The eyes are on the giants, but the little guys are taking a beating, too. As the casino world has been turned inside out and upside down, the story for the smaller firms has turned from one of ambitious growth, to one of survival. Small casino chains like Century Casinos, Monarch, and Golden Entertainment have been caught flatfooted by this pandemic response and are now staring into an ominous hourglass. How long can they last with severe limitations on capacity and only temporary forbearance on their rent payments? It’s not a prospect that most investors want to even think about, but it will now be very difficult or perhaps even impossible for smaller casinos to borrow much more to stay afloat, given the stress that lenders are currently experiencing.

Century, Monarch, and Golden Entertainment all took the financial equivalent of a very deep breath when it became clear that the global economy was going under water in March. They drew down their loan facilities before any lines of credit got cut off. Except this time it wasn’t for the sake of growing the top line by acquiring assets expanding offerings. It was for staying afloat as long as possible under impossible business conditions. So it is now a game of who can hold their breath the longest until conditions return to something resembling normalcy.

Still, even if all restrictions on casinos are suddenly lifted tomorrow, nobody has any idea what happens next or how long it will take for the venues to be filled to capacity once again. It is true that along with the rest of the market, the smaller casino stocks have recovered strongly since bottoming, they can only hold their breaths for so long.

Century, Between a Rock and a Hard Place

Australian casino operator Crown Resorts saw its shares tumble on Monday on news of a third regulatory probe into its potential anti-money laundering compliance failures.

Crown investors took yet another kick to the nads first thing Monday when the company announced that its Crown Melbourne casino was being investigated by the Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre (AUSTRAC), which “identified potential non-compliance” with anti-money laundering (AML) and counter-terrorism financing (CTF) regulations.

Crown said the probe resulted from a 2019 compliance assessment that found shortcomings in Crown Melbourne’s ongoing customer due diligence and its adoption, maintenance and compliance with AML/CTF programs. The matter has been referred to AUSTRAC’s enforcement team, which has “initiated a formal enforcement investigation” into Crown Melbourne’s compliance.

The AUSTRAC probe marks the third separate investigation into Crown’s apparently sketchy commitments to regulatory compliance, following the ongoing inquiry by the New South Wales Independent Liquor & Gaming Authority (ILGA) and the more recent ‘show cause’ order issued by Crown Melbourne’s state watchdog, the Victorian Commission for Gambling and Liquor Regulation (VCGLR).

A lot of attention is paid these days on the reputation of brands across social media, especially in the world of casinos and gambling industry. You can’t fit a round peg in a square hole, and it’s important to understand what the best social media platform is for your iGaming product.

The changing global conditions in 2020 have forced the majority of the gambling industry to think outside the square to when it comes to finding and retaining new customers. Affiliates long considered the outliers of the industry have seen their value double overnight. The last twelve months have shown the innovation in the digital space is a must for brands to survive and ultimately thrive in this new environment using social media.

Understanding where to fish for your next batch of potential customers is one of the keys of social media. You won’t find a plethora of poker players talking about their craft on LinkedIn, but you’ll strike paydirt on Facebook, Twitter, and Reddit.

Here are some takeaways on finding the right social media platform for your iGaming product.

Defending premiers Richmond are set for a showdown with Geelong in the first AFL Grand Final to be played outside of Victoria in the competition’s history. Both sides have taken the hard road to the premiership as Richmond snuck past Port Adelaide in Adelaide and Geelong put Brisbane to the sword on their home ground in the preliminary final.

Geelong will take plenty of confidence into the game against the defending premiers; Geelong have won their past five matches comfortably at the Gabba in Brisbane. The Cats will be relying on the experience and guile of midfielder Gary Ablett. Ablett will line-up for his 357th AFL game, it what could potentially be his swansong. The veteran was back to his brilliant best in the 40-point win over Brisbane, with two second-half goals proving to be a turning point. Geelong will be relying on Patrick Dangerfield and Coleman Medal winner Tom Hawkins to take the pressure off Ablett.

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In their only meeting this season, these two sides met on the Gold Coast in Round 17. On that occasion, it was Richmond who blew Geelong off the park. The Cats were held to a single goal across the opening three-quarters of football. The 32-point win could have been greater for the Tigers if they had found some accuracy in front of goal.

With just over two weeks to go until Americans stop voting and election officials start counting the votes, the U.S. Presidential election is whatever you want to make of it. From one perspective, Former Vice President Joe Biden is heading for an easy victory. From the other, President Donald Trump is starting to close in on a victory, as the race tightens and Democratic corruption becomes obvious to the public.

