August 2022

August 9, 2022

BetMGM becomes official partner of NFL in Canada

Entain-MGM joint venture BetMGM has agreed a deal that will make it an official sportsbook partner of the National Football League (NFL) in Canada.

The deal comes ahead of the first NFL season since the Canadian province of Ontario opened its regulated betting and igaming markets. BetMGM was one of the first operators to launch, receiving its licence when the market opened on 4 April.

“Expanding our partnership with the NFL into Canada sets the stage for amazing opportunities as we begin the upcoming football season,” said BetMGM chief executive Adam Greenblatt. “We’re already seeing great interest from our Ontario customers and this collaboration truly elevates the BetMGM experience.”

Read the full story on iGB North America

August 9, 2022

Kenyan government orders all operators to close for election day

Operators in Kenya have suspended their services today (9 August) in line with a directive that ordered them to cease activity to allow citizens to vote in the 2022 Kenyan general election.

The order was handed down by Kenya’s Betting Control and Licensing Board (BCLB).

It took force at midnight today, and will end at 5pm.

A number of operators released statements about the order. Sports betting brand SportPesa placed a statement on its website which read, “Thank you for interacting with SportPesa. Our services are currently unavailable in compliance with BCLC’s directive to suspend all gaming operations to enable you to vote.”

“Our services will resume immediately after 5pm on Tuesday 9th August 2022.”

Betsson-owned sportsbook and online casino operator Betsafe released a similar statement.

“Our gaming services will be suspended from Monday midnight until Tuesday 5:00pm,” it read.

“During this period, you will not be able to place bets or transact. We apologise for the inconven..

August 9, 2022

The killer quartet of sportsbook performance

As sportsbooks in North America move from acquisition to retention, sportsbook performance has become more important than ever. But what does performance actually mean? Russell Karp of DataArt outlines the four key factors.

The promise presented by sports betting in North America has created severe competition. Beyond big casino and media giants like Disney, we see retail companies – such as Fanatics – trying to actively take their place in the market. New York sportsbooks alone brought $425 million in gross revenue in the first four months of 2022.

However, in a rush to be the first to attain licences and launch, operators often neglect the quality of their platforms. Early in 2022, when thousands of bettors flooded the freshly opened sportsbooks in New York, we saw betting platforms that were glitchy: a direct result of poor development. Bettors experienced technical issues such as login errors, the inability to place a bet or cash out, and more.

For example, Caesars faced a mas..

August 8, 2022

Influencer Jake Paul and Simplebet co-founder raise $50m for micro-betting site

Simplebet co-founder Joey Levy and social media personality Jake Paul have launched Betr, a new micro-betting company, with $50m in funding.

Levy will act as the company’s CEO while Paul takes the role of president. They are both named as co-founders.

Betr will allow customers to bet on smaller aspects of a game – including pitches and at-bats during baseball games, and plays and drives during football games. A Betr app is to be released in the coming weeks, which will be free-to-play initially, as the operator does not yet have any licences.

Read the full story on iGB North America.

August 8, 2022

Novibet makes progress towards launches in NJ, Mexico and Ontario

Novibet has announced three major milestones in North America, securing market access in New Jersey and Mexico, while also submitting a licence application in Ontario.

In New Jersey, the operator has secured market access through a partnership with Caesars Entertainment – which, as a land-based operator, can offer three online betting “skins”.

Under the agreement, Novibet will be able to offer its services via Caesars’ licence for ten years.

Novibet already has market access in the state of Pennsylvania, also for 10 years, and plans to launch in both sites next year.

Elsewhere, the operator also secured market access in Mexico through a partnership with Big Bola Casinos, a major land-based operator in the country. It plans to launch in the country before the end of this year.

Finally, the operator has submitted its licence application in the Canadian province of Ontario. If approved, it plans to launch in Ontario in the fourth quarter of this year.

“The expansion of our icasino ..

August 8, 2022

Massachusetts commissioners: legal betting is “going to take some time”

Massachusetts gaming commissioners have warned that the launch of legal sports betting in the state may take longer than expected, as they prepare to create rules for the vertical.

The state legislature passed a bill to permit sports betting last week, in the final hours of the year’s legislative session, ending months of deadlock after the House and Senate had each passed their own bills with major differences between the two.

Under this bill, any operator of a land-based casino or racetrack in the state may receive a licence, and there will be an additional 7 online-only licences. All of these will carry a $5m licence fee.

Betting on college sports will be permitted, with the exception of matches involving in-state teams. Online betting will be taxed at 20% and retail at 15%.

Read the full story on iGB North America

August 8, 2022

The house always wins

Risk seems inherent to sports betting, so suppliers promising to underwrite sports betting losses may seem like a unique approach. But interest is piqued among operators. iGB speaks to Richard Thorp, director at RPM Gaming and consultant for Atlas-IAC, and Sergei Efimenko, CEO of Atlas-IAC about their new no-risk sportsbook product.

The claim of a no-risk sportsbook – brought about by a collaboration between RPM Gaming and software provider Atlas-IAC – may raise some eyebrows: after all, sportsbooks are all about risk. But the concept can be explained rather simply.

