Bb126 digital

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FANTASY FIGURES: Marc Saba on how it’s time for fantasy and real money to mesh

RACING AHEAD: Sebastian Butterworth on how Sky Bet caters for the horseracing punter

CPA: Cherry moves into affiliate business by buying 51 per cent stake in Game Lounge Ltd

BETTING NEWS 14

ESSENTIAL GUIDE 18

BUSINESS 38

ACTION IMAGES / JULIAN HERBERT LIVEPIC

£5.20 (€8.30) • ISSUE:126 • MARCH 2015 • www.betting-business.co.uk

With the government seemingly in a rush to push through ‘good news’ before the general election, the horseracing betting right consultation has been fast-tracked.

LEGISLATION

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duced in France and the sporting authorities have been lobbying hard for its introduction across Europe.

In the foreword, minister for sport Helen Grant MP suggested that this would not open the door to other sports: “This consultation is about betting and horseracing. The government has no plans to extend either a reformed Levy or its replacement to all sports or other activity on which bets are accepted.”

There will be concerns that this opens the door quite widely for other sports though. The Remote Gambling Association has already made clear to DCMS its fundamental opposition to any new form of betting right being created for horseracing or indeed any other sport.

It commented: “We will of course again set out the reasons for this in our response to their latest consultation, however,

there is fundamental reason for our opposition which should be in everyone’s interest, namely that they simply do not work.”

The RGA pointed out that last year the European Commission published the 230 plus page Asser report which concluded in no uncertain terms that the ‘costs associated with the administering of the right to consent to bets will always be considerable’ and ‘there is no evidence for a link between the financial return stemming from a right to consent to bets and the financing of grassroots sport’.

It continued: “Therefore DCMS should be aware that despite for example the French authorities continuing to promote a betting right, no other Member State has properly implemented legislation similar to that existing in France and that most other jurisdictions have ‘instead opted for alterna-

EVENTS

isitor figures for ICE 2015 have broken the 25,000 mark for the first time. The interim figures, which are subject to a final independent audit, show that a total of 25,386 unique attendees made the journey to London’s ExCeL Centre, an 8 per cent increase on 2014, and the sixth consecutive year of growth for what is the world’s biggest business-to-business gaming event.

Portfolio director Kate Chambers said: “This was the best event that I have been involved with in my 25 year career in the exhibitions sector. The opening day set the standard with some 18,000 visitors coming through the doors at ExCeL. The enthusiasm for ICE was evident across the board, from exhibitors and visitors alike. There’s no doubt that the industry has created a winning formula, with ICE proving the ideal showcase for international gaming in all of its guises.”

ICE also earned plaudits from the Racing Post, which once again hosted the international betting sector. The Post’s Jim Cremin said: “ICE simply delivers on every level. Quality visitors from all over the world, exchanges of ideas, plus simple fun. It’s all about professional business done with style.

There’s nothing else even close to it, and this year’s was the best yet.”

The enthusiasm for the ICE experience was not restricted to gaming’s biggest players, with the start-ups who participated in Pitch ICE, a free competition which allowed new businesses to present their ideas in front of a live audience, also responding positively. Wendy Collins from Pitch ICE participants Sporting Savvy commented: “We received an excellent response and have had lots of interest from potential partners and hope to use the opportunity to kickstart our activities at Sporting Savvy.”

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Betting right would make racing ‘uneconomic’ ookmakers have been urged to respond to the third and final consultation on the future funding mechanism of horseracing, after the government introduced a discussion on a ‘betting right’ for the sport.

The truncated 5 week consultation ends on 12 March 2015 and could well see costs for bookmakers, particularly smaller bookmakers, increase again especially if the new mechanism attracts 20 per cent VAT. Warwick Bartlett, CEO Global Betting and Gaming Consultants, warned: “Paying 30 per cent plus of gross profits to racing plus 15 per cent gross profits tax and the rising cost of media rights makes horse racing uneconomic.”

A betting right, where bookmakers would have to pay for the privilege of taking bets on the sport, has already been intro-

ICE breaks 25,000 visitor mark

tive mechanisms to collect and allocate revenue derived from gambling to sport’. Moreover, the Asser report evidenced that sports organisers already have sufficient legal protection and the creation, at EU level, of a French style sports betting right is not justified.”

Dan Tench, a partner in the Litigation Department at Olswang LLP, seems to agree and thinks that the status quo will remain for some time. He commented: “The betting right seems to solve few of the problems with the Levy whilst creating a host of new uncertainties and issues. As a result, it seems likely that the Levy system (which the government announced it would abolish in March 2000) will nevertheless continue for several years to come.”

WARWICK BARTLETT Essential Guide 19

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News ACTION IMAGES VIA REUTERS / ANDREW COULDRIDGE LIVEPIC

MARTIN CRUDDACE

PHILIP GRAF: ‘IT IS TIME FOR A PROPER PUBLIC DEBATE’

Debate needed on ‘anonymous’ machine play The Gambling Commission has gone heavy on social responsibility measures in its latest LCCP, but many feel that the timescales mentioned are unrealistic.

SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY

he Gambling Commission has called for a ‘serious public debate’ on the future of gaming machines in betting shops and whether players should still be allowed to play the machines without being registered.

The regulator made the statement when launching the latest update to its Licence Conditions & Codes of Practice (LCCP), in which the Commission has introduced stronger requirements to tackle problem gambling across the board.

Chairman Philip Graf commented: “The work we have done through the review represents a significant strengthening of the social responsibility measures in the LCCP. But we have reached the point at which it is clear that much more could be achieved if anonymous gambling in cash was not such a prominent feature of land-based gambling.

Removing anonymity of course raises its own challenges and it is time for a proper public debate on the costs and benefits of doing so.”

The regulator has also given the industry an ambitious deadline of just over a year to set up a self-exclusion framework that will allow a customer to exclude themselves from all bookmakers in the local area.

It explained: “By April 2016, land-based operators must have in place schemes that allow a customer to make a single request to self-exclude from all operators of a similar type within their area – typically where

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they live and work. The Commission is also working with industry representatives to develop a national online self-exclusion scheme, which should be in place in 2017.”

The Commission had originally suggested that the retail scheme be brought in for October 2015, but the Association of British Bookmakers (ABB) warned that such a timescale was unrealistic. In its submission to the LCCP consultation, the association also suggested that any deadline would not be a useful addition to the code: “Whilst the ABB supports the continued development of a multi-operator self-exclusion scheme, building on the work members have already undertaken, we are concerned at the timescales expressed in the consultation document for its implementation, given that there as yet no definitive answers as to whether the practical difficulties in widening the existing self-exclusion scheme can be overcome, and hence we oppose its inclusion as an ordinary code provision at this time.

“We would instead like the opportunity to continue with the current multi-operator pilot schemes we are undertaking, in conjunction with the local authorities, in Medway and Glasgow, and to draw out from this a robust framework for developing a successful multioperator self-exclusion scheme. Importantly these pilots would help educate the sector on what could be a realistic ‘local area’ as termed in the consultation

BettingBusinessInteractive • MARCH 2015

document.”

By embedding the new social responsibility measures into the LCCP, the regulator has emphasised the leading role that operators themselves must take.

Other changes include: Operators’ employees must be able to supervise customers effectively on gambling premises. And they must have arrangements for identifying customers who are at risk of gambling-related harm, if they are not displaying obvious signs.

