Category Archives: Press Releases

National Lacrosse League Will Focus On Next Season

NLL

The National Lacrosse League (@NLL), the largest and most successful professional lacrosse property in the world, today announced that plans for an abbreviated season this spring have been cancelled due to uncertainties arising from the ongoing Pandemic. The league, with the full support of the NLL Board of Governors, will now move to start a traditional season in the fall of this year.

“We have gone through many scenarios, including playing a bubble season in Canada in April, but the logistical challenges, including the recently announced tighter travel and quarantine restrictions across the Canadian border have required us to pivot. We have decided to focus on playing a full season in our markets, starting in the fall of this year,” said NLL Commissioner Nick Sakiewicz. “While many of the factors we can control were moving along well, those outside of our control, especially pertaining to obtaining government approval as far in advance as we would have needed, are no longer feasible. All the efforts and innovations we were planning will now go towards a full season starting this fall and into next year. We thank our players, teams and Board of Governors, whose thoughts in this process were invaluable, and we now set our sights on getting lined up for a full NLL season starting in the fall. We also thank our fans for sticking with us – we will be back, and it will be even more exciting than ever before.”

“We appreciate the League’s extensive efforts to provide us the opportunity to play an abbreviated 2021 season in a safe and controlled environment throughout the changing landscape during this Pandemic.  While we are disappointed that it will not be possible to play this spring, we are even more excited and passionate about having a full 2021-22 season and are eager to get back on the floor this fall,” said Zach Currier, PLPA President.

While the exact start date of a full season will be announced at a later date, which will include the debut of Panther City Lacrosse Club in Fort Worth, the NLL is planning to start in the fall playing a complete season into the spring of 2022. Additionally, exciting franchise announcements are coming very soon, as well as other initiatives that were being planned for the shortened 2021 season.

Details will be coming as they are finalized. For additional information, please visit @NLL YouTube to watch an interview with Commissioner Sakiewicz.

For the most up to date information and breaking news, sign up for the NLL newsletter at NLL.com. Also follow Deputy Commissioner Jessica Berman and Commissioner Sakiewicz on Twitter @JessicaBerman1 and @NLLcommish, respectively.

Clarion respond to industry requests to move ICE London and iGB Affiliate London into 2022

Autumn ’21 edition of iGB Live! set to kick-start recovery

Following an ongoing customer consultation programme, Clarion Gaming has responded to requests from its international community of stakeholders and taken the extremely difficult decision to postpone the co-located 2021 editions of ICE London and iGB Affiliate London which were scheduled to open at the end of June. Based on requests from its customer base the next edition of ICE London will take place at ExCeL London (1-3 February 2022) alongside iGB Affiliate London (3-5 February). An expanded and enhanced edition of the flagship iGB Live! will retain its traditional dates (28 September-1 October, RAI, Amsterdam) and in the process help kick-start the recovery for gaming communities in Europe.

Stuart Hunter, Managing Director, Clarion Gaming, said: “Both the ICE London and iGB Affiliate London brands have been successful because they have consistently worked with, and listened to, the needs of their respective customers.

“The soundings we’ve taken and the ongoing conversations we are having with exhibitors of all sizes across both events have shown continued and significant uncertainty about the year ahead. Exhibitors have expressed a desire to put the experiences of the last 12 months behind them and instead focus their collective energy and creativity into making the 2022 editions into memorable in-person celebrations.”

Professional Fighters League unveils featherweight and lightweight rosters for 2021 season debut on April 23

Lance Palmer, Bubba Jenkins headline Featherweight roster; Anthony Pettis, Natan Schulte star in Lightweight roster.

NEW YORK (Feb. 2, 2021) –The Professional Fighters League (PFL), the fastest growing and most innovative sports league in the world, today announced its featherweight and lightweight rosters for the 2021 regular season, which begins April 23 on ESPN2, ESPN Deportes and ESPN+ in primetime. The 2021 season will kick off with a pair of two-time champions looking to three-peat while new challengers have been brought in to make this year the most competitive yet.

