Esports betting site Luckbox has pledged support for the WeSave! Charity Play Dota 2 tournament.
The WeSave! Charity Play event raising money for two good causes – CEPI and GlobalGiving – during the COVID-19 outbreak.
Featuring 24 leading teams, the online tournament was organised by WePlay! In an effort to raise money to battle the Coronavirus pandemic.
Proceeds from the event, which runs until Thursday, has already hit $180,000 and the target of $200,000 is well within reach.
We excited to announce we’ve been awarded a Recognition Notice by the Malta Gaming Authority (MGA) and we are looking forward to offering our Platform Services to MGA licensed operators.
Dench eGaming Solutions one of the innovative Trunkey iGaming platform providers and it has been awarded a Recognition Notice by the Malta Gaming Authority (MGA).
The Sofia-based content provider, which is certified and licensed in three EU member states, currently holds an MGA Critical Supply License to offer online casino products.
The approval comes right in time as the gaming supplier has recently announced the revamp of its frontend technology featuring the latest set of technologies such as Progressive Web App and React bringing the user experience to new heights.
Partnership Provides Seamless Access to Official Real-Time Data for Esports Betting
LAS VEGAS, NV – March 25, 2020- GameCo LLC, creator of the world’s first Video Game Gambling Machine (VGM) and foremost trailblazer in shaping the new casino experience, today announced a new partnership with GRID, an innovative esports data platform, to bring its game-changing data product to North American casinos. The partnership will integrate GRID’s industry-leading esports data & streaming solution with official and exclusive coverage of up to 80% of the leading esports competitions into GameCo’s robust VGM offerings and partner casino destinations, both land-based and online. The offering will include real-time feeds of official data & streaming assets from GRIDs partnered esports competitions, state-of-the-art scoreboard and visualizations, and a range of services designed to unlock the potential of esports for casinos and sportsbooks.
Supporting the biggest esports titles like Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, Dota2, and League of Legends at almost all major and minor tournaments, GRID’s best-in-class official esports data and analytics platform contextualizes in-game events against historical data in real-time. GRID’s official and exclusive relationships allow GRID to deliver the fastest and most granular data in the industry. The partnership will allow GameCo to unlock the potential of the GRID platform and its data assets to casinos and sportsbooks across the United States, Canada, and Mexico enabling casinos to capture a slice of the projected $12.4 billion global esports betting market.
GameCo invented and pioneered the concept of Video Game Gambling, which allows a player’s skill to impact the payout and winnings while maintaining the same casino economics as slot machines – combining chance and skill in an entirely new way. GameCo’s machines are licensed in 25+ jurisdictions and its relationships span all major casino operators.
888, one of the world most popular online gaming entertainment and solutions providers, provides an update on the Group’s current trading and the currently anticipated potential impact of COVID-19 in the financial year ended 31st December 2020.
Current trading
The Group’s strong momentum at the end of 2019 which, as previously reported on 7 January 2020, culminated in revenue in December 2019 at an all-time monthly record for 888, has continued into 2020. During the year to date*, the Group has traded well and in line with the Board’s expectations with average daily revenue 18% above the comparable prior year period.
The Group’s performance in the current financial year to date has been underpinned by continued progress in the Group’s Casino and Sport verticals, each recording average daily revenue 24% ahead of the prior year. In addition, new customer acquisition across the Group’s B2C business in the year to date has been 20% higher year-on-year with B2C average daily deposits 32% higher year-on-year.
SiGMA’s leading European iGaming show to take place November 17th-19th 2020
SiGMA Group has announced that 5 Star iGaming Media, one of the B2B gaming industry’s leading media brands, will be an Official Media Partner for the SiGMA Malta trade show taking place 17th to 19th November 2020 at the MFCC in Ta’Qali, Malta.
As part of the activity, 5 Star iGaming Media will have a presence outside the expo venue and at various distribution points around the island. With editorial support for SiGMA’s 2020 announcements, alongside solid social media updates and discounts for the 5 Star iGaming Media audience, this symbiotic relationship is designed to benefit all parties, but in particular, the readership of 5 Star’s B2B iGaming publications.
“5 Star iGaming Media has provided constant support for SiGMA Malta over the last few years, so it’s fantastic to add them as an Official Media Partner for our flagship European event in November,” said Jon Shaw, COO of SiGMA Group.
During 2019, the AskGamblers Casino Complaint Service team helped almost 2000 players recover more than $8.79 million of unpaid, delayed or unfairly confiscated money
The official AGCCS annual report for 2019 is out and the results are quite impressive – the AskGamblers Casino Complaint Service breaks another record by recovering the staggering $8,795,250.89 of unpaid, delayed or unfairly confiscated money, which amounts to a 30% increase in comparison to the 2018 stats.
