Month: March 2024

Conall McSorley, head of international horse racing at SIS Ltd, discusses the 24/7 live content available for customers. Covering 20 international territories around the globe and delivering almost 40,000 horse races and 35,000 greyhound races a year, SIS are ready to fill in the gaps for highly engaging products.

In a short update on Q3, IG Group said revenue reached £240.1m (€281.2m/$307.6m). This was 0.3% more than £239.3m in the same period of the previous year.

During the three months to 29 February 2024, over-the-counter (OTC) derivatives generated the most revenue. Here, IG Group reported £176.9m in revenue, down 1.4% from £179.4m in 2023.

Revenue from exchange traded derivatives increased 2.7%. In addition, stock trading and investments revenue climbed 20.3% to £9.5m.

IG Group did not publish a full breakdown of its performance in Q3. However, it did reveal certain other figures for the period, including that total client assets reached a record £10.1bn by the end of the quarter.

It also referenced the performance of its Tastytrade financial network. Here, revenue was up 10.0% year-on-year to a new quarterly record of £49.4m, reflecting growth in both trading revenue and interest income.

Active clients were 0.7% lower at 266,800 but first trade increased by 3.5% to 18,000 for Q3. 

Year-to-date revenue down 6.0%

As to how Q3 impacted performance: in the year-to-date revenue for the nine months to the end of February, the total was down 6.0% to £712.7m. 

This was mainly due to a 12.1% fall in OTC derivatives revenue. In contrast, exchange traded derivatives revenue was up 13.0% to £153.4m and stock trading and investments revenue jumped 46.8% to £29.8m.

Breaking this down by portfolio, core market revenue slipped 10.1% to £545.8m. However, revenue in high potential markets increased 10.2% to £166.9m.

Picking out key data, IG Group said Tastytrade delivered another record performance, with revenue reaching £143.7m. This was 17.0% ahead of £122.8m in the previous year.

In addition, despite materially lower volatility, active clients only fell 3.7% at 323,100. First trades also fell 5.7% to 51,800.

IG Group will release its full-year results in July 2024. Total revenue and adjusted profit before tax are anticipated to be in line with expectations.

Double departure for IG Group

Alongside the results, IG Group also announced two senior members of staff will soon leave the company.

Rozes will remain as CFO and executive director until the end of July to ensure a smooth transition. 

He exits having also recently spent time as interim CEO after the departure of June Felix, who stepped down in September. Gormer Paddy Power Betfair chief executive Breon Corcoran was appointed its new CEO in December, moving into the role in January.

Meanwhile Noble is stepping down as COO and executive director with immediate effect. However, he will remain with the group for a short period to ensure an orderly transition. Noble joined IG in 2000 and has served on the board since 2018.

“We are grateful to Charlie and Jon for their service on the board and as part of the executive management team,” IG Group chairman Mike McTighe said. 

“Charlie has made an outstanding contribution to the company’s growth in his role as CFO and more recently as acting CEO. We thank Jon for his long service and the pivotal role he has played in positioning IG as the global market leader in our industry. 

“Charlie and Jon leave with our best wishes for the future.”

Genius’ free-to-play offering will include weekly and matchday games, tournament games and daily retention games. These are intended to meet purposes such as activating a sportsbook brand and delivering segmented daily player interaction.

Genius will also offer bespoke free-to-play solutions to meet operators’ objectives, including gamification strategy design, as well as custom game development.

Additionally, Genius is integrating its advertising solutions, helping operators to drive players from free-to-play games into their sportsbook. Genius will use advanced analytics and reporting in its advertising sector to assist operators in measuring paid media impact.

The provider’s launch aims to enable operators to boost customer acquisition and loyalty. Josh Linforth, Genius’ chief revenue officer, stated: “From encouraging users to register for an account to giving them a compelling reason to return and then converting them back to bet, our new suite of games provides betting operators with incredible value across the full player lifecycle.

“We work in partnership with 300+ betting operators and we’re excited to expand our partnerships through proven gamification solutions.”

New strategy for Genius after mixed FY2023

Genius’ move into the free-to-play vertical comes after it recently announced mixed 2023 financial year results.

The company increased its revenue by 21% over 2023. It reached $413.0m (£324.5m/€379.3m) for the year, beating Genius’ prior guidance of $391m.

