Sportsbet.io is Southampton Football Club’s new front-of-shirt sponsor for the 2020/21 season.

The one-year deal makes the cryptocurrency-focused sports betting site, which is part of the Coingaming Group, Southampton’s Main Club Partner, and covers front-of-shirt sponsorship for the first team and under-23 team.

Southampton, which plays in the English Premier League, was left without a main sponsor when it was forced to abruptly terminate its three-year partnership with Chinese sports content, marketing and entertainment platform LD Sports after just one year. 

The club said the situation with LD Sports is “extremely complex”, and that it had “endeavoured to secure confirmation that LD Sports are still an appropriate and viable partner for the club but have been left with no alternative other than to end the partnership today with immediate effect.”

Luckily for the club, Sportsbet.io stepped in at short notice. 

Commenting on the news Southampton FC’s chief commercial officer, David Thomas, said:

“Sportsbet.io have redefined the online betting space by combining cutting-edge technology with cryptocurrency expertise and a passion for offering its players with the ultimate fun, fast and fair gaming experience.

“The club will work with Sportsbet.io and our local community to promote this important social responsibility message over the course of the upcoming year.”

While Coingaming Group CEO, Tim Heath, added:

“Sportsbet.io shares the club’s desire to disrupt its industry and increase its global reach. We’re proud to be able to contribute to the Saints and support such a prestigious team which has been around for nearly 135 years!”

In 2019 Sportsbet.io became the first crypto sports betting site to appear on a Premier League shirt, after signing a 3-year deal with Watford FC. In October 2019 the site also became shirt sponsor of Brazilian football club Flamengo. 

AYO.NEWS says:

Having been forced to terminate their partnership with LD Sports with less than three weeks left until the start of the new campaign, we think it’s safe to say Southampton FC will be very appreciative of Sportsbet.io stepping in! Of course, all those fans who already forked out for the previous kit might not be so thrilled. 

The drama once again demonstrates just how much English football clubs rely on the gambling industry for financial support, and will hopefully be food for thought to those politicians who seem determined to ban such sponsorships. 

‘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

Scientific Games’ sports betting suite has gone live with the Dutch National Lottery. 

Nederlandse Loterij now has access to the full digital sports betting solution, including managed trading services and full pre-match, in-play and risk management services from Las Vegas-based Scientific Games. 

The supplier also provides instant lottery games to Nederlandse Loterij. 

Scientific Games says it is now the leading sports betting supplier to World Lottery Association (WLA) members, providing sports solutions to 24 lotteries around the world. 

Commenting on the partnership SVP sportsbook, digital at Scientific Games, Keith O’Loughlin, said:

“Credit to the teams across Nederlandse Loterij and our in-house development teams. In the last eight weeks we have launched six sportbooks across the globe for leading brands in our major regulated markets. Demand has driven a total transformation in our ability to deploy services.”

While Nederlandse Loterij CTO, Maurice Meijer, added:

“Moving onto Scientific Games’ sports betting platform was important to us, as we strive to offer our customers the best experience with Nederlandse Loterij and its brands every day.

“We are very content with the smooth go-live process, due to the close cooperation of both of our teams. Since enhancing our offering, we’ve received strong customer feedback welcoming the new user interface.”

Despite plunging from a high of $30.45 on 12 February to just $3.76 on 18 March, as the COVID-19 crisis triggered a global sports shutdown, Scientific Games’ share price has recovered somewhat, closing last week at $19.83. 

In June Scientific Games expanded its partnership with British bookmaker Betfred to the US state of Colorado, and announced a strategic partnership with UK/Greece-based FSI (Fantasy Sports Interactive). 

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The iconic Kentucky Derby horse racing event will go ahead behind closed doors for the first time in history. 

Churchill Downs Incorporated had already been forced to postpone the event from May to 5 September due to the COVID-19 crisis, but had been planning to go-ahead and run it in front of 23,000 spectators, while following strict social distancing protocols. 

However, a significant increase in COVID-19 infections in Louisville and surrounding areas have forced organisers to announce the 146th Kentucky Derby will now go ahead with only participants and essential personnel allowed on-site. 

In an official statement Churchill Downs Incorporated said:

“Churchill Downs has worked diligently over the last several months to plan a safe Derby with a limited number of spectators in attendance. We were confident in that plan, but dedicated to remaining flexible using the best and most reliable information available. 

“With the current significant increases in COVID-19 cases in Louisville as well as across the region, we needed to again revisit our planning. We have made the difficult decision to hold this year’s Kentucky Derby on September 5 without fans.”