Larger operators must conduct test purchasing to make sure that their systems for preventing underage gambling are working.

A range of measures to ensure that marketing and advertising is socially responsible, including a requirement that the marketing of ‘free bet’ offers is open, transparent and not misleading.

Online operators must provide ‘time-out’ facilities so that players can take a break from their gambling, and offer players the ability to set a timed on-screen check to help them review their spend and possibly stop playing.

The Gambling Commission is also currently consulting on a new Annual Assurance Statement, which would require the country’s larger operators with over £25m UK revenue to inform the Commission as to how they are ‘understanding, measuring and mitigating’ the key risks captured in the Commission’s licensing objectives.

Ladbrokes fo more betting

The increased taxation and other costs are even starting earmarking another 60 shops for closure.

RETAIL

adbrokes has revealed plans to close another 60 betting shops this year, bringing its net shop closures to 150 in the past twelve months. The bookmaker stated that the shop closures were inevitable as the bookmaker has been hit by new regulatory measures and additional tax charges relating to retail betting operations.

The firm explained: “We stated in April that regulatory changes and our continued drive to optimise the estate would inevitably lead to shop closures and we closed 89 loss or near loss making shops this year. I am pleased to say that we achieved these closures without making compulsory redundancies, although this is becoming increasingly difficult to achieve.

“The increase in Machine Gaming Duty from 1 March 2015 and the anticipated impact of the new UK regulations in 2015 means that further shop closures will be inevitable. We continue to optimise the performance of our estate and expect to close a further 60 shops during 2015. We will again try

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to limit the impact of these closures on our shop teams.”

Ladbrokes revealed a 10.9 per cent drop in headline operating profit for its UK retail business to £119.3m, although revenues were slightly up to £811.5m for the year. Chief executive Richard Glynn described the retail business as ‘sustainable’.

He commented: “In 2014 we demonstrated, once again, that retail betting continues to be an attractive entertainment proposition for customers and a major source of cash flow to support dividends and investment across the group.

“In UK Retail, we enhanced our product offering and made progress in growing our football business. This is central to delivering better margins in the medium-term as well as off-setting the decline in traditional over the counter horse race and greyhound betting which is less relevant to younger customers.”

Retail gross win margin was 16.4 per cent, slightly down on 2013’s16.9 per cent, which Ladbrokes said reflecting the large industry-wide football

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Cruddace interim boss at ABB Former Betfair legal chief Martin Cruddace has been brought in as interim chief executive for the Association of British Bookmakers after the departure of Dirk Vennix. ABB chairman Paul Darling said: “It is with regret we are announcing Dirk’s departure. He has made a tremendous contribution to the development of the ABB as a trade association.”

Vennix commented: “I am very proud of what has been achieved by the ABB team and members and have enjoyed being part of it.”

LADBROKES BETTING SHOPS SAW 29.4 PER CENT INCREASE IN FOOTBALL BETTING STAKES

Brief encounter with 888 means William Hill is still on the prowl 888 Holdings, the perennial consolidation bridesmaid, is back on the market after a brief flirtation with William Hill. ebruary saw William Hill almost make its first major acquisition of the year, only for main shareholders of 888 Holdings to play hardball on the price.

It was revealed early in the month that the two gaming operators were in talks. 888 told the stock market: “the board of the company notes the recent press speculation concerning the possibility of an offer being made for the company. the board of the company confirms that it received an approach regarding a possible offer for the company by William Hill PLC. There can be no certainty, however, that any firm offer will be made nor as to the terms on which any firm offer might be forthcoming.”

The deal, which saw 888’s share price lift by 18 per cent to 171.5p, was though to offer a premium to 888 shareholders of up to 210p a share – a deal which would have valued the company at almost £750m.

However there were several reports suggesting that an important shareholder wanted 300p a share – more than double the value before the potential deal came to light.

It appears that this has been the stumbling block that has scuppered the deal.

888 told the stock market: “Due to a significant difference of opinion on value with a key stakeholder, it has not been possible to reach agreement on the

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forced to close ng shops

en starting to bite for the major corporate operators, with Ladbrokes

losses recorded in January and on Boxing Day and weaker horse-racing margins driven by the higher incidence of winning favourites. Boxing Day was of particular carnage for Ladbrokes, with the firm losing £8.1m across all of its channels, its worst ever football daily loss on record.

OTC turnover was down 1.4 per cent to £2.3bn, with gross win down 4.3 per cent to £386.3m. These figures included SSBT generated stakes of £48.1m, with around 80 per cent coming from football. Ladbrokes said it has seen a growing staking per terminal throughout the year. In contrast to OTC, gaming machine gross win increased 3.6 per cent to £437.9m – and now represents 53 per cent of the retail estate’s gross win.

Glynn added: “In 2015, we will continue our focus on improving retail performance and on targeted growth, driven in particular by football staking, wider deployment of SSBTs and our 2014 investment in the Clarity machine estate. We also remain focused on cost efficiency across the division.”

Glynn, who is set to leave the bookmaker this year, put emphasis from the group’s results on the targets he had set rather than any particular comparison with previous year’s performance. He explained: “Ladbrokes entered 2014 clear on what needed to be done to deliver a successful World Cup and to move from operational delivery in H1 to financial growth in H2. We delivered against all our operational targets, enjoyed a successful World Cup and saw clear growth in key areas of the business. The changes put in place have made us competitive and our customers are responding.

“Strong operational delivery delivered a second half of growth as envisaged but the £8m hit on Boxing Day did take some of the shine off our performance. However, this is the business we are in and does not overshadow the positive customer reaction. Ladbrokes exited 2014 with pleasing operational metrics and is in good shape to compete even more effectively with a clear view on what more needs to be done.”

ANALYSIS

terms of a possible offer and the board of the company has agreed with William Hill to terminate discussions.”

After the announcement, 888’s shares dipped back down to 151.75p.

888 has a long history of being targeted for consolidation. Twice Ladbrokes has been in talks with the gaming operator, and at one point a deal was rumoured to be extremely close before Ladbrokes walked away.

In contrast William Hill has in recent times been extremely decisive in the acquisitions sphere, quickly and efficiently closing out deals in the US and Australia, not to mention the maverick deal for Sportingbet’s regulated business.

However that was under the previous CEO, Ralph Topping, and the termination of these talks means that James Henderson is still waiting for the first major deal of his tenure. He has said that anything that can accelerate the company’s advances in technology, international diversification and omnichannels will be of interest, and there is a considerable war chest available.

Meanwhile it seems that 888 will instead bide its time until what it deems to be a fit offer comes in. Chief executive Brian Mattingley commented: “The company is in good health and continues to trade comfortably in line with expectations.”

It was a very disappointing year for the bookmaker as a whole, with pre-tax profits down 13.5 per cent to £98m. This was despite last summer’s World Cup tournament in Brazil, which helped boost revenues 3.8 per cent to £1.15bn. The results could have been much worse were it not for a huge jump in profits from Ladbrokes’ high rolling customers. They brought in £14.2m in 2014, a huge 141 per cent increase on the previous year. 2015 will be an important time for the company as it looks for a new CEO and faces further ‘regulatory headwinds’.

