Marketing & affiliates Archives

September 27, 2022

Dutch minister defends sponsorship transition timeline

Dutch minister for legal protection, Franc Weerwind, has defended the timeline of the country’s sponsorship ban, amid further questioning on the subject from MPs.

In July, the Dutch government announced a number of measures to curb gambling advertising, following severe pressure from MPs. Many forms of ads will be banned from the start of next year, while gambling sponsorships in football will be banned from 2025.

When asked about the upcoming sponsorship ban, Weerwind said that the two-year adjustment period set out for the ban is a “reasonable” length of time.

“That is why a period of two years has been provided for the entry into force of a ban on sports sponsorship,” he said.

“In view of the serious importance of addiction prevention and the special importance of sport, I consider this a short, but reasonable period of time.”

He was questioned in parliament last week (23 September) by Mirjam Bikker, a member of political party ChristenUnie.

The questions mostly dealt with foo..

September 23, 2022

Fitzdares partners with Fulham FC

Fulham FC has named bookmaker Fitzdares as the club’s official betting partner.

Under the terms of the agreement the new partners intend to launch a messaging campaign that “will bring a sense of fun into the game”.

Fitzdares allows players to place bets in numerous ways, including online, through text and by phone. It also operates a private club in Mayfair, where members can watch live sport.

“This partnership has its roots in the 19th century and we are bursting with excitement to finally join up with London’s original football club, said Fitzdares CEO William Woodhams.

“Dare I say, the only place better to watch football than The Fitzdares Club is at the Cottage. We will be adding a Craven Cottage Pie to our menu immediately to bring a taste of West London royalty to Mayfair.”

Fulham sales director Jon Don-Carolis added: “We are delighted to welcome Fitzdares as Fulham FC’s official UK betting partner.

“Our organisations are proud of our heritage and embrace innovation while ..

September 23, 2022

English football must distance itself from the Pogos

iGB op-ed: Zak Thomas-Akoo argues that in the wake of criminal scandals regarding offshore operators based in the Philippines, the continued association by English football clubs with the sector could be a ticking time-bomb for scandal.

Most fans of Premier League clubs probably couldn’t tell you much about the Pogo sector, but it has become deeply embedded in top-flight English football.

A Philippines Offshore Gambling Operation (Pogo) is a Philippines-based gambling site that broadcasts games of chance to other jurisdictions – usually elsewhere in Asia. Almost by definition, this comes without approval by local authorities in the operator’s target markets. While China has been the highest-profile target, a number of Pogos also specialise in the Korean or Vietnamese markets.

The sector is also widely believed to be infiltrated by criminal organisations and has been linked to crimes such as human trafficking, slavery and prostitution, with the situation getting so bad that a senator..

September 21, 2022

Betway fined £400,000 for marketing on “children’s webpages”

Online gaming operator Betway has been fined £408,915 ($463,178/ €467,776) by the Gambling Commission for marketing on “children’s webpages”.

The regulator determined that the Super Group-owned brand was marketing on the children’s pages of the West Ham United Football Club’s website, breaching Commission rules on socially responsible advertising.

The Commission said that the operator’s logo – which linked to its website – appeared on a page on the West Ham site which offered the option of printing off a picture of a teddy bear for children to colour in. It was visible on this page between 14 April 2020 and 6 November 2021.

Additionally, between 24 October 2021 and 15 November 2021, a similar logo that linked to Betway’s homepage was featured on the “Young Hammers at Home” page of the club’s site.

GC director of enforcement, Leanne Oxley, said the regulator had no reason to believe Betway was targeting children deliberately, but that the rule breach was still serious.

“Protecting ..

September 7, 2022

Betegy to ramp up US push following Yolo investment

Betegy has closed an investment round led by Yolo Investments – the venture capital arm of the Yolo Group, which operates the Sportsbet.io brand.

Betegy – which provides data visualisations, automated on-air and retail graphics, and casino marketing assets to operators – intends to use the funds to continue its scaling in the US. The announcement follows a previous funding round led by JKR Investment Group, which was announced in 2020.

iGB spoke to both Betegy founder and chief executive Alex Kornilov, and Yolo Investments founder and GP Tim Heath to discuss the deal and how Betegy plans to further adapt its products for the US market, and the startup funding sector as a whole.

What encouraged you to invest in the business; what do you think that Betegy brings to the market that wasn’t on offer before?

TH: Betegy’s great innovation is to automate the previously time-consuming process of turning reams of data into world-class content. We know the product works because it’s been succ..

September 2, 2022

Brazilian operators risk being punished for government inaction

iGB op-ed: Daniel O’Boyle argues that Brazil’s latest crackdown on sponsorship punishes operators that believed they had a clear pathway to launching before the winter.

Five matches into the season, the Premier League – and European club football in general – is well and truly back.

But the big moment of anticipation in the football world this year is still to come, when those domestic leagues will, of course, stop this winter, for the 2022 Fifa World Cup.

However excited those in Europe may be, surely no nation can match Brazil in its enthusiasm for the World Cup.

So naturally, the event has long been the circled date on the calendar for the launch of regulated sports betting in Brazil.

