Finance Archives

January 30, 2023

US sports betting in 2023: Where do we go from here?

May marks the fifth anniversary of PASPA's repeal, and US sports betting proliferating at pace. iGB's principal data partner H2 Gambling Capital analyses the current state of the market, and the forces that will drive continued growth.

Over the week starting 30 January, iGB will release H2 Gambling Capital’s latest in-depth analysis of the US sports betting market. Read part one here.

H2 Gambling Capital have assessed the major trends and developments of the past year of US sports betting which has seen over $85bn legal bets made across 33 states – 90% of which has taken place online.

The gross win generated over the same period totals over $6.3bn but H2 estimates that free-bets make up around 39% of this, indicating that net win came in at $3.8bn.

Commercially regulated sports betting is now available to 43% of the US adult population across 26 states which have a combined GDP of over $10tn. With this considered, H2 estimates that the average gross win per adult over th..

January 27, 2023

HKJC blasts proposal to increase football betting duty to 80%

The Hong Kong Jockey Club (HKJC) has hit out at a proposal from the New People’s Party (NPP) to increase the region’s football betting duty by an additional 30%, saying the plan lacks “understanding”.

The current rate is set at 50% on net stake receipts, but the NPP proposal would increase this to 80%, which in turn would mean the HKJC would have to pay significantly more tax.

The HKJC estimated that if the duty change were to be approved, the amount it pays in tax would jump from the current HK$25.00bn (£2.58bn/€2.94bn/US$3.19bn) to HK$31.00bn, while revenue would fall from HK15.00bn to HK$9.00bn, a decline of 40%.

“It will result in a zero surplus at best or more likely a negative one, preventing the club from making necessary investments to secure its future and from contributing to the community,” the HKJC said.

“In reality, however, consumer behaviour can be highly dynamic. Any perturbation such as a tax increase, or simply the perception of such, could easily result in a dis..

January 26, 2023

Denmark breaks online casino revenue record as gambling grows in 2022

Denmark saw its gambling market grow in 2022, despite a drop in sports betting.

Spillemyndigheden, the Danish gambling authority, said total gross gaming revenue (GGR) for the year to 31 December 2022 came to DKK6.70bn ($991.4m/€910.1m/£799.8m), which was up 7.5% on the DKK6.23bn recorded in the previous year.

Online casino was the largest segment, comprising DKK2.88bn, which was up 2.1% on the 2021 figure. The segment was worth DKK272.3m in December, which was the largest amount since records began in 2012, and up 3.4% on December 2021.

The second largest segment, sports betting, was down 3.6% to DKK2.32bn despite the Fifa World Cup taking place during the year. December’s GGR figure of DKK135.5bn was the lowest return since October 2021 and down 35.0% on December 2021.

Slot machines generated DKK1.15bn in 2022, which was up considerably on the Covid-impacted 2021. Some DKK99.2m was taken in December 2022, up 44.5% on the same month in 2021.

Land-based casino also saw big gains i..

January 25, 2023

How crypto could be embedded in online betting

Tom Waterhouse of WaterhouseVC revisits the subject of crypto wagering, and whether it could be central to next-gen sportsbook platforms.

In May, we discussed the significant opportunity in crypto betting, which is growing gross gaming revenue (GGR) at 36.6% per annum.

Online crypto operators have a similar user experience to online fiat operators. The likes of Stake.com and Sportsbet.io already record extraordinary turnover.

White label platform solutions for crypto betting operators are leveraged to the growth of crypto wagering as a whole. This means they are not exposed to the operational and regulatory risk of a single crypto wagering business.

Global crypto wagering data for total bets and GGR. Source: Softswiss.

Existing wagering platforms

Many fiat operators rely on white label sportsbook and igaming platform solutions, such as Kambi, OpenBet and SBTech.

A selection of white label sportsbook and iGaming platforms built for fiat operators. Source: Waterhouse VC.

Howev..

January 24, 2023

Michigan online gambling revenue reaches $1.98bn in 2022

Gross receipts from online sports betting and internet casino games in Michigan amounted to $1.98bn in 2022, a 41.4% year-on-year increase.

The yearly total, comprising gross receipts from both commercial and tribal operators in the state, was comfortably ahead of the $1.40bn figure posted during the first full year of legal online gambling in Michigan in 2021.

Of this total, $1.58bn came from online casino gaming, while internet sports wagering was responsible for $399.6m in gross receipts.

Read the full story on iGB North America

January 23, 2023

NH betting revenue and handle rise year-on-year in December

The New Hampshire Lottery reported a year-on-year increase in both sports wagering gross gaming revenue (GGR) and handle for December.

Players in the state spent $90.9m betting on sports in the month, up 5.2% from December of 2021 but a 2.4% drop from $93.1m in November of 2022.

Of this total, $65.9m was spent wagering on the DraftKings mobile sportsbook, while some $25.0m was bet at the operator’s three retail sportsbooks in New Hampshire.

