Monthly Archives: May 2020

Monkey Knife Fight Partners With San Diego Padres As Official Fantasy Sports Site

Monkey Knife Fight (MKF), the fastest growing gaming platform in North America, announced a new partnership with the San Diego Padres. As the Official Fantasy Sports Partner of the Padres, MKF will be prominently displayed on signage at Petco Park and on all the Padres’ social media outlets.

In addition to the partnership, Monkey Knife Fight has contributed $50,000 to The Padres Foundation. The foundation is focusing their efforts during this pandemic on food insecurity and support for frontline workers in addition to their other outreach initiatives supporting the San Diego community.

“The Padres are excited to partner with MKF to grow and expand their tremendous lineup of fantasy sports platforms,” said Erik Greupner, President of Business Operations for the Padres. “Their very generous donation to The Padres Foundation will also provide much needed resources to combat hunger in the San Diego community during these challenging times.”

Bill Asher, Founder and CEO of Monkey Knife Fight commented, “I am excited to see MKF in such a world class city and to be associated with a team that is so intertwined with the community. The Padres have made it a priority to take care of San Diego’s frontline workers and to help where needed. The foundation has demonstrated the Padres unwavering support for their players, fans, and community.”

Following a similar announcement earlier this month with the Milwaukee Brewers, this signifies a real commitment that MKF is making to Major League Baseball and its fans, especially within these two cities. The moves reinforce MKF’s belief that there is a large appetite among these baseball fan communities to play fantasy sports games that allow them to focus on their local home town teams and favorite players.

The essentials to time management for a new manager

Time management may come naturally to some more than others, but I think for most, it’s a learned skill. Low level hires don’t very much need it, their tasks are assigned to them and they can focus on doing the most tasks at the highest level of quality to get ahead. But once they succeed enough to get to the management level, understanding how to manage their time to continue succeeding, while keeping a happy work-life balance, is the real challenge.

In the organizations that I’ve been a part of, plenty of training is offered around how to better organize and prioritize tasks and coach team members, but I never saw a really great course on time management, and found few mentors who could relay their lessons successfully. Senior management have mostly gotten the handle of time management, but few shared their lessons, and many simply got to where they were by working ungodly hours to stay on top of everything.

Now with most teams working remotely, managing your time successfully could bring new challenges. But the principles are the same, it’s just a matter of applying them to the new paradigm.

Plan out your days, and defend that plan

Spend nothing to get anything

It’s Pay It Forward on steroids. In 2013, Rebecca Rockefeller and Liesl Clark had a novel idea. They started Buy Nothing Project that year, creating a chain of events that would explode into a worldwide phenomenon. The concept of the project is simple – let anyone ask for anything and receive it – for free. 

Want a pair of earrings? Just ask. Need tickets to a concert or a sporting event? Just ask. Members can ask for anything and, if someone else is willing to give it up, receive it. There are some caveats though – there can’t be any bartering or trading, everything has to be legal and there can’t be any strings attached. Cherri Christiansen, who started her San Diego-based chapter in 2014, explains, “If someone is offering a mug, there’s no need to say I’ll trade you a hairbrush or I’ll give you this for that coffee mug, everything is gifted freely.”

She adds, “We grew to over 1,000 members within the first couple of years. We actually hit almost 2,000 and at that point, the group became so big, we split into smaller, more hyper local groups.” Not bad for having started with just one person in the group.

Rockefeller and Clark co-founded the project, which stems from a passion for volunteering and sharing. Clark asserts, “Most of us do have things we’re regularly throwing away or passing it on, whether clothes kids have outgrown or we’re an older couple and we want to downsize or simplifying and want to get rid of excess things or your dog dies and you have the materials and you’re not getting another dog.” It makes more sense than tossing them out onto a junk pile.

Some Nevada sportsbooks get generous with NHL gamblers

The NHL regular season was well underway when the coronavirus skated in and slammed the league into the glass. COVID-19 couldn’t be sent to the penalty box and the NHL had no choice but to temporarily suspend, before permanently calling off yesterday, the regular-season hockey action. Unfortunately, by that time, a serious number of sports gambling fans had already placed their bets on the games and certain outcomes, but those gamblers are getting a little bit of good news – at least for most of them. All sportsbooks are going to issue refunds based on the fine print Nevada was kind enough to include in NHL wagers. 

According to standing house rules, certain NHL bets are only valid in the event the season sees its normal 81 or 82 games. However, the NHL regular season has now officially been called off, in lieu of a modified playoff schedule, requiring wagers placed on the team game point totals to be refunded based on that rule. The Las Vegas Review-Journal popped the question to several area sportsbooks, including Westgate, William Hill, Caesars Entertainment and more, and they all confirmed that they will honor the rule and begin issuing full refunds on those bets. 

