Marketing & affiliates Archives

March 25, 2024

Australia rugby league clubs continue blocking of sports betting adverts

Two Australian National Rugby League (NRL) clubs – South Sydney Rabbitohs and Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs – have agreed to block all sports betting sponsorship for a further three years.

The Rabbitohs and Bulldogs, both based in New South Wales (NSW), will not display betting ads during home NRL games. They will also continue to educate players, staff and fans about gambling risks.

This is in line with the NSW government’s Reclaim the Game initiative. Launched in 2020, the campaign stretches across several sports and encourages teams not to enter marketing deals with gambling businesses.

The Rabbitohs and Bulldogs have supported the programme for the past two years, displaying Reclaim the Game branding at all home games.

According to the NSW government, since forming the two partnerships, members and fans have shown a marked increase in awareness of GambleAware responsible gambling services. It said around one in three Rabbitohs and Bulldogs supporters are aware of the GambleAwar..

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..

February 12, 2024

Barstool scores sports betting partnership with DraftKings

Barstool Sports has announced details of a new a multi-year sports betting partnership with DraftKings.

Under the agreement, DraftKings is now the official sports betting partner of Barstool. David Portnoy, the founder of Barstool, confirmed the news in a blog post shortly after Super Bowl LVIII ended last night (11 February).

The deal marks the second time that the two parties will be working together. DraftKings and Barstool were previously partnered on a marketing collaboration 10 years ago.

“I’m proud to announce Barstool has signed a multi-year monster deal with DraftKings,” Portnoy said. “We’re back to our roots. DraftKings is once again the exclusive sports betting partner of Barstool Sports. The more things change the more they stay the same.”

DraftKings is yet to comment on the announcement.

Barstool back with Portnoy

The deal comes just a few months after Portnoy took back the Barstool brand from Penn Entertainment. Penn purchased the brand in 2020 and was running spo..

January 5, 2024

Betfred extends sponsorship of Derby Festival

Bookmaker Betfred has agreed to extend its title sponsorship of major UK horseracing event the Epsom Derby by an additional year.

Betfred sponsored the Derby Festival for the first time in 2023 in an initial three-year deal. This has now been extended by a further year, covering each event until at least 2026.

As part of the new deal, the bookmaker will now hold naming rights on each day of the two-day event

Betfred will also expand its backing of races during the festival. The bookmaker will support a total of six races at each edition of the event, with the existing deal only covering two races.

Betfred boss hails “memorable” first year

“Following on from a memorable two days at Epsom last year we are delighted to further develop our support of the Betfred Derby Festival,” Betfred boss Fred Done said. “We very much look forward to working with the team to keep the fixture at the forefront of world racing.”

Amy Starkey, managing director for the east region at Jockey Club Raceco..

December 11, 2023

FanDuel lobbied against New York rules on advertising near colleges

FanDuel Group lobbied against rules that prohibit advertising sports betting near colleges and universities in the state, according to unredacted documents released by the New York State registrar.

Updated rules on sports betting in New York were introduced in October. This came after the New York State registrar considered opinion from various licensees, including Flutter Entertainment-owned FanDuel.

The ban on betting adverts near education establishments is now in place. However, state registrar documents now show that FanDuel voiced its opposition to such a move.

NEW YORK STATE REGISTRAR DOCUMENTS SHOW FANDUEL LOBBIED AGAINST ADVERTISING NEAR COLLEGES

Dated 18 October, the document said FanDuel objects to a ban on adverts in the “area of a college or university campus”. This, the document says, may be interpreted to “include unaffiliated residential and commercial areas that border a college or university campus”.

However, the New York State Gaming Commission disagreed. The r..

November 29, 2023

Penn Entertainment’s ESPN Bet and theScore Bet strike partnerships with NHL

Penn Entertainment has struck a deal for its ESPN Bet and theScore Bet brands to become official sports betting partners of the National Hockey League (NHL).

Under the arrangement, ESPN Bet becomes an NHL partner in the US. Penn also agreed for theScore Bet to partner with the NHL in Ontario, Canada.

Penn said the deal comes into effect immediately. It covers the NHL regular season, Stanley Cup Playoffs, 2024 NHL Winter Classic, 2024 NHL Stadium Series, and 2024 NHL All-Star Weekend.

The agreement will grant ESPN Bet and theScore Bet access to a host of entitlements. These include IP rights and media and marketing integrations across the NHL’s programming and premium NHL experiences. In addition, the partnership includes collaboration for game integrity procedures.

Major partnership for newcomer ESPN Bet

ESPN Bet, a product of Penn’s partnership with Disney-owned ESPN, is among the latest brands to launch in the US. It went live across 17 states on 14 November.

In essence, it ..

November 15, 2023

ESPN Bet launches across 17 US states

ESPN Bet, the newly branded online sportsbook operated by Penn Entertainment, has now officially gone live across 17 states in the US.

Players can now place bets with the sportsbook on the ESPN Bet app and website in states including Arizona, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, Illinois and Ohio.

ESPN Bet is the product of Penn’s $1.5bn (£1.2bn/€1.4bn) partnership with Disney-owned ESPN, the largest sports media brand in the US.

As per the agreement, Penn will operate ESPN Bet while ESPN promotes the app across its online and broadcast platforms.

