Sports betting Archives

July 25, 2022

DIY or third-party: the sportsbook technology debate

The debate over whether operators should build their own technology or use a third-party solution has raged for decades, but it appears to have grown more intense as the US market opens. However, as Daniel O’Boyle reports, it may not be a question with a clear answer

It’s said that if you want something done well, you should do it yourself.

That appears to be an adage many sports betting operators have taken to heart.

Hop on any earnings call for a US operator, and there will no doubt be plenty of mentions of “proprietary sportsbook technology”.

The demand among operators for in-house solutions is backed up by their money. In 2020, DraftKings merged with SBTech, valuing the supplier at $634.1m. Last year, Caesars acquired William Hill for $3.7bn, mostly for its proprietary technology.

Meanwhile, theScore announced a long process to build its own sportsbook technology, which surely played a major part in Penn National Gaming acquiring it for $2bn.

“I don’t want to get distracted b..

July 22, 2022

Mississippi betting handle declines for third consecutive month in June

Consumers in Mississippi wagered a total of $25.1m (£21.0m/€24.6m) on sports betting during June, a drop on last year and also the third consecutive month of decline in the US state.

Handle for the month was 41.8% lower than $43.1m in June 2021, while the total was also down 14.0% from $29.2m in May of this year.

Revenue for the month reached $2.1m, a 34.4% drop from $3.2m in June of last year and down 47.5% from $4.0m in May 2022, marking the second straight month of decline.

Coastal casinos remained by far the venues of choice for players in the state, with bettors wagering a total of $17.3m on sports during the month, while the casinos were able to generate $1.3m in revenue.

Player spending at central casinos reached $4.5m in June, with revenue at these venues hitting $464,667, while northern casino handle was $3.3m and revenue $339,142.

Baseball was the most popular sport to bet on across all venues in the month, with coastal casino customers wagering $8.8m, central casino pla..

July 21, 2022

LatAm now Betsson’s largest market amid European decline in Q2

Betsson disclosed revenue of €186.3m (£158.9m/$189.5m) from its second quarter results, which saw Latin America become its largest market – while revenue in western Europe fell by almost 40%..

Pontus Lindwall, CEO at Betsson [pictured above] said the business saw progress in most areas throughout the quarter, and spoke highly of its sportsbook progress.

“Betsson’s second quarter featured continued good growth with all-time high revenue and further investments to support our expansion,” said Lindwall. “The group’s organic growth was 13%, mainly driven by Latin America, Central and Eastern Europe and Central Asia, where we see long-term growth potential as these markets still have a low share of online gaming.”

“The sportsbook business showed a strong development in the quarter – gross turnover increased by 20% and the margin was 8.3% (8.5%) – leading to all-time high revenue.”

Latin America is now Betsson’s largest market. In Q2, it accumulated revenue of €45.7m, up significantly by..

July 21, 2022

New Hampshire sports betting handle hits $861.1m in FY22

Players in New Hampshire staked $861.1m (£718.1m/€842.8m) on sports betting during the state’s 2022 financial year, while DraftKings generated revenue of $51.6m.

Handle for the 12 months to the end of June 2022 was 65.4% higher than $520.6m in FY21, the first full financial year of legal sports betting in the state following the launch of its regulated market in December 2019.

Of this total, $670.3m was wagered via DraftKings’ online offering and $190.8m at retail sportsbooks across New Hampshire. The operator secured exclusive rights to offer sports betting via the New Hampshire state lottery in November 2019.

Turning to gross gaming revenue and for the 12-month period reached $51.6m, up 32.3% from $39.0m in FY21.

Some $44.0m of total yearly revenue was generated through online sports wagering and the remaining $7.6m came from retail activity.

The NH Lottery reported that the state recouped $23.9m in taxes from sports betting during the 2022 financial year, $20.6m of which was f..

July 20, 2022

STS revenue declines despite higher stakes in Q2

STS – Poland’s largest bookmaker – reported a drop in net gaming revenue despite an increase in wagers in Q2.

In Q2, wagers were up 1.0% year-on-year to PLN1.11bn, despite Q2 of 2021 including the rescheduled Euro 2020. However, net gaming revenue – which includes gambling taxes as well as winnings – declined by 16.6% to PLN138m.

The business had 375,000 active users during the quarter, down from 417,000 in the same period of 2021. In addition, it reported 92,000 new registrations, down 22.7%, and 66,000 first-time depostors, down 19.2%.

Looking at the first half of 2022, net gaming revenue came to PLN296m, very slightly up from the same period of 2022.

The increase came as total wagers with the operator dipped sightly to PLN2.19bn.

