Czech lottery and betting giant Sazka Group is poised for major global expansion after receiving a half-billion-euro injection from a major US private equity group.
On Tuesday, Sazka announced that funds managed by affiliates of Apollo Global Management had agreed to invest €500m in Sazka Entertainment AG, a new subsidiary of Sazka’s majority owner Karel Komárek’s KKCG Group. Following the deal, Sazka Entertainment AG will become the new 100% owner of Sazka Group.
The parties said the bulk of Apollo’s €500m investment will go toward acquisition and growth opportunities in Europe and North America, “with a focus on lotteries.” Assuming regulators don’t object, the parties expect the deal to close sometime next year.
Komárek said the partnership with Apollo came following “a series of discussions with major investment funds from around the world” and has positioned Sazka for geographic expansion, “continuing to focus on lottery and complementary gaming verticals.”
It’s already been a Premier League season that has already been packed with goals. From Turf Moor to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, defences have been plundered with alarming regularity for more conservative managers and with glee for more expansive coaches.
With most sides among the goals, however, which strikers are looking most likely to bag the Premier League Golden Boot? Let’s first take a look at the current top scorers.
The Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance announced Nov. 10 that 34 aftercare organizations have been awarded accreditation. The 34 organizations include 26 previously accredited organizations and eight that received accreditation for the first time.
The Jockeys’ Guild filed a notice of appeal Nov. 5 in the Appellate Division of Superior Court in New Jersey contesting a riding crop regulation that was passed by the New Jersey Racing Commission in September, officials with the Jockeys’ Guild said.
Juddmonte Farms became the latest breeding colossus Nov. 10 to release their stud fees for 2021, with powerhouses Frankel and Kingman remaining at £175,000 and £150,000, respectively.
One of the reasons that LSU fired very successful coach Les Miles during the 2016 football season is because he was being dominated by bitter rival Alabama each year. Ed Orgeron took over that season for Miles as the interim coach and was eventually given the full-time job.
Orgeron had no better luck against Nick Saban and the Crimson Tide … until last year’s national champion Tigers went into Tuscaloosa and beat Alabama 46-41 in one of the more memorable games of 2019. Joe Burrow might have clinched the Heisman Trophy that day by throwing for 393 yards and three scores.
The SEC West schools renew their rivalry on Saturday from Baton Rouge with a 6 p.m. ET kickoff (hopefully, that is, as LSU is dealing with a COVID-19 outbreak), and this one is not likely to be close with the No. 1 Crimson Tide rolling along this year and 28-point favorites.
Indiana sportsbooks enjoyed a record-shattering October, setting highs in revenue and handle, as bettors were spurred by local interest in the NFL and the return of Big Ten football. In a month that resembled a normal sports schedule more than any month since the pandemic began, October’s handle was more than $230 million, a sign that Indiana’s recent gains are sustainable, according to analysts from PlayIndiana.
“With a schedule that was more comparable to an ordinary October, Indiana’s sportsbooks fared well and offered a clearer read on where Indiana’s market stands,” said Dustin Gouker, lead analyst for PlayIndiana.com. “Interest in the Indianapolis Colts, Indiana University, and Notre Dame is helping as the state transitions from a market that relies on Chicago to one that is more reliant on local bettors.”
Without a once-in-a-lifetime schedule to drive interest, as was the case in September, bettors still made $230.9 million in bets in October, according to official reporting released Tuesday. That breaks the record $207.5 million hit in September and is up 151.8% from $91.7 million in October 2019.
October’s bets also produced a record $21.1 million in adjusted gross revenue for the state’s operators. That is up 82.9% from $11.5 million in October 2019 and easily surpassing the record $14.3 million in revenue generated in September. The month’s revenue yielded $2 million in taxes in October.
Indiana has now generated $1.6 billion in bets since launching in September 2019, but the state was topped in September by both Colorado and Illinois to fall to sixth. However, the state is becoming less reliant on the Chicago market. Bets on the Colts and the surprising Hoosiers fueled $84.7 million in bets on football.