BettingBusinessInteractive • MARCH 2015

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iGaming Record New Jersey jackpot landed on Betfair site

Share drop marks end of merger talks for Bwin.party CONSOLIDATION

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With players starting to win big jackpots in New Jersey, the market might start to see a shift to online gaming. Although PokerStars may still have to wait until the next election.

LAS VEGAS SANDS OWNER SHELDON ADELSON STARTED THE COALITION TO STOP INTERNET GAMBLING

USA

iven the lacklustre performance so far of the New Jersey gaming sector, it could be argued that luck has not been with the industry since the market was deregulated. It has been beset by problems, not least the problems with payment processing and the precarious financial situation of many of the Atlantic City casinos that online operators must work alongside making long-term planning difficult.

However, now the market has got its first big win things might start to turn around - a player from Union County, New Jersey has been the recipient of the largest single payout yet in regulated online gaming history after scooping US$1.5m on BetfairCasino.com.

The undisclosed winner, hit the jackpot payout on Let It Ride - a popular variant of traditional poker with a top prize of 1,000-to1 for a Royal Flush and also featuring an extra side bet called 3 Card Bonus that gives players another chance to hit it big.

BetfairCasino.com GM Don Ryan commented: “It’s always exciting when a player hits a big win. We’re thrilled to be a part of US online gaming history and to

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be able to provide generous bonuses, high payouts, and a secure and fair online gaming experience to our BetfairCasino.com players in New Jersey for years to come.”

Meanwhile, PokerStars’ attempts to get licensed in New Jersey have seemingly hit the buffers while Governor Chris Christie has designs on the Republican nomination for the White House. If Christie is going to get the nod, he’ll likely need the approval of anti-online gambling campaigner Sheldon Adelson, who also happens to be a ‘superdonor’ to the Republican Party.

Las Vegas Sands owner Adelson set up the Coalition to Stop Internet Gambling after the US Department of Justice re-evaluated the US Wire Act to allow some forms of online gambling.

Given the progressive pro-online gaming stance that Christie has taken so far, it has been suggested that the governor is now taking it easy on that front so as not to ruffle any more feathers.

New Jersey State Senator Raymond Lesniak hasn’t been shy in claiming that the Governor’s office has stalled giving the greenlight to PokerStars’ partnership with Atlantic City’s Resorts Casino Hotel to open a $10m

win.party’s talks with a third party investor appear to have ground to a halt after the online gaming operator saw its shares slide 20 per cent on 13 February.

For the past three months, Bwin.party had been highlighted as a potential takeover target within the online gambling sector, with the company itself admitting ongoing discussions, and Amaya Gaming and Playtech among the rumoured suitors.

However, it now seems such talks have been shelved, although there has been no official confirmation.

It leaves chairman Philip Yea and CEO Norbert Teufelberger with more work to do to turnaround a dreadful 2014. The company is expected to shed some of its channels, such as the Kalixa payment processing business, and has already started some of the work. The firm revealed it was in ‘active discussions’ regarding the sale of Win, the group’s social gaming business, and recently closed down its social betting Facebook game Sportster ‘betandwin’ with games publisher Nordeus. A slimmer bwin.party is expected to be a far more compelling target in a consolidating market.

The firm has also taken steps to strengthen its governance and announced the appointment of Liz Catchpole and Barry Gibson as independent non-executive directors with effect from 1 March.

Catchpole and Gibson will succeed Rod Perry, chairman of remuneration, and Helmut Kern, chairman of audit & risk committee, who are both retiring from the board after the conclusion of the firm’s 2015 General Meeting.

Gibson has served as senior independent director for William Hill and chairman of remuneration for Playtech Plc, while Catchpole is a CCA executive with experience in the business services, insurance and property sector.

Bwin.party governance confirmed that it is continuing its search for independent directors following its May 2014 announcement that the firm would restructure its board of directors in order to gain expertise in information technology, market trends and technology delivery in consumer-facing digital businesses.

poker room. “Christie put a stop to it,” he told Business Insider.

“With a high degree of confidence it’s apparent that’s exactly what has happened.”

Local casino union boss Bob McDevitt agreed. “My impression was that PokerStars should have been already up and operating long before this point. My understanding is that it was the attorney general’s office and the governor who are holding up the approvals.”

Meanwhile, the Coalition to Stop Internet Gambling continues to beaver away. Last month Utah congressman Jason Chaffetz reintroduced a bill that would reimpose a federal ban on wagering over the internet. The measure, known as the Restoration of America’s Wire Act, would roll back a Department of Justice opinion made public in December 2011 that held the Wire Act of 1961, the law that prohibits transmitting wagers, applies only to sports and not to other forms of online gambling.

Chaffetz, a Republican, said it was wrong that a decision with such broad implications was made by a small group of attorneys. He said any decisions to legalise online gambling should be made by Congress.

ANALYSIS Despite the underwhelming results so far from New Jersey, states are still keen to tap into a potential revenue source, with bills and reports coming thick and fast all over the country.

One of the more interesting ones is in California where Senator Isadore Hall, III and Assembly member Adam Gray have introduced identical legislation to regulate intrastate internet poker. Senator Hall commented: “We intend to develop a framework in California that can be a national model. This will not be a rushed process.

We look forward to moderating an open, honest, and thorough debate.” Bills are regularly introduced and fall by the wayside, especially on gambling, but California has long been touted as the next state to legalise online gaming and this might be the one that opens the door.

Rank has a Bede for a new digital platform TECHNOLOGY

he Rank Group has announced plans to update its ‘core digital platform’ as the casino and bingo operator announced good growth in its digital channels.

Rank, which runs landbased and online casino and bingo operations under the Grosvenor and Mecca brands, posted a 3 per cent increase in H1 revenues to £361.7m and a 15 per cent increase in

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HENRY BIRCH: ‘FOCUS ON IMPROVING OUR DIGITAL BUSINESS’

BettingBusinessInteractive • MARCH 2015

EBITDA to £62.1m.

Chief executive Henry Birch commented: “We have continued our focus on improving our digital business and this strategy has resulted in a 16 per cent increase in digital revenues and 75 per cent increase in operating profit. To further strengthen our offer in this important channel, we have announced an agreement with Bede Gaming to supply our new core digital platform which will ensure the group has a flexible and modern

platform to build on.”

Rank said that the rationale for a new platform is to give greater control, flexibility and speed in integrating third party and retail content and functionality. It believes that over the course of time the new platform will improve customer yields by allowing improved CRM and analytics capability.

It added: “As part of a platform migration Rank will continue to work with its existing product and content suppliers such as

Playtech, IGT, Novomatic and Evolution Gaming.

Alongside a platform agreement, Rank has the option to make an equity investment in Bede Gaming via a convertible loan.”

Grosvenor’s digital brand continued to grow strongly in the six months ended 31 December 2014, with revenue up 71 per cent, driven by an increase in customers and improved customer management.

Grosvenor’s digital opera-

tion delivered a profit of £1.9m.

Meanwhile, Mecca’s digital revenues increased by 6 per cent to £31.5m as customer numbers increased and customer retention improved - driven by a more competitive sign up bonus and the recent TV campaign. Operating profit increased by 24 per cent to £8.4m, although digital spend per visit decreased by 4 per cent because of the growth in mobile and new customers.

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Ayr time

iGaming

Bodog has renewed its shirt sponsorship deal with Scottish league side Ayr United for the fifth consecutive season. Commercial manager Graeme Miller added: “Bodog’s passion for the club make them a pleasure to deal with and we are convinced that next season will be a hugely successful one with them on board.”