Lance Palmer and Natan Schulte have authored back-to-back undefeated seasons in the ultra-competitive featherweight and lightweight divisions. They will have a host of new challengers as the PFL returns for 2021. Palmer’s wrestling nemesis Bubba Jenkins, highly regarded Brit Brendan Loughnane, undefeated Jason Soares and Korean star Jo Sungbin are some of the new blood who will be looking to pluck the title from the only featherweight champion the PFL has ever known. Russian knockout artist Movlid Khaybulaev, Brazilian Sheymon Moraes and top prospect Tyler Diamond round out the stacked division.

Lightweight has been the sole domain of Schulte. The Brazilian has been up to the task since day one, but 2021 will be a new year with a new set of challenges, the biggest coming in the form of one of MMA’s greatest. Former UFC champion and superstar Anthony Pettis will make his organizational debut on April 23 with every intention of ending Schulte’s reign atop the division. He will be joined by 2020 boxing sensation Clay Collard, Canadian Olivier Aubin-Mercier and Johnny Case – who fought Schulte to a draw in 2018.

Strat-O-Matic Expands Partnership With Negro League Baseball Museum

As Black History Month begins, Strat-O-Matic (www.strat-o-matic.com), the leader in sports simulation games now celebrating its Diamond Anniversary, is proud to announce the renewal and expansion of its partnership with the Negro League Baseball Museum (NLBM) and President Bob Kendrick. Strat-O-Matic continues to augment its selection of popular Negro League baseball roster sets, with 10% of all sales donated to the Kansas City, Mo., based museum.

Strat-O-Matic has the most robust and highly researched Negro League simulation products, now boasting more than 25 individual seasons rosters dating back to 1908, plus Stars and legendary Diamond Gems rosters. Three new rosters, 1918, 1928 and 1943, will be released on February 19 along with the rest of SOM’s current baseball card and digital sets.

“In our 60th Anniversary year, we couldn’t be more excited about extending our partnership with the Negro League Baseball Museum and we’re especially grateful to Bob Kendrick for his support and friendship,” said Adam Richman, Strat-O-Matic President. “We look forward to celebrating the 101st anniversary of the founding of the Negro Leagues throughout 2021,”

“Strat-O-Matic has been a great partner in helping further the Museum’s mission of preserving and celebrating the rich history of African-American baseball and its impact on the social advancement of America,” said Kendrick. “Members and fans often talk about what it would be like to see these players in action, and Strat-O-Matic continues to be a great way to realistically relive their performances.”

Strat-O-Matic released its first comprehensive Negro League products in 2001 with more than 100 players in the Negro League Stars set.

IMG arena launches new vintage betting product in partnership with Euroleague basketball

Play-on-demand offering boosted with creation of EuroLeague Instant Legends product that features 10 years’ highlights footage

LONDON, UK – 2nd February, 2021 — IMG ARENA, a leading sports betting service and content hub, has expanded its long-standing partnership with EuroLeague Basketball with the launch of EuroLeague Instant Legends, an innovative new product line.

EuroLeague Instant Legends uses official vintage footage from top players over the past 10 years to create instant betting events via randomly grouped clips. The product has been created by Leap Gaming*.

EuroLeague Basketball, which has been an IMG ARENA partner since 2015, is the organiser of Europe’s premier professional basketball competition, the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague, and also runs the 7DAYS EuroCup.

2020 Casinomeister Awards

2nd February 2021 – The leading online casino site and player advocate Casinomeister, has this morning released their much-anticipated annual casino awards, with the 2020 Casinomeister Awards being announced.

Picking up for the second year running the title of ‘Best Casino 2020’, All British Casino once again has proven to be a stand up and solid operation, offering a wide variety of games, and superb customer support, which entails attentive representation on the forum at Casinomeister.

Commenting as to why All British Casino have once again taken home the Best Casino 2020 award, Bryan Bailey of Casinomeister.com said: “Voted #1 by our most senior members and our illustrious Meister Minions, it is evident that All British Casino did not rest on its laurels.”