And sportsbooks continue to be imaginative with the types of bets they offer, including offering odds on the Halloween Candy Bowl, a professional candy eating contest held in Las Vegas in late October.
“The market continues to sustain itself by being innovative, which is going to be critical as competition from neighboring states such as Illinois and Michigan increases,” said Jessica Welman, analyst for PlayIndiana.com. “Wringing a few extra dollars from Joey Chestnut downing candy corn might not be a game-changer on its own. But it is a sign of a larger strategy by sportsbooks to diversify their boards in interesting ways.”
Juddmonte Farms became the latest breeding colossus Nov. 10 to release their stud fees for 2021, with powerhouses Frankel and Kingman remaining at £175,000 and £150,000, respectively.
Sweden’s online casino operators could face deposit and bonus restrictions through the middle of next year as the government proposes extending ‘temporary’ COVID-19 consumer protection measures.
On Tuesday, Sweden’s Ministry of Finance proposed an “extended period of validity” for the temporary limits on online casino deposits and bonuses that took effect on July 2. The government wants to see the limits, which were originally scheduled to last only through the end of 2020, extended through June 30, 2021.
The limits cap weekly deposits at SEK5k (US$580) and bonus offers at just SEK100, while also requiring online casino customers to set limits on their playing time (which also apply to land-based gaming machines).
The limits have been credited with significant reductions in operator revenue, while some operators have claimed that the limits are pushing gamblers – particularly those with problem gambling tendencies – to internationally licensed operators not subject to the whims of Sweden’s government.
A leading Australian racing organization has called for European runners at the Melbourne spring carnival to be given more time to acclimatize to local track conditions before racing to avoid further high-profile breakdowns such as Anthony Van Dyck.
In the fast-moving world of gambling, sometimes you might miss news that could be important to you. To make sure you’re all caught up on gaming industry news, be it online or brick and mortar, we’re rounding up the some of the announcements and partnerships from the last week that you might have missed.
Don’t miss out on all of the latest announcements. Our Press Release section is updated constantly.
ORYX Gaming signs multi-jurisdictional distribution deal with Kaizen Gaming
ORYX Gaming, a Bragg Gaming Group company (TSXV: BRAG, OTC:BRGGF), has signed a deal with Kaizen Gaming to supply its RGS content, as well as extensive content available through ORYX Hub in a number of regulated jurisdictions.
The Autumn Nations Cup is set to kick-off for the first time as the Northern Hemisphere tournament replaces tours by Australia and New Zealand due to COVID restrictions.
The eight-team tournament could become a permanent fixture on the international calendar, with crowd restrictions to continue as the U.K. faces another lockdown. The eight teams, split into two groups, includes traditional Six Nations teams, as well as newcomers Georgia and Fiji,
Check out our match tips for the opening round fixtures below.
The gambling industry has some clear cut advantages from using the Bitcoin SV (BSV) blockchain in it’s tech stack. At iGaming NEXT ONLINE: Adventure of Change, Bitcoin Association Founding President Jimmy Nguyen was joined by two men who could show those advantages in action: BitBoss co-founder and CEO Matt Dickson and Hold Gaming Founder and CEO Phillip Runyan.
For the iGaming NEXT audience who weren’t quite sure why Bitcoin SV is the best blockchain solution for enterprises, Nguyen offered up a concise explanation. “It solves a lot of the scaling problems that Bitcoin and blockchains have had for many years, which in my view has inhibited the use of Bitcoin and other blockchains in iGaming and all other industries,” he said. He went on to add:
“Unlike BTC, which has kept transaction capacity very small, leading to higher fees and congestion on the network, Bitcoin SV is comfortably doing 2,800 transactions a second, has an unbounded scaling roadmap to get to 50,000 transactions per second next year, and millions of transactions per second in the future, while keeping fees super low. The median transaction fee on Bitcoin SV now is less than 1 100th of a U.S. cent, and as we’ll talk about, that is a really key part of enabling the iGaming industry to use blockchain technology at greater scale.”
