Monthly Archives: June 2015

Maryland’s newest casino a victim of Baltimore’s racial politics?

Maryland casino gaming revenue hit a new record in May but the state’s newest casino posted a new monthly low.

On Friday, the Maryland Lottery and Gaming Control Agency reported that the state’s five casinos generated $96.3m in revenue in May, easily topping the $91m record set this March. The tally is 27% higher than May 2014’s figure but the four casinos that were open for business last May collectively saw their winnings fall 1.9% year-on-year.

The state’s market-leading Maryland Live! casino reported revenue down around 2.5% year-on-year to just over $58m, although that’s up significantly from April’s $50.9m. Hollywood Casino Perryville was also in negative territory, falling 9% to $7.1m, while Ocean Downs was up 5.8% to $5m and Rocky Gap rose 12.7% to $2.5m.

The state’s newest casino, the Caesars Entertainment/Rock Gaming joint venture Horseshoe Casino Baltimore, reported revenue of $21.9m, well off its March peak of $24m and the lowest full-month total since the property opened last August. The Shoe’s VP of marketing, Noah Hirsch, told the Baltimore Business Journal that the property was suffering from a problem of perception following the April 27 riots in Baltimore, which were sparked by incidents of police brutality against the city’s black residents.

Petco takes 'full responsibility' for death of dog who died at…

Hometown hero George returns with his bride: Clooney takes wife Amal back to the tiny Kentucky town where he grew up to be a star ‘He damaged him more than we will ever know’: Sister claims former House Speaker Dennis Hastert sexually abused her teen brother while coaching his school wrestling team ‘There are no hungry kids’: School district says kitchen manager was NOT fired for giving away lunches to poor students… but won’t say why she was Chinese hackers steal details of FOUR MILLION federal employees in ‘massive’ security breach: Experts warn of ‘attack against the nation’ Sarah Palin accuses the media of double standards by contrasting treatment of Duggars child molestation scandal with Lena Dunham ‘admission’ Pictured: The scene after jealous girlfriend shot her lawyer boyfriend six times in the head when he dumped her for Miss Ohio Feeling flush! Plumber who forgot about his … (more)

Mondogoal Takes a Gamble on FIFA’s Women’s World Cup

Mondogoal Takes a Gamble on FIFA’s Women’s World Cup

By TERRY LYONS, Contributing columnist for The Daily Payoff
@terrylyons

The United States of America’s Justice Department’s beat-down on the upper echelon executives of FIFA brought a bit more than a small share of criticism and focus upon the governing body for world futbol. It brought an all-out public relations disaster as the lead story on every network newscast in the world, and even worse, FIFA’s downfall became the punch line for comedic genius such as “Last Week Tonight with John Oliver” or “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart.”

The early morning arrests of several FIFA executives by Swiss authorities at the posh Baur au Lac hotel in Zurich fast-became the b-roll for a generation of FIFA’s critics. As the raid was barely underway, with charges under the USA’s Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO), detailed accusations and background were printed in the morning editions of The New York Times which brought a level of seriousness that organized futbol has never seen, but its fans had long expected. The accusations were wide-ranging and were enough to eventually cause the resignation of longtime FIFA president Sepp Blatter. The fall-out will continue for the rest of the year as the US Justice Department’s Attorney General Loretta E. Lynch, builds the case.

The focus of the alleged corruption and bribery charge was centered on FIFA’s designation of Russia (2018) and Qatar (2022) as World Cup event sites but caught in the crosshairs of the scandal is the fact the 2015 Women’s World Cup is being staged in Canada from June 6 to July 5, right on the front doorstep of the FIFA scandal. One might think the highly visible RICO charges for such a highly visible world event might be cause for the sponsors and affiliates of the Women’s World Cup to run for the Hudson Bay, but that has not been the case as the women kick-off in Canada.

Event sponsors, already neck-deep in their investment, have turned a blind eye to the off-the-pitch misconduct and are focusing on the athletes and competition itself.
One such affiliate is Mondogoal, a relatively new player in the daily fantasy sports world, which is staging a daily fantasy game for the Women’s World Cup. While not an “official” sponsor of FIFA, Mondogoal operates globally and focuses its efforts in the United States, Britain, Canada, Ireland and Brazil – all hotbeds of international futbol. The company is incorporated out of the Isle of Man and has business operations in the USA. Mondogoal’s Women’s World Cup offering will be the first fantasy game ever staged for women’s sport.

