Tag Archives: Gaming

First ilottery and online sports betting solution launched in Brazil

First ilottery and online sports betting solution launched in Brazil

NeoGames and Intralot do Brasil have announced the launch of LotoMinas, the first regulated ilottery and online sports betting solution for Brazilian state Minas Gerais' official lottery, Loteria Mineira.

The multi-year turnkey agreement – which was first announced in June – sees NeoGames enter the Brazilian market, in a project that will involve long-term cooperation with the state’s lottery operator.

The undertaking is NeoGames’ first large scheme led by its subsidiaries with Aspire Global and BtoBet – companies that the business acquired last year.

neogames will provide ilottery and online sports betting services to the lottery operator

NeoGames CEO Moti Malul said the organisation was “excited” to launch in the Brazilian market and to be partnering with Intralot do Brasil, who are more familiar with the local market than the Israel-based supplier.

“Together we will provide online lottery and sports betting players in Minas Gerais with a first-class online gaming experien..

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Denmark breaks online casino revenue record as gambling grows in 2022

Denmark breaks online casino revenue record as gambling grows in 2022

Denmark saw its gambling market grow in 2022, despite a drop in sports betting.

Spillemyndigheden, the Danish gambling authority, said total gross gaming revenue (GGR) for the year to 31 December 2022 came to DKK6.70bn ($991.4m/€910.1m/£799.8m), which was up 7.5% on the DKK6.23bn recorded in the previous year.

Online casino was the largest segment, comprising DKK2.88bn, which was up 2.1% on the 2021 figure. The segment was worth DKK272.3m in December, which was the largest amount since records began in 2012, and up 3.4% on December 2021.

The second largest segment, sports betting, was down 3.6% to DKK2.32bn despite the Fifa World Cup taking place during the year. December’s GGR figure of DKK135.5bn was the lowest return since October 2021 and down 35.0% on December 2021.

Slot machines generated DKK1.15bn in 2022, which was up considerably on the Covid-impacted 2021. Some DKK99.2m was taken in December 2022, up 44.5% on the same month in 2021.

Land-based casino also saw big gains i..

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Kindred CEO: “No item is sacred” when it comes to cost-cutting

Kindred CEO: “No item is sacred” when it comes to cost-cutting

Henrik Tjärnström, CEO of Kindred, has said that “no item is sacred” in terms of cutting costs on an earnings call addressing Kindred’s Q4 trading update released earlier today (13 January).

Although Kindred’s Q4 revenue is projected to rise 24.5% year-on-year to £305.0m (€343.1m/$372.2m), Kindred said this was not up to expectations and vowed to take “immediate action”.

Addressing this, Tjärnström said that Kindred would review all areas of cost in order to improve spending for 2023, adding that no cost-cutting is off the table.

“We are looking to review all cost items for efficiency purposes and refreshing our channels for spending in 2023,” he said. “We cannot comment on the overall number at this point.

“But we’re clearly looking across the P&L [profit and loss], and no item is sacred in that sense.”

He said this was due to how vastly the Q4 revenue is set to depart from Kindred’s, and the market’s, expectations.

“We take this very seriously, and the deviation that we see fro..

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Gaming bill filed as Texas gears up for 2023 legislative session

Gaming bill filed as Texas gears up for 2023 legislative session

The Texas legislature will consider a bill that would amend the state’s constitution to legalize casinos at a limited number of locations and set the stage to permit sports betting.

The proposed law – Senate Joint Resolution 17 – would devise the framework for a new body named the Texas Gaming Commission, which would supervise legalized gambling in Texas.

Casino gambling would be authorized at a “limited number of destination resorts and facilities” with the proceeds going towards tax relief and funding for education and public safety.

The amendment’s author is Houston-based state senator Carol Alvarado, a Democrat who initially pre-filed the bill on 14 November 2022.

[Read full story on iGB North America]

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Luckbox owner to acquire Asia-facing B2B platform

Luckbox owner to acquire Asia-facing B2B platform

Luckbox owner Real Luck Group has signed a letter of intent to acquire an unnamed igaming platform targeting the Asia-Pacific region.

Real Luck Group will acquire 100% of the shares in the Asia-facing business, which it says will give it access to more than 6,000 games from 50 game providers.