Dickson gave an overview of why BitBoss uses BSV as their exclusive blockchain solution. “Scaling was always a major issue for us, the volume of transactions that online platforms process in a single day is staggering, also the amount of transactions that happen in land-based casinos is equally as large.
English Football League (EFL) Championship team Brentford FC has signed a two-year deal with South African betting operator Hollywoodbets as the team’s official betting partner.
The South African betting operator’s logo is set to feature on the back of the Brentford jersey for all of Brentford’s senior teams. Brentford Football Club Commercial Director James Parkinson was delighted with the agreement:
“Hollywoodbets plays a significant role in its communities, both in South Africa and abroad. Working with our award-winning community sports trust, the Brentford Football Club has always been at the heart of its local community, so we look forward to a partnership with Hollywoodbets that shows a great deal of community involvement. This partnership will provide both brands with exposure in different markets.”
In the same statement to the local press, Hollywoodbets brand and communications manager Devin Heffer expressed his optimism for the partnership. Heffer is hoping that South Africa’s love affair with soccer will help bolster support for the partnership. “This is Hollywoodbets’ first step into football sponsorship in the United Kingdom, which coincides with the opening of our online operations in the UK and Ireland,” he said.
Super Rugby Unlocked continues to throw up some surprising results as the tournament winds down to the finals. The Autumn International Cup is set to compete with the South African Super Rugby tournament for the first time this weekend. Below our match tips for round six of Super Rugby Unlocked.
Griquas vs Sharks
Griquas will get playing the Sharks for the first time in the Super Rugby Unlocked competition. Griquas continue to struggle, conceding 100 points across their last two matches in Super Rugby. The Sharks have won three of their last four matches, despite only scoring more than 20 points once this season. Sharks back Madosh Tambwe has scored five tries in his last six matches across and should be a threat against a Griquas defence that has struggled this season.
Calvin Ayre believes in Bitcoin, and specifically the original vision of Bitcoin now found in Bitcoin SV (BSV). Some in the gambling world still don’t understand why, so he used his time at iGaming NEXT ONLINE: Adventure of Change to share his thoughts.
Speaking from Dubai, Ayre explained the origins of Bitcoin, and how it was first explained. “Originally when Bitcoin was first invented, it was designed to be the world’s most powerful data management tool, most powerful that the world has ever seen. Of course, it did payments as well, and the white paper actually focused more on that. That was obviously because that made it easier to understand the platform, to people that didn’t really understand it. But also being able to value data using microtransactions, frictionless microtransactions, actually is one of the superpowers that makes the original protocol the most powerful data management system that the world has ever seen.”
But the protocol war started when others decided Bitcoin was better as an investment asset, and not much use for anything else. “Now unfortunately what’s happened is a lot of other people got involved, they took the technology or the philosophy of the technology in their own directions, and that’s great!” he said. “I wish them all well. But they can’t help the online gaming industry. Digital gold narratives, whatever that even is, it sounds like nonsense to me. Speculative casino exchanges where you’ve got a thousand or two thousand different tokens that all could do exactly the same thing, nothing, that’s not interesting.”
Those superpowers Ayre mentioned are why he’s interested in it, and what makes it valuable to gambling. “Payments using a digital platform, that’s interesting. But what’s really interesting is the ability to use the original protocol, and only the original Bitcoin protocol, which now is only BSV, to actually run your business. An online gaming company can get involved in this platform and start to find pieces that they can put in, and not only make their business run better, not only have value added, but they can also decrease costs and increase security on their platform. And oh yeah, just like it says in the white paper, you can also use it for payments.”
Digital currency remains one of the most debated topics in recent history. However, despite the initial – and strong – resistance to digital money, more support is being found. Even long-time naysayer Nouriel Roubini, who once said Bitcoin was a “big, fake thing,” now admits that there is some actual monetary benefit to digital currency. If a renowned economist and Bitcoin hater can come around, there’s a good chance greater adoption isn’t far off. It’s because of a number of inherent traits found in Bitcoin, as well as blockchain, that digital currency is finally being recognized for its true value.