“This casino has continued its player focused management philosophy – and they have truly appeased their players with awesomeness.”

Parimatch CPO: We want to become the Netflix of gaming

Parimatch is changing the perception of the betting industry and building a technological entertainment platform. The company’s goal is to move away from the classic idea of bookmaker and become a gaming and entertainment platform. The company took the first steps and presented the Footboss game in the fall. The chief product officer of Parimatch, Sergey Berezhnoy, helps to understand how a simple session game changes the idea and approaches to betting.

The Footbooss’ concept

Footboss’ ultimate gaming adventure is to free 10 major football stadiums from the giant invaders. The game’s key character is the coach, whose task is to prepare his players for effective penalties and non-standard solutions day after day.

At first glance, the game seems simple, but with every new session, a player discovers many directions in which he could learn more or advance. Thanks to the random distribution of rewards and tasks, the journey becomes unexpected: you always get different things, quests, and heroes. Also, an additional interest is given by the effect of “kinder-surprise for adults” in the form of loot boxes.

NBRPA, Swoopes And Flexion Therapeutics Announce Partnership To Raise Awareness Of Zilretta

Unsplash/Marcus Spiske

The National Basketball Retired Players Association (NBRPA) and Flexion Therapeutics Inc. today announced a new partnership to raise awareness of osteoarthritis-related knee pain and present ZILRETTA (triamcinolone acetonide extended-release injectable suspension) as an effective treatment option. The educational program tipped off with a virtual event featuring Sheryl Swoopes, basketball Hall of Famer and ZILRETTA patient, discussing how osteoarthritis (OA) of the knee has impacted her life and how ZILRETTA has helped with pain management. Swoopes is the first athlete from the WNBA to participate in the awareness program. The partnership with Swoopes complements Flexion’s relationship with ZILRETTA Athlete Ambassadors, NFL Hall of Famer Rod Woodson and 1980 USA hockey team captain and gold medal winner Mike Eruzione.

“We are excited to partner with the NBRPA to raise awareness of knee OA and ZILRETTA, and we are truly honored to be working with Sheryl, a world-class athlete who continues to exemplify greatness well after the height of her career,” said Michael Clayman, M.D., President and Chief Executive Officer of Flexion. “As one of the most exceptional women athletes of all time, a hall of famer, and three-time Olympic gold medalist, Sheryl knows about pushing the limits physically, and we are very pleased that she has finally found the much-needed relief from her OA knee pain with ZILRETTA.”

Swoopes, the first player to be signed in the WNBA, is a three-time WNBA MVP and was named one of the league’s Top 15 Players of All Time at the 2011 WNBA All-Star Game. She won three Olympic gold medals and is one of 10 women’s basketball players to have won an Olympic gold medal, an NCAA Championship and a WNBA title. She was elected to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2016 and is an active leader in the NBRPA.

“The best partnerships are all about authenticity, and we found out through a survey of our membership that knee pain ranked among retired players’ top ailments following their careers,” said Scott Rochelle, NBRPA’s Executive Director. “There is no better, more engaged advocate for those suffering OA knee pain and no stronger advocate to speak to the benefits of ZILRETTA than Sheryl. We look forward to growing this relationship in the coming months to be one of our most inclusive and informative to date.”

Swoopes added, “I fully understand the way OA knee pain can impact your life in every aspect, not just physically but mentally. To be able to tell my story and share the results of what can be done with treatment with my colleagues, friends, former players and family is very important. This partnership will not only help many of the athletes who have played in the NBA and WNBA, but it will serve to raise awareness for thousands who may be suffering in silence.”

Swoopes was treated by Rabah Qadir, M.D., a fellowship-trained orthopedic surgeon at the Woodlands Sports Medicine Center and Chairman of Orthopedic Surgery at Memorial Hermann Woodlands Medical Center in the Houston area. Dr. Qadir said, “While Sheryl has enjoyed the career of an elite athlete, unfortunately, her experience with OA knee pain is far from unique. Knee injuries, especially cartilage and meniscus injuries, are common for basketball players and can lead to OA over time. After evaluating Sheryl and understanding her desire to stay active with a non-surgical treatment plan, ZILRETTA was an obvious choice to offer Sheryl the extended pain relief she needed.”

