Monthly Archives: April 2020

Italy’s retail gaming reopening timeline; no online casino surge

Italy’s retail gambling operators are preparing to restart their operations while the country’s online operators say they haven’t seen the rise in online casino activity that other markets have reported during the pandemic.

On Thursday, Italy’s Customs and Monopoly Agency issued an update re plans for reopening the nation’s retail businesses, including gambling businesses, that were ordered closed earlier this year as Italy tried to get control of the worst COVID-19 coronavirus outbreak in Europe.

As of April 27, Italy will allow tobacconists (which weren’t under closure orders) to resume selling certain numerical draw lottery products. As of May 4, lottery products that require verification by shop staff will be permitted.

Starting May 11, shops offering sports betting – on real sports or virtual ones – will be back in business, although they’ll have to keep their TV monitors off to discourage customers lingering longer than necessary. That same date will see the resumption of “collection through electronic slot-type devices machines.”

Boris Becker joins GGPoker as first sporting ambassador

Poker partners are often symbiotic, and as we’ve already learned in the last few months, GGPoker know what they’re doing in hiring new representatives.

Daniel Negreanu joined Bryn Kenney and Felipe Ramos in the GG stable late in 2019, and the latest addition to the team, Bertrand ‘ElkY’ Grospellier, joined just last week when the Esports and poker legend started wearing the GGPoker patch.

Today, that roster of four top level pros was added to with the six-time tennis Grand Slam winner Boris Becker, who has become an official site ambassador along with GGPoker’s latest brand partner, King’s Casino!

Becker, who has previously represented partypoker at the felt, will be the brand’s ambassador for the forthcoming WSOP Online Super Circuit Series, and will be hoping to add to his $111,416 winnings from the live felt, although he’s a little out of practice in terms of live poker, with the former Wimbledon champion having cashed only once since 2013 at the live felt.

MGM to raise another $500m, warns of Q1 earnings horrorshow

Casino operator MGM Resorts is looking to raise another half-a-billion dollars while warning that its Q1 earnings report will be a proper horrorshow.

On Thursday, MGM announced that it will raise $500m via a new debt offering, the net proceeds of which will go toward “general corporate purposes, including, without limitation, further increasing its liquidity position.” As of March 31, MGM said it had cash and equivalents of $6b and debts of $11.8b, but it has drawn down nearly all its existing credit facilities. (Those golden handshakes aren’t free, you know.)

MGM isn’t scheduled to release its first-quarter earnings report until April 30 but a US Securities and Exchange Commission filing on Thursday showed revenue is expected to fall 29% to $2.3b and adjusted earnings are down 61% to $295m. Net income totaled $807m, but that includes a $1.5b net gain from January’s MGM Grand/Mandalay Bay transactions, so the reality is a significant net loss.

Revenue from Las Vegas operations was down 21% to $1.1b, with earnings falling one-third to $268m. Regional US revenue fell 10% to $726m, while earnings were off 28% to $152m. In Macau, MGM China’s revenue slid 63% to $272m and the division reported a net loss of $22m following February’s 15-day Macau casino shutdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Gamesys limits marketing to avoid being seen as pandemic parasites

UK online gambling operator Gamesys is reducing its marketing exposure for the duration of the COVID-19 pandemic, while the UK’s advertising watchdogs are warning sportsbooks to mind how they promote their new eSports betting markets.

On Thursday, the Gamesys Group issued a trading update for the first quarter of 2020, during which revenue increased nearly one-fifth year-on-year to £155.3m. The company credited “strong growth” in Asia, a “solid performance” in the UK and “healthy double-digit growth” in the US. Trading to date in the current quarter is “broadly in line” with its Q1 trends.

Gamesys used the release to acknowledge the fact that the “unprecedented COVID-19 crisis” meant that people – including children and those with problem gambling tendencies – were now spending a greater amount of time at home and consuming more media, be it TV, radio or other platforms.

As such, Gamesys has decided to “suspend untargeted customer marketing” and will cease all UK TV and radio advertising “until current social restrictions are eased.” The company will continue to market its brands online although it will suspend “direct-mail marketing and untargeted digital advertising.”

SportsGrid and Sportradar Announce Multi-Year Agreement to Provide Sports Gaming & Daily Fantasy Real-Time Data & Statistics

SportsGrid, the nation’s leading streaming video platform dedicated to the sports betting and daily fantasy audience, reached a multi-year agreement with Sportradar to power its real-time data, statistics and analytic solutions.

Under the terms of the agreement, Sportradar is providing the tools, data products and machine learning technology to enable SportsGrid to provide real-time in-game odds and digital analytics combined with statistical data and graphical visualizations. The Sportradar tools and data products furnish SportsGrid with access to new functionality, robust deep data sets, and comprehensive major sports league coverage within Sportradar’s cutting-edge research platform, Radar360.

With these tools and products, SportsGrid is taking storytelling around betting and fantasy sports to the next level. With access to real-time data in addition to Sportradar’s historical data, consumers can expect exciting, new storylines to emerge from SportsGrid on a regular basis.

“In an age of real-time connections and analysis, the Sportradar agreement broadly expands the capabilities and functionality of the production staff, talent and operational management team. Radar360 reduces the analytic workloads and creates more opportunities for compelling insightful storylines and maximizes our fan engagement across the SportsGrid distribution platform,” said Lou Maione, founder and President of SportsGrid. 

“We are pleased to be working with SportsGrid to bolster its content offerings and increase fan engagement,” said Dave Abbott, MD of US Media, Sportradar. “By adding our real-time data and products like Radar360 to the mix, SportsGrid is supercharging the betting and fantasy content that its consumers already love.”