Bitcoin, by its nature, allows individuals to interact financially with one another without having to go through an intermediary, such as a bank. Digital currency holders can send money directly to another individual’s wallet, regardless of where that person is in the world. In most cases, the money is available in just a matter of seconds, sometimes minutes, and the transactions are always secure and verified. This makes the currency’s real-world possibilities infinite.
This verification is important because it allows for the proper tracking of financial movements, which makes both financial regulators and senders happy. Because all transactions are stored on the immutable blockchain, they can never be altered and can be accessed at any time for verification that money was sent. This induces better fraud protection and greater security for users’ funds.
Through combined verification and protection, gambling operators can benefit substantially from the inclusion of digital currency as a payment option. They allow the entities to ensure they can adhere to regulatory guidelines regarding financial transactions, helping to ensure the risk of money laundering is fully mitigated, and can also give users greater satisfaction and confidence. Previously, trying to deposit or withdraw money from an online gambling operator’s platform was a major ordeal that could sometimes take weeks to complete. However, digital currency transactions – both to and from the operator – can be completed quickly, securely and cheaply, and provide a smooth, non-intrusive environment for gamblers.
The horseracing industry in the U.K. is about to enjoy a little early Christmas present. Bookmakers there have agreed to an arrangement that will give tracks a financial injection to help them weather the COVID-19 storm as the coronavirus pandemic continues to take its toll on the properties, as well as on the entire gambling industry everywhere. With sports gambling shops closing in the U.K. and Ireland once again, extra relief is going to be needed to keep everyone afloat.
Betting locations across both the U.K. and Ireland recently announced that they would be closing in order to comply with government-issued orders implemented to stop a new wave of COVID-19 cases. As the industry waits to see what their respective governments are going to do to help offset the losses, bookmakers are stepping up, providing additional fees to horseracing tracks on existing streaming and data deals. The extra money will be paid through December 2, which is when the renewed closures in the countries are expected to be lifted. Despite the efforts, however, there is still a chance that a number of the betting shops will be forced to close permanently due to a lack of income.
The amounts to be provided haven’t been disclosed, and will most likely vary depending on the type and scope of the arrangements. The CEO of Newbury Racecourse, Julian Thick, appreciates the gesture and believes it will go a long way to helping the tracks survive. He said in a statement, “This additional funding will be much valued by racecourses but it won’t plug the hole left by lost revenues from LBO closures for the next month. Make no mistake, racecourses are really suffering at the moment, and the return of crowds is absolutely critical to us operating but we are grateful for [the] betting industry’s support throughout the difficulties of the Covid-19 crisis.”
One of the largest providers of data to racecourses in the U.K. and Ireland is Racecourse Media Group, which serves 35 British tracks, as well as all 26 located in Ireland. The company has worked with its partners to reach agreements to temporarily bump up the fees paid and, like Newbury, expects the additional monies to allow the tracks to at least stay alive a little longer. RMG Commercial Director Nick Mills also points out how the racing and gambling industries can accomplish a lot when they work together for a common cause.
It was not a good week for Tribal casinos, thanks to the continuing effects of the Covid-19 pandemic. It may have hurt most for the San Manuel Band of Mission Indians, who’s San Manuel Casino expansion in Highland, California now won’t open until 2022.
The $550 million expansion, which will feature a 17-story hotel and more gaming space, will mostly be ready by the end of 2021 if current plans hold. But the 2,700-seat entertainment center won’t be ready for the general public until the following year, General Manager Peter Arceo revealed.
This is more to do with pandemic safety precautions than any construction delay. Private events will be available when the complex is completed in 2021, but to be safe, it won’t be fully in use until 2022.
The timeline for construction was pushed back due to the pandemic, though. Everything should have been ready by mid-2021, but this new timeline of end of 2021 reflects construction slowdowns forced by everything that’s happened this year.
