Interwetten has appointed former Premier League footballer Yakubu “Yak” Ayegbeni as its first Nigerian market brand ambassador.

The DACH-focused sportsbook previously announced its entry into the Nigerian market as a core corporate growth objective in its Q1 trading. 

Ayegbeni, who has scored 95 goals in the Premier League, and played 57 matches for Nigeria, will be involved in raising Interwetten’s profile in the rapidly growing Nigerian market through advertising, appearances, and a new social media feature called the ‘Yakubu Tip.’

Discussing the news Speaker of the Board at Interwetten, Dominik Beier, said:

“We are very happy that with Yak we can embrace great things. The passion for football is enormous in Nigeria, footballers are idols.  It was therefore clear to us that, for the first time in the history of the company, we would be  looking to partner with a former Nigerian professional footballer as our official ambassador.

“In Yakubu we feel we have found that perfect partner and look forward to experiencing the excellence of Nigerian football fans for ourselves. We want to ensure that our customers in Nigeria receive the highest quality product, so we were also looking for someone who had set an example of this during his career. We are just at the beginning of a long journey in Nigeria, now it really starts!”

While Ayegbeni himself added:

”When choosing my partners, it is really important to me that the chemistry is right and that was immediately obvious after the first talks. Interwetten has been a reliable and serious partner in sports for decades, in countries all over Europe. It will be a very exciting partnership and homecoming for me too!”

AYO.NEWS says:

Despite a temporary (hopefully) setback due to the COVID-19 crisis, the sports betting industry in Nigeria has been booming over the last few years, with more and more operators getting in on the action, and an ever growing market driven by the proliferation of smartphones and mobile internet access.

Given the country is football-crazy, it makes a lot of sense for Interwetten to hire footballers as brand ambassadors, and we expect to see other operators do the same over the coming months and years. 

Find out more about why Nigeria continues to be a fertile ground for sports betting companies here.

‘AYO.NEWS says’ features the opinion of the author and does not necessarily reflect the views of Pentagon Digital Limited or its affiliates or associates. 

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Ukrainian lawmakers have approved Bill 2285-D, paving the way for the legalisation of online and land-based gambling in the eastern European country. 

The controversial bill eventually passed, despite some fierce opposition, and will allow for the creation of a fully regulated gambling market, covering online and land-based casinos, online sports betting, online poker, and land-based slot machine halls.

It marks the culmination of a twelve-year fight to legalise gambling since it was outlawed in Ukraine in 2008. 

As to be expected, the legislation is highly focused on preventing fraud and protecting children, with thorough know your customer (KYC) and anti-money laundering (AML) requirements, and setting out strict financial rules to ensure the viability of operators and protect customers funds and winnings. 

In common with other regulated markets, there will also be a national self-exclusion register for gamblers, with the option to limit gambling from between 6 months to 3 years.

The Ukrainian gambling market will be overseen by the Commission for the Regulation of Gambling and Lotteries, which comes under the authority of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine. Operators’ tax obligations were not clear at the time of writing, but should be made public soon.

Before the legislation passes into law, it will need to be endorsed by the Head of the Secretariat of the main committee and signed by the Chairman of the Committee within ten days. It will then need to be signed by the head of the Verkhovna Rada within five working days, and finally signed into law by the President within fifteen days. 

AYO.NEWS says:

With a population of more than 40 million people, Ukraine clearly holds a lot of potential for gambling operators, though the country still has a lot of problems, including a precarious geopolitical situation, significant corruption, and a struggling economy – which is likely to be made worse by the ongoing COVID-19 crisis.

Still, after over a decade of frustration and several failed attempts to pass legislation, the future is bright for those looking to the long-term. 

‘AYO.NEWS says’ features the opinion of the author and does not necessarily reflect the views of Pentagon Digital Limited or its affiliates or associates. 

All original content featured on this site is © Pentagon Digital Limited, 2020

The operator of the Stoiximan and Betano gambling brands has announced it is rebranding to ‘Kaizen Gaming.’

According to the company, the term ‘kaizen’ is a Japanese business philosophy involving small incremental improvements in quality and efficiency, and better reflects its culture. 

Kaizen Gaming will operate the Stoiximan brand in Greece and Cyprus, and the Betano brand in Germany, Portugal, Romania, and Brazil. 

Stoiximan was founded in 2013, and in April this year Athens-listed OPAP became the majority shareholder in the Group’s assets. 

Discussing the rebrand Co-Founder and CEO of Kaizen, George Daskalakis, said:

“This is a big day for us and our people. Κaizen underlines the company’s overall philosophy and unites our course to date with the elements that will mark our future steps: People, Technology, Entertainment, Responsibility, Extroversion, Commitment and Contribution.

“We aim to continue in the same way in which we set off, creating “made in Greece” innovation that competes vigorously in the international environment, while maintaining our passion about constantly improving our products and services in order to provide a best in class customer experience. This is Kaizen.”

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Sports data specialist Stats Perform has extended its exclusive betting data and streaming deal with Australia’s Hungry Jack’s National Basketball League (NBL). 

The extended deal will see Chicago-based Stats Perform continue to provide exclusive live streams and collect and distribute ultrafast in-stadium betting data to licensed sportsbooks. 

Discussing the extension Stats Perform Chief Rights Officer, Alex Rice, said:

“Few global basketball leagues can rival the NBL’s atmosphere, quality and entertainment.

