Monthly Archives: July 2015

DraftKings funding round led by Fox Sports raises $300m

Fantasy sports operator DraftKings has raised $300m in its latest funding round led by 21st Century Fox’s Fox Sports, which values the company more than $1.2b.

Under the non-exclusive deal, Fox Sports will provide about $150m for an 11% stake in DraftKings along with other investors including owners of the New England Patriots Kraft Group; Boston financial giant Wellington Management, and venture capital firms Atlas Ventures and the Raine Group to pro sports leagues like the National Hockey League and Major League Soccer. Some existing investors also increased their funding including Major League Baseball.

In return, DraftKings will spend more than $250m on ads with Fox Sports over the next three years.

“We were going to spend a lot of money with Fox, anyway, where a lot of live sports content is.” DraftKings CEO Jason Robins. “Fox has heavy coverage sports that we offer competitions in — M.M.A., Nascar, soccer and golf.”

GVC teams with Cerberus for new Bwin.party offer

GVC Holdings PLC is not yet ready to raise the white flag in the Bwin.party bidding war. The AIM-listed gaming company has reportedly united with Cerberus Capital Management for a renewed bid to buy its larger rival.

GVC Holdings PLC refuses to take no for an answer. The Sportingbet owner has reportedly teamed with Cerberus Capital Management and came up with a £1 billion bid to counter rival 888 Holdings PLC’s offer for Bwin.party.

The AIM-listed company previously partnered with Canadian gaming outfit Amaya Gaming Co. and offered £900 million, but Bwin opted for the lower £898.3 million cash offer from 888. On Sunday, however, a Bwin spokesman was quoted by UK’s The Telegraph saying the company is still open any offer that is “attractive, fully financed and deliverable.”

And once again, the undeterred GVC is spurred into action. According to The Sunday Times, the online gaming company is working with the New York-based hedge fund on a revised offer to be submitted this week.

Online gambling syndicate recruits athletes, under investigation

The Sydney-based Proton Trading Fund (PTF) that bets on sports games has been allegedly recruiting athletes to join the scheme.

The trading fund’s @pro.punter account claimed on Instagram to have a $10 million pool to bet on the Australian Football League (AFL), cricket, and horse racing on local Betfair exchanges and international markets.

According to Herald Sun, PTF has also indicated in their flyers, advertised through its social media account and email, that their elite spots member are able to invest in the scheme without breaching their leagues’ gambling policy code and sought investments of up to $250,000 with $10m cap.

“Professional athletes (including jockeys) are able to ­invest in PTF with no issues at all. 100% good to go. As you are not the ones placing the investments, or giving advice as to what we are to invest on, or how we should be investing, your participation in our fund will not breach your code’s gambling policy in any way, shape or form,” the flyer stated.

Hulk Hogan Fired by the WWE After Alleged Racists Comments Emerge in Sex Tape Scandal

The World Wrestling Entertainment has fired the legendary Hulk Hogan after allegedly using racist language during a sexual encounter with his best friend’s wife.

Hulk Hogan, the most famous wrestler in the history of the sport, has been fired by the World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) for allegedly calling a black man a ‘fucking nigger.’

I have to be honest. I was never a lover of Hulk Hogan. He was the king of an industry I loved watching when I grew up as a boy. I knew that it wasn’t real. Deep down I knew. But just like I hoped Santa Claus existed contrary to public opinion, I also hoped that wrestling was real.

“It’s not real, you know,” my Dad used to say when we gathered around the TV screens to watch it.

Phil Ivey Countersues The Borgata Over Vital Missing Evidence

Phil Ivey and his associate Cheng Yin Sun have countersued The Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa and their parent company Marina District Development Co., LLC, in their $9.6m edge sorting spat.

Phil Ivey has played his latest hand in the most expensive game of his life, and it’s to countersue The Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa, and their parent company Marina District Development Co., LLC, over his disputed $9.6m mini-baccarat win in 2012.

According to court documents obtained by Cardplayer Ivey’s legal team have countersued the gambling giant on the premise that the Gemaco, Inc. playing cards used in the controversial 2012 sessions have been destroyed, making it difficult for them to prepare an appropriate defense. It’s a little like trying to put Jack the Ripper behind bars without the production of a murder weapon.

Whilst the 10-time World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet winner, and his associate Chen Yin Sun, are countersuing the casino and their parent company, Gemaco are not. In the court papers, submitted to federal court on Wednesday, Ivey and Sun’s legal team clearly point the finger at Gemaco, Inc. for producing imperfect cards, whilst also suggesting that this is fairly common within the industry, a fact The Borgata will have known about.

The iPoker Bunny Girls Are Dead; Playboy Poker to Close

Playboy Poker has announced plans to close its cyber doors on July 27th, two years after it launched on the Ongame Network.

On 27 July 2015 Playboy Poker will cease to exist. The owners were there when the heart stopped beating and will stay with her until the brain is finally dead.

Playboy Poker opened for business in the summer of 2013. It promised big things, including a trip to the Playboy Mansion through a series of online events. Whilst the thought of cavorting with a bountiful selection of blonde boobs may have titillated poker player’s interests, it didn’t last long.

The online poker site opened on the Ongame Network and July 2006 Playmate of the Month: Sara Jean Underwood – the young blonde girl who seems to perpetually and disturbingly look about 14-years of age – was the site’s first big star.

