Betting News Archives

June 29, 2023

Epic and Entain to educate MLS players on gambling harm

Epic Risk Management and the Entain Foundation US charitable arm of Entain have linked up on a new initiative to educate Major League Soccer (MLS) players about gambling harm.

Under the deal, Epic and Entain will work with the Major League Soccer Players Association (MLSPA), the collective bargaining representative for MLS players.

The three-year programme will include customised gambling harm education and awareness programmes and advisory resources.

Epic will deliver gambling harm prevention education and awareness workshops. It will also make prevention resources, advisory resources and content available to the entire MLSPA membership.

Read the full story on iGB North America

June 29, 2023

Playing the field with Stefano Vaccarino

Stefano Vaccarino may be FTN Network’s chief operating officer and chief marketing officer, but he first joined the gambling industry via Twitter, as he tells Cole Rush.

But before entering the field of sports betting, he was in a totally different line of work altogether.

“I was working as a medical biller and coder,” Vaccarino says. “A pretty boring 9-5. I always loved sports; I studied sports management in college.”

During Vaccarino’s college years, daily fantasy sports (DFS) was making its way to the mainstream.

“I decided to create a Twitter account and start posting NBA picks and plays during my lunch break or whenever I could spare a minute.”

The Twitter account was anonymous, and it soon gained marginal traction. “Nothing huge,” he says. “Maybe a few thousand followers.”

Then a former classmate started following the anonymous account. Vaccarino messaged the friend and they reconnected. This rekindled connection led to a new job opportunity in the sports betting space.

St..

June 28, 2023

BetMakers concludes 10% share buy-back

Racing data and analytics provider BetMakers Technology Group said that it has now concluded its buy-back of 10% of the business' shares.

The buy-back – which began on 12 July 2022 – saw BetMakers repurchase 30,626,884 shares using the business’ cash reserves. Following the announcement, the provider’s shares rose 13%.

The news comes in the aftermath of BetMakers making a number of changes to its senior management team.

In January, the business announced a restructuring which saw CEO Todd Buckingham step down to take on the newly created position of chief growth officer.

BetMakers North American CEO Christian Stuart also announced his exit from the business in April as part of the organisational restructure.

The news came as BetMakers warned that it was facing negative growth in Q2 due to its outstanding investment commitments.

This trend continued in the company’s Q3 report. In the financial quarter the business saw continued cost pressures keeping the business at a loss, ..

June 27, 2023

IBIA expands membership network with OlyBet

The International Betting Integrity Association (IBIA) has revealed OlyBet, the sports betting brand of Olympic Entertainment Group (OEG), as its latest member.

OlyBet will feed into IBIA’s betting integrity monitoring and alert network, working alongside licensed operators from around the world.

Active across the Baltic region, OlyBet joins almost 50 businesses and more than 120 sports betting brands in the IBIA network.

“Protecting the integrity of sports and defending sports betting against corruption and criminal activities are two sides of the same coin,” OEG and OlyBet chairman and CEO, Corey Plummer, said.

“Together with other responsible and regulated betting operators and through a trusted and professional party such as IBIA, we can take further steps to protect sports and sports betting.”

The IBIA CEO, Khalid Ali, added: “OlyBet brings knowledge and experience of the sports betting market, notably in the Baltic region. We intend to work closely with Olybet to harness th..

June 26, 2023

Delaware sports betting handle continues decline in May

Sports betting handle in Delaware fell again in May, but the amount spent on igaming during the month hit a year-high.

Consumers bet $2.8m betting on sports in May, down 45.1% from $5.1m in the same month in 2022 and also 17.7% behind $3.4m in April this year. This was also the lowest monthly total since August 2022.

Revenue from sport betting during the month amounted to $245,474. This was 50.5% down from $495,676 last year and 34.5% lower than $374,568 in April.

Delaware Park remained the market leader with $112,768 in revenue from $1.3m in bets. Bally’s Dover was next on $68,221 off $740,564, then Harrington Raceway with $33,500 from $377,031.

Read the full story on iGB North America

June 23, 2023

Genius extends Premier League data rights deal

Sports data and technology provider Genius Sports has extended its exclusive partnership with Football DataCo, the business that manages data rights for the English Premier League.

Under the terms of the new deal, Genius extends its official partnership with the data rights organisation to 2025. It also expands the agreement to cover new areas such as Genius’ data tracking product.

Genius’ 2019 deal with Football DataCo

The previous partnership – first established in 2019 – granted Genius the exclusive rights to collect, license and distribute official live betting data from the EPL to its sportsbook clients. The deal also covers the English Football League (EFL) and Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL).

The new deal, which is set to expire at the conclusion of the 2024-25 season, will see the business distribute data from over 4,000 UK football fixtures per season.

As the official tracking data and analytics partner to the EPL, Genius Sports also expanded its partnershi..

June 23, 2023

France’s LFP sanctions footballers for breaching betting ban

Ligue de Football Professionnel (LFP), the governing body for football in France, has issued sanctions to 35 players for breaching a ban on sports betting.

The LFP’s disciplinary committee announced the sanctions after the players were ruled to have violated LFP and French Football Federation (FFF) regulations during the 2021-22 season.

Both the LFP and FFF have in place a blanket ban on professional players betting on football. The ban applies to French players and footballers from overseas playing their club football in France.

This was the fourteenth occasion sanctions were issued since the LFP began working with national gambling regulator l’Autorité Nationale des Jeux (ANJ) in the 2013-14 season. LFP did not disclose each individual breach of regulations.

Suspensions and fines

Among the highest profile names on the list of sanctioned footballers was Wahbi Khazri, a Tunisian international who players for Montpellier in Ligue 1. Khazri was ordered to pay a fine of €3,000 (£2,5..

June 23, 2023

MS sports betting handle falls again in May

Mississippi’s sports wagering handle declined month-on-month again in May, although the state was able to report a year-on-year rise in revenue.

Player spending amounted to $26.8m, which was 8.2% lower than $29.2m in May 2022 and also 15.7% behind the $31.8m spent in April of this year.

Revenue for the month reached $3.2m, a 52.4% jump from $2.1m last year but 25.6% less than $4.3m in April.

Coastal casinos were again the venue of choice for bettors, with a total of $16.8m wagered and $1.3m generated in revenue.

Read the full story on iGB North America

June 23, 2023

Wynnbet launches online casino and sports betting in WV

Wynn Resorts-owned Wynnbet has rolled out online casino and sports wagering in the state of West Virginia.

The joint platform went live yesterday (22 June). Consumers can access slots and casino games such as live dealer blackjack and roulette, video poker and keno.

The Wynnbet Sportsbook will also allow players in the state to place bets on a wide range of leagues and competitions.

In addition, the platform will be integrated with Wynn Rewards. This will enable players to collect points that can be exchanged for real-life experiences and benefits with Wynn Resorts.

Read the full story on iGB North America