January 2024

January 24, 2024

Road to ICE 2024: Entain’s sports betting acquisitions spark trouble

On the road to ICE, iGB will prep you for the biggest show of 2024 with this new series covering the latest developments since 2023's show.

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.

Entain acquired Polish sportsbook operator STS Holding in August, before also finalising its purchase of Angstrom Sports in October. While those two deals were outlined as particularly beneficial by Nygaard-Andersen, she was out of a job before the full potential of the moves could be reached.

Nygaard-Andersen, who had led Entain since January 2021, resigned in December amid growing pressure, in part down to her use of the company plane, but largely because of the several expensive acquisitions made under her tenure.

Nygaard-Andersen’s exit was another sign of the waning confidence in Entain, which manifested itself a..

January 24, 2024

Underdog partners with McConnell Golf for North Carolina sports betting

Underdog Sports has partnered with McConnell Golf to support its application for a sports betting licence in North Carolina.

The deal states Underdog will host, manage, operate and support online gambling services with McConnell Golf-operated Sedgefield Country Club. Located in Greensboro, North Carolina, the venue hosts the PGA Tour’s Wyndham Championship.

Underdog said the deal is part of its licence application. Operators seeking approval to run sports betting in the state must partner with a sports team, league or venue within North Carolina.

Traditionally focused on daily fantasy sports, Underdog has recently expanded into sports betting. However, the operator is yet to launch wagering, despite having secured a sports betting licence in Ohio in late 2022.

underdog announced $35.0m in funding for sports betting n 2022

“We’ve spent the last four years building our own technology so we can give sports fans in America new and different ways to enjoy the sports they love,” Underdo..

January 23, 2024

Betr secures market access deals in Colorado, Pennsylvania and Kentucky

Microbetting operator Betr has secured market access deals in Colorado, Pennsylvania and Kentucky and has outlined its expansion plans for 2024.

Betr has agreed deals for online sportsbook and casino in Pennsylvania and for online sportsbook in Colorado and Kentucky.

In Pennsylvania, Betr’s agreement is with the Cordish Gaming Group, which is the gaming division of The Cordish Companies. This is where Betr will debut its Betr Casino product, pending regulatory approval.

Cordish Gaming Group operates resorts in Pennsylvania, Maryland and Louisiana.

Betr has agreed to a market access agreement in Pennsylvania with Cordish Gaming Group

Rob Norton, president of Cordish Gaming Group said Betr Casino will add to its existing online casino portfolio.

“We are very excited to partner with Betr on the launch of their first online casino,” said Norton.“Betr Casino will make a winning addition to the gaming options available to Pennsylvania players, which includes two of our own successful ..

January 23, 2024

Fanatics launches sportsbook and online casino in Pennsylvania

Fanatics Betting and Gaming (FBG) has launched its sportsbook and online casino in Pennsylvania, the operator announced on Monday (23 January).

Fanatics Sportsbook and Casino is undergoing a two-day soft launch in Pennsylvania, with supervision from the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board. However, there will be no restrictions on sign-ups or playtime for customers.

The Fanatics Sportsbook and Casino will be available for those living in and visiting Pennsylvania. It marks the 11th US state in which FBG’s sportsbook is available, while it’s the second for the casino element after West Virginia.

Having been acquired by FBG in August 2023, PointsBet customers were able to migrate their accounts onto the Fanatics Sportsbook app, although only on the day of release.

Headquartered in New York, FBG claims it’s “disrupting the sports betting industry” thanks to its FanCash loyalty scheme, as well as its personalisation and live streaming features.

For casino, meanwhile, FBG highlighted its..

January 23, 2024

Louisiana sets sports betting handle and revenue records in December

Louisiana posted record sports betting handle for the third consecutive month in December, while the Pelican State also reported record monthly revenue.

Players in Louisiana wagered $377.0m (£296.2m/€346.1m) on sports during December. This surpassed November’s record of $356.6m by 5.7% and also beat December 2022 by 48.0%.

Online bets for the month amounted to $344.9m, while a further $32.1m was spent betting on sports at retail sportsbooks.

Revenue reaches record $55.8m in Louisiana

Turning to revenue, this also reached a new monthly high of $55.8m in December. This beat the existing Louisiana record of $43.3m set in October 2023 by 28.9%.

DECEMBER REVENUE BEAT OCTOBER 2023’S RECORD OF $43.4M BY 28.9%

The December figure was also 50.8% higher than $37.0m in the same month in 2022 and 187.6% ahead of $19.4m in November.

Revenue from online sports wagering in December amounted to $51.3m after promotional deductions. Retail revenue for the month reached $4.5m, again after deduct..

January 22, 2024

ITIA suspends another player over Belgian tennis match-fixing case

The International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) has suspended Tunisian player Anis Ghorbel for three years over corruption linked to the wider match-fixing case in Belgium.

Ghorbel was found guilty of four breaches of the Tennis Anti-Corruption Programme (TACP). The ITIA said this warranted the suspension and a $20,000 (£15,743/€18,365) fine.

The suspension runs from the date of the decision (4 January) to 3 January 2027.

The offences relate to the fixing of matches in 2016 and 2017. Ghorbel, who has a career-high world singles ranking of 479 in 2016, denies all charges.

Specific breaches of the TACP include two related to section D.2.a.i – failure to report a corrupt approach. The ITIA also noted a single breach of section D.1.b, facilitating betting on the outcome of a match, and section D.1.d of contriving the outcome or aspect of a match.

The suspension means Ghorbel cannot play in, coach at or attend tennis events authorised by ITIA members or national associations.

Charges..

January 22, 2024

ATG CEO Skarplöth calls for differentiated tax following 4% rise proposal

Hasse Lord Skarplöth, the chief executive of Aktiebolaget Trav och Galopp (ATG), has called for differentiated tax in response to the government announcing proposals to increase gambling tax by 4%.