Of course, neither of those perspectives are likely to be perfect, but at least according to the odds at Bodog, the race is tightening.

Donald Trump has improved his odds to +125, improving from the +188 we saw late last week. That comes after a weekend of battering Biden with accusations of corruption, focusing on the same Hunter Biden scandal that caused Trump to be impeached at the beginning of 2020. Trump called the whole family a “criminal enterprise” during a Nevada rally, a state he doesn’t look likely to win.

Trump’s focus on continuing to conduct rally speeches have become a new point of argument. The rallies lack many Covid-19 precautions, and Trump has repeatedly mocked mask wearing even after his own positive test for the coronavirus. That’s caused his own scientists, including Dr. Anthony Fauci, to question why he would put Americans in more danger as the pandemic starts to spike once again in the country.

Even as Spain considers toughening its gambling stance, the market is still attractive to operators. There is already a long list of players in the country, and the field just got a little more crowded. The iGaming segment has proven to be of particular interest, especially because of the continuing COVID-19 pandemic, and William Hill is ready to give gambling enthusiasts some more entertainment options. The Directorate General for the Regulation of Gambling (DGOJ, for its Spanish acronym), has given the gaming operator’s Mr Green subsidiary a license to set up shop in the country. 

William Hill may have its roots in sports gambling, but it has been smart enough to diversify over the years. It is now a multi-branded company that offers a conglomerate of offerings, and the introduction of Mr Green will allow the operator to have a significant presence in Spain through which it can offer an increasing array of gaming options. The license approval brings forward William Hill’s Spanish footprint, which it has been leaving since it brought its sportsbook to the country a decade ago. 

Patrick Jonker is the managing director for William Hill International, as well as CEO of Mr Green. In response to the new license in Spain, he said in a statement, “This is an important milestone within our strategy. With the launch of Mr Green in Spain, we look forward to expanding our offer by expanding our already strong presence within Sports Betting, with one of the strongest Casino brands in the industry. With the combination of two industry leading brands, we look forward to delivering the best player experience within Sports and Gaming.”

William Hill decided to purchase Mr Green last year from the MRG Group. It paid about €270 million ($316.7 million) for the acquisition, and it has proven to be a solid investment. It was a huge step toward having global operations and gave William Hill the ability to brag about having a truly international online casino brand that has continued to help it solidify its marketability and revenue streams. This is just one of the many reasons it is considering a $3.7-billion offer to be acquired by Caesars Entertainment. 

Around the world, governments on all levels are anxious to get their economies back in solid working condition, but the global pandemic doesn’t seem to be willing to let go. The casino industry has been hit especially hard, and many have had to open and close a few times before finding solid ground. However, that solid ground has proven not to be as solid as previously thought, with COVID-19 launching repeated sneak attacks. Just when gamblers thought it was safe to go back to casinos in Quebec, COVID-19 is giving them reasons to stay away. Because of a resurgence of the coronavirus, Lot-Québec has shut down parts of its operations once again. 

The company announced last week that, as of last Friday, it was halting operations in Montérégie, Centre-du-Québec and Capitale-Nationale. This includes the closure of the Casino de Charlevoix, which had reopened this past July after it seemed COVID-19 may have been brought under control. All video lottery terminals are going offline, as well, and Loto-Québec also decided to cut off Kinzo halls, even in areas that are not under a direct coronavirus threat. 

Quebec was forced to place Gatineau and certain areas of the Outaouais region on “red alert” because of COVID-19. This means the closure of any casino, bar or gym, as well as a ban on indoor and outdoor gatherings, around Montreal and Quebec City. However, Loto-Québec’s Casino de Mont-Tremblant in Mont-Tremblant, and its VLTs in other parts of Quebec, will stay open. It isn’t clear how long the red alert will remain active. 

Land-based casinos are being decimated due to COVID-19; however, online operations are able to help those offer the alternative where allowed. Loto-Québec is one of the fortunate ones, and its online gambling segment increased 29% as a result of the ongoing global pandemic. It remains behind others who have seen stronger growth, such as PlayNow in British Columbia, but it is at least heading in the right direction. 

Mobile games supplier Playtika announced this past June that it was considering an initial public offering (IPO) in the U.S., partially as a means to overcome the impact caused by COVID-19. At the time, the company, which is owned by an investor group out of China, had anticipated a $1-billion offering, and it has been quietly moving toward the launch of its IPO since then. According to Reuters, it has now taken a major step forward, filing its offering with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). If things go according to plan, the company will be valued at about $10 billion as a result of the IPO. However, things might not work out as expected. 