More information on how to find a treating physician can be found at https://www.getthez.com or by calling 888-600-GETZ (4389).

The NBRPA represents over 1,000 former NBA and WNBA players, making it the largest agency of its kind in basketball. This has allowed for direct access to players for opportunities to educate other members and their treating physicians.

Google to allow gambling apps in more countries

Degree 53, specialists in UX, design and software development, have shared that Google announced that it will allow gambling apps in the Google Play store in 15 more countries 1st March 2021, including the U.S. market. This update includes real-money gambling and daily fantasy sports apps, such as online casino, lotteries and sports betting. Developers will also be able to advertise in the Play Store.

It was only a few years ago that Google opened up the Play Store for online gambling operators in the U.K., Ireland, France and Brazil, and we knew that this would expand further. From March, operators from the following countries will be allowed to publish their apps with Google: Australia, Belgium, Canada, Colombia, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Japan, Mexico, New Zealand, Norway, Romania, Spain, Sweden, and the United States.

So far, customers have been able to download Android online gambling apps directly from the operator’s website, but they’d also need to update them manually, as well as bypassing phone security settings. It was also more difficult to advertise these apps and reach relevant demographics. Now, Google will help to address this challenge and operators will also have a chance of reaching a wider audience more effectively.

Richard Wagstaff, Managing Director at Degree 53 comments: “Online sports betting and gaming is experiencing rapid growth in the United States, and operators will benefit from distributing their Android apps with Google. No doubt, this is excellent news for them.”

9,000 Transactions Per Second: Bitcoin SV hits new record

Bitcoin SV‘s (BSV) Scaling Test Network (STN) hit a new record this week, processing over 9,000 transactions per second at one point on January 26. Its previous record was ~6,500 tps in December 2019. Despite being a testing network, the STN shares most of its technical capabilities with the BSV mainnet—once again disproving the notion that Bitcoin can’t scale on-chain.

To put that into perspective, the BTC network (which many still incorrectly insist on referring to as “Bitcoin”) limits its block sizes to 1-4MB, permitting a maximum 7 transactions per second (it’s more like 3-4). That’s not seven thousand… but seven. No blockchain asset has a hope of gaining use as a world currency, global payment settlement layer or for everyday payments at such a low capacity, and it can cost over $10 or even $20 to send a single BTC transaction of any amount.

How did the Scaling Test Network achieve the new record?

STN Operations Manager Brad Kristensen told CoinGeek that his team thinks over 2,000 tps is sustainable on the STN, going by the data they’ve collected. Just recently they observed an average of around 1.9 ktps (or 1,900 tps) over an eight-hour period. You can monitor STN statistics yourself at this site.

Updating of Ukrainian Gaming Week format! UGW Expert Conference will be held in February, and large-scale Ukrainian Gaming Week gambling exhibition to take place in March

After analyzing the requests of the gambling community and taking into account the interests of all market players, Smile-Expo decided to change the format of Ukrainian Gaming Week 2021 – instead of one specialized event, company will separately organize an expert conference and an exhibition of solutions for the gambling industry.

UGW conference: program, features and top speakers

Date: February 24, 2021

Location: Premier Palace Hotel, Kyiv

The Electronic Gaming Federation To Launch ‘EGF Leads’ Series For Collegiate Esports Leadership

The Electronic Gaming Federation, the national governing body for formalized collegiate D-I esports and high school level leagues, will host a series of panels on topics in collegiate esports ranging from team management to mental health beginning on February 3rd for member colleges and universities across the country to engage in information sharing to their esports and gaming communities. The event is open to all faculty, coaches and students as a way to bring together the fluid and fast rising world of gaming across college campuses. The event is free and will be streamed on twitch.tv/officialEGF each Wednesday at 2PM ET.