One of Sweden’s oldest gaming companies would like to see the government get its act together over opening the online market.

Ferdinand joins the CasinoFloor PROMOTION

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Cherry wants a ‘new order’ for Swedish legislation SWEDEN

candinavian gaming firm Cherry has declared that ‘a new order’ is required in the Swedish gaming market. CEO Fredrik Burvall made the comments while announcing that the operator saw online gaming grow by 44 per cent in 2014 and deposits increased by half.

Burvall believes that opening up the market will be good for the sector, the players and for the economy. He explained: “Sweden has quite rightly been taken to the European Court after it has, for too long, delayed a re-regulation. Some countries have realised that the gaming industry, if properly managed, can contribute positively to economic growth.

“Instead of hindering private operators and trying to maintain a monopoly, Sweden should make it accessible and affirm the rapidly evolving gaming industry. Cherry calls for a modernised legislation, which allows us to operate under great social responsibility and compete on equal terms.”

Burvall hasn’t been CEO for very long but he is aware of Cherry’s heritage, which stretched back 52 years through pub and restaurant gaming through to online

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nline casino www.casinofloor.com has recruited Premier League footballer and former England captain Rio Ferdinand to its team.

CasinoFloor MD Jack Mizel said: “This has been a long time in the planning and we’re very excited that this day is finally here. We are delighted to have such a world renowned sporting icon join our team.”

Ferdinand added: “I’m really excited to be part of CasinoFloor.com. It’s a great site and I’m proud to be a part of it. I’m looking forward to getting started.”

Casinofloor have tapped into Ferdinand’s determination and passion for winning in its ‘Look who we’ve just signed,’ campaign. It’s approach promises a new wave in online casino engagement, where the site will be encouraging its players to engage with them across their social platforms (Twitter, Facebook and YouTube) as well as encouraging them to play online.

Mizel said: “For us it’s about offering a wider experience. We want to be recognised, not only as a world class online casino, but also as a recognisable brand that people want to connect with. Just because we don’t have a front door to greet our players personally, doesn’t mean that we don’t want to connect with them on a personal level. Rio will give us the chance to reach out to them and offer them opportunities to engage with us directly, not only giving us a face, but a voice too.’

“Yes, he’s an inspirational sports icon, but he’s also wonderful with his fans and it’s this personal connection that we were really drawn too.”

casino and lotteries. He said: “It is a major responsibility to develop and lead Cherry in order to meet the new opportunities and challenges that accompany the evolving gaming industry. I look forward with confidence to taking the role as CEO and together with Cherry’s more than 700 skilled employees develop Cherry further.”

Despite the increase in online gaming performance, and a 7 per cent increase in turnover for the restaurant casino business, it was still a losing year for Cherry.

While group revenue increased by 28 per cent to SEK 340.0m (£26.3m), the loss after tax was SEK39.3m (£3.1m) - a very similar result to 2013’s performance. However, Cherry seems sure it would have been much better were it not for non-recurring items, such as a change in CEO and the write down of shares/assets in its Klubbo investment, which have cost it SEK14.2m (£1.1m).

In the fourth quarter online gaming showed strong growth of 60 percent, which, combined with improved financial results, means that Cherry’s efforts to improve the gaming experience and increase customer loyalty has begun to show results.

Burvall added: “The fourth quarter showed

BettingBusinessInteractive • MARCH 2015

strong growth in sales, and new records set across all business areas and after non-recurring costs, it also showed improved financial results. Cherry has, in the fourth quarter and beginning of 2015, made a number of changes in order to create the best possible conditions for further profitability and continued growth. Among these were changes in management, where Cherry decided to strengthen management within the online business, the acquisition of the affiliate company Game Lounge and further focus on the core business.

Cherry has decided to phase out its involvement in the Swedish sports lottery Klubblo.”

Cherry also owns games designer Yggdrasil Gaming, which launched with six gaming operators and during the year has signed 18 new agreements with well-known businesses.

Burvall said: “It takes time to get customers live and get them to use all of the games and features, but we can conclude that the gaming operators that went live in 2014 made great progress, which has proved that the business model works and that the games and features Yggdrasil produces are popular.”

ACQUISITION BUSINESS 38

ANALYSIS Part of Cherry’s growth in online gaming appears to be based in its marketing activities, which increased 12 per cent for the quarter to SEK24.0 (£1.9m). The ‘significant marketing spend’ on websites CherryCasino and SpilleAutomater has resulted in a large increase in customer intake and deposits.

However, the firm acknowledged a downside to this activity: “The high bonus costs for new customers have negatively affected both turnover and EBIT. Cherry’s work with customer loyalty programs has been intensified to increase profitability of the existing customer base. During the quarter the gaming experience has improved further for PC, mobile and tablet. Volumes continue to increase on both mobile and tablet.”

RIO FERDINAND WITH JACK MIZEL

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iGaming Unibet left out of pocket by currency movement

Totolek meets EL responsible gaming standard POLAND

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Despite performing well at the end of 2014, Unibet’s end of year report has a flat look to it.

KRISTIAN NYLÉN: ‘SOLID BASE FOR THE COMPANY’S FUTURE’

CURRENCY

he dropping of the value of the euro and other currency fluctuations has left Swedish operator Unibet a little disgruntled that all its recent progress has been lost in the translation into GBP. As it is listed on the London Stock Exchange, Unibet declares in pounds sterling, and its Q4 gross winning revenues of £78.0m for are only slightly up on the £74.4m generated in Q4-2013. However, in Swedish Krona, gross winnings was SEK917.4m compared to SEK784.8m in Q4-2013.

Unibet CEO Henrik Tjärnström commented: “Compared with the fourth quarter 2013 this quarter is significantly influenced by exchange rate movements on Unibet’s main currencies. If the average exchange rates for the fourth quarter 2013 were applied to this quarter, gross winnings revenue would be approximately £84.5m. Excluding the effects of exchange rate movements and excluding Kambi’s contribution, the underlying growth in gross winnings revenue was 16 per cent compared to the fourth quarter 2013.

“In spite of a sports betting margin below the long term average,

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Unibet’s markets continue to show strong growth and profitability. Also our mobile offering continues to grow and is now over 43 per cent of the gross winnings revenue.”

The total number of registered customers has continued to increase and exceeded 9.7m (8.6) at 31 December 2014, whilst at 30 September 2014, over 9.5m customers were registered. For the fourth quarter of 2014 the number of active customers amounted to 570,360 (516,799) compared with 573,074 for the third quarter of 2014.

The gross margin for pre-game sports betting before Free Bets for the fourth quarter of 2014 was 11.0 (12.4) per cent. The gross margin for total sports betting for the fourth quarter of 2014 before Free Bets was 7.8 (8.3) per cent. The gross margin for total sports betting for the fourth quarter of 2014 after Free Bets was 6.7 (7.4) per cent.

Meanwhile the firm’s platform provider and, until last year, B2B arm of the company, has been performing well, something that Kambi CEO Kristian Nylén attributes to the success of its business model.

The NASDAQ-listed sportsbook technology supplier reported

revenue of 9.3m euro for the fourth quarter of 2014, an increase of 52 per cent, and 36.0m euro for the full year 2014, an increase of 70 per cent. It also meant that the company edged into profit for both the quarter and the year.

