Copenhagen-based sports betting media group, Better Collective, has acquired zagranie.com and irishracing.com, in separate deals. 

Founded in 2017, zagranie.com is a Polish sports betting brand, and its acquisition significantly enhances Better Collective’s reach in an important central European market. 

Originally founded by the Irish Times, irishracing.com is a well-established site, having been covering Irish, British, and international racing for over twenty years.

Financial details of the acquisitions have not been disclosed. 

Commenting on the acquisitions, Jesper Søgaard, CEO of Better Collective, said:

“We are pleased to finalise the acquisitions of zagranie.com and irishracing.com. The two platforms are strongly positioned within their individual niche and are established as go-to destinations for sports and racing fans in core markets.

“Due to their dedicated focus on great quality content, we saw a natural fit between the two brands and our Group and strategic ambitions and look forward to growing our global footprint with the two new platforms on board.”

The latest purchases, which follow the group’s acquisition of UK-based iGaming lead generation specialist Atemi Group last month, are not expected to alter Better Collective’s financial forecast. 

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International betting technology business, Sportech, has rejected buy-out offers from investment firm Standard General. 

The UK-based company received two buy-out offers from the investment firm, one valued at 25p (GBP) per share, and the other at 28.5p per share. However, Sportech’s Board rejected both, saying that they both fundamentally undervalued the company’s business and prospects. 

Standard General now has until 3 December 2020 to make another offer, though the deadline can be extended. 

Despite the COVID-19 crisis hitting the global sports betting business hard, Sportech has said it was able to mitigate some of the effects, and that the cancellations in sports had been less damaging to business than expected. 

AYO.NEWS says:

Given the COVID-19 crisis’ impact on the sports world, it’s only to be expected that investment firms will try to bag some sport industry bargains right now. Of course, saying that, if the crisis worsens and drags on for many more months, or even years, Sportech may regret rejecting the offers. Time will tell. 

‘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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Casino and sportsbook platform provider Soft2bet has teamed up with PartnerMatrix to enhance its acquisition tools. 

The partnership is focused on Soft2bet’s sports betting brands and partners, and has seen the PartnerMatrix Agent Management System go live across the Soft2bet network, allowing the group’s various brands to broaden their customer base via the use of agent networks. 

The customisable networks will target the millions of offline players who have yet to experience Soft2bet’s premium casino and sportsbook offerings, with the operator group able to control risk of acquisition through real-time management tools.

Soft2bet has seen great success of its sports betting brands in recent years, with the likes of CampoBet and Rabona using the latest in gamification tools to attract a new generation of bettor across a number of territories.

Commenting on the partnership CEO of Soft2bet, Boris Chaikin, said: 

“Our sports betting platform and brands have gone from strength to strength of late, attracting thousands of new users every month. This deal with PartnerMatrix will allow us to build on this momentum with access to a much broader global audience.

“The Agent Management System has proven its credentials as a driver of acquisition and we’re looking forward to reaping the benefits of greater traffic coming through our various points of sale in the coming months.”

While CEO of PartnerMatrix, Levon Nikoghosyan, said: 

“We pride ourselves at PartnerMatrix on having solutions across a number of channels, for operators and networks of all needs, and this partnership with Soft2bet demonstrates just that.

“We’re looking forward to assist with Soft2bet’s ambitious growth strategy, with our agent system the ideal solution for a multi-brand group looking for additional marketing resource.”

AYO.NEWS says:

For those of us involved in online businesses, it can be easy to forget the millions of bettors who still haven’t shifted from offline retail betting to online and mobile sportsbooks. And, with the ongoing disruptions caused by the COVID-19 crisis, this could be the perfect time to make a concentrated effort to convert those last remaining offline holdouts. 

‘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 has seen revenue start to recover, growing 23% quarter-on-quarter during Q3 2020.

The Las Vegas-based gaming solutions supplier reported revenue of $698M USD for Q3 2020,  18% down from the $855m reported in the same period last year. Despite this, it was still 23% higher than the $529M generated in the second quarter.

Adjusted earnings dropped 32% to $235m, from $344m for the same period in 2019.

Unsurprisingly, Scientific Games have chalked the difficult year up to the impact of the ongoing COVID-19 crisis, which has severely impacted the operation of land-based casinos and sports events around the world.  

However, the company has seen strong growth for its SciPlay, Digital, and Lottery businesses, which all registered an increase in adjusted earnings. 

Reflecting on the quarter, president and chief executive officer of Scientific Games, Barry Cottle, said:

“As a result of our team’s focus on our strategy, our diverse portfolio and our commitment to cost management, we delivered strong cash flow in the third quarter.

“I really am excited around all the great games, products and solutions we have to help our partners navigate the current environment and provide innovative solutions for the future.  

“I’d also like to welcome the proven industry leaders to our board who will augment our focus on de-levering our balance sheet and will help the company prudently and thoughtfully shape our corporate strategy.”

Staying with Scientific Games, last month the company announced it would be adding NetEnt content to its OpenGaming platform in US markets. 

AYO.NEWS says:

Luckily for Scientific Games, despite its significant exposure to land-based operations, it’s online business was already substantial before the pandemic hit. Like other suppliers who are still straddling the land-based/online gaming industries, we expect the crisis will have a significant impact on its future business focus, pushing it much more towards online gaming. 

‘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.

Ukraine is the CIS market that offers the best growth opportunity for online betting and gaming operators, a survey of the expert speakers at this week’s SBC Digital Summit CIS virtual conference and exhibition has found.

