Month: January 2024

Total handle for December amounted to $44.5m. This was 18.4% higher than the $37.6m spent in Maine during November, the state’s first month of legal betting.

Maine launched its regulated market on 3 November 2023, with December being the first full month of legal sports wagering.  

Bettors won $39.9m from betting in December. After discounting these winnings, $107,478 in federal excise and $132,376 worth of voided and cancelled bets, adjusted gross receipts of $4.4m were left. This was 4.4% lower than $4.6m in the opening month.

The State of Maine Gambling Control Unit added that legal betting generated $437,884 in tax. Both DraftKings and Caesars pay tax at a rate of 10% of adjusted gross receipts.

DraftKings the Maine player

So far, DraftKings has been the more successful of Maine’s two licensed operators. During December, it posted $4.1m in adjusted gross receipts from $35.4m in bets.

Maine players won $31.1m from betting with DraftKings, while the operator paid $85,129 in federal excise tax and $410,969 in other tax.

Turning to Caesars, the operator reported $269,154 in adjusted gross receipts off a handle of $9.1m.

Player winning for December amounted to $8.8m. Caesars also paid $22,349 in federal excise tax and a further $26,915 in other tax.

Tribal partnerships for DraftKings and Caesars

DraftKings operates in Maine via a partnership with the Passamaquoddy tribe. Caesars, meanwhile, works with three of the Wabanaki nations: the Houlton band of Maliseet Indians, Mi’kmaq nation and Penobscot nation.

Bill LD 585, which was signed by Governor Janet Mills in May 2022, permits both retail and online sports wagering. However, internet sports wagering can only be run by approved tribes in the state.

Tribes can apply for a licence to operate online betting. They may also partner one online operator each.

Gallagher took on the new role at 888 last month. He now oversees 888’s product vision, strategy and development for its global brands and business units.

Gallagher joins 888 after most recently serving as product director at Flutter from January 2021 and February 2023. This followed a five-year spell within Flutter’s Paddy Power Betfair business.

At Paddy Power Betfair, he spent time in several product leadership roles, including product director for gaming. 

This was his second stint at Paddy Power Betfair, the two of which were split by an 11-month spell as casino senior manager at Rational Group.

During his first stretch with Paddy Power Betfair, Gallagher was games product manager and casino operations manager.

Earlier in his career, he worked in marketing roles with Creative Labs and Mitsubishi Electric.

“I’m happy to share I’ve started a new position as chief product officer at 888,” Gallagher said in a LinkedIn post. “I am excited to work with (888 CEO) Per Widerström and his team to help shape and grow the iconic brands that we have.”

Widerström at the wheel

Widerström is also a relatively new addition to the 888, having taken over as CEO in October last year.

He was appointed to the role in July, taking over from Lord Mendelsohn. Since the removal of Itai Pazner in January, Mendelsohn had been running 888 as executive chair. Lord Mendelsohn has since returned to a non-executive position.

Widerström joined 888 after eight years as CEO of Central and Eastern European business Fortuna Entertainment Group. He stepped down from this role in 2022.

Prior to this, Widerström worked in executive roles for several high-profile brands such as Bwin.party and Gala Coral Interactive.

Revenue up 10% at 888 in Q3

Gallagher also joins 888 on the back of a successful Q3 for the group. In October, 888 said revenue for the quarter was 10% higher year-on-year at £405.0m (€471.1m/$516.3m) for the third quarter of its 2023 financial year.

888 said the main highlight was growth in its retail segment. Retail revenue increased 1%, driven by improved product offering through investment in self-service betting terminals and gaming cabinets. 

As for online, the UK and Ireland online business reported a 10% drop in revenue. This was due to the ongoing impact of safer gambling changes and refined marketing approach, as well as a lower-than-expected betting net win margin from sports results in September.

In terms of international operations, revenue fell 19% and average monthly actives were down by 2%. 

GMGI agreed to buy MeridianBet in January of 2023, in a deal worth approximately $300.0m (£235.1m/€273.8m). GMGI had been hoping to close the acquisition in H1 of 2023.

However, GMGI in July made several amendments to the deal, pushing the closing date back to Q4 of 2023. An up-front cash payment due by GMGI was also reduced.

In October, it was then revealed that ongoing talks between the two parties led to further amendments. The main change was an extension to the proposed closing date, pushing this back as far as Q1 2024. 

At the time, GMGI was hopeful that the deal could still complete before the end of 2023. While this did not happen, MeridianBet CEO Zoran Milosevic has now said it is likely to complete before the end of March.

“We look forward to the completion of the acquisition by Golden Matrix, now expected in the first quarter of 2024, and how the combined company will offer state-of-the-art B2B and B2C gaming platforms in multiple jurisdictions worldwide,” Milosevic said.

