March 2024

March 7, 2024

IBIA report highlights role restrictions play in supporting unregulated market

A new report from the International Betting Integrity Association (IBIA) has highlighted the effect overly-restrictive regulation has on driving players offshore.

The IBIA study, The Availability of Sports Betting Products: An Economic and Integrity Analysis, was prepared by H2 Gambling Capital and developed in partnership with betting assoications in Brazil, Canada, Australia and the Netherlands. It used data from 12 markets where sports betting is regulated.

The research analysed the effects that restrictive and liberal regulated regimes have on player habits. These centred around consumer protection, regulatory oversight, sports integrity and taxation.

The report found a strong correlation between the availability of sports betting products and the proportion of consumers wagering with onshore regulated operators. In markets where players faced few restrictions, the channelisation towards the legal market stood at 90% or more.

Rather than preventing consumers from betting, Kh..

March 7, 2024

Montenegro’s electronic payments ban raises industry concerns

Amendments to Montenegro’s gambling laws that would ban the use of electronic payment methods are leading to concerns among the country’s gambling sector, with Montenegro Bet representative Jovana Klisić saying the industry is “at a crossroads”.

The amendment to Article 68f of Montenegro’s gambling law will see a variety of electronic payment methods, such as ebanking and mobile payments, disabled when it comes to depositing into betting accounts.

The changes now mean bettors in Montenegro have two options should they wish to bet online. Players can enter a betting shop and place a monetary cash wager which then transfers online funds into their accounts. Alternatively, players can pay via card, but only on a terminal in a betting shop.

The provisions have caused agitation in the Montenegrin industry, with gambling companies concerned over the amendment’s impact on business. A petition calling to halt the change received 25,000 signatures, around 8% of the country’s electorate, in j..

March 7, 2024

ICE and iGB Affiliate reveal record attendance figures in 2024

Clarion Gaming has announced that both its ICE 2024 and iGB Affiliate 2024 last month set new records for attendance, with the events drawing visitors from 164 countries around the world.

ICE took place at the ExCeL London from 6-8 February and iGB Affiliate 6-9 February at the same venue. Together, the 2024 events drew a record 52,345 unique attendees in total.

Unique attendance at ICE reached an all-time high of 45,050, up 12% from the previous year. Meanwhile, iGB Affiliate attracted 7,295 unique visitors, representing a new record and a 27% increase on 2023’s total.

Visitation figures, which measure the number of person days attendees spent at the ExCeL, topped 100,000 for the first time in the exhibition’s history.

The events recorded visitors from 164 nations worldwide. Excluding host country the UK, Malta had the most visitors at 3,364. The US followed on 1,913 and Bulgaria with 1,659.

“February’s historic editions of ICE and iGB Affiliate were what I would describe as ‘I w..

March 7, 2024

Austrac launches investigation into Bet365 over potential AML failings

The Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre (Austrac) has commenced an investigation into Bet365 over potential breaches of anti-money laundering (AML) and counter-terrorism financing (CTF) laws.

Austrac ordered an audit of Bet365 in 2022, when it assessed its compliance with the AML/CTF Act 2006. The consideration of that audit has led Austrac to deem further investigation into Bet365’s affairs as necessary.

Austrac reserves the right to take action where non-compliance is found. The government-run financial intelligence agency has fines and other regulatory powers at its disposal.

“Corporate bookmakers must have robust systems in place to ensure they can manage and mitigate risks associated with money laundering and terrorism financing,” said Brendan Thomas, Austrac chief executive.

“Businesses without adequate processes in place to manage those risks leave themselves vulnerable to exploitation by criminals.”

Bet365 in potential hot water with Austrac

austrac reached..

March 6, 2024

Super Group’s FY2023 sees €199.7m drop in profit despite record revenue

Super Group recorded a profit before tax of €16.8m (£14.4m/$18.3m) for its 2023 financial year, a significant drop from the €216.5m generated the year prior.

Super Group attributed the drop in profit before tax to non-cash charges of €64.6m. €28.6m of that total came from the January 2023 acquisition of online sports betting and igaming business Digital Gaming Corporation (DGC), which allowed Super Group to enter the US at the start of the year.

The company also highlighted that €42.1m of the drop in profit was down to changes in fair value of option liability and an impairment of goodwill. Super Group also pointed to the 2022 figure’s inclusion of €246.8m in non-cash gains relating to the fair value of warrant and earnout liabilities and related foreign exchange movements.

Operational EBITDA was down from €208.5m in 2022 to €197.3m in 2023. Meanwhile, unrestricted cash was also €12.9m lower at €241.9m, which Super Group again assigned to the DGC acquisition.

Boosted by record rev..

March 6, 2024

Colorado sports betting revenue tops $53.4m in January

Gross gaming revenue from sports betting in Colorado hiked 50.7% year-on-year in January despite only a short increase in handle for the month.

Spending on sports betting in January amounted to $596.7m (£469.5m/€549.4m). This was 9.1% ahead of $547.2m in 2023 but 16.6% short of December’s record $716.4m spend in Colorado.

Of this total, $592.2m was wagered via online sportsbooks and $4.5m retail facilities across the state.

While the year-on-year handle rise was only modest, operators were much more successful in revenue terms. Gross gaming revenue reached $53.5m, some way clear of the $35.5m posted in January 2023.

The January total was also 32.1% higher than the $40.5m reported in December. This was despite players wagering around $120.0m less month-on-month.

Online wagering accounted for $53.3m of all revenue during the month. In contrast, retail contributed just $190,394.

Basketball betting drives growth in Colorado

While many were looking ahead to the NFL’s end-of-season S..