Gold Coast tops Queensland lottery winnings

Gold Coast is officially Queensland’s lottery hot spot, with $15.5 million in division one prize money being handed out on the Glitter Strip so far this year. Redland City, Moreton Bay Region, Brisbane Northern Suburbs and North Queensland round out the top five, with total winnings between $4 million and $5 million each.

Tokuho Yoshinaga Wins the ACOP Platinum Series X Main Event

Tokuho Yoshinaga, of Japan, has won the HK$5,500 Asia Championships of Poker Platinum Series X Main Event at the PokerStars LIVE cardroom in Macau.

Tokuho Yoshinaga has won the top prize in the 2015 Asia Championships of Poker (ACOP) Platinum Series X HK$5,500 buy-in Main Event. The man from Japan defeated the Brit James Goodman, in heads-up action, to take the first prize of HK$272,946 (USD$35,000).

It was a fine ending to an event that saw PokerStars put up a guaranteed total prize pool of HK$1.3million spread over eight different tournaments: July 21 – 28.

ACOP Platinum Series X Schedule (HK$)

Fantasy Soccer On the Rise? @TheDailyPayoff

Fantasy Soccer On the Rise?

While most European clubs are making their offseason friendly visits to far away ports of call in Asia and North America, MLS continues to play through the summer, heading to its all-star game in Colorado next week, where the league’s elite players will match up this year against Tottenham Hotspur. Regardless of where soccer is being played this week, it looks like the fantasy aspect of “The Beautiful Game” is suddenly rising quickly.

This past week Univision Deportes entered the fantasy soccer business, with a game based on Mexico’s Liga MX, which kicks off its season Friday and is the most-watched league in the U.S according to Univision numbers. The program will offer prizes including personalized soccer scarves and weekly cash payouts of $100. A grand prize at the end of the season includes an all-expenses-paid trip to the network’s sports-awards show Premios Deportes and a spot in the 2016 fantasy talent league.

Whether the followers of Liga MX will take to fantasy soccer is up for debate. Soccer in North America and its fantasy offerings have been slow to take hold in comparison to baseball, football and basketball, and the majority of the success in fantasy soccer has come from one company, Boston and UK based Mondogoal, which has taken the route of partnering with many of the elite clubs in Europe to build pay fantasy offerings, creating a game for global fans, many of whom can already bet legally and understand the gaming/gambling process, as well as to the growing number of American fans who are interested in pay fantasy and can now connect even closer to their favorite clubs like AS Roma, Chelsea and Liverpool among others. Mondogoal also had a very successful launch with pay fantasy games for both Women’s World Cup as well, further strengthening their soccer-specific offerings for a worldwide audience. Their stance on applying the American pay fantasy model to the massive club followings appeared to be, and still appears to be unique and well thought out in the space, with more deals expected in the coming months.

However as the week came to a close Friday, yet more fantasy soccer business news arose, as Major League Soccer announced a partnership with DraftKings in both the United States and Canada. While neither unique nor exclusive, the partnership will give DraftKings yet more marketing coverage on the continent, again with the hope that a wide blanket will create an affinity with more casual players new to the fantasy marketplace.

Whether fantasy soccer can reap an ROI in North America for DraftKings or even Univision remains to be seen. The sport does not have the deep analytics that other team sports has, and the audience in the U.S., although growing, is still behind the other four professional sports in terms of media interest and fan engagement. Still the risk for both companies is relatively low, and if the market comes and fantasy soccer in the States takes off, they have the model to reap the benefits. If not, it is a small venture with little lost.

“The increasingly popular daily fantasy sports space is a proven fan development tool that we’re excited about,” said Gary Stevenson, President and Managing Director of MLS Business Ventures in a statement. “You’ll see deep integration within our many digital platforms and you’ll see a number of club deals. We are delighted to partner with DraftKings to give our passionate fans another innovative way to experience the sport that they love.”

The move for DK is consistent with their philosophy of trying to be everywhere in every sport to lure casual fantasy players to a pay model. While Fan Duel CEO Nigel Eccles has been steadfast in his insistence that his company, with the largest number of daily players, will stick to refining its model for the NBA and the NFL, Jason Rollins has led Draft Kings to deals ranging from the UFC to now MLS, as well as fantasy golf and their ever-growing investment in MLB pay fantasy as well as massive marketing spends around events like the Belmont Stakes. The company has also applied for a license to run a business in the United Kingdom, which could also signal an interest in growing its soccer offerings outside of North America for the first time. Right now, it is believed that Mondogoal is the only company licensed both in the U.S. and the UK, but the model appears to be changing for other players willing to get their kicks in the marketplace.

Does the sudden flurry of activity mean fantasy soccer is now a comer for business? Not yet, but it will be intriguing to see if media or large players in the space invest more in soccer as the fall comes and global interest turns closer to the world’s elite clubs. If that niche can continue to be exploited then maybe, just maybe, fantasy soccer will become a more lucrative bet. For now, at least for North American soccer, it is all a hedge.

Soulja Boy’s World Poker Fund Holdings Hires Gaming Expert

Hip-hop artist and tattoo fan, Soulja Boy, has an interest in the online poker world according to recent reports. The American musician has a number of business interests outside of the rap game, one of which is World Poker Fund Holdings (WPFH). Formed earlier this year, the company is Soulja Boy’s attempt to reinvigorate the […]

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