“The esports and gaming communities across the country continue to grow, but the market, as happens with many startup industries, can be very siloed and fractured, our goal is to bring together like minded individuals with one purpose; to share best practices and learn from each other,”  said EGF CEO Eric Johnson. “For esports to continue to grow holistically, we need consistency and we believe this is a great next step.”

EGF Leads is one of the first major projects initiated by the recently elected EGFC Board of Governors under the leadership of Michele King (William & Mary) and Courtney James (DePaul University). “I am excited to see how EGF Leads allows students to learn to lead from industry leaders and staff professionals at EGF Member Institutions. EGF has established itself as an industry leader when it comes to competitive play; and the expansion of EGF Leads will allow the Federation to be a industry leader when it comes to co-curricular leadership development for students involved in the Esports & gaming community.”  – Courtney James, Director of Student Involvement & Esports, DePaul University

The goal of this series of panels and educational sessions will be to have students learn from peers, industry leaders and member institution staff and faculty about topics pertaining to leadership, communication and more.

“EGF’s strength is in its leadership and active participation of its member institutions.  What better way to enable our students to grow and to develop than to offer EGF Leads–a weekly panel discussion on topics relevant to the esports ecosystem.  We believe in integrity and transparency, so we want all esports community members to join in the discussion as we learn from schools across the country and industry leaders.  I’m excited to be part of an organization that encompasses what it means to be a part of the esports community from the competitive and industrial side to the academic rigors of creating the esports landscape.” –Michele King, Ph.D., Director of Esports at William & Mary, Williamsburg, Virginia

Schedule of panels (Wednesdays at 2PM ET on twitch.tv/officialEGF):

  1. February 3rd: Marketing Your Team & Esports Program
  2. February 10th: Mental Health & Esports
  3. February 17th: Content Creation for Live Streams
  4. February 24th: Team Management as a Student Captain
  5. March 3rd: Prioritizing Inclusivity in Your Esports Community
  6. March 10th: Introduction to OBS & Esports Production
  7. March 17th: Shoutcasting 101
  8. March 24th: Facilitating Community Meetings
  9. March 31st: Build a PC Demo

EGF will start the second half of EGFC Season 2 on February 1st with over 40 schools, and will have conference and national championships starting in March, 2021 across a wide range of games.

Entain foundation US partners with EPIC Risk Management to launch player education initiative with colleges across US

Program to reach more than 40 colleges including Mid-American Conference, Fordham University and Monmouth University.

January 27, 2021 – The Entain Foundation U.S. and EPIC Risk Management today announced the launch of a player education initiative with colleges around the nation to deliver a series of gaming awareness educational sessions. The Entain Foundation U.S. is funded by Entain plc, the global sports betting and gaming entertainment operator which jointly owns and provides the technology to BetMGM in the United States.

The joint initiative will be focused on education and awareness and the need to keep betting safe as sports betting and gaming continues to expand across more states, with New York most recently expressing interest. More than 40 colleges in the U.S. will initially take part in the nationwide educational initiative, including the Mid-American Conference, Fordham University in New York City and Monmouth University in New Jersey. 

Entain Foundation U.S. and EPIC plan to work together to add new colleges to the program throughout 2021. Those colleges already participating include the University of Akron, Eastern Illinois University, Harvard University, Northern Illinois University, University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV), University of Ohio, University of Oregon, Seton Hall University and the University of Utah. 

Entain Foundation U.S., Epic Risk Management Team For Gaming Education Initiative

The Entain Foundation US and EPIC Risk Management today announced the launch of a player education initiative with colleges around the nation to deliver a series of gaming awareness educational sessions.  The Entain Foundation US is funded by Entain plc, the global sports betting and gaming entertainment operator which jointly owns and provides the technology to BetMGM in the United States.

The joint initiative will be focused on education and awareness and the need to keep betting safe as sports betting and gaming continues to expand across more states, with New York most recently expressing interest.  More than 40 colleges in the U.S. will initially take part in the nationwide educational initiative, including the Mid-American Conference, Fordham University in New York City and Monmouth University in New Jersey. 

