Betting News – Page 159

November 18, 2022

What will it take to create a US challenger that’s actually viable?

iGB op-ed: Following MaximBet’s exit from the US sports betting market, Daniel O’Boyle asks what it will take for a lower-tier US brand to succeed.

This week’s column comes to you as I prepare to board a flight for a week off in the Hampton Roads region of Virginia, so what better to focus on than the idea of retreating from costly US battles?

Maximbet became the latest US operation to shut down, hot on the heels of the Fubo Sportsbook. If it wasn’t clear already, it’s fair to say now that it’s tough for second-tier and below operators to make much money, and other exits are likely coming soon.

In August, I wrote that the podium of top US sports betting operators had effectively been set, with no path for challengers to compete with the likes of FanDuel, DraftKings and BetMGM.

The chances of anyone coming close to FanDuel’s market share disappeared a long time ago

Recent events have only reinforced that there simply isn’t a path into the top tier for the also-rans. So the question..

November 17, 2022

KSA to investigate illegal affiliate sites targeting self-excluded players

The Dutch Gambling Authority (KSA) has announced that it has initiated an investigation into affiliate marketing sites that target vulnerable consumers.

The KSA said that its attention had been drawn to a number of affiliate sites that had been created with the seeming intent of circumventing regulated offerings and directing consumers to gambling sites that do not abide by Dutch gaming law.

The KSA provided examples of such sites with domain names including phrases such as casinozondercruks (“casino without cruks,”) and casinozondervergunning (“casino without licence”). The Centraal Register Uitsluiting Kansspelen (Cruks) is the Dutch self-exclusion platform that allows players who have experienced harm from games of chance the opportunity to put themselves on a blacklist preventing them from accessing certain sites for a pre-designed time period set by the user.

The KSA has cracked down on affiliates before, taking action against 15 sites in December 2021.

Cruks integration

Und..

November 17, 2022

Codere Online losses widen despite revenue growth

Online gaming operator Codere Online has announced that losses increased 73% quarter-on-quarter from €6.7m (£5.8m/ $7.0m) to €11.6m in Q3 despite revenue growth on both a sequential and annual basis.

Much of the increased losses can be explained by increased marketing spend. Codere spent €5m more on marketing in Q3 than it did in Q2, with an increase from €19.3m to €24.3m. Other costs remained largely static quarter-on-quarter.

Total revenue increased to €28.9m in Q3 2022, a 51% year-on-year increase, while net gaming revenue increased 54% to €30.6m. This compares with the €27.4m in total revenue and €29.2m in net revenue the company received in the preceding quarter. The increased losses can be explained by revenue not increasing at the same speed as marketing spend.

Moshe Edree, CEO of Codere Online, said this growth was driven primarily by the company’s continued expansion in its critical markets of Mexico and Spain, which make up the majority of the business’ total revenue.

November 17, 2022

MaximBet ceases operations amid “challenging” macroeconomic conditions

Online gambling operator MaximBet has ceased all operations with immediate effect citing “challenging macroeconomic conditions” and an “increasingly cost prohibitive marketplace”.

MaximBet announced the decision in a message to customers, saying they will have until 15 December to withdraw any funds in their accounts. After this date, any remaining balances will be refunded via cheque sent to the address on the account.

Players are no longer able to deposit more funds or place net bets, but MaximBet said that it would settle any existing bets in line with its MaximBet House Rules until 15 December. At this point, MaximBet said bets will be cashed out at “current fair value market pricing” and player balances will be returned via cheque.

MaximBet was founded in April of 2021 through a collaboration between sports betting operator Carousel Group and media brand Maxim, supported by a $50m investment from the xSigma subsidiary of Chinese engineering business ZK International.

At the ti..

November 17, 2022

English FA charges Brentford star Toney over 232 betting breaches

The English Football Association (FA) has charged Ivan Toney, who plays for English Premier League football club Brentford, with misconduct after ruling that he breached its strict betting regulations.

Toney last week admitted he was assisting the FA with an investigation amid newspaper reports he bet on football matches earlier in his career.

