bet365 and LeoVegas won the main operator categories at the SBC Awards 2020, as a record 41 different companies were honoured for their achievements in the sports betting and gaming sector at last night’s virtual ceremony.

The event boasted a strong footballing pedigree as it was broadcast live from Chelsea FC’s Stamford Bridge with sports presenter Kirsty Gallacher hosting alongside Champions League winner Petr Cech, and a guest appearance from footballing legend turned Hollywood actor Vinnie Jones, who also writes a regular column for EasyOdds.com.

Over 800 guests from around the world witnessed bet365 winning the coveted Sportsbook of the Year trophy for a seventh consecutive year, having already retained the Best Affiliate Program prize earlier in the evening.

LeoVegas was again the judges’ pick in the prestigious Casino of the Year category, seeing off competition from the highly-commended Wildz Casino to record a third successive win. 

The Leader of the Year trophies were won by Parimatch’s Sergey Portnov and BetGames.TV’s Aiste Garneviciene, while their companies picked up the Employer of the Year (Operator) and Live Casino Supplier awards respectively. 

Other multiple winners included Betsson (Football Sportsbook of the Year and Socially Responsible Casino of the Year), Betradar (Sportsbook Supplier of the Year and Live Streaming Product / Supplier) and Betgenius (Sports Data Product and Live Betting Product).

Andrew McCarron, Managing Director of SBC, said:

“Huge congratulations to all the winners chosen by our independent panels of expert judges. We had a record number of entries this year and the standard was the highest we’ve seen since launching the awards back in 2014, meaning the victors had to be truly exceptional to see off the competition. 

“2020 has been a uniquely testing year for the industry but, from the evidence of the awards entries, there have been a lot of positives to take. The innovation demonstrated by suppliers in the development of new products and services, coupled with the commitment of the operators to drive up standards suggests that the industry will enter the new year in a strong position.”

A number of the industry’s other major players were honoured in the operator categories, with GVC (now Entain) named Socially Responsible Sportsbook of the Year, 1XBet winning Esports Operator of the Year, Kaizen Gaming recognised for Marketing Campaign of the Year, and Sportsbet.io picking up the Sponsorship of the Year trophy. 

The Rising Star in Sports Betting honour went to theScore, while the equivalent Casino award was won by Rabbit Entertainment. There were also victories for Novibet (Best Mobile Operator App), Wazamba (Innovation in Casino & Gaming Entertainment), and Fitzdares (Racing Sportsbook of the Year). 

In the affiliates section, AskGamblers triumphed in the hotly-contested Casino Affiliate of the Year category, while Better Collective took home the equivalent Sports honour and Oddspedia collected the Best Affiliate Product Innovation trophy. 

The overall quality of the entries was reflected in the supplier section of the awards, where the honours were shared between 21 different companies, including BetConstruct (SBC Industry Resilience Award) and Digitain (Employer of the Year – Supplier).

There were wins for FSB (Industry Innovation of the Year), Scientific Games (Platform Provider of the Year), Sportradar (Land-Based Betting & Gaming Product), Pinnacle Solution (Esports Supplier), Shape Games (Rising Star in Sports Betting Innovation / Software), SportCaller (Acquisition & Retention Partner), Golden Race (Virtual Sports Supplier), and Inspired (Virtual Sports Innovation). 

Relax Gaming clinched the keenly-contested Casino / Slots Developer of the Year title, while Evolution Gaming collected the Innovation in Casino Entertainment trophy and SYNOT Games triumphed in the Rising Star in Casino Innovation / Software category. There were also successes for Aspire Global (White Label Supplier of the Year), Pragmatic Play (Innovation in Mobile), GIG (Multi-Channel Supplier), NetShop ISP (Services Provider of the Year), and Square in the Air (Marketing Provider of the Year).   

The payments awards were shared between MuchBetter (Payment Solution of the Year), Trustly (Payment Innovation of the Year), Dimoco (Mobile Payment Solution of the Year), and W2 (Fraud & Compliance Solution of the Year). 

McCarron added:

“While we would have loved to have staged one of our lavish awards parties, the virtual ceremony was a great alternative in the circumstances and it was pleasing, with the help of our charity partner GVC, to raise some money for Harefield Hospital. 

“Events like this are made possible by the ongoing support of our sponsors and partners. I’d like to thank BetConstruct, Golden Race, Neosurf, Metric Gaming and BetInvest for being headline sponsors, as well as all the other companies that continue to work with SBC.”

Cloud hosting, domain management, and marketing solutions service provider, Internet Vikings, has welcomed industry veteran Andreas Soll to its team. 

Soll has been in the domain business since 1999, and was previously responsible for managing the Corporate Domain Business at Key-Systems GmbH. He will now be harnessing his extensive knowledge across a wide range of IT solutions and communications areas to lead the Internet Vikings’ Domain Management Department as Sales Manager.

Commenting on his new role Soll said:

“Internet Vikings is well-known in the domain management and services sector. The current product portfolio, along with the ecosystem of know-how and technology, uniquely positions this company on the market. I believe that our collaboration will bring a lot of value to our customers.”

While CCO of Internet Vikings, Rickard Vikström, added:

“Andreas’ broad customer experience, combined with his deep understanding of the product, market trends, and dynamics make him a great addition to our team.” 

And, Internet Vikings’ CEO, Peter Ekmark, noted: 

“Andreas has knowledge and skills we were missing to scale up our Domain Names Management business area. Andreas is the right person to help us accelerate and drive continued growth”.

Though 2020 has been a challenging year for most businesses, Internet Vikings has continued to scale, and has almost doubled its staff. 