Not everyone will be happy, though. Those who had placed point total bets on the Vegas Golden Knights were extremely close to a nice payday before the season abruptly ended. The team was sitting on 86 points and only needed 17 more points to top its point total. There were only 11 games left in the season, and the team was in a great position to reach its mark. 

Although the sportsbooks acknowledged that they would offer refunds, some are hanging onto the money a little more tightly than others. For example, Caesars wants to wait until the NHL announces division winners before it grades division wagers, but will most likely be refunding all bets. Jeff Davis, the director of trading at Caesars, explains, “Given the way the playoffs are set up, my gut feeling is that the league is not going to ‘crown’ division champs this year. Likely all refunded. This is just my opinion.”

ESPN lays out its predictions for the upcoming NFL season

Every year, ESPN dives into what it predicts will be the ranking of teams as the NFL season gets underway. This year is undeniably a little different, thanks to COVID-19, but the sports media giant hasn’t been remiss in its coverage. Seth Walder, an ESPN analyst, broke out ESPN’s Football Power Index (FPI) machine and cranked it up to see what the upcoming season may look like. After running 20,000 simulations, the FPI came up with its best results.

After winning the Super Bowl last year, the Kansas City Chiefs are going to continue to be a strong force this year. The team received a 21% chance of winning the Super Bowl, better than that of any other team. It’s also the second-highest awarded since the FPI came online in 2015 – the New England Patriots received 32% in 2017 (the Pats ended up beating the Atlanta Falcons, 34-28).

If anyone expected quarterback Tom Brady to bring a victory to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, there may be disappointment ahead. The FPI gives the Bucs a 63% chance of reaching the playoffs (the Pats, now without Brady, gets 60%), but the outlook for a Super Bowl win is much bleaker. States Walder, “Tampa Bay has a 4% chance to win the Super Bowl, and the Patriots have a 3% chance. Though the Bucs are legitimate contenders, these are the worst preseason projections a Brady-led team has had since ESPN started doing them in 2015.”

There’s going to be a new playoff format this year, which will see the inclusion of a seventh playoff team in each conference. While some have argued that this change is going to cause an imbalance in the structure that could favor the top-seeded teams, the FPI doesn’t agree. “The No. 1 seed’s chances to reach the Super Bowl changed by a negligible amount from the old format to the new. The No. 2 seed, unsurprisingly, saw its chances drop significantly — down almost 11 percentage points — given that it has to play an extra game. But then, interestingly, the No. 3 seed became more likely to reach the Super Bowl (by 3 percentage points), as did the No. 4 seed (by 2%), No. 5 seed (by 1%) and No. 6 seed (by about 0.5%). The new No. 7 seed had a 4% chance to reach the Super Bowl,” explains Walder.

MGM China could go on a shopping spree with new credit line

MGM China Holdings, the Asian arm of MGM Resorts International, saw an increase in revenue last year over that of 2018 of 19%. However, as it deals with the fallout from the battle with the coronavirus, which has caused Macau to become a veritable ghost town, most of those gains have been wiped out. The first quarter of the year took its toll on the company’s bottom line and it needed to find a little financial support to get over the hump. It has apparently achieved its goal and now has some extra spending money in its pocket, thanks to a new $302-million revolving line of credit. 

For the first quarter of 2020, MGM China saw an adjusted negative EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization) of around $12.9 million and net revenue of about $272 million – a year-on-year decrease of 63%. Couple this with an occupancy rate at its area hotels of around 36% and it’s easy to see that forward-looking revenue gains are on shaky ground. In order to overcome any potential deficit, it worked out a deal to receive the new credit line, which will mature on May 15, 2024. The amount of the facility can be increased to $503 million under “certain conditions,” the details of which weren’t shared when MGM China informed the Hong Kong Stock Exchange of its new arrangement.

The credit line carries an interest rate that will fluctuate based on the Hong Kong Interbank Offered Rate (HIBOR). It will also have padding added to it that will range anywhere from 1.625% to 2.75%, which is going to be “determined by the company’s leverage ratio.“ MGM China added, “The revolving credit facility will be available for drawing from the date of the facility agreement to and including the date falling one month prior to the final maturity date (subject to satisfaction of conditions precedent, including evidence that [MGM China’s] existing HKD9.75 billion [$1.25 billion] senior unsecured revolving credit facility has been fully drawn).”

It’s a common practice among corporations and large companies to play with other people’s money, instead of building up their own coffers and drawing from there. This is also a major source of trouble, especially when lenders suddenly decide to stop feeding the habits and cut off their clients if things get too insecure. With over $1 billion in one revolving credit facility and now another $300 million to $500 million in another, MGM China is beginning to stretch itself a little too much. 