March 5, 2024

EGBA lauds EU’s proposed introduction of digital identification

The European Gaming and Betting Association (EGBA) has welcomed the European parliament’s approval of introducing a standardised electronic identification method called a “European Digital Identity” (e-ID).

The EGBA-endorsed move would oblige states in the European Union (EU) to issue an e-ID to citizens. This would allow them to authenticate their identity for online services. These e-IDs will be optional for citizens and businesses.

EGBA labelled the European parliament’s approval on Monday a “significant milestone” in providing a safer and more inclusive online environment for citizens in the EU. There were 335 votes in favour, 190 opposing the new regulations and 31 abstentions.

The proposed e-IDs will mean citizens would no longer have to resort to commercial providers to verify their online identification, something that has caused privacy and security concerns in the past.

The hope is that e-IDs will reduce the risk of fraud and identity theft, enhancing security for the EU’..

March 5, 2024

LaLiga clamps down on “nefarious” betting behaviour with US Integrity link

LaLiga has announced a new partnership with sports wagering monitor US Integrity as it looks to cement its “preservation of integrity in sport”.

The deal will provide LaLiga with the services of ProhiBet, the prohibited betting solution launched in February 2023. ProhiBet is a joint venture between US Integrity and Odds On Compliance.

US Integrity offers wagering monitoring services to sporting stakeholders, analysing datasets to identify suspicious betting behaviour. Odds On Compliance, meanwhile, is a compliance technology and consultation firm in sports betting and gaming.

LaLiga will benefit from analytical insights that will aim to ensure Spain’s top two football leagues are played in a fair manner. Suspicious betting activity will be detected with “nefarious” behaviour acted upon thanks to monitoring alerts.

Javier Tebas, LaLiga’s president, said: “This partnership with US Integrity represents a significant milestone in our efforts to safeguard integrity and transparency in p..

March 5, 2024

Ohio online sports betting nets higher revenue despite handle decline

Ohio saw sports betting handle fall but revenue soar during a mixed start to the new year in the Buckeye State.

Ohio Casino Control Commission (OCCC) data showed revenue of $113.1m for the state’s operators during the month to 31 January 2024. While this was down 46% compared to the same month in 2023, it was up 30% on the previous month, December 2023.

With Ohio’s sports betting market launching in January 2023, this is the first month to enable year-on-year comparisons. That first month of operations saw $210.5m generated by the state’s sportsbooks. However, revenue was as low as $87.3m in December 2023.

Almost all the revenue came from online and mobile, totalling $110.6m, with just $2.5m from retail.

FanDuel, based at Belterra Park, accounted for more than half of revenue as it generated $53.0m. DraftKings, based out of Hollywood Toledo, was the only other operator to contribute more than $10m. It brought in $34.0m in January.

Handle drops following player props ruling

Handle..

March 5, 2024

GC’s Gambling Survey for Great Britain: Lottery reigns supreme

The first data from the Gambling Commission’s (GC) Gambling Survey for Great Britain (GSGB) has highlighted the prevalence of lottery among gamblers in Great Britain.

48% of respondents had gambled in the past four weeks, although that figure dropped to 27% when excluding lottery-only players. Over a fifth of all respondents had only taken part in lottery draws.

The 48% figure of respondents having gambled in the past four weeks is a slight reduction on the 49.5% number stated in the final experimental stage of the survey, released back in November.

Participation drop-off without lottery the same for land-based and online

The pattern was the same for online and land-based gambling. 38% of all participants had used the internet to gamble in the previous four weeks, the same as in the November data, although the removal of those who only play lottery saw that number fall to 16%. In-person gambling participation also fell from 29% to 18% when lottery-only players were excluded.

The ..

March 5, 2024

AI roots out 73% of suspicious matches in Sportradar’s 2023 Integrity Report

Sportradar’s annual Integrity Report revealed it had detected 1,329 suspicious matches during 2023, with AI helping to uncover nearly three quarters of all questionable activity.

Sportradar monitored close to 850,000 events during 2023 – spanning 70 sports, with a total of 1,329 suspicious events occurring across 11 of those sports.

Despite the rise in the number of detections, the actual rate of suspected manipulation remained stable at 0.21% when taking Sportradar’s enhanced artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities into account. The 1-in-467 manipulation rate was almost level with the 1-in-473 events total from 2022.

Overall, 99.5% of events had no suspicious betting take place, while no sport had a suspicious match ratio higher than 1%. Both of those statistics were the same as last year.

As per Sportradar’s expectations, football and basketball led the way for detections with 880 and 205 suspicious matches respectively. Table tennis was third with 70.

Sportradar’s integrity w..

March 5, 2024

FanDuel named as Carolina Panthers’ sports betting partner

FanDuel has been named as an official sports betting partner of the National Football League (NFL) Carolina Panthers, just days before North Carolina’s legal mobile sports betting market opens.

The North Carolina State Lottery Commission confirmed the 11 March launch date for the state’s mobile sports betting market in January. Players could register for – and fund – accounts from 1 March.

The new partnership between FanDuel and the Carolina Panthers’ NFL team allows fans to pre-register on the FanDuel Sportsbook app ahead of the market’s go-live date. FanDuel will also collaborate with the team on social media content and display digital signage at the Carolina Panthers’ Bank of America Stadium.

Fans can pre-register on FanDuel’s sportsbook app ahead of the 11 March go-live date

North Carolina marks the 22nd state where FanDuel is active with mobile sports betting. It joins the likes of Arizona, Colorado and New Jersey.

Mike Raffensperger, chief commercial officer at FanDuel, sai..

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