Cherry AB subsidiary ComeOn Group has appointed former Addison Global CEO Juergen Reutter as its new Chief Executive Officer.

He succeeds former CEO Lahcene Merzoug, who announced his resignation from the company in October, to pursue ventures outside of the igaming sector. 

Reutter has over two decades of experience in digital commerce, business transformation, and product development, having held roles including Managing Director for sms.at mobile services (now DOCOMO Digital), CEO of bookmaker William Hill Online, and CEO and founder of Addison Global – the operating company of the now defunct MoPlay. 

Welcoming Reutter to the company, chairman of the ComeOn Group, Itai Freiberger, said:

“We are pleased to announce Juergen’s appointment as the new CEO of the ComeOn Group. Juergen is bringing over 20 years of digital experience and a wealth of industry expertise to the organisation.”

The last few years have seen significant changes at ComeOn, with the operator missing key growth targets in 2018, following its full acquisition by Cherry a year earlier. After a full review of its portfolio, the operator withdrew all of its brands from the UK market in 2019, and refocused efforts on less challenging jurisdictions.

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German developer and publisher of free-to-play social games Whow Games has partnered with casino supplier NetEnt. 

The deal means Whow Games’ Jackpot.de and myJackpot.com brands will have access to NetEnt’s full range of casino games, including popular slots like Starburst and Gonzo’s Quest. 

With the partnership, Whow Games has become the first social casino operator in Europe to give its players access to NetEnt’s offering in a free-to-play casino. 

Free-to-play social casinos offer operators the chance to expand their global footprint without restraint, and the companies will be working together on Whow Games’ social casino white label solution.

Commenting on the news Whow Games CEO, Philip Reisberger, said: 

“With NetEnt’s superb games catalogue, we strengthen our large portfolio of high-quality games and international appeal. We are pleased to welcome them to the Whow family and we look forward to working with them closely for many years.”

While NetEnt Malta MD, Henrik Fagerlund, added: 

“We are thrilled to provide the players of Whow Games’ and its white label partners’ casino brands with access to our exciting portfolio of interactive and sophisticated casino games. With this partnership, we expand our business into the area of social casinos and continue our success story.”

AYO.NEWS says:

Increasingly we’re seeing casino game suppliers embrace the idea of FTP and social casinos, both as a way to reach otherwise off-limits markets, and as a way to familiarise players with their offering prior to launch of real-money gaming. Will regulators eventually crack down on this ‘on-ramp’ to gambling? It seems likely. 

‘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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Malta-based online casino game provider Swintt has announced a partnership with former footballer and Hollywood star Vinnie Jones. 

The collaboration will see a suite of casino games created, focusing on different elements of Jones’ life and persona. A percentage of the profits from the games will be donated to the Royal Brompton and Harefield Hospitals Charity – a cause that Jones passionately supports. 

After a high-profile football career that included winning the 1988 FA Cup, Jones went on to build a successful Hollywood career, starring in numerous blockbuster movies, including the X-Men franchise, Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, and his latest film, The Big Ugly. 

The licensing agreement is being delivered in partnership with Easyodds.com, an international sports betting odds and online casino comparison site to which Jones regularly contributes content. 

Commenting on the news Swintt CEO, David Flynn, said:

“Vinnie is a true British icon and globally renowned actor, having been successful in both sports and cinema, and we’re thrilled to be able to produce a suite of content around his image. His dedication to charity and philanthropic work is inspiring, making him a perfect celebrity for Swintt to work with.”

While CEO at Easyodds, David da Silva, added:

“We’ve been working with Vinnie Jones all year and enjoyed sharing his unique perspective and personality with our users on Easyodds.com. It’s been a privilege to bring Vinnie together with Swintt to create unique casino games that will be great fun to play whilst supporting a fantastic good cause.”

AYO.NEWS says:

That’s a pretty major coup for the relatively new Swintt, and it’s going to be interesting to see what games result from the tie up. Of course, knowing that a percentage of profits from the games will be going to help a good cause is fantastic too – and maybe something more game studios and operators should consider, if only for the positive PR factor. 

Staying with Vinnie Jones and the gambling industry, tomorrow he will be one of the hosts of the SBC Awards 2020, along with Petr Cech and Kirsty Gallacher. 

‘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.

Malta-based Gaming Innovation Group (GiG) has signed a long-term agreement with an unnamed ‘large European media group.’ 

The deal will see GiG supply its iGaming platform, data platform, and managed services to the unspecified large European media house. The mystery media group will use GiG to power its iGaming offering under its own license, and will integrate a third party sportsbook. 

According to GiG, the partnership is based on a combination of fixed fees and revenue share, and has a minimum term of three years. 

The media house is expected to launch its online offering sometime in the first half of 2021, with further details on the partnership expected to be revealed during the first quarter. 

Commenting on the new GiG CEO, Richard Brown, said:

“Media group entries into iGaming are to be anticipated as online markets expand and locally regulate. Leveraging their media data, brands and advertising inventory access as well as direct access to core demographics, presents an attractive proposition. GiG is extremely proud to be supporting this market entry and is confident that it will be a successful partnership.”

AYO.NEWS says:

Gaming and sports betting are clearly  potentially lucrative revenue sources for large media groups – many of whom are currently seeing traditional advertising revenue fall alarmingly fast. However, given the anti-gambling climate in many countries, they will have to work hard to avoid PR disasters. 

Staying with established European media groups and betting, last month British operator BetVictor announced a partnership with Axel Springer SE, the publisher of Germany’s most popular newspaper, to launch new sports betting platform BildBet. 

‘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.