Nylén said: “Kambi was profitable and cash flow positive, despite challenging results in some sporting events, which led to a slightly lower than average margin of 7 per cent generated for our operators. This illustrates the solid base for the company’s future. The new year has started on a positive note and the continuous efforts to build our pipeline of targets give us reassurance for future growth potential.”

Q4’s level of activity saw its usual strong seasonal pattern with the UEFA Champions League and the major domestic football leagues in full force. Kambi explained that December is a slightly slower month due to lack of tennis and a winter break in many football leagues and thus has some effect on the activity of the fourth quarter, buts despite this an all-time high turnover for its customers was achieved during the quarter.

ANALYSIS Unibet’s Henrik Tjärnström at least had some positive news on a performance which has been good since the turn of the year, although again affected by the currency exchange: “In the first five weeks of the first quarter average daily gross winnings revenue has increased by approximately 5 per cent in GBP and approximately 16 per cent in local currencies over the same period in 2014.” Meanwhile, Kambi is focusing on real time analytics and extending it in multiple areas outside risk management, with a particular emphasis on personalisation. The company said: “By using this tool, we can give our customers more efficient and accurate risk management and customer intelligence.

This will improve our service and help our customers achieve optimal margins and maximise turnover.”

NetEnt putting more emphasis on mobile development MOBILE

etEnt CEO Per Eriksson has said that the igaming developer is putting more emphasis on mobile slots as its importance to the company has doubled over the course of a year.

During the firm’s annual results, Eriksson said that the company was continuing to innovate and make sure its games were available via mobile channels.

He explained: “For the first time ever, we developed a new game entirely in HTML5 for both desktop and mobile, a slot game based on the classic Universal Pictures movie The

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PER ERIKSSON: ‘MOBILE GAMING CONTINUES TO GROW STRONGLY’

Invisible Man. Previously, all our games were developed in Flash and this is a change that is expected to yield economies of scale going forward.

“Mobile gaming continues to grow strongly and during the year we have

BettingBusinessInteractive • MARCH 2015

otolotek S.A., the Polish subsidiary of gaming giant Intralot, has received accreditation in responsible gaming by the European Lotteries Association (EL). The certification is a result of coordinated efforts and a reward to effective implementation of Intralot Group’s industry standards and CSR framework, implemented in subsidiaries of the Group worldwide. EL Responsible Gaming certification corresponds to the planning and implementation of the international responsible gaming framework defined by the EL. The certification followed the audit by an international firm, which concluded on Totolotek’s alignment with the requirements for responsible gaming certification along the 11 programs/areas of the European Lotteries standard.

Adam Lamentowicz, president of the board of Totolotek, stated: “We are very pleased with the achievement of this top certification, as it rewards our effort and it has great impact on the competitive advantage of our group globally. We are committed to the advancement of responsible gaming as it furthers issues of sustainability in the gaming sector, enabling the creation of shared value for our customers and for society.”

The European Lotteries Association (EL) is a member-based organisation with a mission to ‘advance the interests of state-licensed lotteries and the gaming industry’.

Its president Friedrich Stickler commented: “I am very pleased that Totolotek achieved the certification. I know that it represents a lot of work, energy, and enthusiasm on the part of Totolotek Management, the Responsible Gaming Department, and all the collaborators, who I am convinced are very proud of their achievement”.

Further to the implementation of the responsible gaming program, as recognised by the certification, Totolotek has said it will continue to develop and continuously improve the European Lotteries framework.

increased our investments into this channel in order to further strengthen NetEnt’s leading position.

In the fourth quarter, mobile games accounted for 17.3 per cent of our total game win, compared to 9 per cent in the same period

last year.”

Erikson hailed 2014 as ‘another fantastic year’ for the slots developer with revenues, operating profit, cash flow and proposed transfer to shareholders all reaching new record levels.

The Swedish firm reported revenues for the fourth quarter had increased by 33.8 per cent to SEK 241.1m (£18.5m), while revenues for the full year increased by 35.0 per cent to SEK 851.7m (£65.4m).

Operating margin for the year was up to 30.7 per cent from 28.5 per cent.

Eriksson commented: “Revenue growth for the full year, even adjusted for currency changes, is the highest ever for the company, with a continuing strong operating margin. New customers and favourable currency changes contributed positively, but the main driver of the increase in revenues and earnings was solid underlying growth among our customers. I am convinced that NetEnt’s focus on developing world-class entertaining and thrilling games makes us well positioned to keep growing on existing and new markets.”

BB126-p10-14-Betting_09/10 27/02/2015 10:13 Page 1

Betting RGA appeals for change in Montenegrin tax Whenever the various countries of Europe decide to regulate online gaming, the RGA tries to ensure that the outcome is a market that works for everyone. Its latest challenge is in Montenegro.

REGULATION

he Remote Gambling Association (RGA) has warned lawmakers in Montenegro that they risk sending the industry to the black market if it continues with proposals for high levels of taxation on licensed gambling operators.

The Montenegro plans involve a turnover tax, a model that has not met with much success elsewhere in Europe in recent times, and the RGA is doing its best to argue for a switch to a gross profits tax.

RGA director of policy and projects Sue Rossiter said: “We are very worried about current developments in Montenegro. There is a real threat that legal operators will have to close their businesses soon, and that gap in the market will be met by operators based outside of Montenegro who will pay no taxes.

“It would be extremely damaging for the industry, consumers and the government if all the good work on introducing a regulated market was threatened by excessive taxation.”

The RGA pointed out that online gambling customers are not only highly price sensitive, but also sophisticated users of technology and will switch to an offshore operator for better value if regu-

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ANALYSIS The RGA has provided the Montenegrins with an alternative structure that has been effective elsewhere in Europe. “A gross profit tax on the operators, set at a reasonable rate will incentivise investment in the market. Operators will adopt a long-term partnership approach with the licensing jurisdiction, financially benefiting both parties and providing the regulatory certainty which is desired in Montenegro. The gross profits model is administratively simpler, resulting in lower costs for regulators and lower compliance costs for the operators.” Whether the lawmakers will listen is another matter. European governments all have their own quirky relationship with gambling, especially the online sort, and most of the time economic arguments don’t cut the mustard in the way they would in other sectors of business.

lated businesses are unable to compete.

It argued: “An excessive tax will, if it can be absorbed by operators, reduce their margins significantly. If they pass it on in the form of higher prices, they will lose a very large proportion of their sales.

This will result in considerable exit from the market,

especially by those already operating on thin margins.

More than 50 per cent of the Montenegrin online gambling market is met by illegal operators. If legal operators withdraw from the market because excessive taxes make the businesses unprofitable then this percentage will rise.”

Clean slate strategy for Pinnacle Sports?

Sky Bet latest bookmaker to join ESSA INTEGRITY

ajor online gambling operator Sky Bet has joined ESSA, the regulated betting industry’s integrity body. Sky Bet has significant links to sport through a variety of platforms and is currently the main sponsor of the English Football League, helping to drive its international betting operation.

The addition of Sky Bet brings ESSA’s membership to 18 and further enhances the organisation’s ability to detect, deter and report corrupt sports betting within the regulated sector.