Entain Foundation US and EPIC plan to work together to add new colleges to the program throughout 2021.  Those colleges already participating include the University of Akron, Eastern Illinois University, Harvard University, Northern Illinois University, University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV), University of Ohio, University of Oregon, Seton Hall University and the University of Utah.  

EPIC and Entain Foundation US launched the partnership and program in March 2020.  Overall, the program is fully funded by the Entain Foundation US and is part of Entain’s pledge to invest $132 million over five years towards responsible gaming initiatives and to support people and communities around the world where it operates.

To date, EPIC Risk Management and the Entain Foundation US have launched collaborations with the National Football League Players’ Association Professional Athletes Foundation (NFLPA PAF) and USA Rugby, as well as the Division on Addiction at Cambridge Health Alliance, a Harvard Medical School teaching hospital, which is already working with Entain on a five-year research initiative better to understand problematic and addictive behaviors.

EPIC is a global leading gambling harm minimization consultancy providing strategic advisory and impactful and proven awareness, education, and risk management programs to the highest risk sectors in over 20 countries worldwide to reduce the human, financial, brand and reputational risks associated with gambling harm.

Executive Quotes:

Martin Lycka, Entain Senior Vice President for American Regulatory Affairs and Responsible Gambling, and Trustee of the Entain Foundation US: “We know from international experience that the most successful sports betting operators are also the most responsible.  As legalized sports betting continues to expand in the US, education and responsible gaming is a top priority.  We are excited to expand our partnership with EPIC to reach colleges across the country to educate young people.”

John Millington, VP of US Operations at EPIC Risk Management: “We are delighted to be able to work closely with colleges around the nation on this essential education and awareness program. There is a collective responsibility to ensure the minimization of potential gambling harms, and the promotion of player safety. Our collaboration with the Entain Foundation represents a key strategic piece of our prevention pillar, and it is great that so many organizations are recognizing the importance of education and awareness for this potentially high-risk population.”

AJ Schaufler – Associate Athletic Director for Compliance, Monmouth University: “Monmouth University Hawks are delighted to have EPIC Risk Management deliver their gambling awareness and sports betting integrity education sessions to our student athletes.  This is a topic that we take very seriously here at Monmouth and indeed, these sessions are providing our students with an increased understanding of the risks of problematic gambling, and in particular, its close links to sports betting integrity breaches.  Furthermore, they are now better aware of the support mechanisms that are available to them and have a deeper understanding and knowledge of this growing issue. We look forward to a long and successful partnership and would absolutely recommend this to all NCAA programs across the nation.”

Shannon Raymond –Assistant Athletic Director for Compliance, Fordham University: “Fordham Athletics is excited to engage with EPIC Risk Management to educate our student-athletes around the dangers of problematic gambling and the ever-growing risk that sports betting brings to both student-athletes and institutions. As part of our overall student development and wellbeing program, we see this as an extremely beneficial collaboration and are committed to ensuring our student-athletes learn from EPIC’s expertise to better understand how student-athletes can be susceptible to gambling harm. We look forward to learning how we can best support our student-athletes in this area with a long and successful partnership with EPIC.”

SKS365 partners with Optimove to ace realtime CRM Marketing

Fastest-growing gaming operator in Italy SKS365 has partnered with Optimove to turn CRM Marketing into a significant growth engine of the business.

St. Julian’s, Malta – 27 January 2021 – SKS365, a leading multi-licensed international bookmaker and gaming operator, announced today it has partnered with Optimove, provider of the industry’s leading CRM Marketing Hub. This strategic investment in CRM is a significant part of an enterprise-wide digital transformation SKS365 is undergoing.

SKS365 will leverage Optimove’s solution to create, orchestrate, measure, and optimize CRM journeys for millions of registered players, including those of its flagship brand, Planetwin365. Not only one of the fastest growing sports betting portals in Europe, Planetwin365, is also the number one sports bookmaker in Italy.