“In the first half of this year, we achieved very good operating results,” STS chief executive Mateusz Juroszek said. “We have slightly improved NGR – the value of amounts staked by the customers, less the winnings paid and gambling and lottery tax – c..

July 20, 2022

Italy’s online sports betting revenue dips in May, while casino holds steady

Italy's igaming revenue declined to €276.4m in May from April’s €292.2m, mostly due to a dip in online sports betting.

Online sports betting revenue continued its downward trend, dropping below the €100 million mark for the first time since October 2021. This is compared to €153.5 million from May 2021. This drastic year-on-year drop is partially explained by restrictions that were in place on the retail sector in May last year, prompting more customers to bet online.

However, retail sports betting also suffered a sudden decline on a month-on-month basis after a period of stability, coming down from €83.5 million in April to €66.4 million in May.

In contrast to the betting figures, casino revenue ticked slightly upwards to €161.8 from €155.1 million. As a result, the igaming revenue product split swayed heavily away from sports betting, taking up only 35.3% of the market in May as opposed to 40.7% in April.

The drops in market share that the biggest four online casino operato..

July 20, 2022

Pennsylvania sets $5.04bn gambling revenue record in FY21-22

Pennsylvania set a new gambling revenue record during its 2021-22 fiscal year, generating a total of $5.04bn (£4.19bn/€4.92bn) in the 12-month period.

Revenue was 29.5% higher than the $3.87bn that was reported during FY20-21, which was incidentally also the state’s previous record total.

Land-based gambling drew the highest percentage of revenue during the year, with revenue from retail slots increasing 27.7% year-on-year to $2.41bn, while table games revenue also jumped 40.7% to $1.02bn.

Sports betting revenue edged up 2.2% to $315.8m, though the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board (PGCB) did not publish a breakdown of online and retail revenue figures for this sector of the market, nor did it disclose handle details.

Valley Forge, along with partner FanDuel, ranked first in the sports wagering sector with $160.1m in revenue, some way ahead of Hollywood Casino at the Meadows’ Barstool Sportsbook on $52.5m and Hollywood Casino at Penn National and DraftKings with $23.8m.

Turning to..

July 20, 2022

Aspire prepares for a new era

Aspire Global has divested its B2C operations to become a focused B2B business which in turn becomes part of a formidable proposition now NeoGames has acquired the supplier. But that B2C heritage will be vital to ensuring it continues its rapid growth trajectory, says CEO Tsachi Maimon.

Tsachi Maimon was named chief executive of Aspire Global in 2013. At that time the business brought in about €25m (£21.3m) annually. Eight years later, it posted revenue of €213.3m for 2021.

When Maimon joined, he oversaw a B2C business which contributed the bulk of revenue. By the end of 2021, the company had sold off all its consumer-facing operations, which were snapped up by Esports Technologies in a €65.5m deal.

On 17 June, Aspire was then acquired by an even larger entity, with ilottery specialist NeoGames completing a public offer to take charge of the company for €402.3m.

This, Maimon says, is the result of “a series of carefully considered business decisions” that has ultimately taken it..

July 19, 2022

Martin Collins on GiG’s plans after its Sportnco acquisition

Collins speaks to iGB about GiG’s recent acquisition with Sportnco, and how reaching over 35 markets with an end-to-end solution has positioned GiG in the industry.

July 19, 2022

Key industry players partner for women’s sports research

A group of leading industry groups and businesses have joined forces to carry out long-term research exploring the growth in women’s sports.

Entain, Stats Perform, the International Betting Integrity Association and the All-In Diversity Project will work in collaboration with the German Sports University of Cologne to conduct the research.

The initiative will focus on the links between the popularity of women’s sports, betting on women’s sports and rising numbers of female sports bettors.

The group will work to publish its findings ahead of football’s Fifa Women’s World Cup 2023, which will take place in Australia and New Zealand.

Confirmation of the new research project comes as the 2022 Uefa European Women’s Football Championship is taking place in England.

The tournament is currently at the quarter-final stage, with England, Spain, Germany, Austria, Sweden, Belgium, France and the Netherlands having progressed from the group stage.

The final will take place on 31 July at Londo..

July 19, 2022

Marc Thomas, Metric Gaming COO, on where to find innovation in US sports betting

Thomas speaks to iGB about the sports betting industry and how operators are inevitably going to move towards improved product as marketing spend declines, as well as how clever operators will know the power of cross-channel marketing when retaining customers.

July 19, 2022

Mediatroopers co-founder Benjamin Truman on the standard of betting products in the US

Truman talks to iGB about the standard of sports betting products in the growing US market. With the US slightly behind Europe in terms of sports betting, Truman says that innovation is vital, particularly as as bonuses dry up and operators need to keep players engaged.

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Tag: Sports betting