The launch details

ESPN Bet is a rebranding of existing sports betting app, Barstool Sportsbook. In August, Penn said it sold Barstool Sports back to its founder Dave Portnoy for $1.

“We are excited to announce that we plan to simultaneously launch ESPN Bet across the 17 states in which we operate online sports betting, subject to final approvals,” said Penn CEO Jay Snowden, commenting on Penn’s Q3 results.

“This strategic allia..

November 13, 2023

ESPN BET launch: everything you need to know

Like any Disney fairytale, we’re ready for the hero to dash in and save the day. So, what kind of fairytale do we have concocted for tomorrow’s (14 November) ESPN BET launch?

First up, let’s do some background.

ESPN BET launch: has Penn Met its sports betting match?

We all know Penn Entertainment was billed as one of the pandemic success stories. At the time, few investors thought it had a big part to play in our Disney fairytale with its acquisition of Barstool Sports.

However, unlike our Disney tale of true love, Barstool and Penn was just never meant to be.

At the start of 2023, Penn sold Barstool back to Dave Portnoy for a single paltry dollar. This was mere months after completing the $500 million purchase. A poisoned apple, some might say.

Instead, enter the prince of our tale – Disney-owned ESPN.

This where our tale of true love begins and the story of ESPN BET.

A match made in heaven for ESPN and Penn

Following ESPN’s $1.5bn licensing partnership with Penn Entertainme..

October 25, 2023

LiveScore Group’s Sam Sadi builds his media empire

LiveScore Group aims to become the world's leading sports media operator, and sports betting is just the start. Chief executive Sam Sadi explains the masterplan.

“I remember the days when we used to press F5 to refresh the LiveScore.com website. That’s how long back it was,” says LiveScore Group chief executive Sam Sadi.

LiveScore launched in 1998, offering visitors football scores. Gamesys acquired the business in 2017 and, following that operator’s £490m sale to Jackpotjoy Group and then the £2.0bn merger with Bally’s Corporation, LiveScore Group stands alone as an independent business led by Sadi.

LiveScore turns 25 today, starting out providing live match data to players in 1998

The LiveScore Bet sportsbook launched in 2020, complementing the affiliate arm, not to mention its second brand, Virgin Bet. But Sadi isn’t only interested in building a sports betting business.

“We have a plan we’re implementing,” he explains. “You could call it a ten-to twenty-year plan. We i..

October 19, 2023

Netherlands’ NGR up 85% in 2022

The Netherlands' licensed gaming market generated €3.4bn (£2.95bn/$3.59bn) in net gaming revenue (NGR) in 2022, according to a report from regulator Kansspelautoriteit (KSA).

The report is based on 2022 only, as it was the first full calendar year for the Netherlands’ online gambling market.

The country’s market officially opened in October 2021, following the passage and ratification of the much-delayed Remote Gambling Act (KOA). This month marks two years since the market became live. NGR comprises of deposits minus prizes paid out.

NGR for 2022 was up by 85.0% from €2.0bn in 2021. KSA noted that this was due to an increase in both online gambling and land-based play, particularly as Covid-19 pandemic restrictions lifted. Land-based venues were closed in the Netherlands until 25 January 2022, with restrictions still applying until 25 February 2022.

Spending on gambling and advertising

Online casino was one of the Netherlands’ smaller markets in 2022, behind lotteries and l..

October 19, 2023

ESPN Bet unveils brand

Penn Entertainment and Disney’s ESPN have unveiled the brand for their upcoming mobile sports betting offering, ESPN Bet.

ESPN Bet’s mint green and navy logo is to feature across the multiple ESPN channels, including in-app, on social media and in television programming.

The sports media company added the logo will give prominence to the “ESPN” brand. However, the mobile sportsbook application itself will be branded as the letter “E” within a “B”.

the espn mobile application brand

ESPN, which is the largest sports media brand in the US, said this “creatively expresses the idea that ESPN, in partnership with Penn Entertainment, is launching a sportsbook for fans, but at its core is still ESPN, the most trusted brand in sports.”

According to Penn president and CEO Jay Snowden, the app is set to launch in November after a five-month development period.

This followed the August announcement that Penn would be launching an ESPN-branded online sports betting offering through a $1.5bn ..

September 25, 2023

BetMGM signs Hollywood star Chris Rock to support UK launch

MGM Resorts International has signed Hollywood actor Chris Rock to support the launch of its BetMGM brand in the UK market.

As an ambassador, Rock will feature in a range of marketing campaigns to promote the UK roll-out of BetMGM.

The first such campaign is now live, with Rock sharing details of various special offers to market the launch. These include bonuses and prices boosts, as well as information about exclusive content available from BetMGM.

BetMGM has also rolled out a responsible gambling advert specific to the UK market. Both campaigns are active across live sport, TV, out of home, digital, radio and social.

“We are incredibly excited to launch BetMGM in the UK and give customers something new,” BetMGM UK director Sam Behar said. “This campaign leverages the heritage of MGM Resorts’ best-in-class Las Vegas entertainment to deliver a unique proposition to the UK market.

“Alongside standout promotions and our A-list ambassador Chris Rock, this campaign clearly demonstra..

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Tag: Marketing & affiliates