Tech & innovation – Page 3

June 6, 2023

Sorare: From pressure point to new regulations

Sorare has updated its operating model in France, and gambling regulator ANJ is yet to confirm whether it meets its regulatory criteria, writes Jake Pollard. However, news that the French government is working to pass new regulations for Web3 “pioneers” shows how important the sector is to the French authorities.

In a statement posted on Medium, Sorare said it had updated its product roadmap as a “temporary solution”.

This decision was taken in accordance with “the French National Gaming Authority [l’Autorité National des Jeux (ANJ)] that creates an optional alternative method of entry for users based in France only”.

Essentially, Sorare has increased free-play access to its fantasy sports leagues for players in France. Even if the French language version of the company’s statement, unlike the English text, mentioned that the new method of entry would be available to players “without blockchain cards”.

A marker of regulatory pressure

Overall, the move by Sorare is a marker of t..

May 24, 2023

Bet365’s Hillside rolls out new Platform Innovation Hub

The Hillside Technology business of Bet365 has announced the launch of a new Platform Innovation Hub to develop new technologies.

The department will explore new technologies and identify whether they can contribute to the Bet365 platform. The hub will collaborate with technology teams to establish ways in which processes can be integrated across its departments.

Platform Innovation will provide insight, guidance, tools and benchmarks. It will also connect people across the organisation and provide a space to experiment with new technologies and approaches.

The new hub will launch with a team of technology specialists recruited from both inside and outside of the Bet365 business.

“The strength of our product and the creativity of the people who engineer it, has ensured we’ve continued to lead the market,” head of Platform Innovation, Alan Reed, said.

“Looking forward, we want to take the next quantum leap. Doing so will require looking outward and exploring the new technologies an..

May 23, 2023

Underdog pens North America deal with GeoComply

Fantasy sports operator Underdog has selected fraud prevention solutions provider GeoComply as its geolocation supplier for North America.

Previously, Xpoint served as Underdog’s geolocation provider.

Under the terms of the deal, Underdog will access GeoComply’s Core suite and Solus product for its fantasy sports offering, as well as its planned sports betting operations.

GeoComply’s Core product is the supplier’s flagship geolocation service. Customers who have the licence to operate this product can also access the business’ range of fraud prevention tools to protect their operations from bonus abuse, identity theft and chargeback fraud.

The business’ Solus solution is a fantasy sports geolocation solution for web-based players. The system runs on HTML5 browsers, removing the need for players to download additional apps or plug-ins.

GeoComply praise deal

GeoComply vice-president of business development and licensing, Sam Basile, said the business was “thrilled” to be working wi..

May 4, 2023

Buying and selling the future of US sports betting

WagerWire is taking the simple concept of buying and selling bets and aiming to disrupt the US sports betting industry. As it looks to do away with transactional sportsbook experiences, and operators buy into the vision, chief experience officer Travis Geiger tells iGB there’s a new breed of executives ready to take charge.

“From the bettor’s point of view, it’s like StockX or Coinbase,” chief experience officer Travis Geiger says of WagerWire’s core proposition. “We want to be your central hub for all things sports betting. We’re not just trying to sign you up; we’re trying to be a part of your betting journey.”

It’s a big claim, but WagerWire is entirely different from any other US sportsbook. It holds affiliate vendor licences in 16 US states as well as Washington DC, Puerto Rico and Ontario. Not to mention affiliate partnerships with some of the biggest names in the industry – but the core product feels unique to that sector as well.

Want to understand WagerWire? Think StockX, ..

April 27, 2023

What’s covered in the Gambling Act white paper?

After years of delays and speculation, the most transformative review of gambling in the United Kingdom in 18 years has finally been published.

The publication of the Gambling Act review white paper signifies a landmark upheaval of how gambling will be regulated in the UK going forward, in an age of smartphones and 24/7 internet access.

To say the review has been much anticipated would be an understatement. Industry trade bodies, operator groups and industry critics alike have waited eagerly for the white paper’s publication.

It has been an eventful two years and four months since the UK government announced the review – one that has encompassed the resignations and appointments of two prime ministers, the declaration of a cost of living crisis and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

While the white paper document outlines much of what the industry expected, it contains a few unexpected additions – including the addition of a gambling ombudsman, to give customers one point of contact for..

March 22, 2023

GiG banks on the power of two

Richard Brown’s tenure as Gaming Innovation Group (GiG) chief executive began with a major change of direction, with the sale of its B2C assets to Betsson. Almost four years on, and with business booming for the B2B supplier, he’s poised to make another huge call with plans to split the business into media and platform suppliers.

When he was confirmed as permanent CEO of Gaming Innovation Group (GiG) in November 2019, Richard Brown pledged a focus “on delivery, execution and optimisation, putting us on a path for great focus and renewed growth”.

The business reported revenue of €43.0m for 2019, at a time it encompassed B2C operations, a platform business and affiliate marketing operations under the GiG Media banner. Brown then divested the B2C operations to Betsson early in 2020.

This, he has explained previously, created a focused business, with staff putting all efforts into the B2B platform and media operations.

In 2022, Brown’s third full year as GiG CEO, revenue hit €90.1m,..