The revenue rise was aided by improvements in two of Genius’ operating sectors. This was visible in the 31.1% rise in Genius’ Betting Technology, Content & Services segment, which was responsible for $274.2m of the total revenue.

Adjusted EBITDA also more than tripled, rocketing by 238.3% year-on-year to $53.3m. This again exceeded the initial guidance of $41m.

However, despite jumps in revenue and adjusted EBITDA, Genius still recorded a loss of $85.5m for the year. This was less than half of the $181.6m loss reported the year prior, though, with Genius lauding “improved underlying performance”.

Genius set to extend Premier League data deal

Earlier this week, Genius also announced it had been chosen as the successful bidder to extend its official betting data partnership with Football DataCo, which holds data rights to the English Premier League (EPL).

The move also covers the rights to data from the English Football League (EFL), containing the Championship, League One and League Two, as well as all leagues overseen by the Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL), including the Scottish Premiership.

The provider has now entered into an exclusive period of negotiation with DataCo in order to finalise the deal. The fresh deal would last until 2029 and see Genius Sports continue to distribute data from over 4,000 UK football fixtures per season.

Applications for direct licences under Curaçao’s current legislation – the National Ordinance on Offshore Games of Hazard (NOOGH) – will also not be available after 31 March.

All operators who wish to continue to operate in Curaçao’s market must register by this date.

The guidelines focus on registrations under the NOOGH, as opposed to the incoming National Ordinance for Games of Chance (LOK). The LOK is currently moving through Curaçao’s parliament. If all goes to plan, it will bring about a new era for gambling in Curaçao.

Once the LOK is in play, the Curaçao Gaming Authority (CGA) will become the jurisdiction’s regulator. All licences will then be issued under it.

What are the guidelines?

The GCB released the guidelines in a nine-page document issued yesterday (13 March), split into six parts. It details the exact licence application process and provides information on extra documents that must be submitted.

An application will be classed as submitted if it contains three complete forms: the online gaming application form; the personal history disclosure form; and the corporate and business information form.

If other documents – such as police conduct reports – are not submitted by 31 March and the operator’s application necessitates these, the applicant must show that measures have been taken to receive them.

Master licensors are responsible for securing the registrations of all their sub-licensees and related domains. Applications from operators that are not existing sublicensees or master licensees, however, can be submitted after the LOK is enacted. This includes after 31 March.

Issuing clear guidelines to operators could combat instances of misinformation. Curaçao’s minister of finance Javier Silvania spoke out against misinformation surrounding the LOK process in January. This was in response to incorrect reports that the LOK had been rejected by Curaçao’s parliament.

“… amid this entire process we have been all too aware of a significant amount of misinformation, confusion and accuracy and I strongly urge against the further propagation of unverified rumours or speculation,” said Silvania at the time.

“Full and accurate information can only be guaranteed when issued by either the ministry [of finance] itself or the Curaçao Gaming Control Board.”

Operators could risk operating illegally

At ICE London last month, Cedric Pietersz, managing director of the GCB explained the crossroad 31 March represents.

“Imagine that you have a sub-licence of a master licence holder, whose licence expires on 31 August,” Pietersz explained. “That means if you don’t apply and it’s 31 March, you can continue operating on your licence.”

“But after 31 August, which is the date of the expiration of your master licence, you will be operating illegally because you don’t have a sub-licence and you don’t have a licence from the Gaming Control Board.”

He emphasises that this is all related to when the LOK comes into force. For example, if the LOK is passed and signed in June, an operator that didn’t register before 31 March will become illegal from the date in June.

“Why? Because the law has passed and then the master licence agreement is not enforced anymore.”

LOK process continues to ramp up

The process of preparing for the LOK’s implementation began in September last year, when the GCB opened the application process through its online portal. The portal began accepting account registrations from 1 November.

Also in September, the GCB revealed that Hilary Stewart-Jones would join as an advisor to its board.

The following weeks saw Curaçao broadcast the benefits of the LOK. Silvania said that the LOK would provide a “safety net” against grey-listing by legitimising operations in the region. Curaçao had picked up a reputation for slack AML and KYC procedures, something the LOK aims to fix.

Silvania also confirmed the licence fees, and went on to assert the necessity of the LOK in front of the jurisdiction’s parliament last month.

