Betting News Archives

February 28, 2024

Georgia moves closer to sports betting after bill passes senate

Georgia looks set to have a referendum on whether to legalise sports betting after a bill successfully passed through the state’s senate.

Senate Resolution 579, which seeks to approve sports betting in Georgia, passed by 41 to 12. This was easily enough to meet the two-thirds majority needed to amend the state’s constitution through a referendum.

SR579 is led by Senator Bill Cowsert, who submitted the ultimately unsuccessful Senate Bill 172 in 2023. In a largely unchanged form, though, SR579 looks more likely to end up passing.

Earlier in February, Senator Clint Dixon’s Senate Bill 386 was adopted after passing with a vote of 35-15. Enabling legislation SB386 looked to establish a framework of regulation in the state and was amended so that the support of 38 senators was needed to pass.

Cowsert’s proposals would see 80% of tax revenue attributed to the lottery’s education fund. Some 15% would go to public education on problem gambling, while 5% would be given to the Sports Promotio..

February 28, 2024

Fanatics Sportsbook goes live in Indiana

The Fanatics Betting and Gaming (FBG) division of Fanatics Holdings has announced the launch of its online sportsbook product in the state of Indiana.

Players in Indiana can now place bets on a wide range of events and competitions via the Fanatics Sportsbook.

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. Indiana is the 14th state in which the Fanatics Sportsbook has launched.

fanatics casino is also now live in three states

Fanatics also runs online sports betting in Colorado, Connecticut, Iowa, Kentucky, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Vermont, Virginia and West Virginia. In addition, PointsBet retail betting venues operate in Penn..

February 28, 2024

Betsson CEO Lindwall celebrates “record year for the group” and outlines 2024 plans

A record 2023 saw Betsson post higher revenues and EBITDA than ever before. With further global expansion on the cards, Betsson chief executive Pontus Lindwall believes it’s the company’s localised approach that will help them achieve further growth.

Revenues shot up by 22% to a record €948.2m (£811.3m/$1bn) for Betsson’s 2023 financial year. EBITDA also skyrocketed 52% to €262.7m from €172.4m in 2022. The year-end results were aided by a surge in Q4, one that saw group revenue hike by 14%.

Quite the set of results then for Betsson. According to Lindwall, the positive outlook for the company looks set to continue, both short- and long-term. The CEO is delighted with the group’s performance, comparing the operator to a well-oiled machine.

“Of course, we’re very happy with the outcome of 2023,” Lindwall told iGB. “It’s a record year by far for the group. It’s nice to finish off so strongly with the record quarter as well.

“I think we have a strategy that has played us well as we are ..

February 27, 2024

Spain: online gambling revenue edges up to €315.3m in Q4

Online gambling revenue in Spain increased marginally year-on-year and quarter-on-quarter to €315.3m (£269.8m/$342.0m) in Q4, while total deposits were also higher.

Gross gaming revenue in Q4 was 0.6% higher than in the same period in 2022. The total was also up 3.6% from the amount generated in Spain during the third quarter of the year.

Breaking this down, casino was the primary source of revenue by some distance during Q4.

Total revenue from this segment was €171.3m, representing 54.3% of all market revenue in Spain. Growth in the casino market was helped by a 25.9% rise in slots revenue and 15.3% increase in live roulette revenue.

Elsewhere, sports betting revenue hit €114.7m, accounting for 36.4% of total revenue and poker €25.4m, or 8.1% of overall revenue. For poker, tournaments had a negative variation rate of 0.5% and poker cash 7.0%.

A further €3.8m in revenue came from bingo activity, some 1.2% of all revenue, and contests €50,000.

Total deposits up 9.4% in Q4

In te..

February 27, 2024

Netherlands regulator KSA presents 2024 supervisory agenda

The Kansspelautoriteit (KSA), the gambling regulator in the Netherlands, has presented its supervisory agenda for 2024, citing four areas of focus.

Looking to achieve its mission of “safe gaming”, the KSA says it will increase its protection of vulnerable players in the Netherlands by looking to prevent addiction. The country took measures to do this in 2023, including the introduction of a ban on most forms of advertising.