Golden Race expands LatAm footprint with new partnership out of Peru

As far as gaming markets go, none is growing as rapidly as that of Latin America (LatAm). Across the whole of Central and South America, all forms of gambling are being embraced, even if rollouts sometimes meet with blowback from opponents. Gaming operators are more than willing to take advantage of the attention given to the region, and Golden Race wasn’t going to be left behind. The virtual sports and gambling tech provider has inked a new deal in Peru that will help it continue to expand throughout the region.

Golden Race is now partnered with Universal Soft, a Peruvian operator that provides access to horse and greyhound races. Through the deal, Golden Race will provide its fully-integrated API to Universal Soft, which will use it all of its betting locations and online solutions. The API is an all-in-one offering that capitalizes on the company’s virtual sports collection, alongside its Spinmatic slots and Hollywood TV live games.

In announcing the new deal, Golden Race founder and CEO Martin Wachter states, “It is always good to strengthen our presence in Latin America. It is a very special market for us and we dedicate all of our efforts to give Latin American gamblers the best quality in our virtual games and sports. Thanks to Universal Soft’s net of casinos, betting shops and online platforms, we will be able to bring our product to more people.”

Universal Soft specializes in LatAm gambling operations and has an established presence in Peru, Chile, Ecuador and Venezuela. Across its entire footprint, it operates over 500 retail points of sale, which will give Golden Race a quick injection into multiple countries at once. Golden Race, which now has its games in more than 50,000 shops and on over 400 websites, is ready to take the region by storm.

COVID-19 shows too much reliance on one activity a bad thing

Don’t put all your eggs in one basket. That’s a phrase that many people have heard for generations, and it essentially means don’t become too reliant on one particular target. It has become painfully obvious that becoming comfortable with the status quo and not seeking new branches of revenue is a quick path to ruin, and Nevada’s almost sole reliance on gambling has become its Achilles heel. The Silver State may have started to initiate programs to explore other consumer segments, but it was too little, too late. 

Nevada has been hit the hardest by the coronavirus because of its long-enduring focus on gambling. “Too big to fail” doesn’t exist, even at a state level, and Nevada is going to find it difficult to climb out of this hole. To put things in perspective, the unemployment rate in the state now stands at 28.2% – higher than the 25% recorded in 1933 when the Great Depression put the U.S. in a chokehold. 

According to David Schmidt of the Nevada Department of Employment, Training and Rehabilitation, “They are sobering numbers, far in excess of anything we have experienced as a state before now. There is no precedent for data like this, neither the magnitude of the shift, nor the speed with which it has happened. Because this is largely driven by policy response designed to prevent the spread of COVID-19, as businesses in the state are allowed to reopen, we should expect to see a corresponding decline in the number of people unemployed as Nevadans return to work.”

While Nevada’s governor, Steve Sisolak, has announced a plan for the state to put its casinos back in operation, this doesn’t mean that a full recovery will be seen within weeks, months or, possibly, even years. Casinos will begin to reopen next week; however, they will most likely open their doors to empty parking lots and empty gaming floors. In fact, even the governor is aware that a recovery is a long way off, having told the Vegas Chamber last week, “Until there’s a vaccine where people feel like they’re immune to the virus, I don’t think it will be back totally. We certainly won’t get our international travelers back. Hopefully, by the end of the year, we’ll be pretty far along.”

Jonas Odman expects the current poker renaissance to leave lasting returns

Poker is seeing a new period of prosperity that many in the industry could have never foreseen. Players old and new are flocking to online services, and rediscovering a great game to pass the time while gambling a few bucks. Our Becky Liggero Fontana caught up with Jonas Odman, CEO of Rising Sun Media, to discuss the trends he’s seeing in the vertical, as well as some great tips regardless of how to keep these players around.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=20XfroolpMo&feature=youtu.beVideo can’t be loaded because JavaScript is disabled: Jonas Odman expects the current poker renaissance to leave lasting returns (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=20XfroolpMo&feature=youtu.be)

“This pandemic has certainly had a very positive effect on the number of poker players online for sportsbooks and in general, they usually use sports events to acquire new players,” Odman said. “They say, if next week Liverpool is playing Athletica Madrid, you bet on the outcome, etc. Now they confuse that, because there are no sports. And poker, however, with poker you have your big tournaments and they have become a lot bigger recently, so you can advertise that. We see a lot more traffic for online poker and it’s also used for acquisition a lot more than two months ago.”

Liggero Fontana asked Odman to describe what kinds of players he sees returning. “It’s definitely a mix of our players who’ve stopped playing and who have come back now, and they probably would have kept their account with the sports book,” he said. “Now they can’t do anything on the sports side, they can play online casino games of course, and online casino is also, you’re doing well right now. But they are also coming back to the poker, and there’s definitely or an influx of new players coming in. And a third group, which is the live, the poker players who like to play live poker, because there are no live tournaments right now. If you look at the last 10 years, the online poker industry has been on a slow decline I’d say, different reasons, but in general, live poker is done really well. The World Series of Poker has set new records every year.”