Optimove will empower SKS365 Group to transform its CRM Marketing operations into a growth driver by allowing them to:

Super Squares® Attempts New Guinness World Record While Hosting the World’s Biggest Super Bowl Squares Party

 Today, Super Squares®, the live mobile game show that launches Advertising as a Sport™, announces the World’s Biggest Super Bowl Squares Party, happening concurrently with Super Bowl LV on Sunday on February 7th where the Kansas City Chiefs will go head-to-head with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Thousands will play the football squares game using the free-to-play app while watching the NFL Championship game on television. Fans seeking a multi-screen experience will be able to join a live Twitch watch party hosted by notable NFL analyst Mike Golic, and NFL Super Bowl XLVII Champion and Commissioner of Sports at React, Matt Birk.

The football squares tournament happening on Super Squares® has been designated as a World Record attempt by Guinness World Records, allowing every participant the opportunity to help set a World Record simply by competing in the app. In addition to the Guinness World Record attempt and fun happenings on Twitch.tv, Super Squares® offers a $2.4 million prize pool, including a $1 million Perfect Game Jackpot that will be doubled to $2 million when shared with a ‘Buddy’ who may have referred the Winner to Super Squares®. The highest score during the tournament-culminating Bigger Game® event will be awarded a $80,000 Rivian Electric Adventure Vehicle, expected to roll into production later this year.

“Playing the football squares game is a tradition that brings everyone together and I’m happy we can still do so virtually this year,” said Mike Golic, notable NFL analyst and former ESPN commentator. “I’ve always been a fan of the squares game and I’m proud to lead the charge for fans to move from paper squares to Super Squares®. Mobile technology has eliminated paper in mail, maps and even Fantasy Football, and Super Squares® takes a game that millions have played on paper to the next level – just in time for a season where social distancing is keeping us apart.”

While in-person paper-based squares games usually found in offices, pubs and parties are less practical, the Super Squares® app still allows friends to play against each other using a proprietary “SkyBox” feature. To demonstrate, Golic has created his own SkyBox and is inviting “…everyone to crash my SkyBox and compare your final score to mine. I’ll award $250 from the Pro Football Hall of Game store to the highest score in my SkyBox, IF you can beat me!” Super Squares® players can enter the SkyBox by using the password “Golic” when joining gameplay on February 7th.

The free-to-play app combines the score matching elements of squares, with prediction and ad gamification, to provide a unique game show element that attracts casual and avid sports fans alike. Since the start of the 2020 season Super Squares® has already awarded over $300,000 to more than 3,000 players, and the Guiness World Record attempt will be the first time the entire nation will converge in a national tournament around the Super Bowl.

“This has been a different NFL season for all fans and I’m thrilled to be part of something that is bringing everyone together to bond over the game, but also be part of the real-time feedback for Super Bowl advertising,” said Matt Birk, Commissioner of Sports at React, the company behind Super Squares® and NFL Super Bowl Champion. “The Super Bowl is, of course, about crowning the NFL Champion, but it has also developed into a showcase for ads and people all over the country talk about advertising. Super Squares® understands this unique relationship and puts brands at the center of the action.”

Super Squares®, which piloted in May 2020, is the first reactive product showcasing the natural relationship between sports and branding. Players compete while watching live sports and are prompted to rate each in-app mobile TV commercial and then answer questions about them and are rewarded for being correct. This provides instant ad sentiment while verifying attention and ad recall, removing all the guesswork brands have about the delivery and effectiveness of their ads. These reactions provide participating brands and agencies with census-level validation of fan engagement and sentiment, measurable over time. This depth of understanding is simply not available to brands delivering traditional TV ads, even when they spend $5.5 million for a single TV spot. The live game show app provides consumers an opportunity to “get in the game” and will ultimately allow sports fans around the world to engage with all sports, no matter the league.

FanDuel Group to Deliver PGA TOUR Highlights to FanDuel Sportsbook Customers

Today, FanDuel Group announced they will begin providing real-time highlights of PGA TOUR golf events to FanDuel Sportsbook app users.

