Monthly Archives: January 2019

UK kids exposed to fewer gambling ads than five years ago

UK children are being exposed to fewer gambling advertisements than they were five years ago, according to a new watchdog report.

On Friday, the UK’s Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) issued its latest report on ‘Children’s exposure to age-restricted TV ads,’ which covers how much gambling, alcohol and junk food commercials were reaching children during the period spanning 2008 to 2017.

The report shows kids’ exposure to gambling adverts on a steady rise from 2.2 ads per week in 2008 – the year gambling advertising rules were relaxed – to 4.4 ads per week in 2013. That was the last year before the UK revamped its gambling licensing regime, restricting advertising opportunities to operators licensed by the UK Gambling Commission.

By 2017, the number of gambling ads viewed by kids had declined to 2.8 per week, which, while still marginally higher than the 2008 figure, nonetheless represents a 37.3% decline from its 2013 peak.

Ladbrokes Belgium launches new affiliate programme with Income Access

Income Access extends marketing tech partnership with Ladbrokes Coral through Belgian sports-betting subsidiary focused on the domestic market

Montreal, QC. 1st February 2019 – Ladbrokes Belgium, the Brussels-headquartered sports betting subsidiary of Ladbrokes Coral Group, has launched an affiliate programme with Income Access, Paysafe Group’s marketing technology and services provider. The Belgium-operated sportsbook’s new programme will be powered by the affiliate platform of Income Access, which unveiled a technology partnership with Ladbrokes Coral’s UK-facing brands earlier in January.

A ‘made in Belgium’ sports-betting brand tailored specifically to the domestic market, Ladbrokes Belgium offers wagering on a wide selection of local football events such as the Belgian Cup as well as other European leagues, including the Champions League and UK Premier League. Available in the official Belgium languages of Dutch and French as well as English, the brand also enables players to bet on popular Belgian sports including cycling and tennis and enjoy virtual sports and an online casino.

The launch of the Ladbrokes Belgium affiliate programme will allow affiliates to promote this high-profile local sportsbook with international brand recognition. Powered by the Income Access platform, which is also used to manage the affiliate channel for the UK-focused Ladbrokes, Coral and Gala brands, the new programme will be overseen by Ladbrokes Belgium’s in-house affiliate managers. The dedicated team is expert on the local gaming market, including regional and cultural differences.

GrooveGaming does a quick one-two to get into the groove with 1x2Network deal

Malta – GrooveGaming is the latest gaming platform to sign with 1x2Network, renowned for its innovative approach to casino games while adding content from 1×2’s Iron Dog and Leap brands.

GrooveGaming has stepped neatly into a particular space in the global iGaming market by recognising that many casinos are becoming increasingly frustrated by slow integration times and long launch queues, and operators are now finding a new, easier and much faster way to boost content and gambling channels with the GrooveGaming platform. GrooveGaming has a diverse portfolio of proprietary and 3rd party HTML5 video slots and table games as well as over 1700 casino games together with the biggest Lotto, Bingo, Live games, Scratch, Multiplayers and Sportsbook.

GrooveGaming is an advanced technology business providing cutting-edge products and services throughout the entire value chain in the iGaming industry. Apart from the growing portfolio of games, other GrooveGaming services include advanced marketing and management system, risk management, regulatory compliance, business intelligence, affiliate promotion and customer service, as well as support in launching, maintaining, and growing new online casinos.

1X2gaming is the founding brand, and now subsidiary, of the 1X2 Network a UK based supplier of Virtual Football, general fixed odds gambling games, and casino games to international gaming sites. Founded in 2002 the head office is in the UK tech-hub of Brighton & Hove, known lovingly as Silicon Beach, however the company has a global presence and continues to develop innovative fixed odds gaming products across multiple channels for gaming sites of all sizes and to generate significant revenues for partners.

Super Bowl 53 odds update & game notes

One would think that an opposing player wouldn’t want to make New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady even more motivated to win a particular big game. Yet, Los Angeles Rams cornerback Nickell Robey-Coleman couldn’t keep his mouth shut this week and provided Brady and the Patriots with some nice Super Bowl 53 bulletin-board material.

Odds courtesy of OddsShark.com

When Robey-Coleman was asked about the 41-year-old Brady, in his ninth Super Bowl this week, Robey-Coleman said that: “Age has definitely taken a toll. … I think that he’s definitely not the same quarterback he was. Movement. Speed. Velocity. Arm strength.”

Is Robey-Coleman right? Sure, Brady isn’t physically what he used to be, but why even say that? You know that someone on the Rams got to Robey-Coleman after those comments because the cornerback walked them back, saying “words were definitely taken out of context.” How can words be taken out of context when it was a direct quote?

GeoComply and Bet.WorksTM partner for US Sports Betting Market

February 1, 2019 (Vancouver, Canada and Las Vegas, USA) – GeoComply and Bet.Works today announce their agreement to integrate GeoComply’s award-winning geolocation compliance solution into the Bet.Works online sports betting and iGaming platform.

This partnership will enable Bet.Works to launch their online platform in New Jersey and other states with the assurance that they are fully compliant with both state and federal geolocation regulations.

“Geolocation compliance is a cornerstone of our online sports betting and iGaming platform and by partnering with GeoComply, we’re utilizing the industry’s most trusted solution to meet stringent state and federal regulations,” says Quinton Singleton, Chief Operating Officer of Bet.Works.