The Daily Mail said the FA has been investigating Toney for seven months over allegations he was betting on games during his time playing in the lower leagues. It is not thought Toney ever placed bets on the team he was playing for at the time to lose.

The FA has now confirmed Toney was charged after its investigation uncovered that he had breached betting rules 232 times between 25 February 2017 and 23 January 2021.

The specific breach was in relation to FA Betting Rule E8, which states any player, match official or coach must not bet, either directly or indirectly, on any matters related to football anywhere in the world.

Though the FA did..

November 16, 2022

Entain and Sportsbet respond to Australian gambling harm inquiry

Online gaming operators Entain and Flutter-owned Sportsbet have issued responses to an ongoing Australian inquiry into online gambling and its impact on those experiencing harm.

On 15 September, an Australian parliamentary committee, the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Social Policy and Legal Affairs began an inquiry into online gambling and its effects on those who experience harm from the activity.

The committee sought out written submissions from both individuals and organisations providing recommendations on this topic. Entain and Sportsbet responded to the call to action, and wrote separate documents outlining their recommendations for policy in this area.

Appropriate levels of regulation

In the document that Entain provided, it argued that it believed that current levels of regulation in the sector were “appropriate”.

“Regulation that is not proportionate risks undermining the customer experience and driving growth in the use of black market illegal offshore..

November 16, 2022

Sportradar raises guidance after US segment turns Q3 profit

Sportradar raised its full-year guidance after it reported a 30.7% revenue increase to €178.8m and said its US segment turned a profit in Q3.

Sportradar reported that revenue from the United States was up by 61.2% to €31.6m.

“This growth was driven by a strong increase of US betting services, driven by cross-selling non-data products to betting operators as well as benefiting from our customers’ growth as a result of a development in the underlying market and new states legalising betting,” the group said.

Rest-of-world betting services was the largest segment of the business, with revenue up 28.4% from Q3 of 2021.

This, Sportradar said, was mostly due to clients using more products in which Sportradar receives a higher revenue share, such as as managed betting services.

“This growth was driven primarily by increased sales of our higher value-add offerings including managed betting services, which increased 84% to €38.2 million, and live odds services, which increased 12% to €27..

November 16, 2022

Codere Q3 revenue hits pre-pandemic levels thanks to strong LatAm growth

Spain, Italy and Latin America-facing gaming business Nueva Codere’s Q3 revenue increased 47.2% year-on-year to €343.4m (£300.7m/$357.8m), recovering to pre-pandemic levels.

The robust revenue growth is mainly due to the lifting of Covid-19 restrictions in venues, ensuring a rebound for Codere in almost all markets.

Adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) increased by 74.8% to €57.4m from €24.6m in the same period the previous year. Codere’s potent performance in Argentina and other Latin American countries is one important factor in this result.

The company’s adjusted EBITDA margin also rose 2.6% to 16.7% in the three months leading to 30 September compared to the same period of 2021.

Codere country totals

Revenue jumped for Codere in all Latin American markets – most dramatically in Argentina where it increased 146% year-on-year to €98.6m, 122% of the pre-pandemic total. One important factor is that average player spend per visit has incre..

November 16, 2022

Detroit casino revenue continues to decline in October

The Michigan Gaming Control Board reported a further year-on-year and month-on-month decline in revenue from Detroit’s three land-based commercial casinos in October.

Combined revenue for the month from the MGM Grand Detroit, MotorCity Casino and Hollywood Casino at Greektown was $102.8m (£86.6m/€98.9m), which was 10.0% lower than $114.1m in October 2021 and also 0.7% down from $103.4m in September this year.

Slots and table games revenue in October amounted to $100.7m, a year-on-year drop of 9.7% from $111.5m last year but only marginally lower than $100.8m in September this year.

Qualified adjusted gross receipts (QAGR) from retail sports betting from casinos accounted for the remaining $2.1m in revenue, down 19.2% from $2.6m in both October 2021 and September this year.

Sports wagering handle for the month reached $34.2m, a drop of 31.3% on last year but a 27.1% increase from $18.5m in September.

MGM remained the market leader with 46% share, ahead of MotorCity on 32% and the H..