Online sports betting and casino app WynnBET has successfully secured market access in the US state of Louisiana. 

Louisiana represents the 17th jurisdiction in which WynnBET has secured some degree of market access. The app is currently available in Arizona, Colorado, Indiana, Michigan, New Jersey, Tennessee, and Virginia, while access agreements are in-place for other states, which will become effective as legal and regulatory requirements allow.  

In total, the 17 states cover approximately 46% of the US population, and WynnBET’s operator, Wynn Resorts, is currently in negotiations to obtain access in seven additional states, which would result in its footprint covering around 77% of the US adult population. 

Last month, Genius Sports expanded its existing supplier agreement with WynnBET, signing a deal that will see the supplier provide official sportsbook data, content, and fan engagement solutions covering the NFL, English Premier League, Liga MX, and Argentine and Colombian soccer. 

UK-based organisation Guild Esports has announced a partnership with Irish football club Finn Harps FC.

One of the lowest rated teams in EA Sports’ FIFA football franchise, Finn Harps has gained something of a cult status with esports fans. The collaboration with the club, which plays in the SSE Airtricity League Premier Division, is intended to raise the profile of Guild in the Republic of Ireland, and encourage local FIFA players to join Guild’s academy. 

In addition to a series of fan-led activations, Guild branding will feature on Finn Harp’s first and second replica kits and in FIFA 22, and the organisation will have a presence at Finn Park and on the club’s social media channels. 

Aidan Campbell, Marketing Officer at Finn Harps, said: “We would like to welcome everyone from Guild into the Finn Harps family. This partnership offers some genuinely exciting possibilities for Finn Harps and it began when we learned we had attracted a cult following on Guild’s FIFA show. This led to a series of meetings between our media/marketing team and Guild about the possibilities of working together on projects that could harness the huge crossover between live football and the Irish esports community.

“We’ve had alternative offers for shirt sponsorship, but we felt this represented an unprecedented opportunity to create initiatives that will engage a younger audience with the League of Ireland”.

Michelle Tierney, Chief Commercial Officer at Guild Esports, added: “We’re immensely proud of this unique partnership, and the opportunities it will offer for both Guild and Harps to create impact in Ireland’s growing Esports scene. We were drawn to Finn Harps because they are a fan owned club with a distinct identity, who seem to continually defy the odds. Harps are everyone’s second favourite team on FIFA, and we want to use this partnership to expand that reputation even further, and to position Guild as everyone’s favourite Esports team!”

Guild Esports is part-owned by legendary English footballer David Beckham, and has commercial partnerships with sandwich chain Subway, peripherals brand HyperX, and display brand Samsung Odyssey.

Sports betting and gaming company BetMGM has teamed up with popular comedian Bill Burr and leading podcast network All Things Comedy. 

The partnership will see BetMGM’s sportsbook data and promotional offers integrated into All Things Comedy-produced podcasts, including Anything Better hosted by Bill Burr and Paul Virzi, and episodes of Burr’s Monday Morning Podcast and YouTube channel content.

“You gotta have some juice on the game, otherwise what are we doing? Sitting outside eating hot dogs?” said Burr.

Burr is well known as a top comedic voice, achieving success in stand-up, and on television and in the movies. His animated Netflix series F Is For Family, which also features actors Laura Dern, Justin Long, and Sam Rockwell, is scheduled to premiere its fifth and final season in late 2021.

Burr’s movie credits include starring next to Pete Davidson and Marisa Tomei in the Judd Apatow film, The King of Staten Island, and playing Mayfeld in The Mandalorian on Disney Plus. He also recently guest starred on the hit FX on Hulu series, Reservation Dogs. 

In September 2019, Burr released his sixth hour-long comedy special, Bill Burr: Paper Tiger, on Netflix. It was filmed at London’s Royal Albert Hall and went on to be nominated for a GRAMMY Award. 

Matt Prevost, Chief Revenue Officer, BetMGM, said: “Bill Burr has one of the funniest, most distinctive and outspoken voices in comedy. We look forward to seeing BetMGM content incorporated into his Podcast and broader social channels.”