Read the full story on iGB North America

January 19, 2023

Pennsylvania smashes gambling revenue records in 2022

Pennsylvania set a number of new annual gambling revenue records during 2022, with total gaming revenue for the state reaching an all-time high of $5.21bn.

The yearly figure – comprising land-based slots, table games, sports betting, igaming, video gaming terminals (VGTs) and fantasy contests – was 10.2% higher than $4.73bn in 2021, according to the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board (PGCB).

Retail slots were by far the primary source of revenue in Pennsylvania, generating $2.39bn worth of revenue, up 4.5% year-on-year. Land-based table games revenue was also 7.1% higher at $990.6m.

Read the full story on iGB North America

January 18, 2023

New Jersey gambling revenue matches $5.21bn record in 2022

Gambling revenue in New Jersey reached a joint-record $5.21bn in 2022, despite a decline in sports betting revenue.

Revenue was 10.0% higher than $4.74bn during the 2021 calendar year and on par with the record amount posted in 2006.

Land-based casino revenue accounted for $2.79bn of the total, up 9.0% on 2021 with slots revenue rising 9.0% to $2.04bn and table games revenue increasing 9.1% to $741.7m.

Read the full story on iGB North America

January 13, 2023

Kindred CEO: “No item is sacred” when it comes to cost-cutting

Henrik Tjärnström, CEO of Kindred, has said that “no item is sacred” in terms of cutting costs on an earnings call addressing Kindred’s Q4 trading update released earlier today (13 January).

Although Kindred’s Q4 revenue is projected to rise 24.5% year-on-year to £305.0m (€343.1m/$372.2m), Kindred said this was not up to expectations and vowed to take “immediate action”.

Addressing this, Tjärnström said that Kindred would review all areas of cost in order to improve spending for 2023, adding that no cost-cutting is off the table.

“We are looking to review all cost items for efficiency purposes and refreshing our channels for spending in 2023,” he said. “We cannot comment on the overall number at this point.

“But we’re clearly looking across the P&L [profit and loss], and no item is sacred in that sense.”

He said this was due to how vastly the Q4 revenue is set to depart from Kindred’s, and the market’s, expectations.

“We take this very seriously, and the deviation that we see fro..

January 12, 2023

Super Group approves $25m share repurchase

Betway parent company Super Group announced that its board of directors has approved a $25m (£20.5m/€23.2m) share repurchase scheme.

Super Group said the scheme is set to run until 31 December 2023, though the board reserved the right to extend or shorten the timeframe at their discretion.

The operator also emphasised that the announcement did not legally bind it in any way – noting that Super Group was “not obligated” to repurchase any shares, and that repurchases if any would be made from time to time on the open market at prevailing prices or “in negotiated transactions off the market”.

“Our debt-free balance sheet is strong and we actively consider using cash to drive long-term shareholder value through investment and through returning cash to shareholders,” said CFO Alinda van Wyk. “We believe a modest share repurchase programme is an efficient potential use of cash depending on market circumstances.”

The share repurchase scheme happens after a fraught Q3, in which declines in..

January 12, 2023

Catena earns record revenue from Ohio sports betting launch

Catena Media said it recorded its strongest-ever start for a US state launch of licensed online sports betting.

The Malta-based affiliate revealed that according to its preliminary data, new registrations in Ohio have led to engagement levels that surpass its launch in New York in 2022.

“This is without doubt our strongest state sports betting launch period to date,” said Ryan Harper, vice-president of Catena Media North America.

“We’re delighted to see strong traffic on our websites in relation to the Ohio launch. Player engagement in licensed sports betting has been very solid.”

Catena operates in Ohio through its national brands including Legalsportsreport.com, Gamingtoday.com, Thelines.com and Lineups.com, as well as through strong regional websites such as Playohio.com.

Operating in over 20 regulated states and provinces in North America, Catena recorded revenue of €80m (£71m/$86m) in the 12 months to September 2022, representing a growth of 33% from 2021.

Ohio launches spor..

January 6, 2023

Bet365 revenue ticks up, but marketing costs lead to 88% profit decline

Bet365’s revenue ticked slightly up in 2021-22 as gaming growth offset a sports betting decline, but increased customer acquisition costs in new markets led to an almost 90% drop in profit.

Bet365 reported that revenue from sports and gaming for the year ended 27 March 2022 was up by 2.9% year-on-year to £2.85bn.

The increase was mostly due to the success of its gaming operations. Sports gaming revenue was down by 2% from 2020-21, while gaming revenue was up by 25%.

This would suggest sports betting revenue for 2021-22 of around £2.30bn, while gaming revenue would fall around £546m.

Bet365 revenue was up by 2.9% year-on-year to £2.85bn.

The operator said that the decline in sports betting revenue was margin-based, as the total amount that was wagered increased and the number of active customers was up by 48%.

Regulus Partners noted that Bet365’s margins in 2020-21 were “unusually high”, and that in 2021-22 they came back to more typical levels. It said that on an underlying bas..

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Tag: Finance