“We’re honoured to have been trusted to safely deliver high quality NBL betting experiences to their growing global audience for a number of years. In that time we’ve seen the competition and our partnership go from strength to strength, and we’re excited to continue working together to drive future growth.”

While Hungry Jack’s NBL Chief Commercial Officer, Brad Joyner, added:

“The NBL is almost unrecognisable from when we first started working with Stats Perform, but whilst many things have changed our need for a trusted partner to safely manage and grow our betting rights distribution has stayed the same and we’re very pleased to renew our partnership.”

Stats Perform has also been appointed official integrity partner of the NBL, and will support the league through monitoring and intelligence. 

Staying with Stats Perform, earlier this month the company extended its partnership with US-based sports betting and fantasy sports operator DraftKings. 

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China has cancelled all international sporting events for the rest of 2020 due to the continued COVID-19 threat, while worrying reports have begun to surface from neighboring Kazakhstan.

According to the Associated Press, the only exception will be the trials for the 2022 Winter Olympic Games in Beijing and neighboring Zhangjiakou. 

The order will affect at least six WTA tennis events and four ATP tournaments, two major golf events in the form of the men’s HSBC Champions and LPGA Shanghai, the Asian sport climbing championships, the badminton World Tour Finals, and two cycling stage races. 

It also means there’s no chance of salvaging the Shanghai Grand Prix this year, which was postponed in April. 

Regarding esports, the order could also impact the League of Legends World Championship, which had been scheduled to take place in Shanghai later in the year. 

Another, deadlier virus in Kazakhstan?

Meanwhile there are concerning reports starting to emerge from neighboring Kazakhstan.

Over the last few days, social media reports have suggested a new “unknown” type of pneumonia, that is significantly deadlier than COVID-19, has infected tens of thousands, and killed around 600 in the space of just a week. 

Yesterday, a statement on the website of the Chinese Embassy in Kazakhstan appeared to confirm the outbreak., though the Kazakh government has denied the outbreak, calling the reports “fake news.”

AYO.NEWS says:

As we explained earlier this week, there seems to be a massive reality disconnect going on in many places, but particularly Europe. This is partially attributable to the fact that European nations, on the whole, have managed the initial COVID-19 wave better than most places. But, globally, the pandemic is actually accelerating, and even in countries that had begun to lift lockdowns, restrictions are being reimposed. 

Whether the Kazakhstan reports turn out to be true or not, one thing is clear; the crisis is far from over, and it is way too early for betting operators and industry event organisers to act like things are “back to normal.” 

‘AYO.NEWS says’ features the opinion of the author and does not necessarily reflect the views of Pentagon Digital Limited or its affiliates or associates. 

All original content featured on this site is © Pentagon Digital Limited, 2020

MGM Resorts International and GVC Holdings have announced a second round of investment in US sports betting and online gaming platform BetMGM. 

Shareholders in ROAR Digital, LLC, the joint MGM-GVC venture operating as BetMGM, has confirmed its shareholders have committed to invest another $250 million USD, in addition to the initial $200 million, bringing the total committed thus far to $450 million. This should provide ROAR Digital with more than $370 million of investable capital.

Launched in 2018, ROAR Digital should be operating in eleven US states by the end of 2020. 

Discussing the news CEO of ROAR Digital, LLC, Adam Greenblatt, said:

“We launched this business to combine the best of MGM Resorts and GVC, and establish BetMGM as a leading brand in the US sports betting and iGaming markets.

“With broad market access secured, our long-term technology foundations now firmly established, and a high performing team in place, this further unequivocal support from our two shareholders will ensure we can achieve leading market positions in this exciting industry that is growing even faster than our initial expectations.

“BetMGM is on track to generate over $130 million of net revenues this year predominantly from iGaming in New Jersey given the impact of COVID-19. With the return of sports and our growing operations across the US, we anticipate rapid growth in the coming year.”

While Acting CEO & President of MGM Resorts, Bill Hornbuckle, added:

“Our investment in ROAR is a demonstration of our continued excitement about the unique benefit of offering unforgettable, premier entertainment experiences to millions of our loyal guests directly through BetMGM. We believe this competitive advantage places BetMGM at the forefront of the most dynamic growth opportunity in all of US gaming and will ultimately deliver meaningful long-term value for our shareholders.”

And, CEO of GVC, Kenny Alexander, commented:

“We see enormous potential for the US market and are delighted to have such a strong foothold in it through our partnership with MGM Resorts. 

“Our stake in BetMGM is, by some distance, the most important and exciting investment that GVC has ever made. We are absolutely committed to ensuring that the Company has the funding and technical resources needed to achieve long-term market leadership, whilst delivering significant value for shareholders.”

AYO.NEWS says:

With the $17.3 billion Eldorado Resorts-Caesars Entertainment mega-merger looking likely to go-ahead, MGM and GVC will have a serious war on their hands as they battle for dominance in the rapidly emerging US online sports betting and gaming markets. 

Expect to see some serious capital flung around, plenty of acquisitions, and a lot of drama – with a prize this valuable at stake, no one will be taking prisoners! 

‘AYO.NEWS says’ features the opinion of the author and does not necessarily reflect the views of Pentagon Digital Limited or its affiliates or associates. 

All original content featured on this site is © Pentagon Digital Limited, 2020