The online event on 4 – 5 November will provide an in-depth assessment of the sports betting, casino and poker industries in the CIS, Ukraine and Georgia, with insights from senior executives from the region’s major operators and suppliers. 

Ahead of the event, SBC asked those experts which local market offers the greatest potential for online operators over the next five years? Ukraine’s newly-legalised gambling industry was the clear winner, with 51% of the vote, ahead of the more-developed market in Russia, which polled 20%.

There was some excitement about the likely legalisation of sports betting in Uzbekistan, which attracted 17% of the vote, while 9% of the speakers identified Georgia’s well-established market as still having the best opportunities in the region, and 3% opted for Kazakhstan. 

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s move to create a regulated gambling market is the topic of the event’s first panel session. Boris Baum (Advisor to the Deputy Head of the President’s office), Ievgeniia Derbal (Chief Legal Officer, Parimatch), Ilya Machavariani (Senior Partner at 4H Agency & Independent Consultant to the Ukrainian Government) and Dr. Ekaterina Hartmann (Director of Legal and Regulatory Affairs, European Gaming and Betting Association) will analyse what the development means for operators.

Russia’s gambling industry will also be put under the spotlight, with an assessment of the likely future direction of sports betting and igaming in the region’s largest country. The event-closing panel will feature Konstantin Makarov (CEO, Betboom), Asker Thalidzhokov (CEO, BR Labs), Erik Shahbazyan (Founder, Russian Poker Tour), and Vladimir Voloshin (Co-Founder, Ironstar & Rosa Run). 

A further panel will investigate the potential opportunities in Uzbekistan following the government’s indication that it intends to legalise sports betting in 2021, while a session on Georgia will evaluate openings for further growth in the region’s most developed online gambling market. 

Lasha Machavariani, CEO of SBC’s local partner Sports Media Holding, said:

“The industry within these markets is buzzing right now. The whole world is watching attentively and following with great interest, as the CIS markets still have major growth potential.”

Away from the market-specific sessions, the agenda includes panels addressing key issues for the development of the betting and gaming industry across the region. Delegates can expect expert insights on topics such as the impact of gambling regulation on the economy, how to operate a gaming brand in a multicultural environment, the most effective marketing strategies, developments in payments technologies, and how to benefit from the booming popularity of esports. 

The speaker line-up includes a host of senior executives from the region’s largest operators, including Dmitry Sergeev (CEO, Parimatch CIS), Irakli Asanishvili (Deputy CEO, adjarabet), Maxim Afanasyev (CPO, Liga Stavok), Luka Kapanadze (CCO, Betlive), Alina Yakirevich (CMO, Fonbet), Aleksey Tserkovnyi (Marketing Director, FavBet), and Veiko Krunberg (Managing Director, OlyBet).

Afanasyev said:

“SBC organises the best gaming events, which always have a great set-up, top speakers and the most relevant topics under discussion. If you want to be on the cutting edge of all gaming innovations, you won’t want to miss SBC Digital Summit CIS.” 

The speaker roster also features a host of experts from suppliers, regulators, legal and financial firms, and professional sports. They include Dmitry Starostenkov (CEO, EvenBet Gaming), George Shamugia (CEO, Singular), Nik Rudenko (CEO, 8Lab), Oleksandr Iaroshenko (CEO, Betbazar), Pavol Krasnovsky (CEO, RTSMunity), Giorgi Tavtavadze (Payment Services Director, Liberty Bank), and Georgi Kinkladze (Former Manchester City, Ajax and Georgia midfielder). 

Starostenkov said:

“SBC Digital Summit CIS is happening at the right time. Until now, we lacked a place to discuss recent developments in the CIS gaming market, such as Ukraine’s legalisation, Russia’s further regulative movements, and changes in the Republic of Kazakhstan.”

In addition to the conference, the event will feature an interactive product display area with leading suppliers showcasing the latest sportsbook, casino and payments innovations tailored to local markets, together with a variety of networking opportunities to make it straightforward for delegates to connect and talk business. 

Click here to register for a free pass for SBC Digital Summit CIS.

British betting operator Betfred has launched in-play betting content from Spotlight Sports Group across its website and mobile app. 

According to Spotlight Sports Group, it’s in-play content service is driven by AI, and offers customers live statistics, suggestions, and betting analysis throughout matches – expertly handwritten for 90 leagues in more than 60 languages. 

To enable Betfred to have the product as early in the season as possible, Spotlight Sport Group says it designed, mapped, and developed a front-end solution that integrated all Betfred’s markets and odds. This has resulted in a product that fits the operator’s sportsbook seamlessly, allowing customers to place bets directly from the bet simulations.

Discussing the new service Spotlight Sports Group Account Director, Darren Hale, said:

“In-play football betting has grown exponentially over the past ten years to become the critical betting market. Our in-play content service sits alongside that perfectly, as there is no other product on the market able to offer real-time, expert betting insights in any language. For Betfred customers, this will arm them with knowledge from our experts to make informed betting decisions.

“The technology in the background of this product is second to none. It is completely customisable so Betfred only receives the content they want, and as well as an API we are capable of providing a bespoke plug and play solution in weeks. I’m incredibly excited to see Betfred customers begin to use it.”

While Digital Sportsbook Product Manager at Betfred, Stuart Grant, added:

“We’ve always firmly believed content on site is one of the key ways to drive engagement and improve our customer experience. Working with Spotlight Sports Group over the years has seen us add Racing Post horseracing content and Racing Post Sport content and we are delighted to expand that to in-play. This product is like nothing else on the market and our customers are in for a treat.”

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