Nevada casinos officially ‘on track’ to reopen on June 4

Nevada casinos have been told they’re officially “on track” to reopen on June 4, nearly three months after they were forced to shut their doors due to COVID-19.

On Tuesday, Nevada Gov. Steve Sisolak unveiled details of Phase 2 of the state’s ‘Roadmap to Recovery,’ which is set to get underway on Friday (29). Phase 2 will allow the reopening – with some restrictions – of most retail businesses that weren’t part of Phase 1, including gyms, bars not serving food, tattoo parlors, spas, swimming pools and movie theaters.

While gaming won’t be in the starting gate this Friday, it’s now officially “on track” for a “phased-in reopening” on June 4, as Sisolak suggested last Friday. Sisolak said Tuesday that based on “positive trends” in the state’s COVID-19 data, “I have informed the chair of the Gaming Control Board that I feel confident in the June 4th target date.”

Sisolak was originally scheduled to hold a public press conference Tuesday but this was cancelled after his office revealed that late last week Sisolak had “visited a work place where an employee – who was not in the building at the time – has since reported testing positive for COVID-19.”

DraftKings said to be eyeing Bleacher Report, Turner Sports says “not for sale”

Sports betting operator DraftKings is reportedly angling to acquire sports media portal Bleacher Report to ensure a captive audience for its betting come-ons.

On Tuesday, Front Office Sports’ Michael McCarthy reported that DraftKings had “explored potentially acquiring” Bleacher Report, citing ‘industry sources.’ A DraftKings spokesman offered McCarthy the standard non-denial denial that the company “speaks to a variety of companies regarding various matters in the normal course of business” but wouldn’t discuss specifics of any of these discussions.

Turner Sports, which acquired Bleacher Report in 2012 for $175m, was slightly more specific, saying Bleacher Report “is not for sale and there is no truth to this misguided speculation.” However, McCarthy suggested Turner’s parent AT&T could override Turner’s reticence as a way to help meet AT&T’s goal of selling $10b worth of assets this year to help pay down its $147b debt load.

The apparent model for DraftKings’ interest in Bleacher Report is casino operator Penn National Gaming’s recent acquisition of a 36% stake in Bleacher’s rival Barstool Sports. That deal cost PNG $163m in cash and shares, but PNG – which is developing a bespoke betting app that will bear the Barstool brand – is betting big on selling Barstool’s audience on the wonders of legal wagering.

Top online gaming licenses compared

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Top gaming licenses

The global online gaming landscape offers a myriad of different jurisdictions and licensing options for an online gaming and/or online gambling operator, but the most popular at the moment are Curacao, Kahnawake and Malta.

Each of these online gaming licenses has its advantages and disadvantages and they are by no means ‘one size fits all’. They are however suitable for clients with differing budgets, business goals, and areas of operations. In this article, we will delve into the three most popular licenses and give a concise comparison of the most important aspects of each one.

A GAME ABOVE shortlisted for three prestigious eGaming Review B2B Awards

In their first year of operations, customer experience marketing agency A GAME ABOVE has been acknowledged by the gaming and betting industry’s oldest and most prestigious business to business (B2B) awards – the eGaming Review (eGR) B2B Awards.

A GAME ABOVE has been shortlisted for consideration in three awards categories:

Acquisition & Retention Partner: Gaining, retaining and maintaining customers is a core discipline at A GAME ABOVE – our customer experience sales promotions effect engagement, extend lifecycle and enhance lifetime value

Marketing & PR Supplier: A GAME ABOVE’s customer sales promotions, combined with fulfilment and events create powerful marketing campaigns that captivate customers and celebrate betting and gaming player activity

Jungleman accused: Dan Bilzerian wades into Bill Perkins’s ghosting investigation

Over the past 48 hours, a Poker Twitter row has exploded. What started as an angry tweet from Bill Perkins about a pro having cheated escalated into a guessing game that would rival most poker players’ Zoom tournies across the entire Coronavirus lockdown period.

Perkins had come forward to say that a player had cheated and that it was ‘worse than Mike Postle’.

This turned Poker Twitter into a sort of extended episode of Scooby Doo, with Perkins cast as Freddy, and all of the game’s social media sleuths playing along as Scooby.

Unfortunately for most, the episode looks to have reached a rather tepid ending befitting the latter Scooby Doo canon where Scrappy Doo too often dominated the final scenes. Perkins’ tweet in the last 24 hours had attempted to narrow the poker public’s search to a particular Haunted House where only the very best players reside.