Tag Archives: Management

Crypto wagering: The forces driving growth

Crypto wagering: The forces driving growth

iGB brings readers a new column, from Tom Waterhouse of WaterhouseVC. In this first instalment, he analyses the businesses that will drive growth and adoption in cryptocurrency wagering.

The growth of crypto wagering and Web 3.0 are turning traditional wagering on its head.

The entire real-world wagering ecosystem is being rebuilt in virtual worlds like Decentraland, presenting opportunities and risks to established operators.

In Decentraland, players must first purchase or transfer cryptocurrency (MANA or DAI) tokens to their Decentral Games wallet, which they can stake on certain games.

Online crypto operators, which have a similar UX to online fiat operators like FanDuel and DraftKings, are already recording extraordinary turnover.

Source: SoftSwiss

In Q3 2021, the total number of bets placed using cryptocurrency increased by 181% yoy, while the share of bets in crypto (43.3%) is fast approaching par with fiat (source: Softswiss).

Source: Softswiss

For example, crypto-fo..

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GiG: Media rules supreme, but platform potential grows

GiG: Media rules supreme, but platform potential grows

Another record peak for Gaming Innovation Group’s (GiG) media division was the highlight of the supplier’s first quarter results, but the platform arm is poised for a potentially transformational year.

Gaming Innovation Group reported revenue of €19.1m for the three months to 31 March, representing its second consecutive record-breaking quarter.

Key to this was the ongoing performance of its media arm, which reported a 40.0% year-on-year jump in revenue to €14.1m for the first quarter of the year. The affiliate business, chief executive Richard Brown explains, took a massive leap forward with player intake hitting a record 69,800 for Q1, and intake from its paid campaigns up 160% year-over-year.

“We’ve been launching quietly in a number of markets,” he explains. “Over 12 to 18 months, we launch, analyse and optimise. Once we’ve managed to ascertain the optimum return on investment we ramp up marketing spend.”

Richard Brown, GiG CEO

While there has been a marginal decline in pla..

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Feeding the marketing furnace

Feeding the marketing furnace

As Q1 results season gets underway, US sportsbook operators are increasingly looking to refine their customer acquisition approaches.

In the US, sports betting is everywhere. Morning commute billboards, YouTube interstitials, TV commercials, influencer posts…marketing channels are saturated with imagery and copy encouraging new bettors to join the fray.

It should be no surprise, considering the ongoing mass expansion of sportsbooks and online betting sites in the US. With every newly regulated market comes new advertising and marketing campaigns.

Ad channels are brimming with attempts to bring sports fans, curious bettors, or other newcomers into the fold. It takes a careful, well-researched touch to succeed in marketing a sports betting site, especially in the piecemeal and sometimes chaotic US geographies with varying regulatory and legal requirements.

By this point, many big-name operators have staked their claim and continue to market to potential long-term customers. There’s s..

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Inside the deal to bring News Corp Australia into sports betting

Inside the deal to bring News Corp Australia into sports betting

Following months – if not years – of speculation, News Corp Australia has made its move into sports betting, in partnership with Tekkorp Capital, BetMakers and seasoned industry executive Matt Tripp. Tekkorp president Robin Chhabra talks iGB through the process.

Less than two weeks after it announced a new advisory arm, Tekkorp Capital flexed its muscles by playing a key role in the deal that creates a formidable new competitor for Australia’s sports betting sector.

News Corp Australia has created NTD: a consortium involving Tekkorp Capital and TGW, which was formed by Sportsbet and BetEasy founder Matt Tripp.

This group has struck a ten-year supply deal with BetMakers to power a new sportsbook product. The offering is due to launch in the second half of 2022, in time for the pinnacle of the Australian racing season, the Spring Carnival.

Two of Tekkorp’s senior team, chief executive Matt Davey and president Robin Chhabra, will join NTD’s board. Chhabra explains that while Austra..

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Strong lottery showing helps Tabcorp revenue grow 2.2% in H1

Strong lottery showing helps Tabcorp revenue grow 2.2% in H1

Australia’s Tabcorp Holdings reported an increase in revenue for the six months ended 31 December 2021, with its lottery division the standout performer ahead of its demerger from the group.

For the first half of the operator’s financial year, revenue was up 2.2% year-on-year to AU$2.93bn (£1.55bn/€1.86bn/$2.11bn).

The largest contributor to the group total was the Lotteries and Keno division, comprising The Lott and Keno brands. It saw revenue increase 10.9% to AU$1.78bn in spite of keno venues being impacted by Covid-19 trading restrictions. While keno revenue was down 9.8% to AU$119.0m, lottery was up 12.7% to AU$1.67bn across retail and digital channels.

A highly visible retail network – comprising newsagents, petrol stations, kiosks and pharmacies – helped turnover grow 5%, while digital’s share of lottery turnover was up from 32.1% in the prior year to 36.7%.

Game development helped keep jackpot games and Saturday Lotto turnover growing. However, other titles, such as scra..

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GiG CEO on first year of B2B focus

GiG CEO on first year of B2B focus

After refocusing on B2B in 2020, 2021 was the year when Gaming Innovation Group's new strategy showed return. For chief executive Richard Brown, it still only feels like the start.

Yesterday (15 February) Gaming Innovation Group (GiG) reported a 28.0% year-on-year rise in revenue for 2021. Following its divestment of its B2C assets in 2020, this marked its first full year as a purely B2B business, and while CEO Richard Brown says he is pleased with the performance he stresses that it’s still the beginning for the company.

Richard Brown, GiG CEO

“We made the shift in 2020, laid the initial groundwork, and in 2021 it started to come to fruition. We felt we had to work on a lot of stuff operationally, so as the results followed the strategic move in sequence, it really feels as if we’re gearing up.”

Revenue for the year was driven predominantly by GiG’s media business, which contributed €45.0m of the total, up 31.2% from the prior year. Brown has previously described that divi..

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