According to the AGCCS Annual Report 2019, during last year the support team received and reviewed 9,809 new complaints which were submitted by 6,804 players against 725 different online casino brands. What’s more, our team managed to process more than 2,600 cases, resolving 84% of the total amount.
The AskGamblers’ customer support team is doing everything in their power to sort any unfairness out and return money to those who have fairly won it. That said, we are very pleased to announce we broke the previous records, and we are taking this opportunity to thank players for using the AskGamblers Casino Complaint Service and to invite even more iGaming enthusiasts to turn to channel whenever they feel wronged by an online casino.
As professional and amateur sports organizations continue to do their part in maintaining best practices to combat the spread of the COVID-19 virus, postponing competitions and events worldwide, there is a void of original live sports programming on TV. Enter the Its Pickleball Mania World Pickleball Championship, set for Thursday at noon ET, streaming exclusively on ESPN3 as the only live TV sporting event currently available to viewers.
Four of the world’s top professional pickleball players will vie for the first Pickleball Mania crown. They will battle it out in semifinals and finals action at a private residence under strict quarantine guidelines. The four competitors will be joined by a small production and event crew of no more than six people as the event complies fully with present restrictions and social distancing practices.
Fans can tune in for all three matches live on ESPN3 via their streaming players, computers and mobile devices. The final match will also be presented on tape delay on a variety of national and international networks at a later date.
The Its Pickleball Mania World Pickleball Championship was co-founded by former tennis professional Ryan Sherry, NFL veteran Brandon Siler and former professional football player Peter “P.J.” Jensen. They will also serve as Tournament Directors. Harry Cicma serves as the event’s executive TV producer through Harry Cicma Productions LLC, in partnership with ESPN.
“This is a very special event, as one of the only professional sports being televised live worldwide during this difficult pandemic,” said Cicma. “The most important thing is that the event and broadcast are intimate, in a private secluded residence, and promoting staying at home in quarantine and social distancing. It’s been a difficult few weeks for the community and we are grateful to finally bring live professional world championship excitement to the sports world in a safe way as we all try to beat COVID-19.”
“Pickleball is sweeping the world by storm and is currently the fastest growing sport in the world,” said Jensen. “I promise you this, if you ever pick up a pickleball paddle and play a game of singles or doubles you will be hooked! Pickleball is a combination of tennis, ping pong and requires speed, power, finesse and strategy. If you think for a second this is an old people’s game, you will be sadly mistaken and proven wrong! Tune in and watch live for yourself!”
“With everything that is going on in the world right now, we’re glad to be able to bring entertainment with safe health practices and the showcase of a little known sport to the world,” said Sherry. “Pickleball is the fastest growing sport in America for a reason. It’s easy to learn, easy to improve, any age can play, it’s social, and incredibly fun and addictive. Pickleball combines sport and racquet backgrounds in a way no other sport does. Anyone with a sports background can find parallels between their background and pickleball.”
“Pickleball appeals to the old, the young, celebrities, former professionals in others sports. It has something for everyone,” said Siler. “And we’re just happy to be able to showcase this to the world at a time when people are yearning for something to root for.”
Pickleball is a paddle sport that combines many elements of tennis, badminton and ping-pong. The fast-growing, fast-paced game is played with a paddle and plastic ball with holes, as doubles or singles, on a badminton-sized court and a slightly modified tennis net.
Kate Chambers, Managing Director of Clarion Gaming, has confirmed the postponement of ICE North America, which was due to take place on May 13-14, 2020. It will now be hosted in Spring 2021, with a date to be announced shortly. More information will also be made available regarding ICE Asia and iGB Live! shortly.
In a statement to the gaming community issued via the international media, Kate said: “Gaming, in common with all sectors of the global economy, has been severely damaged by the horrendous impact caused by COVID-19. As event organisers immersed in the industry that we serve, we are fully aware of the economic turbulence being experienced by our friends and colleagues throughout the international supply chain – and our thoughts are with them.
“Having consulted with the industry, my team and I will be paying close attention to the speed with which the virus is contained. Clearly this is an extremely dynamic situation and I will be personally keeping our stakeholders fully updated on how we propose to respond. These are unprecedented times and our sincere best wishes go to all of our stakeholders both in the United States and throughout world gaming. If we can help in any way I would be delighted to hear from the industry on my personal e-mail: kate.chambers@clariongaming.com.”
Clarion Gaming is monitoring all of its events scheduled to take place over the next three to six- month period. In addition to ICE North America the schedule comprises ICE Asia and ICE Africa.
ALASTAIR CLELAND, Managing Director – Pentasia
The global economy is in considerable turmoil. Uncertainty is now the prevailing condition in the business world, and this will undoubtedly affect recruitment and jobs.