Real Luck Group chief executive Thomas Rosander said that the business had long aimed to add a B2B element to its portfolio, but that through this deal it is set to accomplish this sooner than it had expected.

“Adding B2B to our proprietary platform has always been a significant part of the Luckbox strategy, and this important acquisition means we will complete this objective almost a year in advance of our projections,” he said. “It also extends our opportunities into APAC, a significant region that we currently do not have a presence in and perhaps the largest esports market globally.

Real Luck Group CEO Thomas Rosander

“This transaction ultimately builds our business’ upside by providing ..

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Does brand awareness really impact customer loyalty?

Does brand awareness really impact customer loyalty?

As operators search for customer loyalty, brand awareness is front-of-mind. But does it really impact loyalty and is it enough for long-term success?

Welcome to episode three of our five-part consumer insight series designed to outline and analyse the customer acquisition, retention and development opportunities for the leading operators in North America.

In episode one, we explored the common challenges faced by bettors when attempting to register, fund and bet with their preferred apps, highlighting the correlation between seamless user journeys and brand loyalty.

In last week’s episode, we dove deeper into the day-to-day frustrations faced by consumers and the opportunities for operators to develop improved customer experiences that can impact both loyalty and market share.

In this week’s episode, using our proprietary insights, we will analyse the best-performing operators in terms of brand awareness, app preferences and customer loyalty – all through the lens of the consumer. ..

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Kahnawake council launches legal challenge against Ontario igaming laws

Kahnawake council launches legal challenge against Ontario igaming laws

The Mohawk Council of Kahnawàke (MCK) has launched a constitutional challenge against iGaming Ontario and the attorney-general of Ontario, arguing that the province’s regulation of gambling is unconstitutional.

The Council – which runs its own gambling licensing regime – said that the Ontario regime did not meet the requirements for gambling outlined in Canada’s constitution.

As a result, it has filed a motion in the Ontario Superior Court of Justice to challenge the legality of Ontario’s igaming framework, which it said was “illegal and unconstitutional”.

Ontario igaming legal status

Commercial betting and gaming are legal in Canada only if it is “conducted and managed” by a provincial government. While in most provinces that offer online gambling, the government runs a monopoly, Ontario instead launched a licensed regime this year, with more than 30 different licensed operators so far.

While a specific definition of conducting and managing is not provided, the Mohawk Council of ..

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GB gross gambling yield recovers to almost £10bn in 2021-22

GB gross gambling yield recovers to almost £10bn in 2021-22

Great Britain’s gross gambling yield (GGY), excluding lotteries, increased 16.5% to £9.93bn ($12.0bn/€11.53bn)
from April 2021 to March 2022.

The figures were supplied through industry research from the Gambling Commission.

While this is a significant rise, the total is 0.8% below the 2019-20 numbers, which mostly occurred pre-pandemic. Despite the increase in the headline numbers since this, the Commission reports that the number of bettors in the sector have fallen.

“Since Covid-19 restrictions were lifted in 2021 and products and opportunities to gamble are available to consumers again, the overall percentage of the adult population who gamble remains lower than it was pre-Covid (28%),” said the Commission.

This can be explained by gaming spend increasing to a proportionally larger extent than the number of consumers. However, as the Commission outlines, there are strong signs of increased participation in gambling activities from younger demographics.

“There are signs of a r..

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Lahcene Merzoug on PressEnter’s management buyout

Lahcene Merzoug on PressEnter’s management buyout

Fresh from announcing a management buyout, PressEnter CEO Lahcene Merzoug talks to iGB about the new leadership's strategy and future plans.

So, the cat is out the bag; PressEnter Group will be under new (or should we say old?) management.

There are many questions that remain: Will the new chairman stay the course or head to uncharted waters? What form will the shape of the business’ future growth take? And what’s the plan with the company’s brands?

The business formerly known as Betpoint has reinvented itself before, though only the new owners know what the plan is now. Current CEO and future executive chair Lahcene Merzoug explains in his own words.

What was the rationale behind the management buyout, and what important factors led the executive team to decide to go down this route?

The management team has grown the business into what it is today, so we could clearly see the potential in the company and its operations. When the opportunity to buy PressEnter Group arose, ..

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KSA to investigate illegal affiliate sites targeting self-excluded players

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..

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