The January figure was 51.6% ahead of $45.7m in the same month last year. It was also 4.8% clear of the previous Arizona monthly record of $66.1m in December.

Some $69.0m of this was attributed to online betting. A further $230,662 came from retail sportsbooks and $146,204 from limited event wagering (LEW) operators.

As for handle, players spent $706.4m betting on sports in January. This was 19.5% higher than last year and also 1.2% ahead of $706.4m in December 2023.

Online gross event wagering amounted to $698.0m, with retail betting at $6.3m. A further $2.01m was spent with LEW operators in January.

Some $23.2m in free bets and promotional credits were reported in January, almost all of which were online. When deducting these, adjusted gross revenue for the month reached $46.2m, up 59.3% year-on-year but 4.4% behind December’s $48.3m.

As for tax, this amounted to $4.6m. Almost all tax came from mobile betting, which is taxed at 10.0%, with just $18,164 and $11,696 from retail and LEW operators, respectively. Land-based operators pay tax at a rate of 8.0%.

FanDuel continues to lead in Arizona

Looking at individual operators, FanDuel remains the online market leader in Arizona with gross revenue of $31.2m from $228.2m in bets.

DraftKings and partner Crown Gaming again ranked second with $22.5m, despite having a larger online handle of $258.1m. BetMGM followed in third on $9.7m for the month off $84.7m in total wagers.

As for the retail market, DraftKings and Crown Gaming claimed top spot with gross revenue of $144,519 and a $3.3m handle.

FanDuel was second with $62,810 in revenue from $1.8m. BetMGM again placed third with revenue of $23,332 off $979,342.

As for LEW operators, Turf Paradise was the leader with $48,958 in revenue from $1.1m.

Originally reported in the Financial Times, Entain has hired Wall Street firm Moelis to advise on potential asset sales.

The news comes following its full-year 2023 net loss of £936.5m (€1.09bn/$1.19bn), announced on 7 March in its annual earnings report.

Entain is understandably keen to reduce its asset exposure given the cost of its extensive acquisition campaign. The STS acquisition in 2023, for example, incited a shareholder revolt from Eminence Capital at the time.

According to the Financial Times, those which are not directly integrated into the company’s platform will be given priority for sale. In total, these accounted for close to a third of net gaming revenues in the first half of last year.

If this is the case, those up for consideration will include the Netherlands-based BetCity, which was purchased for £398mn in 2023, as well as Ladbrokes Australia, the Baltic-facing Enlabs and Georgia’s CrystalBet.

The sale of the above brands will enable Entain to return its focus on core markets, including the UK, and the US with BetMGM, which it launched in partnership with MGM Resorts in 2018.

Risky position for Entain

2023 was a tough year for Entain, with its heavily pursued strategy of sports betting mergers and acquisitions leading to questions over the company’s future, ultimately costing chief executive Jette Nygaard-Andersen her job.

Despite an 11.1% rise in net gaming revenue, Entain’s HMRC settlement lead to a £936.5m net loss for the company.

Announced in November and finalised in December, the settlement set out that Entain must pay £585.0m. It will also make a charitable donation of £20.0m and contribute £10.0m to CPS and HMRC costs. All these costs were noted in its 2023 results, as were other, additional costs from across the business.

While the net loss made for grim reading, chairman Barry Gibson is upbeat about long-term growth prospects. Gibson said 2023 was a year of “necessary, but ultimately positive, transition” for Entain.

“We have significantly strengthened the quality of our revenue base, enhanced our board and delivered a resolution to a critical, historic, regulatory issue,” Gibson said. 

Entain’s reasons to be positive

As well as 2023 net revenue reaching £4.83bn, group revenue also climbed 11.0% to £4.77bn. Entain previously noted that revenue was higher across all core business segments.

Breaking down the 2023 figures and Entain says that, overall, the group performed in line with expectations. 

The UK remains its core market with £1.95bn of all revenue. Italy revenue hit £517.4m and Australia and New Zealand £515.1m. A further £1.44bn came from the rest of Europe and £339.9m the rest of world.

Such was growth in the online business that total customers for the segment jumped 23.0% year-on-year to a record high.

In its 2023 financial results published last month, Entain also referenced the performance of BetMGM, its joint venture with MGM Resorts International. 