In September, Sweden’s government (Regeringen) outlined plans to hike the gambling tax rate in the country from 18% to 22% of gross gaming revenue (GGR). If approved, the tax rise will come into effect in Sweden from 1 July 2024.

While Regeringen believes the move could bring in an additional SEK540.0m (£39.3m/€45.5m/$48.4m) in tax revenue each year, the proposals met with strong opposition from the industry, including the ATG.

In a blog, Skarplöth labelled Regeringen’s plans a “shock”, and called for taxes on horse and other sports betting to remain the same, while increasing those on igaming. Skarplöth cited examples of other European countries with differentiated gambling taxes as reasons for the Regeringen to rethink its proposals.

Skarplöth said: “It came as a shock, the proposal fo..

January 22, 2024

Michigan online gambling revenue hits record $2.30bn in 2023

Gross online sports betting and igaming revenue in Michigan hit $2.30bn (£1.81bn/€2.11bn) in 2023, the highest annual total since the Great Lakes State opened its legal market.

Revenue for 2023 was 18.3% higher than the $1.98bn generated in Michigan in 2022. It also far exceeds the $1.40bn from the first year of legal betting in 2021.

Reported figures include licensed commercial and tribal igaming operators in Michigan.

Breaking this down, $1.90bn of total revenue came from igaming and $420.4m gross sports betting receipts. Both of these figures were also new annual records, despite total annual sports betting handle remaining steady at $4.60bn.

After accounting for promotional deductions, adjusted gross receipts (AGR) from igaming and sports betting was $1.96bn. This was up 18.8% from the previous year’s total.

TOTAL revenue for 2023 was 18.3% higher than the $1.98bn generated in 2022

AGR from igaming amounted to $1.73bn, with adjusted gross sports betting receipts hitting $223..

January 19, 2024

Intralot extends contract with Morocco’s MDJS until 2025

Intralot has announced a two-year extension to its games operator contract with La Marocaine des Jeux et des Sports (MDJS).

The fresh deal is set to run out in December 2025. The agreement will see Intralot continue to operate MDJS’ lottery, while also offering sports betting and other games of chance.

Intralot has had a long-term partnership with MDJS, powering its offering since 2010. The Greek operator will continue to operate MDJS’ lottery games, which include Tifo and Chrono.

In March 2021, Intralot announced it had agreed to reduce the term of an eight-year deal with MDJS, signed in 2019, to end in December 2022.

However, despite MDJS launching a tender in January 2022 for a new supplier, a new one-year extension was agreed with Intralot in March 2022. This most recent extension, announced on Friday, prolongs the relationship between the pair.

Intralot at risk of not meeting 2024 bond obligations

In November 2023, Intralot announced a return to net profit for Q3. Gross gam..

January 19, 2024

Mississippi sports betting market shrinks in December

Sports betting revenue and handle in Mississippi both fell year-on-year in December, while the Magnolia State also reported a month-on-month decline.

Handle amounted to $48.9m (£38.6m/€44.9m), down 34.3% from $74.4m in Mississippi in December of 2022. This was also 21.6% lower than the $62.4m spent in November 2023.

monthly spend was 21.6% lower than november 2023

As for revenue, this reached $4.9m. While this was 56.6% lower than $11.3m in December of the previous year, it was not all bad news for the state.

The December total was some 58.1% ahead of November’s $3.1m haul.

Beach betting: Mississippi coastal casinos take $31.6m in bets

In terms of where players in Mississippi in December preferred to bet, coastal casinos remain the venue of choice.

For December, coastal casinos processed $31.6m in bets and posed $2.4m in revenue. Of all wagers placed here, $14.5m were on American football and $7.7m basketball, while $4.9m was spent on parlay bets.

Elsewhere, central casinos to..

January 19, 2024

Waterhouse VC: A year in review

In his first column of the year, Tom Waterhouse of Waterhouse VC looks back at the ups and downs of 2023 – and discusses what lies ahead in 2024.

While company valuations broadly increased in 2023, there was significant divergence across geographies and sectors. With the increase in interest rates globally, investors have grown more selective, preferring to invest in profitable businesses.

Waterhouse VC’s gross performance, as at 31 December 2023

Performance of various asset classes and sectors in 2023. Source: Topdown Charts, Refinitiv Datastream

In 2023, there were two stand out contributors to the fund’s +39.5% performance:

Project Tennis – a professional betting syndicate founded by Tom Dry focused on tennis. It was first discussed in December 2022 and invested in on 1 July 2023.Saintly – a crypto wagering operator and B2B platform. Position exited in August 2023.

Beating the house

We are very pleased with the operational performance of Tom Dry’s betting syndicate going into..

January 19, 2024

Oregon sets sports betting revenue and handle records in December

Players in Oregon spent a record $73.2m (£57.7m/€67.3m) betting on sports in December, while revenue in the Beaver State also hit an all-time high.

The December handle surpassed the previous record of $71.9m, set in October of 2023. It was also 38.1% higher than the $53.8m wagered in Oregon in December 2022.

American football was the biggest draw for bettors, attracting $23.1m in wagers. Basketball bets hit $16.5m, football $3.3m and ice hockey $2.0m.

As for bet type, $48.1m of total wagers were single bets, with the remaining $25.1m parlay wagers.

December revenue hits $9.7m

As for gross gaming revenue from betting, this amounted to $9.7m in December, another new record for Oregon.

The monthly figure beat the existing record of $8.5m in October 2023 by 14.1%. It is also up 70.2% from $5.7m in December 2022.

Breaking this down, $3.5m of revenue came from American football bets, $2.9m basketball and $605,891 football. Parlay bets generated $5.7m in revenue and single wagers $4.0..

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