“GeoComply’s technology gives us the confidence and flexibility to support our launch in New Jersey as well as our roll-out to other states as they legalize sports betting and iGaming in 2019 and beyond. Their solution has not only been rigorously tested and approved by government and independent test labs, but has already proven its ability to meet the challenges of the online sports betting market.”

UK Gambling Commission warns operators re non-disclosure deals

UK gambling operators have been warned to tread carefully when using non-disclosure agreements (NDA) to resolve disputes with their customers.

On Thursday, the UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) issued an industry warning after becoming aware that some of its licensees “have been including non-disclosure clauses within settlement agreements with consumers.”

The UKGC noted that, while there were certain commercial contexts in which NDAs were appropriate, it was concerned that some NDAs “may have had the effect of preventing consumers from reporting regulatory concerns to us, by either excluding disclosure to any third party or, in some cases, explicitly preventing customers from contacting” the regulator.

The UKGC wants to ensure that NDA’s don’t result in consumers feeling they can’t report dodgy conduct to any regulator or law enforcement agency. The UKGC also wants to ensure that problem gamblers can “freely discuss their gambling history with treatment providers.”

MaxBill expands in online gaming industry with new project at premium global gaming solutions provider NetEnt

NetEnt to automate its customer billing and partner management with MaxBill from LogNet Billing

Warwickshire, United Kingdom (Feb 2nd, 2019) – LogNet Billing, the provider of the MaxBill Modern Billing solution for service providers worldwide, today announced that NetEnt, a leading digital entertainment company, has selected its MaxBill solution for the company’s global online gaming operation.

NetEnt provides premium gaming solutions to over 200 online casino operators worldwide, including 888.com, bet365, betfair, bwin, William Hill and many others. The company’s CasinoModule is a complete virtual casino that includes a state-of-the-art portfolio of online video slot games and a variety of live casino games as well as a set of back office management tools.

NetEnt has selected the MaxBill solution from LogNet Billing to automate its billing and partner reconciliation processes. MaxBill will provide NetEnt with a modern framework to efficiently configure and manage the contracts with its online casino operator customers.

Pinnacle Solution brings its market-leading esports product to ICE

Pinnacle Solution has unveiled a world-class B2B esports product ahead of ICE London 2019. The B2B arm of online bookmaker Pinnacle.com has developed a dedicated esports offering that will sit alongside its existing sportsbook API and turnkey solution.

As Pinnacle is widely regarded as the global leader in esports betting, the launch of a B2B offering makes it stand out to any operator that is serious about capturing a share of the rapidly growing esports betting market. With over 30 esports titles, more than 3,200 pre-match events, and 1,000 live events available each month, it’s clear that Pinnacle is intent on extending its unrivalled reputation within esports to the B2B sector. 

Paris Smith, Pinnacle CEO commented:

“ICE is always an enjoyable experience and the fact that this year’s event coincides with the launch of a new product that we know is the best in the industry makes it even better. There is obviously huge interest in esports at the moment due to the growth that we’ve seen in the industry. Unlike many others, esports is nothing new for us. We’ve had almost a decade to learn and hone our trading expertise in what is a very unique sport from a betting perspective so we are confident in the fact that the quality of our product cannot be beaten.”

CalvinAyre.com February 2018 Featured Conferences & Events

ICE VOX

ICE VOX, also known as the “paid-for” sessions taking place during ICE, kick off at the ExCeL on Monday, February 4th through Wednesday, February 6th. These carefully selected sessions are designed to address the hottest topics in the gambling industry today, with the most qualified professionals as speakers.

This year Clarion has changed up the format of these sessions to create a completely new experience for ICE VOX delegates, with seven conference tracks delivered across four bespoke formats, allowing for roundtable discussions, debates, learning from outside industries and quick, innovative presentations.

What: ICE VOX

Italy’s gambling turnover doubled in size over last 10 years

Italy’s gambling market has doubled in size over the past 10 years, according to the results of a new market survey.

This week saw independent research body Eurispes release its Italy 2019 Report, which claims overall Italian gambling turnover hit €101.8b in 2017, more than doubling 2008’s turnover of €47.5b and nearly seven times 2003’s €15.5b. (Full report here, with gambling in Schedule 47).

Italian gamblers’ actual losses amounted to nearly €19b, around €10b of which went to the government in the form of taxes, leaving about €8.6b for Italian-licensed gambling operators.

A little over 28% of Italians copped to having engaged in some form of gambling for money. Around 18.3% of gamblers partook exclusively offline, while just 2% were purely online gamblers and nearly 8% were platform-agnostic.

Rank Group’s digital growth can’t rescue retail stagnation

UK-listed gambling operator Rank Group’s digital gains weren’t enough to prevent a profit plunge in the second half of 2018.

On Thursday, Rank issued its interim results for the six months ending December 31, 2018, during which revenue fell 1.7% to £348.2m, operating profit slumped 24.6% to £25.8m and pre-tax profits tumbled 30.5% to £22.8m.

Nonetheless, Rank’s shares closed out Thursday’s trading 6% higher, as investors were apparently able to see past the torrent of red ink and see the underlying strength of the company’s digital operations. Digital revenue was up 15.8% to £70.4m, although the digital gain was a more modest 5.1% on a like-for-like basis.

Rank said customer volume was up at both its Grosvenor and Mecca digital brands, while the Spanish-facing YoBingo! brand – which Rank acquired in May 2018 – was “performing ahead of acquisition plan.” Rank also said it successfully trialed its Grosvenor One single account and wallet offer in H1, which will now be rolled out near the end of Rank’s fiscal year in June.