Tim Bishop, director of trading & operations for Sky Bet, explained: “ESSA sets the standard with regard to sports betting integrity reporting practices and we are joining an association which is effective, globally recognised and includes the majority of the

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market leaders in regulated sports betting. In short, ESSA provides the best platform from which to engage with other stakeholders to combat an international cross-sector threat.”

ESSA secretary general Khalid Ali added: “I am delighted that Sky Bet has decided to join ESSA. It is a well-known brand and is an important addition to our evolving membership as we enter what will be yet another important year in the sports betting integrity debate. Sky Bet’s input will further enhance ESSA’s ability to fully represent and reflect the regulated betting sector’s position at important national and international sports betting integrity discussions.”

ESSA said it is continually striving to improve its reporting and early warning systems and has invested in cuttingedge technology to ensure that

10 BettingBusinessInteractive • MARCH 2015

In contrast, the choice of an efficiently structured tax (at a reasonable rate) can have benefits for consumers, operators and governments.

The RGA said that gross profits tax (GPT) has worked well elsewhere in Europe as it incentivises operators to provide consumers with greater value and choice,

which in turn creates additional demand for the product and taxable revenues for the government.

The RGA said that the tax on customer stake more or less wipes out popular highturnover, low-margin games and provides insurmountable barriers for the online poker sector which works on a commission rake basis.

In contrast, the turnover tax in Montenegro is levied on consumers’ stakes. The tax burden is therefore shifted to the consumer and makes it economically unviable for operators, thereby reducing the value for consumers and demand for the product (and adversely impacting on the taxable returns to the government). It is also impossible for poker providers to operate under a turnover tax as the stakes form the winning pool and the operator takes only a small rake (or entrance fee).

The RGA said that at the very least there needs to be some alterations to the 15 per cent winning tax. “This tax has to be modified to be sustainable. Ordinary customers must be protected from the tax, for example to tax only winnings over 500 EUR. A further problem is that operators are expected to collect the tax rather than the tax department. This means that customers will think that they are being short-changed by the operators.”

ACQUISITION

innacle Sports, the online bookmaker renowned for its tight Asian-like markets, has changed hands, and there is some speculation that the new ownership will provide a ‘clean slate’ for the bookmaker, allowing it to successfully apply for a UK licence.

Indeed, the sale may have gone under the radar were it not for a media release by Alternative Trading Partners (ATP), a Las Vegas-based boutique M&A firm specialising in the gaming industry, claiming credit for advising the existing Pinnacle shareholders on the sale of a ‘controlling interest in the business’.

The ATP team was led by managing partners Thomas Brunet and Kyle Carlston, assisted by London-based law firm Nabarro. The purchaser was advised by FinRes out of Dublin and London-based law firm Mayer Brown.

While there is no other information on the purchaser, it has been speculated that the new owner is Swedish businessman with links to Asia.

Managing partners Brunet and Carlston said: “The sports betting industry is maturing and moving towards the

P KHALID ALI: SKY BET ‘AN IMPORTANT ADDITION TO OUR EVOLVING MEMBERSHIP’

it provides an effective, flexible and robust integrity platform. It makes the association uniquely equipped to deal with sports betting integrity issues.

ESSA also continues to play an important role as the regulated betting sector’s representative body at national and transnational match-fixing policy deliberations and holds positions on working groups at the European Commission, Council of Europe and the International Olympic Committee (IOC).

direction of modern financial markets.

Pinnacle Sports has always been, and still remains to this day, at the forefront of this evolution. Offering the tightest lines with the highest limits, Pinnacle Sports is one of the most respected bookmakers with its ever evolving proprietary trading system at its core. It took a buyer with a forward-looking vision and financial background to bring this transaction to a successful conclusion.”

It remains to be seen whether a clean slate approach will work for the UK Gambling Commission given Pinnacle’s history of accepting US bets.

While this was mainly before the passing of UIGEA, the sportsbook was also implicated when Cantor Gaming’s Michael Colbert was charged with illegal online gambling.

Not long after the scandal, Pinnacle relinquished its Alderney licence, despite only having had it for just over seven months.

The Gambling Commission’s requirement for operators to justify business in grey markets if they represent more than 3 per cent of revenues may also be a stumbling block.

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BB126-p10-14-Betting_09/10 27/02/2015 10:24 Page 2

Betting Chisholms paints bleak environment for community betting shops INDEPENDENT

he battle that independent bookmakers are facing to stay in business in the current economic and legislative climate has been highlighted by the performance of one of the country’s most well-respected firms.

North East betting firm Chisholms Bookmakers reported a loss in its latest set of accounts of £105,772 compared to a profit of £104,773 in 2013, leaving directors ‘disappointed’ at the performance of the 48shop strong betting brand.

Despite an increase in turnover of 9.8 per cent to £42.1m, the bookmaker has been left counting the cost of the ever increasing outgoings in the shape of media rights, licensing fees and taxation.

As reported by local paper The Journal, the firm said: “Over the past seven years the cumulative impact of increases in costs for media rights, dual regulation by the Gambling Commission and LGAs, and increases in taxation via a switch from VAT to machine games duty has considerably increased the risk

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One of the country’s best run independent firms, Chisolms, made a six figure loss last year - so what does that mean for the rest of the country’s small bookmakers?

ANALYSIS One phrase that sticks out in Chisholms’ financial submission is that of ‘small community betting shops’. Given that localism is very much a keyword in the politician’s armoury these days, perhaps it’s time for the political classes to recognise the roles that betting shops, especially those that are run by independents, can and do play in creating communities. There can be few other retail outlets on the high street are as conducive to interaction with other patrons and, essentially neighbours. Perhaps MPs could pledge to introduce some kind of taxation relief on ‘small community betting shops’ ahead of the General Election before they are lost forever.

REGAULTION BETWAY IS THE NEW SHIRT SPONSOR FOR WEST HAM UNITED

MARKETING

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12 BettingBusinessInteractive • MARCH 2015

ers actually benefit from several aspects of the current Levy and that this needs to be factored in.

The consultation document says: “First, collective negotiation means that smaller bookmakers are not affected disproportionately by transaction costs.

Second, the Levy currently includes abatements for less profitable betting shops of bookmakers with less than 100 betting shops. Allowing Racing to effectively set different prices for different categories of bookmakers will thus be crucial for the functioning of a Betting Right, and for the mitigation of adverse impacts on small business.”

Given that independent bookmakers currently pay more per shop for media rights than the corporate competition, it may be a bit of a stretch to believe that anything different would happen for a betting right price structure. With the independent paying far more per shop in licence fees and media rights already, it is little wonder they are struggling to stay competitive with the national brands and it appears a new betting right would make matters worse.

Paddy Power’s Pistorius ad ‘most complained about’

Betway picks up West Ham shirt deal nline bookmaker Betway has become the new shirt sponsor of Premier League Club West Ham United after the team’s previous sponsor, financial trading firm Alpari, went into administration.

The deal will see the Betway logo feature on the front of all of the Club’s senior teams’ playing shirts and trainingwear, along with naming rights to the Boleyn Ground’s West Stand.

The new partnership will cover an incredibly exciting period for West Ham, who start their final season at the Boleyn Ground in August before moving to a state-ofthe-art new home in Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park the following summer.

Betway’s executive director Bob Dutnall said: “West Ham United are a club with a rich history and passionate supporters and we’re

of operating small community betting shops. It is our view that risk associated with this type of unit will continue to increase.”