BetMGM published its 2023 results in February, with these revealing that revenue in 2023 fell just short of $2.00bn. Entain holds a 50% share in the BetMGM business, with this contributing to the overall revenue figure for 2023.

As noted in BetMGM’s results last month, key highlights from 2023 include securing a 14.0% share in sports betting and igaming markets where BetMGM operates. The business also posted positive EBITDA for the first time in H2 of 2023.

However, there was something of a blip for Entain, with MGM choosing to roll out BetMGM in the UK without Entain. MGM instead partnered with LeoVegas for the launch, with the brand going live in August 2023.

The bill, SF 1949, has been through six Senate committees, and is now on its way to Senate Finance. Should it pass out of the Senate, the bill would follow a similar process in the House.

Minnesota’s legislature is set to adjourn on 20 May, and there is no crossover deadline. Lawmakers have travelled this path before, passing similar legislation in the House in previous sessions, only to have it stall in the Senate. A key issue is whether to give the state’s 11 tribes exclusivity for sports betting or include horse tracks. The current Senate version of the bill does include the tracks, which the Minnesota Indian Gaming Association opposes. That issue was not raised in the Taxes Committee, but is likely to come again in the future.

Governor Tim Walz has said previously that he will approve a legal sports betting bill.

Senator Aric Putnam offered the amendment that would raise the tax. The amendment also allows for operators to write off 100% of promotional play for the first two years, and then steps down the percentage of the writeoff by 25% for four years until it reaches 0%.

How funds from sports betting tax revenue would be spent is also addressed in the amendment, including earmarking 10% to be used for problem and responsible gambling initiatives and 5% of revenue to the state’s two racetracks. According to the text of the bill, 20% of tax revenue would go to tax relief for charitable foundations, 15% would go to Minnesota’s tourism commission to draw sports and entertainment to the state, 5% would go to the Minnesota High School League, and 45% would go to the general fund.

“We felt that the existing tax rate of 10% was insufficient,” bill sponsor Senator Matt Klein told the committee. “So we doubled that.”

Three other amendments failed

That amendment, A-104, was one of four proposed and the only one that passed. Senator Scott Dibble proposed amendments that would have changed how funds will be distributed and cut funding for the horse tracks, eliminated promotional writeoffs, and created a bid process for licences that included a minimum 40% tax rate.

Senator Steve Drazkowski was vocal about his concerns that increasing the tax rate on sports betting would only further burden consumers.

“This is taxpayers, the public paying for promotional activities for the industry to establish itself on this very addictive behaviour,” Drazkowski said. “No matter how you try to disguise it or hide it, the people who engage in this activity are paying the taxes. If the tax isn’t there, the fees would be lower.”

The committee passed the bill by voice vote.

Massachusetts consumers have lost two digital sports betting options in the last month, but could gain one more choice by the end of June.

BetMGM, Caesars Sportsbook, DraftKings, ESPN Bet, Fanatics Sportsbook and FanDuel are currently live in Massachusetts, while Betr and WynnBET recently shut down their platforms. Bally’s launched its igaming platform in Rhode Island, where it already has a monopoly on digital sports betting, on 5 March. That launch is significant in terms of next steps in Massachusetts, as the company told the MGC last year that it would prioritise that launch before turning its attention to the Bay State.

To go live, Bally’s has some regulatory steps to take, including equipment inspections and final approval of internal controls, but has not yet let the MGC know its specific plans. Band learned of the company’s intention to launch last week when he called the company seeking information about its Massachusetts plans following the go-live in Rhode Island.

Band said that he has reached out to to Bally’s multiple times since a December meeting to discuss launch plans, but has not heard back.

Massachusetts Gaming Commissioner Eileen O’Brien said it may be time to “move it forward and stop the offering, and sort of have them appear?” Brad Hill concurred, saying, “I think I am agreeing with Commissioner O’Brien. I think I’d like to be a little bit more strict and say, ‘No, you are having a meeting with us,’ and if it’s before the commission, then so be it. […] But I think we are at a point here where we need to move forward.”

New market added, Judd-Stein’s last meeting

The commission also approved adding betting on the UFL – a result of the XFL-USFL merger – to the bet menu. Fanatics Sportsbook and FanDuel requested the market be added.

Commission chair Cathy Judd-Stein led her final meeting, after announcing her retirement from public service in February. Judd-Stein has been the chair since January 2019.