“Completion of this acquisition will drive long-term value for all our stakeholders. We will benefit from economies of scale and from both companies’ historical revenue and profit growth.”

Revenue up 25% at MeridianBet in 2023

Alongside the acquisition update, MeridianBet also revealed data about its performance in 2023. 

For the 2023 calendar year, MeridianBet said revenue was up approximately 25%. This was up from 24% in the previous year. Meanwhile, EBITDA was 10% higher year-on-year and net profit 6%. 

All this, MeridianBet said, was driven by “significant” new product offerings and continued expansion into regulated jurisdictions.

Key highlights in 2023 included the launch of new proprietary gaming platform Atlas in 40% of all markets. MeridianBet also rolled out seven new slot games during the year.

Elsewhere, MeridianBet launched partnerships with 36 new media outlets and integrations with six new online casino platforms. It also said it had taken steps to streamline registration and deposits to help improve user experience.

Brazil and South Africa among target markets for MeridianBet

As for geographic growth, MeridianBet moved into Kenya in 2023. This means it is now licensed and operating in 15 jurisdictions in Europe, Africa and South America. MeridianBet added that it expects to add a licence in South Africa before the end of Q1.

In addition, MeridianBet noted the expected impact of approved regulations in the Brazilian market. Brazil’s president, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, recently made regulation in the country official, ratifying a new regulatory framework for sports betting and igaming.

MeridianBet said that it has already established casino and sportsbook operations in Brazil. It added that it has made an expression of interest, in what is the first step in securing a Brazilian gaming licence.

“We are extremely pleased with our strong year-on-year operating results and continued expansion into new regulated markets,” Milosevic said. “We are especially excited about the recent legislation for online casino and sportsbook in Brazil one of the world’s largest gambling markets.”

Meet Elise, the Eclipse Witch, who survived betrayal and made a dark pact for power. Now, she’s on a quest for perfection, facing off against Lucy, the embodiment of the moon’s light, in the Moonlight Village.

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When symbols of five or more form part of a cluster, they are removed and any mystery boxes are revealed. Features are then awarded in a feature spin.

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Marchetti, who has previously held roles at Electronic Arts and Buffalo Studios, will join the L&W board on 15 January. He will then stand for re-election at the company’s annual meeting.

Since 2019, Marchetti had been a director of SciPlay Corporation. L&W completed the acquisition of SciPlay Corporation’s remaining shares back in October 2023. It purchased the 17% holding for over $420m (£329.8m/€383.8m).

Jamie Odell, executive chair of L&W, stated: “We are pleased to welcome Michael to the Light & Wonder Board as a new independent director.

“Michael has a wealth of mobile gaming experience and a strong financial background that will help us continue to maximise value for our shareholders.”

Marchetti said: “I’m excited to join the Light & Wonder Board at this time. Light & Wonder is operating from a position of strength and I look forward to applying my experience and passion for the business, along with my fellow directors, to deliver value to the shareholders of this great company.”

Light & Wonder: Q3 growth driven by record SciPlay performance

L&W’s record Q3 results were largely propelled by SciPlay continuing to display superb growth.

Its Q3 results showed a 128% rise in revenue to $731m, driven by record performances within the SciPlay and igaming businesses.

Division revenue climbed 14.6% to a record $196m, while igaming revenue increased 20.7% to an all-time high of $70m.

Operating costs were also lower which, coupled with revenue growth, meant net profit reached $75m. Consolidated adjusted EBITDA increased 21.7% to $286m in Q3.

Marchetti appointment the latest change at Light & Wonder

Marchetti’s appointment comes after Oliver Chow was named L&W’s permanent chief financial officer in December. This came after an interim spell in the role.

Chow took over the role on a temporary basis back in August 2023, after Connie James stepped down to pursue other opportunities.

His permanent appointment also saw him become an executive vice-president of L&W. He joined the company in October 2022 having spent five years with Aristocrat.

Earlier in his career, Chow also worked in finance roles with Universal Pictures, Deluxe Entertainment Services and JPMorgan & Chase.

Under the arrangement, GiG is providing its igaming platform and sportsbook to Betway in the country. 

Plans for the Portugal-facing deal were first announced back in April 2022. Betway secured licences for sports betting and igaming in the country in February 2020.

Betway becomes the second B2B partner to launch with GiG in Portugal. GoldenPark also went live in the country last year, utilising GiG’s player account manager and sportsbook.

“As part of our ambitious growth strategy for Portugal in 2024, this GiG platform will help play a role in expediting our objectives to elevate the sports betting experience for existing Betway customers in Portugal and appealing to new ones,” Betway CEO Anthony Werkman said.

“This agreement will also allow our teams to work in synergy to reach our shared goals and aspirations within the country.”

New leadership for new-look GiG

The deal is also the first under the new GiG stewardship of former SBTech and DraftKings executives, Richard Carter and Andrew Cochrane. The double appointment forms part of a restructure that will see the GiG business split.