Given that Chisholms is generally regarded as one of the better run chains in the country, managing director Howard Chisholm was instrumental in setting up the Bookmakers Technology Consortium which allows independents to cut a better deal using collective bargaining, the firm’s strife paints a bleak picture for

betting shop operators outside the corporate structure.

Recent figures in the government consultation into a Horserace Betting Right highlighted that 90 per cent plus of betting shops are dominated by a small number of large bookmakers. When Paddy Power’s 300+ shops are factored into the consultation’s figures, it leaves 314 bookmakers outside of the major five, accounting for 853 betting shops.

This provides an average of 2.7 betting shops per independent licence. In an industry that, since the 2005 Gambling Act was implemented, rewards economies of scale to an astonishing degree, it seems clear that independent bookmakers need some relief from the astronomical spike in operating costs over the past decade.

Indeed, if the measures discussed in this latest consultation on abolishing the Levy are implemented it seems likely to hit the smaller operators again. Aside from the suggested ‘familiarisation’ costs of approximately £18,000, there’s a recognition that smaller bookmak-

thrilled to have secured this sponsorship at a time when the team are performing so well.

“The Barclays Premier League is the world’s most popular football competition and the sport is synonymous with excitement and betting, making it a perfect fit for our growing brand. We are looking forward to supporting the Hammers on the pitch and rewarding their fans off it with innovative Betway offers and special markets.”

It is the second time a betting brand has stepped into partner West Ham mid-season – SBOBet’s association with the East London club originated in 2008 after shirt sponsor XL Holidays collapsed.

Betway has also continued its recent promotional push into the UK market by signing a partnership with the world’s biggest sports radio station talkSPORT. The online

sportsbook has teamed up with the station’s popular Weekend Sports Breakfast show, hosted by Georgie Bingham and Micky Quinn. The show runs from 7.00am-11.00am every Saturday and Sunday and provides in-depth previews ahead of the day’s football action, in addition to running through all the breaking news and transfer rumours.

Listeners will get all the latest Betway odds from the firm’s Alan Alger and will be able to take advantage of Betway’s extensive range of betting markets and topical specials on the weekend’s games.

Alger said: “For a huge number of football supporters across the UK, talkSPORT is the first place they tune into every day for all the latest football news. We are delighted to have teamed up with the station which will give us exposure to this huge pool of sports fans.”

addy Power’s advert featuring the Oscar Pistorius murder trial was the most complained about advert in 2014 - and the most complained about UK advert of all time. Despite the dubious accolade, the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) said that this actually demonstrated the growth of social media and the part it plays in making people’s voices heard more easily given the three most complained about ads ever appeared in 2014.

ASA chief executive Guy Parker said: “2014 was the year social media came into its own in making it easier than ever to lodge complaints en masse. While some ads will inevitably split opinion, as the diverse nature of complaints we received shows, last year underlined the importance

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of our work in cracking down on misleading ads, including copycat websites, that are simply unfair to consumers.”

Social media or not, a record 5,525 complaints about the Paddy Power ad were upheld, more than three times the number of the next most complained about advert. The ASA said that the seriousness of the ad’s content, making light of a murder trial and the death of a woman, prompted the body to suspend the ad immediately.

It added: “We banned this national press ad that offered incentives to bet on the outcome of Oscar Pistorius’s murder trial. We upheld complaints that the ad caused serious offence by trivialising the issues surrounding a murder trial, the death of a woman and disability. We also concluded that the approach brought advertising into disrepute.”

BB126-p10-14-Betting_09/10 27/02/2015 10:36 Page 3

Peruvian racecourse launches betting site

Betting

Jockey Club del Perú has extended, and significantly expanded, its tote services agreement to include the first fully-integrated and fully-featured horse race betting website in Peru, to be delivered with Sportech’s G4 digital wagering technology. The Spanish language website will offer local racing product from the Hipódromo de Monterrico in Lima, as well as simulcast races from the United States.

Real money fantasy sports market is ‘ripe’

BETTINGBRIEFS APOLLOBET OPENS AFFILIATE SCHEME

Sportsbook, casino, games and lotteries platform Apollobet has just launched its brand new affiliate program and is branching out to perspective affiliates with new sign up deals and offers.

After recently switching to a Boylesports white label, Apollobet is now aiming to drive traffic to take advantage of the new functionality.

Director of sportsbook and online Leon Hosking explained: “We have created a user friendly site covering all sports along with a superb live in play betting platform that made its way in a fiercely competitive industry by concentrating on niche sports and creating many markets other firms don’t have along with making sure we are first to market with the prices for these markets.”

Marc Saba, director at FootballFanager, discusses how real-money fantasy games can be as popular in Europe as they are currently in the States.

FANTASY

Fantasy sports is a multi-billion dollar industry with an estimated 42m players in the US and Canada alone. The success in North America has been huge. On average, players spend nine hours per week managing their teams.

FanDuel - the market leader in daily fantasy sports - pays out more than $10m in winnings every week.

The company has said that it expects the total amount for 2015 to pass the $1bn mark.

The common consensus is that its popularity on that side of the Atlantic owes much to the restrictions around sports betting and fantasy sports’ exemption from the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006 due to its classification as a game of skill.

While there may be more than a grain of truth in that, the same school of thought suggests that fantasy will struggle to make the breakthrough in UK and Europe against the dominance of sports betting. That way of thinking is lazy.

The market is ripe on this side of the pond for the real-money model

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to not only break through but to thrive.

In the UK, one-in-five adult males already manages a fantasy football team, and wagering on fantasy is becoming increasingly popular among this group.

Just look at the offering we have at FootballFanager. With 17,000 members who compete for cash and a range of rewards, from signed memorabilia to once-in-a-lifetime prizes, we are one of the companies responding to this growing audience. And we only launched just before the 2014 World Cup. Fantasy football has evolved considerably since the initial season-long campaigns that were hosted by newspapers and played by post in the early 1990s.

The mobilisation of wagering has created a well-documented ‘whenever’ and ‘wherever’ attitude towards betting. Clearly, the vast majority of today’s players are not going to want or accept a scenario where they can only open bets in August and wait until May to see them settled.

The key development with fantasy is that players can take part

TITANBET HUNTING ‘ULTIMATE FAN’

in daily games that see bets settled after a round of fixtures. With matches played throughout the week, we can keep engagement levels high.

At the moment, most real-money fantasy platforms only offer football and focus on the ‘big five’ competitions of England’s Premier League, Germany’s Bundesliga, Spain’s La Liga, Italy’s Serie A and France’s Ligue 1, as well as major tournaments like the Champions League and FA Cup. As this grows closer towards the thousands of wagering opportunities now available every day with sports betting, fantasy will begin to realise its true potential. The concept is simple - choose a team and if your score is the highest then you will win - it works across a number of different sports, as proven in the States.

The natural immediate progression is to include more leagues,

more cup competitions and more internationals. We also plan to introduce further sports in additional countries to widen the appeal and produce a round-theclock offering. Beyond that, games can be broken into separate halves, or even segments, to emulate the high-octane, in-play style found in sports betting.

As a ‘softer’ form of gambling than sports betting, the latent playerbase for real-money fantasy is simply huge. From governing bodies, to leagues and individual clubs, sporting organisations recognise this and have already begun entering marketing partnerships with fantasy providers. The same is true of media companies and there are many wider brands that would reap the benefits.