“The Women’s World Cup is a phenomenal platform for the game, and will draw not just passionate soccer fans but a casual audience interested in women’s sports and a global event,” said Shergul Arshad, CEO of Mondogoal. “By creating this game for a global audience we will provide a new engagement platform, which we believe, will raise the visibility and interest not just for soccer but for women’s sports as well.
“In North America, daily fantasy sports has taken off, and interest in soccer is at an all-time high. We are making sure the North American soccer fan not only can play fantasy contests involving the popular European leagues, but also from the best soccer, locally,” he said.

To that end, Mondogoal is offering fantasy players a way to blend both the Women’s World Cup players with those of men’s competitions being staged at the same time, notably in North America’s Major League Soccer (MLS), Europe’s Champions League final and the Copa America. The new blend will be the first time fantasy sports is offered on a “Co-Ed” basis.

Digging into the particulars, daily fantasy players can pick a team of 11 female players from the four Women’s World Cup matches on event days, using Mondogoal’s salary cap style of play to build a fantasy team. If the fantasy player doesn’t like the full offering from the women’s matches, they can mix and match with the men’s contests taking place the same day. As with all fantasy products, points are accrued for positive “on-the-pitch” statistics, such as goals, and assists. The fantasy winner is the person who picks the perfect fantasy team of players who compile the most positive statistics for the entire day.

Mondogoal has a deal with Perform’s Opta Sports to compile all the various stats – in real time – and tracks the nuances of the obvious stats, but also tackles won-lost, shots on goal, passes completed, or stats for goaltenders, like saves and shut-outs.
The take-away from Mondogoal’s foray into women’s sports, via the Women’s World Cup, is the fact the daily fantasy sports world is moving full speed ahead and flourishing. While some may think daily fantasy is a little too close to actually gambling on the outcome of a game, the fact of the matter is that daily fantasy might just have more credibility than the FIFA executives carted off in the dawn air in Zurich.

Pennsylvania Senators Take Giant Leap Towards Online Poker Regulation

Online poker momentum is building in Pennsylvania, and so is the pile of bills that are seeking to regulate it. The latest, the fifth this year, is soon to be introduced by State Senators Kim Ward, Robert Tomlinson, Elder Vogel and Joseph Scarnati, and it might actually be the one to do it Also supporting […]

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Poker World Learns Of The Death Of “Eskimo” Clark

Paul “Eskimo” Clark, the three-time World Series of Poker bracelet winner, died at home in Las Vegas on April 15, it emerged this week. He was 67 years old. The news was inadvertently broken at the WSOP by Matt Salsberg, who, having made an “Eskimo Clark joke,” had been quietly informed of the grizzled grinder’s […]

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Fan Duel, DraftKings Spend Away On Sponsorship; What’s The ROI?

Fan Duel, DraftKings Spend Away On Sponsorship; What’s The ROI?

The past week we have again seen the turf war/marketing grab escalate for brands looking for exposure in and around hot properties. From Monster Energy taking a Belmont Stakes sponsorship along with DraftKings, to DK’s annexation of all pieces of Madison Square Garden, including the jersey sponsorship for the New York Liberty, the massive spend to try and get eyeballs continues along for brands that are looking to capture and engage consumers, especially milennials around sports.

Do these type of sponsorships work? Do they fit a bigger picture or are they large gambles designed to get some corner of space so that competitors don’t get it before them. Recently Fan Duel, which has no real boxing business, chose to spend money to sponsor the Mayweather-Pacquaio fight and took up space on the champions fight shorts. Was there an ROI on that for FD, which also has begun developing their very smart activation plan for the upcoming NFL season, or was it a play to make more people just see but not engage in what they are doing.

“As the number of marketing messages proliferates due to digital, social, mobile media, it is increasingly critical for brands to develop fully integrated marketing platform, that ideally organically associate the brand with the content or sports property that is sponsored,” said Ray Katz, an instructor in the graduate sports management program at Columbia University and veteran sports marketing executive. “The programs should also address multiple objectives that include sales, “ownership”, engaging and exciting employees, and B to B considerations. One-off’s tend to be lacking in consumer engagement and long term brand benefit.”

