Category: News

Esports is a booming sector and one that has seen even higher levels of consumer interest during the pandemic. Yet despite a diversity of efforts, land-based casinos have failed to successfully embrace the vertical. Will a dynamically changing regulatory environment and the introduction of sports wagering give the sector another boost?

Among the areas up for discussion in this webinar will be:

• A critical review of casinos’ approaches to esports to date – why haven’t casinos adopted esports successfully?
• What role could brick and mortar entities play in the esports ecosystem?
  • Should esports be seen as an amenity or something more? A review of the models that would incorporate esports in the land-based environment
• Betting on esports – assessing its viability, regulatory future and prospects
• Professionalising esports – Nevada’s regulatory experience and efforts to create a professional body
• Ensuring integrity in esports betting

Watch past webinar recordings here.

SportCast offers various engagement tools, but has become best known for BetBuilder, which allows for players to bet on multiple markets within the same game, created in partnership with data supplier Genius in 2017. Scientific Games has noted that single-game multiples have grown rapidly across North America as legal betting has spread across the country.

“For sports fans, the ability to define the story of the game, bet on it and watch it live has become a thrilling way to engage in the action,” Keith O’Loughlin, executive vice president for Sports at Scientific Games, said. “SportCast’s technology and platforms will help us fuel the next wave of our data-driven, global sports expansion.

“The award-winning BetBuilder product is just the first of many innovative products that can be powered by the underlying platform for the benefit of our customers and we’re thrilled to be able to roll these out.”

Read the full story on iGB North America

The move is part of Novomatic’s ongoing restructuring of its global sales and production logistics division. All departments and areas related to the operation of the Novomatic’s arcades, as well as gaming equipment rental, will be brought under Komnacky’s new division.

Komnacky, who has been with Novomatic since 2014, was previously working in market analysis, strategy development and business development within the company. Throughout his tenure he has played key roles in market entries and company takeovers, as well as acting as managing director for two company subsidiaries.

Novomatic board member Ryszard Presch said: “The clear focus of this restructuring is the creation of a bundled, cross-divisional unit that takes on the support, control and coordination between the headquarters and the international operating subsidiaries. 

“With Thomas Komnacky, an experienced Novomatic manager is taking over the management of this central area, who not only knows the group very well, but has also worked closely with the national companies.”

Komnacky added: “My goal is to make a significant contribution to increasing overall company performance through even closer networking with the subsidiaries as well as the targeted guidance and support from the headquarters.”

April’s handle was down 16.3% on March’s figure of $205.9m, which was the second highest total wagering figure recorded in the state after January.

Total betting handle in the state now stands at $1.08bn since the market launched in November, overseen by the Tennessee Education Lottery.

Read the full story on iGB North America.

Under the agreement, FanDuel’s sportsbook odds will now appear in AP’s daily sports odds fixtures, game previews and other sports stories where odds are mentioned.

AP will retain editorial control of all content that is published with FanDuel odds.

FanDuel widgets will also be integrated across the sports pages of APNews.com, while select FanDuel content will be distributed across the AP wire.

“As sports betting becomes more commonplace, our customers are increasingly asking for this kind of information,” AP’s global director of text and new markets products, Barry Bedlan, said.

“It makes sense to work with one of the largest reputable sportsbooks in the US to provide a consistent, credible reference point for AP and its customers.”

Read the full story on iGB North America.

The report acts as a follow-up to the Gambling Harm – Time for Action report first published in 2020, in which peers proposed changes such as stake limits and a ban on gambling sports sponsorship. The new document – through research by Nera Economic Consulting – attempts to work out the economic impact of those reforms.

According to today’s report, the regulatory reforms proposed would see gaming industry profits reduced by up to £974m, but would see the money diverted to other sectors, which the report argues would boost the economy more than gambling spend.

BGC chief executive Michael Dugher said: “We welcome the government’s gambling review and we are confident that Ministers will make sensible decisions for the future that are based on serious evidence, rather than the fantasy figures contained in this report.

“The dream of anti-gambling prohibitionists has always been to somehow force people not to gamble or to gamble less, just because they don’t like betting. A minority of peers may look down their noses at the millions of working people who enjoy a bet, but the truth is that the overwhelming majority do so perfectly safely.

“And the idea that somehow restricting betting would create more jobs is economically daft and frankly for the birds.”

Other proposals in the report included a ban on gambling operators’ direct sponsorship in sports – which Dugher claims will only “drive people to the black market” – classifying loot boxes as gambling, and establishing a mandatory levy to fund research, education and treatment.

Although critical of the report, Dugher said the BGC remains open to change within the industry and said he hoped the document would lead to constructive reform.

“We 100 per cent committed to change and we hope that the White Paper will lead to a package of reforms that continue recent significant improvements in safer gambling.

“Furthermore, our members are spending £100m on research, education and treatment of problem gambling, as well as £10m on the Young People’s Gambling Harm Prevention programme.”

Subject to regulatory approval, the arrangement will allow SkillOnNet to launch the PlayOjo brand on its own proprietary software in the state.

SkillOnNet said it plans to establish a local headquarters in the US to support the roll-out and its future expansion plans in the country.

As part of this effort, SkillOnNet said its marketing, product development and technology teams will now focus on securing additional market access partnerships and igaming and media deals across the US.

“This is a milestone opportunity for SkillOnNet; we have seen the immense growth in New Jersey and very successful igaming launches in other US states,” SkillOnNet’s head of corporate development Maor Nutkevitch said.

Read the full story on iGB North America.

Colorado opened its legal sports betting market on May 1, 2020, with both online and retail wagering options available to players across the state.

During April, the final month of the first year of regulation, revenue amounted to $17.6m, down 13.7% from $20.4m in March and some way short of the $23.1m monthly record achieved in January.

Online wagering accounted for $17.4m of all gross gaming revenue in April, compared to just $186,291 from retail activities.

Turning to player spending in April and the state’s handle reached $244.4m, which was 18.8% lower than the $301.0m wagered in March and 25.2% behind the $326.9m monthly record set in January.

Some $241.9m was spent with online sportsbooks in April, while the remaining $2.5m was wagered at retail locations across the state.

Read the full story on iGB North America.

Revenue for the month was up from $262,393 in April 2020, though this was significantly impacted by the novel coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic.

State-wide measures meant all retail sportsbooks were closed in April last year, while almost all sports events around the world were cancelled or postponed due to Covid-19 restrictions, thus severely limiting betting options for consumers.

However, despite the huge year-on-year rise, the April total represented a 23.3% drop on the $4.3m posted in March of this year.

Some $2.3m of all revenue generated in April was attributed to mobile sports betting, while the remaining $1.0m came from retail sportsbooks.

Turning to handle and while this jumped 1,129.0% year-on-year to $46.7m in April, this was down 16.3% from $55.8m in March and the lowest monthly total since November 2020.

Read the full story on iGB North America.

Bill C-218, also known as the Safe and Regulated Sports Betting Act, was passed by the House of Commons after its third reading in April, and had been waiting for Senate approval since.

If passed by the Committee, the bill will receive Royal Assent and become law, allowing operators to offer bets on individual sporting events, instead of only on multiples.

Read the full story on iGB North America.