In fact, the downward trend in recruitment (all sectors) is already clearly evident and cross-sector job losses will be considerable.
Whilst much of the iGaming sector has characteristics that make it comparatively resilient to this crisis, no business will be immune in the difficult times that lie ahead. Sports betting businesses are already feeling the brunt of the hardship now, and others will come to face impossibly tough decisions too.
New Initiative Encourages Sports Fans to Show Their Rally Caps and Give Back
BOSTON (March 23, 2020)—Today, DraftKings Inc. announced a new charity initiative “#DKRally” to mobilize the sports fans to band together in support of our communities during this latest global public health emergency. In the spirit of triumphing over adversity, the #DKRally initiative is committing up to
$1 million to United Way, with an initial donation of $500,000, by calling upon fans worldwide to join them in sharing their rally cap photos while cheering on the local heroes of our communities who are on the front lines of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“The rally cap uniquely embodies the American spirit and our hope in the face of adversity, no matter the challenge ahead. It represents the come-back attitude we have at DraftKings as we work with our communities to face down COVID-19,” said Matt Kalish, DraftKings President North America. “Our player community over the years has shown a steadfast commitment to social good in times of need through many charitable programs on our platform. We are confident America will now rally for those in need to help ignite this important comeback.”
In light of the Coronavirus pandemic, the expo BET2020 which was supposed to be held on 7-9 April in London, is postponed until the world’s situations stabilize. Our top priority now is the safety and health of our speakers, sponsors, exhibitors, partners and guests.
Never give up. And our team isn’t ready to give up!
Fortunately, we live in a fast-paced digital technology world and we have all rights to use options digitalisation provides us with. Therefore, the BET2020 team have decided to host the first event in an online format.
What does it mean:
BRUSSELS, 23 March 2020 – Global concerns about the coronavirus (COVID19) have led to a 11% drop in forecasted global gambling revenues in 2020* – with 2020 global gambling gross win downgraded from its pre-COVID19 forecasts of $473bn to $421bn (close to 2016 levels), according to industry analysts H2 Gambling Capital’s new weekly COVID Impact Tracker.
While H2 Gambling Capital expects an increase in online activity, with the online gambling sector moving from 13.2% to a 15.7% share of global gambling revenue, the unprecedented shutdown of major sports events across the globe will hit overall revenues across the entire gambling sector (both offline and online).
Currently major sports events suspended or canceled due to the virus include football’s the English Premier League, Spain’s la Liga, Germany’s Bundesliga and the European Champions League, as well as The Masters golf major, and the UK’s Grand National horserace – all major events for European bookmakers.
In 2018, EGBA members generated €2.36bn in online sports betting revenue, accounting for 44% of their total online gambling revenues**.
Leading provider adds Baccarat, Speed Baccarat and Roulette Macao to fast-growing Live Casino portfolio.
23rd March 2020: Pragmatic Play, a leading content provider to the gaming industry, has significantly expanded its Live Casino portfolio.
The provider launched two variants of the land-based favourite, Baccarat. The game has all the features expected of the table game, with a Pragmatic Play twist. Players have access to clear statistical trends showing the total pot and quantity of players for Player, Banker and Tie bet fields, as well as offering a number of side bets.
All Baccarat tables come in the Regular Mode, but players can switch to No-Commission Mode at any moment during the game, by just pressing the Super 6 button available on the interface. The Super 6 side bet can be won if the Banker beats the Player with a total of 6 points, paid at 15:1 with any other outcome representing a loss.
MALTA, 23rd March 2020 – ORYX Gaming, a Bragg Gaming Group company (TSXV: BRAG, OTC:BRGGF), is in a perfect position to help operators shift their strategies and minimise negative impact through its extensive range of virtual sports, lottery betting, live dealer and casino content as global sports events are cancelled.
The ORYX Gaming virtual sports portfolio includes premium content from Kiron, Golden Race, 1×2 Gaming and Leap Gaming and can be made immediately available through ORYX Hub.
Operators can select from virtual football leagues such as La Liga, Serie A, EPL, Europa League, Euro Legends and the African Cup, as well as horse races, dog races, motor races, tennis and other virtual sports content, providing thousands of daily events to its customers.
As well as virtual sports, operators also get access to live dealer, lottery betting, live lottery and casino content via ORYX Hub which contains 8,000+ games from 80+ third-party suppliers, including Evolution, Ezugi, Pragmatic Live, Betgames TV and LIW.
London, England – Online gaming media owner Atemi is guaranteeing every staff member’s role and pay amid the Coronavirus pandemic.
The company will also give £1000 per month net of tax to any employee if their spouse or partner is laid off during this time until the situation improves.
