Casino & games – Page 18

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 2, 2022

Simon Hammon’s lessons from a lifetime in slots: The present

Simon Hammon, recently named chief executive of Relax Gaming, insists he’s not a typical “product guy”. But the games released under his watch, like Starburst during his time at NetEnt, have had a massive impact on the industry. In the second part of a three-part interview, Hammon offers advice for businesses in the crowded slots space of today.

Simon Hammon’s success at NetEnt ultimately took him to Relax Gaming. In part one of this series, Hammon outlined how the move might have looked to some like a “step down”.

But since joining, the business has been growing strongly. For the second quarter of 2022, revenue was up 20% quarter-on-quarter to £5.2m, with six new titles rolled out and the Dream Drop jackpot feature going live.

Its partner base expanded to 15 new operators in that same period, while 132 studios were integrated into its RGS, while its reach extended to Italy and Spain, with a licence for Ontario setting it up for entry to North America.

That business-minded view has..

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

GiG CEO: Rationale for Sportnco deal proven by Q2 performance

A full quarter’s contribution from Sportnco has aided Gaming Innovation Group’s international expansion drive, and while new opportunities emerge in the Americas, Europe is also playing a key role in its growth trajectory.

Gaming Innovation Group’s (GiG) first quarter results for 2022 set a new high point for revenue, for the second consecutive reporting period. The supplier has now extended that winning streak to three quarters, reporting a 37.1% year-on-year jumping in revenue to €22.1m (€18.6m/$22.5m).

GiG Media, its affiliate division, continues to grow rapidly, but for the three months to 30 June, the platform business’ performance was the standout performer. Revenue grew 43.1% to €7.3m, reflecting a full quarter’s contribution from Sportnco.

Richard Brown, GiG CEO

Sportnco’s impact in Q2

In the wake of the first quarter results, chief executive Richard Brown talked up the anticipated impact of adding a proven sportsbook to GiG’s portfolio. Following Q2’s figures, it certa..

August 4, 2022

GB gambling revenue drops in June as almost all sectors struggle

Gross gambling revenue in Great Britain dropped by 13.6% month-on-month in June, new figures from the Gambling Commission show, as almost all types of gambling experienced a significant decline.

The regulator published data based on reports from operators making up 80% of the GB online gambling market and 85% of the retail betting shop market, building on its earlier online-only reports launched in 2020. As such, the absolute figures reported do not include the entire market within these verticals.

Month-on-month, online gross gambling yield was down by 13.2% to £370.2m in June. The total was also a drop of 20.0% from the highest monthly total of the year, recorded in January. Revenue was, however, higher than March, when sports betting revenue experienced a sharp drop that was likely related to special officers around the Cheltenham Festival.

At the same time, revenue from retail bookmakers was down as well, by 5.6% to £181.7m.

Revenue from almost every single gambling vertical wa..

July 26, 2022

Comtrade pens platform supplier deal with Stanleybet Romania

Gaming software supplier Comtrade Gaming has announced a new platform deal with online sports betting and gaming operator Stanleybet Romania.

Under the terms of the agreement Comrade will supply its iCore igaming platform to the Bucharest-based business.

Comtrade chief commercial officer Steven Valentine explained that the iCore platform integrates a number of features, including “real-time bonusing, dynamic segmentation, real-time push messaging, and many more player engagement tools.”

“When someone decides to migrate their platform, they put a lot of trust of their existing business on you,” said Valentine.

“We have shown on many occasions that we are the smart choice for a growing operator. Having done many tier 1 migrations in the past, we have now made our igaming platform more accessible to small and mid-size operators who have outgrown their current solution.”

“With our flexible approach to individual client needs, we are a very reliable choice for operators looking to impr..

July 26, 2022

Comtrade pens platform supplier deal with Stanleybet Romania

Gaming software supplier Comtrade Gaming has announced a new platform deal with online sports betting and gaming operator Stanleybet Romania.

Under the terms of the agreement Comtrade will supply its iCore igaming platform to the Bucharest-based business.

“When someone decides to migrate their platform, they put a lot of trust of their existing business on you,” said Valentine.

“With our flexible approach to individual client needs, we are a very reliable choice for operators looking to impro..

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 15, 2022

Detroit casino revenue down 8.8% YoY in June

The three commercial casinos in Detroit, Michigan, posted $98.6m (£83.4m/€98.2m) in total revenue during June, an 8.8% drop on the same month last year.

Revenue from the MGM Grand Detroit, MotorCity Casino and Penn National’s Hollywood Casino at Greektown was down from $108.1m in June 2021 and also 9.3% lower than $108.7m in May of this year.

MGM retained top spot in the Michigan city with a 49% share of the market, ahead of MotorCity on 34% and Greektown with 17%.

Breaking down the monthly performance, table games and slots were responsible for $98.2m of all revenue for the month, but this was 7.2% lower than in June of last year.

MGM led this area of the market with $48.3m in revenue, up by 4.3% year-on-year. However, revenue at MotorCity was down 9.8% to $33.5m, while Greektown’s revenue dropped 26.6% to $16.4m.

The three casinos paid $8.0m in gaming taxes, as well as $11.7m worth of wagering taxes and development agreement payments to the City of Detroit.

Turning to retail sp..

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Tag: Casino & games