GiG chose to pursue the move after launching a strategic review in February 2023. The split involves the GiG Media affiliate arm and Platform & Sportsbook divisions becoming separate entities.

The Media arm includes all GiG media offerings such as affiliate lead generation services. Platform & Sportsbook covers technical igaming platforms including Sportnco, which GiG acquired in April 2022, front-end development and other managed services.

Carter, formerly chief executive of SBTech, was appointed CEO of Platform & Sportsbook in August last year. Cochrane joined as chief business officer of the division in November.

Speaking about the new Portugal launch, Cochrane said the deal helps affirm GiG’s position in the B2B industry

“This is a very exciting time to be a part of GiG,” Cochrane said. “We continue to invest in our product and technology capabilities to underpin further tier-one client wins and provide existing clients with ever more compelling product features.”

GiG signs off on KaFe Rocks acquisition

The launch also comes after GiG last month completed its acquisition of affiliate group KaFe Rocks. The group operates a portfolio of more than 30 brands in over 20 markets including Time2Play and USCasinos.

The deal came one year after GiG also acquired AskGamblers. GiG said the deal bolsters the position of GiG Media in the online casino affiliation space, particularly in North America. 

GiG added that the acquisition will further accelerate the diversification of GiG Media’s business. 

LiveScore’s full-year period ended 31 March 2023. Its full-year report focused on operations within its Virgin Bet, LiveScore Bet and sports media business.

Gambling made up £108.0m of the total revenue, up by 57.3% compared to full-year 2022. The remaining revenue came from advertising, which totalled £21.6m. This was an increase of 17.7%.

In October 2023, LiveScore chief executive Sam Sadi detailed future plans for the group to iGB. He explained that LiveScore intends to be the number one sports media operator globally, as opposed to the number one betting operator.

Looking at revenue by location, LiveScore saw a majority of its revenue made in the UK and Ireland, totalling at £100.3m – up by 40.0%.

However, the largest jump in revenue was seen in its Rest of Europe division, which almost tripled year-on-year to £14.0m. The group’s Rest of World division made up the remaining £15.2m.

The number of LiveScore employees also shot up during the year, going from 416 in 2022 to 492 in 2024.

Loss diminishes slightly

Cost of sales for the year was £29.7m. This consists of the group’s gaming licences. After factoring this in, the gross profit was £99.9m, a yearly increase of 45.1%.

But it was LiveScore’s distribution costs and administrative expenses that drove the group into a loss for the year. Distribution costs – which mainly consist of marketing – totalled £83.7m for the year.

Meanwhile, administrative expenses grew by 28.6% to £77.8m, bringing the operating loss to £61.7m. However, this was still an £8.1m improvement on the operating loss recorded in 2022.

The share of profit in associate combined with interest receivable and similar income improved the loss by a further £334,577. However, this was wiped out by the £4.1m in interest repayable and similar expenses, resulting in a pre-tax loss of £65.5m.

The $88,883 taxation on the loss brought the total loss for the year to $65.4m, an improvement of 6.5% year-on-year as the group’s operating margin improved.

EBITDA improves and investments shoot up

EBITDA for the year came out at a loss of £50.4m, a 14.4% difference compared to the EBITDA loss of £58.9m in 2022.

LiveScore’s parent company Anzo Group Limited issued £38.6m in shares during September and October 2022. This was in lieu of repaying party loan balances. This share total is also enough to cover LiveScore’s remaining liabilities for the next 12 months.

In September 2023 – after the full-year period had ended – Anzo Group’s shareholders created a loan facility of £20.0m for LiveScore. This differs from how Anzo Group typically provides LiveScore liquidity. In December 2023, £10m of this loan facility was used.

LiveScore also noted that during the year, Ringier Sports Media Group AG made a £50m investment in the group.

Clarion Gaming has recruited award-winning international broadcaster and former Financial Times journalist Nadine Dereza to preview the ICE VOX programme of speakers and content taking place in February.

Fresh from presenting for CNBC, the world’s number one business and financial news network, Nadine joined Clarion’s global content director, Robin Harrison to discuss the world’s number one gaming conference ICE VOX in a special half-hour broadcast.

Nadine Dereza will be chairing the World Regulatory Briefing at ICE 2024, which comprises two days of informed debate among international policy makers, regulators and industry leaders.

Looking ahead to February’s event, she said: “The theme for ICE 2024 is all about MORE: MORE connections, MORE inspiration and MORE learning, and that theme is reflected in the content, and calibre of speakers across ICE.”

Register here to secure your prime seat for the World Regulatory Briefing or the International Casino Conference, one or more of our deep-dive workshops, (including our brand-new Esports Betting Conference), exclusive networking opportunities and so much MORE.