“For me, public service has offered the rewarding opportunity to influence policy where key public and private interests intersect,” Judd-Stein said during the meeting. “My appointment to serve the MGC has been such a privilege as we’ve championed transformation policies on behalf of all Massachusetts residents, advancing a safe and sustainable gaming landscape.”

Gross gaming revenue (GGR) for Q1 was marginally ahead of €171.9m at Groupe Partouche in the previous year. The first-quarter period covers the three months to the end of January 2024.

Activities in the operator’s native France accounted for €153.8m of all GGR in Q1, with this stable year-on-year. Slots GGR increased 1.4% to €121.2m, although GGR from table games – both electronic and non-electronic – slipped 5.2% to €32.5m.

As for operations outside France, Groupe Partouche said GGR hit €19.4m, 7.3% higher than in Q1 of last year. It referenced operations in Switzerland in particular, with GGR from online activities in the country up 52.8%, although slot machine GGR slipped 7.5%.

Turnover and net gaming growth in Q1

Accompanying a rise in GGR was an increase in net gaming revenue. For the quarter, Groupe Partouche said net gaming revenue was 1.4% higher at €98.1m. This figure was calculated after taking off €75.0m in levies paid during Q1.

Turnover excluding net gaming revenue was 4.0% higher at €21.3m, while the operator also noted €700,000 in fidelity programme costs.

As for total consolidated turnover, this edged up 2.0% to €118.7m for Q1, with most of this coming from casino operations.

Casino turnover was 1.4% higher at €110.4m, although the most growth was from the hotels business, with turnover rising 19.4% to €6.2m. In contrast, other revenue declined 6.1% to €2.1m in Q1.

The growth follows a successful 2023 financial year for the group, during which GGR climbed 10.2% to €701.5m. Net gaming revenue for the year was up 9.0% to €332.9m and group turnover 9.0% to €423.8m.

Groupe Partouche seeks to grow hospitality business

While the operator did not disclose further financial figures at this time, it did announce details of a new partnership.

Groupe Partouche will now work with Julien Manival, owner of Group Bonne Compagnie, which operates seven venues across the Occitane region of France. The partnership will establish a new venture, Must Group, specialising in hospitality and entertainment.

“The objective is to offer to a wide audience a unique experience, merging culinary passion, innovation and entertainment in a modern and festive approach,” Groupe Partouche said.

Initial steps for the new venture include the acquisition of a restaurant in Paris, which will open early next year. In addition, the two companies will redevelop a beachfront restaurant in Cannes.

Total handle for February reached $408.7m (£319.6m/€374.0m). This was 14.7% ahead of $356.2m last year, but down 14.9% from $480.3m in Indiana in January this year.

While Super Bowl LVIII was the sporting highlight of the month, this did not carry over into betting activity. Of all the wagers placed, just $14.1m were specifically for American football.

Basketball was the single most popular sport, drawing $117.6m of bets, with baseball at just $2.1m. Parlay wagering amounted to $191.0m and betting on other sports totalled $83.6m.

As for revenue, this reached $38.0m in February. The monthly total was 37.2% higher than $27.7m in February 2023 but 29.0% behind January’s record $53.5m.

FanDuel retakes the lead in Indiana… just

Blue Chip Casino and FanDuel claimed the top spot in terms of revenue in February. In total, the partnership generated $13.8m in sports betting revenue from $126.5m.

DraftKings and Ameristar Casino, which led the Indiana market in January, were just behind with $13.6m in revenue. However, handle here was significantly higher at $153.5m for the month.

Other stand-out performances included the French Lick Resort, which benefited from the first full month of its new partnership with Bet365. Revenue reached $3.5m from a $30.7m handle.

Belterra Casino, another FanDuel partner, followed with revenue of $3.2m off $31.3m in total wagers.

Fanatics enters the fray

Bet365 is not the only newcomer to the Indiana market, with Fanatics Betting and Gaming (FBG) also launching its online sportsbook at the end of February.

Fanatics replaces the PointsBet brand in the state. Existing PointsBet customers in Indiana will automatically have their username, password, account balance, rewards points and responsible gaming settings migrated to the Fanatics Sportsbook.

FBG has been phasing out the PointsBet brand in states across the US after its acquisition of PointsBet US in August 2023. The brand has also since gone live in New York, taking its total state count to 15.