Marketing & affiliates – Page 7

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..

August 12, 2022

RushBet scores expanded partnership with LaLiga in South America

Rush Street Interactive’s (RSI) RushBet has expanded its South America-facing partnership with Spain’s LaLiga top-tier club football competition.

RushBet will serve as LaLiga’s exclusive wagering partner throughout the continent, building on a partnership agreed in November 2021, under which RushBet had been serving as the league’s partner in Colombia.

The agreement will run for three seasons and grant RushBet intellectual property rights for the league’s top two LaLiga divisions. These rights will include use of team names, shields, players’ pictures and competition logos.

RushBet will also gain access to ex-LaLiga players, while its sportsbook customers will have the chance to participate in exclusive experiences such as meet-and-greets with former players.

Other aspects of the deal include RushBet receiving merchandise such as jerseys and balls to give away at special events, as well as access to speciality hospitality packages. In addition, RushBet will work with LaLiga on a ra..

August 10, 2022

Better Collective scores sports betting content deal with Sport1

Affiliate giant Better Collective has entered into a sports betting content partnership with German multi-channel sports platform Sport1.

The partnership will launch this month and be co-branded with Wettbasis, a Better Collective brand and part of the group that will provide all content to the Sport1.de website.

Better Collective said that the new deal gives the group an additional marketing channel to operate, market and manage customer contacts to betting operators in the German market.

“We look forward to getting started and I know that my colleagues at Wettbasis.com are working hard to be ready with appealing and engaging content for the Bundesliga season and in good time for the World Cup in football that is coming up in November,” Better Collective co-founder and chief executive Jesper Søgaard said.

Sport1 managing director Matthias Kirschenhofer added: “We are thrilled to partner with Better Collective as the premier international sports betting media group for a completely..

August 9, 2022

BetMGM becomes official partner of NFL in Canada

Entain-MGM joint venture BetMGM has agreed a deal that will make it an official sportsbook partner of the National Football League (NFL) in Canada.

The deal comes ahead of the first NFL season since the Canadian province of Ontario opened its regulated betting and igaming markets. BetMGM was one of the first operators to launch, receiving its licence when the market opened on 4 April.

“Expanding our partnership with the NFL into Canada sets the stage for amazing opportunities as we begin the upcoming football season,” said BetMGM chief executive Adam Greenblatt. “We’re already seeing great interest from our Ontario customers and this collaboration truly elevates the BetMGM experience.”

Read the full story on iGB North America

August 2, 2022

Gaining altitude or experiencing turbulence?

Robin Harrison talks to the local operators and lobbyists involved in the early stages of the Netherlands’ regulated igaming market.

Online gambling regulation in the Netherlands was discussed as far back as 2009 yet only launched in October 2021.

And the operators licensed were different to what the industry had expected. The local incumbents, Nederlandse Loterij (NLO) and Holland Casino, were among them as were international brands such as Bet365 and Tombola.

A host of high-profile names were conspicuous by their absence. The likes of Entain, Betsson, 888 Holdings and Kindred Group pulled out, having passively accepted bets from local consumers.

This led to a “deluge” of players coming to Holland Casino, according to director of digital transformation Jeroen Verkroost.

“We were over the moon but completely understaffed and had to shift from first to fifth gear almost immediately, which came with some teething problems,” Verkroost recalls.

Sam Depoortere, business director for N..

July 29, 2022

iGB op-ed: the Premier League should jump before it’s pushed

iGB op-ed: Zak Thomas-Akoo argues that the Premier League should make concessions now on gambling shirt sponsorship deals, rather than being forced into it.

This Tuesday, the barons of English football met in an undisclosed location for one of their once-in-a-while shareholders meetings – which according to reports included some rather striking ideas for “a new deal for football”.

Apparently this is some sort of grand bargain between the Premier and lower leagues, as well as more importantly a big old bash at new Chelsea owner Todd Boehly’s house.

Great stuff, but wasn’t there supposed to be something in there about a voluntary betting shirt sponsorship ban? Last week, it was reported that there was enough support for such a ban, subject to a transition period and certain conditions, to pass the necessary 14-vote threshold.

Kicking the can down the road

While the machinations of the big clubs are a bit of a black box, it’s probably the case that, as speculated in the press, the c..

July 27, 2022

XLMedia’s new focus on US betting pays off as H1 EBITDA exceeds $10m

A renewed – and acquisition-powered – focus on US sports betting helped drive XLMedia’s revenue up 39.2% to $44.5m, while earnings grew beyond $10m.

Since the prior year’s results, XLMedia changed the structure of the divisions within the business, as part of a wider restructuring effort.

Rather than a single sports betting vertical, the business split revenue related to betting into US sports and European sports. It was the US sports division that generated the vast majority of XLMedia’s revenue, with $30.2m, which was more than five times the total recorded in H1 of the previous year.

Much of this came from recent acquisitions such as Sports Betting Dime and Saturday Football Inc.

“The opening of new regulated markets and the signing of new media partnership agreements has allowed the US Sports business to capitalise on the full US sports calendar, in particular the Super Bowl, and deliver strong growth in H1 2022,” the XL board said.

The European Sports division, meanwhile, br..

July 26, 2022

Norwich City director: club will “never again” have betting shirt sponsor

Norwich FC's commercial director, Sam Jeffrey, has said that the club will “never again” sign a betting shirt sponsorship deal, adding that the club must “almost self-regulate” when it comes to deals of that nature.

Instead, the club is set to sign a one-year sponsorship contract with Norfolk-based car manufacturer Lotus Cars.

The club’s latest home kit, which features Lotus, was released at the end of last month.

While Jeffery emphasised that the club must “assess all opportunities” for sponsorship, he stringently ruled out future betting deals.

“There were some [sponsorship] opportunities specifically in the betting space,” said Jeffrey. “These opportunities derived a higher partnership fee as is the case in industries such as betting.”

“However, we believe this is the time, as a board and club-wide decision, to almost self-regulate when it comes to betting on the front of our shirts,”

“So, certainly with the club in its current structure we will never again have a betting..

July 26, 2022

Norwich City director: club will “never again” have betting shirt sponsor

Instead, the club is set to sign a one-year sponsorship contract with Norfolk-based car manufacturer Lotus Cars.

The club’s latest home kit, which features Lotus, was released at the end of last month.

While Jeffery emphasised that the club must “assess all opportunities” for sponsorship, he stringently ruled out future betting deals.

“However, we believe this is the time, as a board and club-wide decision, to almost self-regulate when it comes to betting on the front of our shirts.

“So, certainly with the club in its current structure we will never again have a betting b..

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Tag: Marketing & affiliates