Playtika is based out of Israel, which has close ties to the U.S. On the other hand, its connections to China put it in a difficult spot because of the ongoing friction between the U.S. and China. U.S. lawmakers have started to take a closer look at Chinese companies wanting to list on U.S.-based exchanges, and could implement more stringent controls to keep potentially questionable investment opportunities from going public. At the same time, other Chinese companies have already begun to back off because of the political battle raging between the governments of U.S. and China.

The games supplier has a solid following that could make the IPO beneficial to investors if it’s allowed to proceed. Playtika is behind the WSOP social platform and has over 30 million monthly users, according to data found on its website. It’s also behind some of the more popular slot titles, including Bingo Blitz, Poker Heat and Caesars Slots. The latter is a holdover from when the company was owned by Caesars Entertainment from 2011 to 2016. 

In 2015, Caesars found itself in a bad financial spot and was ready to throw in the towel. It filed for bankruptcy protection and looked to see which assets could be unloaded. Playtika, owned by Caesars Interactive Entertainment at the time, ended up on the shortlist, and was sold to Chinese investors for $4.4 billion in 2016. Among those investors is the founder of Alibaba Group, Jack Ma, through his Yunfeng Capital private equity group. 

Everybody wants in on the sports gambling craze these days. Even casino games supplier Aristocrat Leisure is reportedly considering breaking into the field. Sports gambling partnerships and alliances are being forged on a daily basis, and there’s little doubt that the sports scene five years from now will be much different than what it is today. One of the newest alliances to be created comes from Turner Sports, which has hooked up with both DraftKings and FanDuel for various programming options on the company’s menu. It’s also getting them connected to the Bleacher Report, which Turner purchased in 2012.

Going forward, DraftKings will be the official and exclusive sportsbook for all sports that Turner airs, with the exception of NBA – that was given to FanDuel. As usual, everyone’s staying quiet on the amount of money that’s going to be changing hands, but there’s no doubt that all parties will mutually share in the spoils of sports gambling-based content. Everyone from ESPN to Yahoo to CBS is looking to incorporate some type of sports gambling partnership into their broadcasts, and this trend won’t slow down anytime soon. 

For FanDuel, which already had an existing, open relationship with Turner, the company will soon find its brand integrated with various NBA content on Turner Sports, including on live telecasts the broadcaster produces. It will also be found on the Bleacher Report’s digital channels, as well as its app. Says FanDuel Chief Marketing Officer Mike Raffensperger, Together, we’re bringing viewership to the next level by offering exclusive sports betting content that’s directly integrated into their NBA programming. We’ll be incorporating FanDuel Sportsbook odds and analysis into Turner Sport’s live broadcasts and Bleacher Report’s digital content, offering a new, enhanced, experience for NBA fans.”

Adds Turner Sports Executive VP for Sports Partnerships and Branded Content Will Funk, “NBA fans across TNT and Bleacher Report are responding well to sports betting content. We’ve already seen this with the TV and digital elements we’ve designed with FanDuel this past season, and are excited to expand our partnership. Our collective goal is to grow NBA audience via engaging FanDuel interactive gaming experiences integrated across Turner Sports’ platforms.”

It’s a time for change in the gambling industry. That’s obviously the case worldwide as the sector continues to adapt to Covid-19, but specially so in the U.S., as changing regulations open up new opportunities. To discuss the change that’s happening now, Stephen Crystal, Founder of SCCG Management and Head of Betfred Sports USA Development, joined our Becky Liggero Fontana to discuss how the industry can push forward on this week’s episode of The Long Con.

Crystal didn’t seem particularly worried that Las Vegas would suffer from the pandemic in the long run. “What Vegas does is they innovate,” he said. “They find different ways to deal with that situation, they find an opportunity to make use of their space in a different way, to do entertainment in a different way, to use technology. So even in the interim, we’ll find a way to maximize it, and when the world returns to the new normal, we’ll be there to capitalize.”

Due to his role, Crystal is focused specifically on how to win over the sports betting market in the U.S., and 2020 has been a year to focus on esports. He believes he’s found the way to advertise to the core audience of that vertical. “Five hours a day is the average time that a consumer who engages with the Twitch platform, which is their version of streaming content around competitive gaming, five hours a day is what they spend on that content,” he said. “So that type of engagement is something we’ve never seen, we don’t even understand it. And so if we can take that energy and find how to converge that with both brick and mortar casino and online gaming and sports betting, then I think we have the beginnings of something that that can look at a transition to the future.”

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