TFF First League club Yilport Samsunspor, in partnership with Chiliz, is set to launch its official Fan Token ($SAM) on the Socios.com fan engagement and reward app.

According to the club, its Fan Tokens will create new experiences for its supporters, giving them “countless engagement opportunities”, including the chance to vote in a series of interactive polls across a number of decisions each football season. 

Fans will also be able to access exclusive club-related content, experience Socios.com’s geolocation, augmented reality Token Hunt feature, and compete against others in games, competitions, and quizzes, to earn real-life and digital club-related rewards. 

The launch date of the $SAM Fan Token and more information will be announced in the coming weeks. 

Other Turkish football clubs partnered with Socios.com include Bursa, Galatasaray, Trabzonspor, İstanbul Başakşehir, Göztepe, and Alanyaspor.

Decentralized prediction markets (DPM) platform Hedgehog Markets launched on Solana mainnet last week, introducing No-Loss Competitions: a new take on DPMs and the first blockchain-based product of their kind.

“No-Loss Competitions offer a familiar experience for seasoned prediction market participants, but most notably encourage new enthusiasts to participate by giving users the opportunity to win real money without risking their own,” says Hedgehog Founder, George Yu.

“Crypto users have been extremely receptive to the play-to-earn model, though this is also a broader trend in the gaming and entertainment industries,” added Srikar Varadaraj, Partner at e^{i} Ventures, the venture studio behind Hedgehog. “We believe users from all backgrounds will enjoy the gamified competition structure as a fun alternative to traditional prediction markets.”

Hedgehog launched with six flagship No-Loss Competitions and over $100,000 in available prizes. This first set of competitions cover weeks 3-5 of the NFL season, matchdays 6-8 of the English Premier League season, and crypto market behavior. Users enter a competition by staking $100 USDC or $1,000 USDC, with corresponding prize pools starting at $5,000 and $30,000 USDC.

To summarize how it works: Hedgehog’s No-Loss Competitions offer themed collections of events, each containing a set of related prediction markets. To participate, users stake USDC in exchange for competition Game Tokens, which are used in the prediction markets. Through accurate predictions, users accumulate Game Tokens and climb a competition’s Leaderboard. At the end of a competition, all participants get back their original USDC stake, regardless of their performance. Those who finish at the top of the Leaderboard win a share of the competition prize pool.

Learn more about No-Loss Competitions and try out the new mainnet platform at https://hedgehog.markets.

Blocksport, the SportsTech solutions provider, has announced a partnership with betting brand Mozzart. 

Founded in 2001, Mozzart now offers betting in Serbia, the Republic of Srpska, North Macedonia, Croatia, Malta, Romana, Kenya, and Colombia. The brand is also planning to enter the North American market. 

Vladimir Liulka, Co-founder CEO at Blocksport, said: “Together and between all of us, we will bring Blocksport’s innovations directly to the clubs, fan communities and partners in the Balkans but outside of the region too. With the launch of Fan Tokens and NFTs, Blocksport today has a unique offering for football, basketball, and other sports clubs, leagues, federations, and athletes like no other. 

“Our ecosystem is designed to create new revenue streams for clubs in the Balkans and around the world and Mozzart has recognized that from the very beginning. Additionally, we are happy to open our Esports network for Mozzart Bet to plug best in class sports betting products in the Esports industry and we are very excited about such opportunities.”

Vladimir Stanojevic, Head of Strategic Development at Mozzart, added: “Mozzart is thrilled with this new partnership and recognizes the potential Blocksport offers to sports clubs and their fans through their powerful mobile application which enables state of the art betting integration between the clubs’ fan base and our pre-match and other feeds, which is designed to create additional revenue streams for the clubs and enhance our sponsorship and betting partnership opportunities making it a win-win for all.”

Staying with Blocksport, earlier this month, the company announced a partnership with Denmark-based esports organisation Team Singularity.