While CEO of Churchill Downs Incorporated, Bill Carstanjen, said:

“This year’s Kentucky Derby was never going to be the celebration we’re used to, but I could not be more grateful to our tremendous team members and community partners for all of their efforts. We’ve left no stones unturned and reached the right decision.

“We hope our fans, the Louisville community and our country find an opportunity over the coming weeks to reflect on the challenges we have faced this year as a community and as a nation, and work together toward a better and safer future.”

In 2019 over 150,000 people attended the event, and some $165.5 million was bet on the American Classic – a 10% increased on 2018’s handle. 

AYO.NEWS says:

It must be clear to everyone now that the COVID-19 crisis is much more serious and is going to last longer than anyone anticipated back in the early days of March. Given this, bookies will be breathing a sigh of relief that at least the event is going ahead, even if it is without any fans.

‘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 Brazilian government has appointed an agency to finalise the legislative and regulatory framework for sports betting.

Decree 10,467, signed by President Jair Bolsonaro, has appointed social development bank BNDES to work with the Ministry of the Economy to help speed the launch of the long-awaited regulated marketplace. 

Brazil’s Minister of the Economy, Paulo Guedes, has apparently instructed his department to finalise the key requirements and conditions for the bidding process for concessions. While BNDES, which report directly to Brazil’s Council of Investment Alliances Program, will be responsible for “executing and monitoring the privatization process.”

The legal sports betting marketplace has also been added as a directive of the Investments and Partnerships Program (PPI) – a federal government project set up during the country’s 2016 financial crisis, tasked with delivering an economic recovery. 158 projects, distributed over 13 policy areas, are now covered by the PPI, including state-owned instant win operator LOTEX. 

Several major international gambling operators, including 188Bet, Betfair, and Betsson AB have already started to establish a presence in Brazil, in anticipation of what could end up being one of the most lucrative sports betting markets in the world. 

AYO.NEWS says:

Brazil was still reeling from its recent financial crisis before the COVID-19 crisis hit, and is now finding itself facing unprecedented challenges to keep the economy afloat, let alone recover. However, the crisis does seem to have made authorities much more enthusiastic about collecting gambling tax revenues, so operators may find the market now opens up a lot quicker, and easier, than it would have otherwise.

‘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

Online betting operator VBET has been announced as the official betting partner of AS Monaco. 

VBET’s partnership with the Ligue 1 football club will include branding on players’ shorts, social media activations, animations on giant screens and LEDs within the Louis II stadium, and other branded communications. 

The partnership is aimed at increasing Armenia-based VBET’s visibility and presence in France, where it has been active for one year. 

Commenting on the deal Founder and CEO of VBET, Vigen Badalyan, said :

“We are proud of our long term partnership with AS Monaco, a truly remarkable milestone in VBET’s history. Together towards victory!”

While AS Monaco’s Vice-President General Manager, Oleg Petrov, added:

“We are very happy to seal this partnership with VBET, a very dynamic and essential player in its sector. AS Monaco and VBET are linked by a passion for football,a strong sense of sportsmanship, a drive for innovation and risk-taking and a strong desire to establish themselves as leaders in very competitive circles. We are delighted to start this collaboration. I welcome VBET to the AS Monaco family.”

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Sports betting software company Betgenius has entered a partnership with virtual sports supplier Kiron. 

The deal will see Betgenius add Kiron’s full range of virtual sports to its offering, including football, horse racing, greyhound racing, motor racing, basketball, and ice hockey. 

Betgenius’ partners will have immediate access to Kiron’s entire portfolio, subject to local regulations, via a fast and simple integration service. 

The service provides high-frequency, around-the-clock content for retail, online, and mobile, and automates the entire event lifecycle from market creation through to resulting.

Commenting on the partnership Head of Commercial at Betgenius, James McKiernan, said:

“Adding Kiron’s full range of virtual sports to our offering gives our partners direct, easy access to around-the-clock content proven to drive additional turnover. With a complete virtuals product a staple for sportsbooks across Europe, LatAm and Africa, the new feed supplements the existing data, trading and streaming content we provide.”

While Co-CEO of Kiron, Steven Spartinos, added:

“We are thrilled to be partnering with Betgenius, a true market leader in the sports betting space. This is an exciting deal which promises to realize a number of synergistic benefits for both companies. 

“The addition of our premium virtual sports titles to the Betgenius platform will complement its existing sports betting offering and create additional value for its significant customer base internationally.”

In June, Betgenius announced a global sports content partnership with 888, while Kiron became the 1st virtual sports supplier to launch in its home market of South Africa. 

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