Operators had surely hoped that the months in the build-up to the event would be a time to prepare to get their licensed operations up and running, putting the finishing touches in place to take bets on the World Cup.

But instead, it might be close to the exact opposite.

With the opening match n..

August 25, 2022

USA Today publisher Gannett alters Tipico deal, removing exclusivity

US media giant Gannett has altered its affiliate partnership with Tipico, removing exclusivity for the operator.

Gannett – which owns the country’s leading newspaper by circulation, USA Today, as well as a large network of local newspapers – had signed a deal with German market leader Tipico last year, as the operator looked set to expand in the US.

The operator committed to $90m in media spend over the five-year agreement, while Gannett would also receive referral fees for customers that placed bets after being directed to Tipico from Gannett properties.

That agreement replaced Gannett’s partnership with MGM-Entain joint venture BetMGM, meaning the media business would promote Tipico odds instead of BetMGM’s.

Read the full story on iGB North America

August 23, 2022

SuperBook to launch retail sportsbook at Orioles stadium

Sports betting operator SuperBook Sports has announced a new partnership with MLB team the Baltimore Orioles that will involve the building of a retail sportsbook sports lounge at the club’s Oriole Park at Camden Yards ballpark.

SuperBook does not currently have a Maryland sports wagering licence and the deal will be the operator’s first foray into the state’s regulated sports betting market. As such, the partnership will be subject to the relevant approvals from the Maryland Lottery & Gaming Control Commission (MLGCC).

Active in Nevada since 1986, SuperBook’s online brand has expanded as sports betting has grown to other states. In June, the operator expanded into Tennessee through a platform partnership with International Game Technology (IGT).

TJ Brightman, Orioles chief revenue officer lauded the deal in a statement: “The Orioles are thrilled to partner with SuperBook to enhance our gameday experience with the introduction of their first-ever on-premise sports lounge,” he said.
..

August 23, 2022

Rush Street Interactive: the exception that proves the rule

At a time when US sports betting operators are shifting focus to profitability rather than expansion, Rush Street Interactive believes it is a step ahead of the competition. Chief executive Richard Schwartz explains how a disciplined approach, online casino and its pan-American ambitions, will achieve this.

The early stages of the US betting and igaming market have been typified by a race to build as big a customer database as possible, at whatever cost. Each state that launches experiences advertising shock and awe, as operators bankroll vast campaigns to use each rollout as a land-grab for new sign-ups.

Rush Street Interactive (RSI), the business that listed on the New York Stock Exchange in December 2020, has looked to take a different approach. At a time when there is greater scrutiny of company spending, and investors query how long hefty losses can be sustained, it has managed to keep its spending in check.

While the push for profitability is still relatively new to the wide..

August 22, 2022

How social gaming set Bryan Bennett up to succeed at Betfred

Bryan Bennett fought “800lb gorillas” working for a challenger brand in the social casino space, and that experience could prove crucial as he works to make Betfred USA Sports a key player in the sports betting sector.

The social casino boom of the early 2010s, sparked by what was then Caesars Interactive’s investment in Playtika in 2009, opened up a new audience to the gaming industry and sparked a wave of M&A. The likes of DoubleDown, Big Fish Games, Product Madness and Buffalo Studios were among those to sell at significant multiples.

The smaller challengers tended to have to fight for market share, which in turn saw the market leaders turn to them as acquisition targets to further shore up their strong positions.

Bryan Bennett entered the fray as vice president of marketing for slot developer Rocketplay, one of these challengers, and one that was ultimately snapped up by slot manufacturer AGS. This saw Bennett, who previously worked for strategy games developer Kabam and casua..

August 18, 2022

Penn exercises options to acquire remainder of Barstool

Penn Entertainment – the business formerly known as Penn National Gaming – has exercised its option to acquire all remaining shares of media brand Barstool Sports.

Penn acquired a 36% stake in Barstool for $161.2m in 2020, after which it rebranded its sportsbook product to bear the Barstool brand name.

The operator would then increase its stake in Barstool beyond 50% – paying $62.0m for a further 14% stake – within three years. Penn was also granted immediately exercisable call rights that would allow it to acquire the remainder of the media business, “based on a fair market value calculation”.

In February of this year, Penn then revealed that it planned to exercise these options and control the entire Barstool business by early 2023.

Read the full story on iGB North America

August 17, 2022

Why MaximBet is more than a sum of its parts

When PASPA was repealed, Daniel Graetzer saw the biggest opportunity of his career. Having gone all-in on the market, he is now running a nationally recognised brand in MaximBet.

When it comes to partnerships between US media giants and sportsbooks, it tends to be the market leaders that get mentioned. It could be 888 using the Sports Illustrated brand for its US push. Or Penn National acquiring Barstool Sports and theScore to drive its growth.

The rampant speculation around ESPN moving into betting operations tends to cite DraftKings or Caesars as being its most likely partner. In short, the companies involved tend to be large, and listed.

But MaximBet, a challenger launched in 2021, has successfully pivoted from a Europe-focused, multibrand business into a US-focused, media brand-driven competitor.

And chief executive Daniel Graetzer is keen to stress that MaximBet is not just a gimmick – he’s building a new proposition for the US sportsbook industry.

Building betting into a..

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Tag: Marketing & affiliates