In addition, the company is contributing to home office costs up to £250 per employee and offering interest free loans where requested.
“We are a successful and resilient company”, said Richard Skelhorn, Founder of Atemi. “I am very proud of our team who have shown an incredible ability to adapt to this challenging environment. We have moved to home-working without skipping a beat and productivity is improving all the time.”
Skywind is launching its premium, market-specific, games and player engagement tool on Superbet online, the Romanian market’s leading operator.
Recetly Skywind Group acquired a B2B license from ONJN, allowing the company to distribute its games in the Romanian market.
The new content-based partnership will grant Superbet’s players access to all of Skywind group’s new and upcoming releases. Focusing on market-specific games, the company released jackpot games like Fruit Reel, Viva Fruit Vegas, Gold Shot, Double Scatter 7’s, Respin Mania and many more.
Superbet will integrate Skywind Group’s unique Bonus Coins reward system, Daily, Must-Go and innovative Split jackpots among a range of other player engagement tools.
• Alessandro Fried: “Ensuring operators can mitigate shortfalls in the sportsbook vertical”
Reaching the impressive milestone of having integrated more than 100 game providers, leading iGaming platform provider BtoBet is offering its partners the largest offer in the market in terms of providers and games.
BtoBet’s CEO Alessandro Fried expressed his satisfaction for the achievement, stating that such a wide portfolio of game providers, amounting to over 8,000 games, gives the Neuron 3 platform a competitive edge in respect to other platforms. “We decided to undergo this path not only to give the possibility to the operators to have at their disposal a very wide selection of games, but in order also to ensure that operators can expand in the way they deem best all verticals – not only sportsbook – and meet all the requirements of their target customers.”
Fried further said that having readily integrated in the core platform all the game titles from such a wide selection of providers ensures that the operators can mitigate shortfalls in the sportsbook vertical. “The unexpected advent of the novel coronavirus has disrupted to a major extent the sportsbook vertical, with the vast majority of sporting events postponed. The same applies for the summer period in lack of a wide variety of events. Thus providing natively an unparalleled portfolio of game titles allows operators the possibility to shift their strategies and minimise all negative impacts, diverting their resources to maximise a different vertical other than sportsbook.”
In light of the Coronavirus pandemic, the expo BET2020 which was supposed to be held on 7-9 April in London, is postponed until the world’s situations stabilize. Our top priority now is the safety and health of our speakers, sponsors, exhibitors, partners and guests.
Never give up. And our team isn’t ready to give up!
Fortunately, we live in a fast-paced digital technology world and we have all rights to use options digitalisation provides us with. Therefore, the BET2020 team have decided to host the first event in an online format.
What does it mean:
“As more sporting events get cancelled or forced to run in private with limited live audiences, the virus wreaks havoc on sports fans and sports betting fans alike. While some events manage to push through, many are not so lucky. The silver lining can be found in recent figures reported by ESL that show a +24% increase in audience for the Esports Pro League during the ongoing shutdown.” – explains Dan Gibas of EsportsConstruct.
Esports emerged from online tournaments held for digital audiences exclusively at first and only in recent years paved its way into the brick-and-mortar arenas. Esports keeps on running.
Rooted in Germany but with a diverse team based around the world, EsportsConstruct offers a complete out of the box solution for adding a dedicated esports product channel to any sports betting or casino operation as quick and simple as a Casino API integration. The solution is a service with attractive and configurable margins, either fully managed or giving your bored sports trading division a new challenge.
What is happening to the Esports market right now during the current COVID-19 situation and what opportunities are there?
March 19, 2020; London, UK: Paulette Rowe, President of Integrated Solutions at Paysafe and member of the company’s Executive Committee, has been named one of PaymentsSource’s ‘Most Influential Women in Payments in 2020’.
PaymentsSource’s list, which is published on an annual basis and is now in its eighth year, celebrates women who are creating change and opportunities in the payments industry. It is designed to recognise women who set an example for their peers, are unafraid to learn from newcomers and are diligent about encouraging a freshness and diversity of new ideas.
Paulette joined Paysafe at the start of 2020. Prior to this she was Head of Payments and Financial Services Partnerships for Facebook and held senior roles in a variety of financial organisations over a 20 year period, including Barclaycard, Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS), Tesco Bank, NBNK Investments and GE Capital. She is also a Non-executive director at FTSE-100, United Utilities Group plc.
Paulette is considered a strong advocate of diversity and inclusion in the payments industry. She was named in PaymentsSource’s annual list of women in 2017, and the 2020 Power list voted her one of the top 10 most influential people of Africa or African Caribbean heritage for the second year. She is also listed in the Digital Banking Club’s Power 50 – a list of the most influential leaders in European financial services.