March 13, 2023

Fredrik Elmqvist: Other side of the coin

Slots veteran Fredrik Elmqvist is turning his luck to the mad bad world of sports betting – but will it work?

Elmqvist is well-deserving of his reputation as the king of slots.

However, more than 10 years on from his epoch-making launch of Yggdrasil, the Stockholm native is turning his luck to the decidedly different proposition of sports betting in his latest project ParlayBay, which seeks to make its name as the new champions of micro betting.

The Swedish entrepreneur certainly has a nose for where the action is, describing it a “pretty interesting” time to be setting out on a venture such as this.

Elmqvist describes a US sports betting landscape that is shifting into a new, subtler gear following the marketing wars that characterised the earlier days of the PASPA repeal.

“For a few years there’s been a shift into sports betting and you see, in the United States rollout, both the need for new products and to keep the marketing costs down, as well as still [the need to] get new..

March 7, 2023

Genius Sports announces two new board appointments

Genius Sports has announced the appointments of Kenneth J Kay and Michael Messara to its board of directors.

Their appointments will take effect on 8 March.

Kay has been appointed as an independent director of the board. He will also accept the role of chair of the audit committee – succeeding Harry You – and will serve as a member of the board’s nominating and corporate governance committee.

Most recently, Kay held the role of CFO at MGM Holdings. He also held CFO roles with a number of companies, including Dole Food Company, CB Richard Ellis Group Inc and Las Vegas Sands Corporation. Kay also had board and audit committee experience through his time on the board of Summit Hotel Properties.

“This is an exhilarating time to join Genius Sports as it continues to transform the way the world experiences sport,” said Kay. “I look forward to working closely with the board as the company enters the next phase of its journey as a global leader in sports data and technology.”

Kay is set..

February 17, 2023

Genius Sports agrees data distribution deal with XFL

Sports data business Genius Sports has agreed to a new data distribution and fan engagement partnership with minor football league XFL.

As part of the deal, XFL has granted Genius exclusive rights to distribute official data from all XFL games to its media and betting partnerships.

As such, Genius Sports is now XFL’s official betting data distribution partner and free-to-play provider.

Genius Sports’ executive vice-president, Sean Conroy, said that having a comprehensive data policy is an important part of a sports organisation’s financial success.

“For every sports league, an official data strategy that drives both new revenues and fan engagement levels is vitally important,” he said. “We’re thrilled to partner with the XFL, connecting their games with the media and betting sectors while creating meaningful fan interactions through the bespoke XFL Pick’Em solution.”

genius argued that a data strategy is vital to the success of a sporting league

XFL Pick’Em

The deal also saw G..

February 7, 2023

Eyes on the prize

Marese O’Hagan speaks to Luka Pataky, chief product officer computer vision at Sportradar, about how Sportradar’s computer vision technology could revolutionise sports betting for good.

In a market as crowded as sports betting, artificial intelligence (AI) technologies like computer vision must continually reinvent themselves in order to remain relevant.

Arguably, it has a well-founded basis in this space, having begun as a completely different project close to 10 years ago.

“Before this role, I was head of innovation at Sportradar, and that’s how we started this computer vision journey as well – it was an innovation project that actually grew,” says Pataky.

Pataky acknowledges that similar technologies have been around for a long time, existing well outside the realms of sports betting.

“It’s not a new area,” he admits. “Computer vision has been around for decades and in some industries it has been used a lot – manufacturing, production lines.”

In describing exactly what compute..

February 2, 2023

US sports betting: Is micro betting the sports equivalent of igaming?

As the US sports betting industry evolves, could this herald a new genre of products? H2 Gambling Capital examines micro betting, one of the first innovations to emerge.

Micro betting is a subset of in-play wagering that allows players to wager on individual moments in a game in real-time. It offers the instant gratification / continuous betting opportunities of igaming but with the skill of sports betting.

Jump to:

In-play betting – Market potential

Micro betting – Market potential

Micro betting – Current performance

Micro betting could be a key driver to increase in-play wagering of US sports to levels of that seen in Europe for basketball and tennis, with the majority of wagering activity being incremental to existing spend.

Other benefits of a high frequency, low price sports betting product include:

Attracting a younger generation of customers that prefer less time commitmentIncreasing player engagement and therefore LTVsIncreasing spend of “casual” players – therefore red..

January 25, 2023

How crypto could be embedded in online betting

Tom Waterhouse of WaterhouseVC revisits the subject of crypto wagering, and whether it could be central to next-gen sportsbook platforms.

In May, we discussed the significant opportunity in crypto betting, which is growing gross gaming revenue (GGR) at 36.6% per annum.

Online crypto operators have a similar user experience to online fiat operators. The likes of Stake.com and Sportsbet.io already record extraordinary turnover.

White label platform solutions for crypto betting operators are leveraged to the growth of crypto wagering as a whole. This means they are not exposed to the operational and regulatory risk of a single crypto wagering business.

Global crypto wagering data for total bets and GGR. Source: Softswiss.

Existing wagering platforms

Many fiat operators rely on white label sportsbook and igaming platform solutions, such as Kambi, OpenBet and SBTech.

A selection of white label sportsbook and iGaming platforms built for fiat operators. Source: Waterhouse VC.

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Tag: Tech & innovation