The KSA is also looking to combat illegal online offerings, aiming for at least 90% of players to gamble with legal providers in the Netherlands. In a December article for iGB, Yield Sec chief executive Ismail Vali noted how the KSA’s current approach appeared to lack clear success in actual enforcement terms.

The KSA is vowing to further support partners, including the police and tax authorities, on investigations in the physical domain. The regulator hopes this will lead to less “undermining” between different organisations.

The KSA’s final area of emphasis is..

February 27, 2024

Arizona sports betting revenue reaches record high in December

Gross sports betting revenue in Arizona hit a new monthly high in December, despite handle declining month-on-month.

December gross revenue in Arizona amounted to $66.1m (£52.1m/€60.9m). This was up 22.1% from $54.4m in the previous year and also 62.4% ahead of November’s total.

Of this total, $65.2m came from online betting and $625,986 retail sportsbooks. A further $240,604 was generated by limited event wagering (LEW) operators.

This came off the back of $693.3m in total wagers placed during the month. Total player spend was 21.1% ahead of December 2022 but behind the record $713.6m wagered in November.

Online spend amounted to $685.1m, retail sportsbooks $6.4m and LEW operators $1.8m.

A total of $17.8m in free bets and promotional credits were noted in December. Almost all of this came from online betting.

As such, adjusted gross sports betting revenue for the month amounted to $48.3m, another new record. This was 30.3% higher than December 2022 and 139.4% more than $20.3m i..

February 27, 2024

Webis upbeat on growth prospects despite wider net loss in H1

Webis Holdings’ non-executive chairman Denham Eke said the company remains “optimistic” over future growth potential for the business despite reporting an expanded net loss in H1.

Turnover for the six months to 31 November 2023 hit $5.9m (£4.7m/€5.4m). This was 4.8% behind the $6.2m reported in the previous year by Webis, which owns advance-deposit wagering (ADW) operator Watchandwager.com.

Eke and Webis put this drop mainly down to external factors in the second quarter. These, he said, included the cancellation of many US events due to bad weather in the country. On the flip side, Eke said trading was stronger during the summer months.

Turnover decline, coupled with the fact that spending remained level in H1, led to a wider loss for Webis. However, Eke is upbeat about the company’s performance moving into the second half.

“Our principal subsidiary, WatchandWager.com, again had a varied start to the first six months of the financial year,” Eke said. “I remain optimistic that trad..

February 27, 2024

Sportradar scores extension with Bundesliga International

Sportradar has extended and expanded its partnership with Bundesliga International, a subsidiary of the German Football League (DFL) that manages deals for the country’s top two leagues.

The global deal runs for an additional six years to the end of the 2031-32 season. Sportradar will collaborate with Bundesliga International to distribute data and audio-visual products around the world.

Sportradar will remain the official provider of betting and streaming rights for Bundesliga and Bundesliga 2. It also covers other DFL properties such as the German Supercup and relegation playoff matches.

The deal grants Sportradar the rights to sub-license video content from the Bundesliga and Bundesliga 2 to its sportsbook clients. It will also collect and exclusively distribute live match data for betting purposes.

Sportradar will also provide betting and streaming rights for all matches in the WOW Virtual Bundesliga esports offering. In addition, Sportradar will work with DFL to expand the sco..

February 26, 2024

Affordability checks: Everything you need to know

With parliament to debate the introduction of affordability checks today (26 February), here’s everything you need to know about the proposals so far.

The long-awaited release of the Gambling Act white paper in April was the most transformative review of UK gambling in 18 years. It marked a key landmark in how the market will be regulated in the future – with affordability checks a key part of that discussion.

The government has already introduced some measures, such as the establishment of stake limits for online slots. However, other resolutions are also being worked upon as the UK government and the Gambling Commission (GC) looks to ease concerns over gambling harms in the country.

The strongest industry response to these proposals has been towards the potential implementation of affordability checks. They have met fierce opposition from operators and trade bodies.

With parliament set to debate financial checks this week, let’s take a look at how we got here.

White paper’s rele..