While there is no doubt that even behind the scenes Draft Kings and Fan Duel are looking at those who spend money on legal sports gambling as part of their universe, publicly both companies continue to draw a line between fantasy and legal sports wagering, two properties heavily engaged with horse racing and boxing. So why do these sponsorships? One is the entertainment benefit that comes with such mega events, getting access to seats and experiences for your most engaged pay fantasy players, as well as for sweepstakes. Another is to prime the pump and build an audience which may or may not exist for a melding of sports gambling and pay fantasy down the line, or to at least engage known legal gamblers with more awareness for what can be done in pay fantasy today for consumers. If they bet legally, then maybe they are candidates for DK or FD. Still with this massive marketing spend, is it smart and strategic, or can the money best be spent elsewhere?

“An example of an effective integrated program having continuity is Penn Mutual’s title sponsorship of Collegiate Rugby 7s as well as the Varsity Cup, a 15’s event,” Katz added. “In this platform, Penn Mutual actually uses a Rugby theme for their annual report, titled a rapidly growing event on NBC networks, utilized the event and overall platform as a recruiting tool to attract younger agents, while making the brand relevant to a younger and largely upscale demographic as well. The signage was supported by Rugby themed advertising, which is becoming more prevalent as the sport becomes more mainstream and will constitute some of NBC’s most exciting new programming as a new Olympic sport.”

He went on to say, “ On the horse racing front, Belmont sponsorship programs which try to capitalize on the prospects of a triple crown would be best served using the Belmont as a kickoff point and then having some continuity through the Breeders Cup (Belmont to Breeders). Marketers should also consider the fit of demographics of horse racing, generally an older demographic with their target audience.”

So as the Triple Crown comes to an end this weekend, the sports marketing world will be lining up trying to tap the spending trough of both massive fantasy players, especially as large events, even those like tennis and golf that still don’t have a massive fantasy audience come into play. Whether those spends tie to a bigger cohesive plan, as Draft Kings has done with MLB and Fan Duel with the NFL remain to be seen. One thing is sure, the outreach to locate invested consumers for pay fantasy is going wider than it has ever been, and players in areas like horse racing and boxing are more than willing to take the money and roll the dice.

WSOP Wrap June 5: Keith Lehr Wins Heads-Up Bracelet

The World Series of Poker awarded two more bracelets on Thursday, as the series continued to march on into the meat of its schedule. But the events of the day may have been a bit overshadowed by players looking forward to an enormous tournament starting Friday, as well as looking back on the suspicious play […]

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Portugese football slams Federbet’s “absolutely repulsive” fixing claims

Portugal’s leading football body has lashed out at sports corruption watchdogs Federbet over claims that Primeira Liga games are subject to match-fixing.

On Tuesday, Federbet delivered a report to the European Parliament, in which it claimed around 50 matches across Europe’s various leagues in the 2014-15 season were suspected of fixing. Among these suspect matches was last month’s Benfica 4-0 victory over Penafiel, which Federbet claimed attracted a larger than usual volume of bets.

Multiple matches in Portugal’s second division were also flagged, including last August’s notorious ‘phantom’ match that purported to involve Portugal’s Freamunde and a Spanish second division team, yet turned out to be a pickup game between friends. At least four major bookmakers were reportedly conned into accepting wagers on the bogus match.

Federbet said Portugal’s struggling economy has resulted in “players going unpaid for months and societies on the verge of bankruptcy.” This has created a fertile “breeding ground for the match-fixing virus.”

Paddy Power ‘yob-proof’ Dublin betting shop against English football hooligans

Irish bookies Paddy Power have wrapped one of their Dublin betting shops in bubble wrap to protect against potential hooliganism from visiting English football fans.

Sunday sees the Republic of Ireland square off against England in an international friendly at Dublin’s Aviva Stadium. To prepare for the expected influx of drunken English hooligans, Paddy decided to “yob-proof” tis adjacent Baggot Street betting shop by covering the shop’s exterior in bubble wrap.

This Sunday’s friendly comes 20 years after a similar match between the two countries was abandoned shortly after it started due to rowdy behavior by a UK neo-Nazi group, which sparked riots around Landowne Road stadium.

The official company line says the bubble wrap – which also covered a bicycle and car parked outside the shop, along with a (probably very confused) dog — was installed in the hope of “avoiding any damage that may come from violent yobs, knobs and hooligans who may infiltrate the Three Lions’ well-meaning travelling support.”