the pandemic.

“Bingo is a liquidity game,” he continued. “The more visits you get, the better the prize pools you can offer and the more attractive that is for our visitors. However, the reverse is also true.

“Coming out of the pandemic, there was an oversupply of the number of clubs in the UK relative to the number of people playing bingo regularly. We recognised that and reduced the number of clubs in our estate from around 80 going into the pandemic, to 55 today.”

Harris explained that this was necessary to get Rank’s Mecca venues back to profitability.

Looking to growth in other markets, Enric Monton, Rank international managing director, said Rank is estimated to go live in Portugal before the end of its financial year.

“If everything goes as expected, we will be the first online bingo operator in Portugal. A country where the online market is still growing exceptionally fast,” Monton said.

As for Spain, one of its existing operating countries, Monton said Rank is comfortable in the market.

“We are well positioned and we still have room to grow in casino and sports and also through innovative products such as live bingo.”