“The idea is, if you are a casino operator, we will integrate as an iframe into your platform – but we will underwrite all the risk,” says Richard Thorp, director of RPM.

“So the simple pitch is: take the frame, plug it in, and we’ll run a sportsbook as another vertical kind of product.”

richard thorp, director, rpm gaming

In taking away the fear of losses resulting from bad trading, Thorp says the product has a clear ..

August 8, 2022

Oregon sports betting revenue and handle both up in July

Sports betting gross gaming revenue and handle in Oregon both increased year-on-year in July, according to the latest figures published by the Oregon Lottery.

Consumers in the state wagered $28.5m on sports during the month, up 60.0% from $18.2m in the corresponding month last year but 16.2% lower than $34.0m in June of this year.

Gross gaming revenue from sports betting reached $2.7m, which was 22.7% ahead of the $2.2m in July 2021 and also 8.0% up from $2.2m in June this year, despite the higher handle in the previous month.

All revenue was generated by DraftKings, with Scoreboard posting a small loss of $190 for the month. The Oregon Lottery’s Scoreboard online sportsbook has been phased out and replaced by DraftKings, but still pays out on bets placed before this process began, meaning small negative revenue totals are expected.

Baseball again proved the most popular sport among consumers, drawing $14.0m in total bets, leading to $1.7m in gross gaming revenue. All this activity..

August 8, 2022

Higher stakes drive July sports betting revenue growth in Iowa

An increase in consumer spending on sports wagering in Iowa led to a year-on-year rise in revenue in the US state during July.

Players bet $108.6m on sports in July, up by 22.2% from $88.9m in the same month last year but 11.3% lower than $122.4m in June of this year.

Of this total, $98.4m was spent betting on sports online, while $10.2m was wagered at retail sportsbooks across the state.

In terms of revenue, this increased by 57.7% year-on-year from $7.1m in July 2021 and was also 33.3% up from $8.4m in June this year despite the lower handle. Online sports betting generated $10.1m in revenue and retail $1.1m.

Breaking the monthly performance down by individual operators, Diamond Jo in Dubuque, which has a FanDuel sportsbook, was the clear leader with $2.6m in revenue from a $26.6m handle.

Wild Rose in Jefferson, which operates in partnership with DraftKings, placed second with $1.1m in revenue and a $12.5m handle, while the Grand Falls Casino Resort and Betfred was third with $1..

August 8, 2022

NY online betting handle drops below $1bn for first time in July

New York’s online sports betting handle fell to an all-time low in July, falling below $1bn (£827.6m/€982.4m) for the first time since the US state opened its regulated market in January this year.

Players spent a total of $800.8m wagering on sports during the month, down 23.8% from $1.05bn in June, which was incidentally also the state’s previous lowest monthly amount.

Gross gaming revenue from mobile sports betting climbed marginally by 1.2% from $72.4m to $73.3m, making July the second-lowest month for revenue on record.

In terms of individual operators, Flutter Entertainment’s FanDuel Group retained top spot, posting $39.0m in revenue from $347.7m in players bets for the month.

DraftKings followed in second with $15.8m in revenue from a $213.5m handle, the Caesars Sportsbook with $8.7m and a $118.2m handle.

BetMGM generated $6.3m in revenue and processed $73.2m in total wagers during July, while PointsBet posted $1.7m in revenue and a $16.5m handle. Rush Steet Interactive was ..

August 5, 2022

RSI still on track for long-term earnings goals despite higher Q2 losses

Rush Street Interactive (RSI) said it still expects to achieve its longer-term earnings targets despite posting an increased net loss and negative adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) during the second quarter and first half.

Speaking after the business published its results for the two operating periods, RSI’s chief executive Richard Schwartz said that the operator continues to move towards becoming profitable.

Schwartz said RSI experienced profit across six of its markets during the second quarter of its 2022 financial year, with the states of New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Illinois and Michigan, along with Colombia in South America, being profitable in the quarter. In addition, West Virginia also turned profitable after only four full quarters of operation in the state.

“We are continuing to build a global business,” Schwartz said “With the recent launches in Ontario in Canada and Mexico, we are now live in a total of four countries. This give..

August 5, 2022

FuboTV gaming business under strategic review with negative revenue

Streaming provider FuboTV will implement a strategic review of its betting arm, after determining that it could not operate the business alone in the current economic environment.

Fubo chief executive David Gandler said that the business was determined to ensure that its betting product – created when it acquired Vigtory – would be fully integrated with its streaming service. However, he said it could not achieve this by building its own technology.

As a result, it has initiated a strategic review of the wagering business.

“We continue to believe that an integrated wagering platform, offering both live video and a sportsbook, will result in the best viewing and gaming experience for consumers,” Gandler said. “However, as we have evaluated how best to scale these capabilities in today’s market, we have concluded that we will no longer pursue this opportunity on our own.

“Accordingly, our interactive wagering business is under strategic review. We are in internal and external discu..

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Monthly Archives: August 2022