“We’re taking the FanDuel Sportsbook app experience beyond just placing a bet — now our customers will get the best TOUR highlights delivered to them each week to consume and act on,” said Adam Kaplan, GM/VP of Sports Content, FanDuel Group. “Part of our ongoing focus is providing a fully integrated experience that gives our customers the ability to follow and interact in real-time with the sports they care about.”

In August, FanDuel became an Official Betting Operator of the TOUR, which gives them rights in the United States to use TOUR marks, rights to advertise within TOUR media and TOUR partner platforms, plus content and video rights allowing FanDuel to create pre-game and post-game betting programming, as well as distribution of highlights to FanDuel Sportsbook users who have placed bets.

“We’re excited to further activate our Official Betting Operator marketing relationship with FanDuel by sharing TOUR highlights with their customers,” said Norb Gambuzza, SVP, Media and Gaming at the PGA TOUR. “Engaging new fans with PGA TOUR content is a top priority of our sports betting strategy and this innovation with FanDuel is a key step in that direction.”

Beginning this week with the TOUR’s Farmers Insurance Open, FanDuel will utilize WSC Sports’ AI technology to deliver highlights to betting customers through FanDuel Sportsbook app notifications for each TOUR event in 2021. FanDuel customers will be able to view automated highlights through rich media push notifications, capitalizing on FanDuel’s vision to use in-game, real-time content to enhance the customer experience.

FanDuel Group will begin by delivering TOUR golf content, with the opportunity to expand into other sports. Video asset for download here.

Hipther Agency partners with All-in Global for Live Interpreting at their Gaming Americas Quarterly Meetups in 2021

The team at Hipther Agency, organizers of the European Gaming & Gaming Americas Quarterly Meetups, are delighted to announce a new partnership with All-in Global, an awarded language solution provider dedicated to the iGaming, sports betting, Fintech, sports and eSports industry.

The world-recognized organizer will benefit from All-in Global’s professional services during the Gaming Americas Quarterly Meetups, specifically during the Latin American panel discussion that will offer the option for delegates to listen to the original content in Spanish or opt for the English Live Interpreted version.

All-in Global is an awarded language solution provider dedicated to the iGaming, sports betting, fintech, sports and esports industry. Their line-up of services includes localization, content creation, SEO and audiovisual solutions in over 80 languages so their clients can maximize on their offerings globally. They are currently working with approximately 300 companies, including game developers, operators, platform providers and affiliates. Everything they do is rooted in a passion for gaming and multilingual communication and driven by a genuine desire to make the industry more accessible and highly entertaining.

Tiago Aprigio,CEO at All-in Global, commented on the partnership: “The All-in Global partnership with the Hipther team will make sure that absolutely nothing gets lost in translation during the virtual Gaming Americas Quarterly meetups.

INTRALOT pick Algosport to provide innovative Bet Builder products

January 21st, 2021 – London, U.K. (Press Release): Innovative U.K. based sportsbetting technology company Algosport are pleased to announce that they have signed an agreement to provide Bet Builder products to industry giant INTRALOT.

Under the terms of the deal, current and future INTRALOT customers will benefit from market-leading Bet Builder products initially for pre-match football, but with the ability to expand to include In:Play betting options across a wide variety of sports, with Cashout supported as standard. Unlike some other providers, Algosports proprietary technology will be housed within INTRALOT’s current platform infrastructure, increasing accuracy and robustness, plus reducing the latency and other problems seen with some API or feed-based solutions.

Leigh Heardman, CEO at Algosport, said, “This is a really exciting deal for Algosport, and we are really pleased to be working with INTRALOT, who are one of the biggest names in betting and gaming”

Alongside traditional same game multiples for sports such as soccer and basketball, Algosport are also continually enhancing the service and recently added innovative products for handball and snooker betting markets. In addition, Algosport recently became one of the first providers to offer Bet Builder products for eSports titles such as FIFA 2020. These innovations have proved incredibly popular with operators, as eSports betting replaced some of the revenue lost due to Covid-related reductions in the sporting calendar.