It is only a matter of time before operators see fantasy offering as a key part of the betting and gaming mix.

Planetwin365 to make big impact in Italy ITALY

homas Smallwood, CEO of Austrian bookmaker SKS365 Group, believes that his firm can make a big impact in Italy after the firm secured 1,001 land-based betting licences in Italy for its planetwin365 brand.

The firm has been given the green light to turn independent Italian data transmission centres - so-called CTDs – into nationally licensed betting shops and Smallwood intends to take hold of the chance after years of legal wrangling.

He explained: “We see these new circumstances as a big opportunity for

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14 BettingBusinessInteractive • MARCH 2015

THOMAS SMALLWOOD: ‘WE HAVE NOW FINALLY BEEN GIVEN A FRAMEWORK’

Italy and for us as a company. We have now finally been given a framework that makes it possible for us to serve Italian customers in a nationally regulated way. It is obviously a major investment from our side, which we believe is worthwhile seeing the great popularity of our product in Italy.”

The expanding SKS365 Group, which operates in Austria, Serbia, Romania and Belgium, had been engaged in legal disputes with the Italian authorities over the past few years to defend itself and Italian cus-

tomers from ‘discrimination’ over its betting operation and picked up judgments in both Italian and ECJ courts. Only last month Italy’s highest court of appeal the Court of Cassation backed the bookmaker over its claims of discrimination.

Meanwhile, the company’s move towards legal certainty follows Italy’s new Stability Law, which offers immediate betting shop licences and the opportunity to compete for fresh licensing tenders in 2016.

The Austrian bookmaker

says it has now been granted 1,001 licences for betting shops from the Italian authorities and has thereby become the operator with the highest number of directly connected sports betting shops in Italy.

Smallwood added: “Now the challenge is to continue bringing our unrivalled sportsbook and maximising customer value within the Italian regulations. We are confident that the known quality and variety of our product and the dominant brand position of planetwin365 is the perfect base to succeed in this new era.”

Playtech owned Titanbet.co.uk has launched an #ULTIMATEFAN marketing campaign which will see one lucky fan and guest given the opportunity to win an allexpenses paid trip to Wembley, Warsaw and Berlin to watch three of Europe’s most prestigious cup finals in 2015. The online bookmaker is on the hunt for the most passionate supporters around the country to reward the eventual winner with a money-can’t-buy experience. Titanbet spokesman Russell Yershon said: “We understand the commitment and investment it takes to follow your football club and Ultimate Fan was launched to give back to those fans with a truly superb prize. This project complements our ongoing growth in the UK market following a string of major sponsorship deals.”

ARC TEAMS WITH LEUKAEMIA CARE

Arena Racing Company will be partnering with Leukaemia CARE for a number of charity racedays in 2015. Leukaemia CARE is a national blood cancer charity, provides emotional support and advice to patients, carers and loved ones facing any form of blood cancer.

The racedays in 2015 are: Worcester Racecourse, Family Day on Sunday 21 June; Bath Racecourse, Ladies Day on Saturday 22 August; and Wolverhampton Racecourse on Friday 9 October. Susannah Gill, director of external affairs at Arena Racing Company, said: “We hope our racecourses will provide a perfect setting to ensure the charity’s guests can have a wonderful day while also supporting such a worthy cause.”

BB126-p16-Politics_09/10 26/02/2015 13:53 Page 1

Politics

Overseas operators had ‘lack of readiness’ for UK licences

Bookmaker gets extra restrictions after age control failures LICENSING

The influx of applications for a UK licence may have gone ‘pretty smoothly’, but the Gambling Commission’s Jenny Williams was still taken aback at the sloppiness of some of the submissions.

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REGULATION

ambling Commission CEO Jenny Williams said that the regulator was surprised by the ‘lack of readiness’ on the part of so many operators who were seeking UK licences ahead of the change to point of consumption.

In an interview with John Hagan of the Harris Hagan law firm at ICE, Williams revealed they were quite taken aback at the seeming absence of awareness of the standards required for a UK licence.

She explained: “This reflected in part a lack of focus or engagement on the part of many senior managers at what exactly they needed to do and what changes were needed to comply with Commission licence conditions and codes. In some cases no effort had been made to amend terms and conditions; for example, they still referred to the overseas regulator instead of the Gambling Commission.

“It was clear that neither

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regulation nor the licensing objectives featured that prominently in those operators’ minds. In some cases, of course, it may have reflected some wishful thinking that the whole thing would be scuppered by the Judicial Review.”

With regards the Commission’s efforts to minimise the black market, Williams maintained that the main tools were an attractive open legal market allowing a wide range of products with relatively little hardwired prescription or regulatory burdens such as real-time data submission or heavy licensing and compliance fees.

She did say that the regulator recognised the greater ‘incentive’ to trade illegally that the additional costs of POC regulation and tax brought, which is why the regulator introduced measures such as supplier licensing, introduced a Commission kitemark, and strengthened the capacity to deter, disrupt and take regulatory

or criminal enforcement action.

She added: “The significant payment service providers such as Visa, MasterCard and PayPal have agreed arrangements in place for the termination of acquirer/merchant agreements with those operating illegally - and we are in discussion with others, for example Skrill, which have been receptive on an ad hoc basis even in the absence of such agreed arrangements. We have been encouraging merchant acquirers to check licence status before taking on the gambling merchant.”

Williams also went into detail about the process that the Commission envisages should it be discovered that an unlicensed operator is taking UK bets.

She explained: “First point - do they have evidence that the operator is either advertising or transacting with someone in Britain, for example, an email exchange or screenshot. If so, we send a cease and

JENNY WILLIAMS: ‘IT MAY HAVE REFLECTED SOME WISHFUL THINKING’

ANALYSIS Jenny Williams believes that the transition to the UK point of consumption licensing has gone ‘pretty smoothly really’ and that the regulator now believes it has total coverage of the UK market. She said: “Nearly all the 150 plus overseas operators we had identified legally selling into Britain applied for, and obtained, continuation licences, plus a few more we hadn’t spotted. The few that didn’t have actively withdrawn and, where necessary, are blocking British players. We now have over 370 operating licensees including the 176 now trading on continuation licences compared to 200 before 1 November, but critically covering nearly 100 per cent of the domestic market instead of less than 15 per cent.”

desist notice while considering if we have any other levers, for example, licensees currently contracting with them or overseas regulators who would be interested in their illegal activities. This is more effective where the operator might want to get a licence from someone reputable at some stage.

“We tell the payment providers and main advertisers and talk to HMRC as they would also be avoiding tax - if the server is in Britain we may consider approaching the service provider to stop dealing with an illegal operator. If after all that they are still active we have the option to prosecute individuals.”

German bookmakers appeal for legal certainty GERMANY

n a bid to emphasise its social responsibility, despite the lack of any cogent regulations in the country, the German bookmaking trade body DSWV has advised all betting operators in the country to stop taking bets on all German amateur football leagues as part of its commitment to the protection of minors and to sports integrity.

DSWV president Mathias Dahms said: “With this recommendation, we want to set an example to initiate dialogue with the sport and the regulatory authorities.”

The DSWV has been moved to offer this advice given the continuing uncertainty that has been bedevilling the German sports betting market for the last few years, given that the current setup hinders effective cooperation between the sport, the authorities and the betting providers.

German operator Tipico said it played a significant role during DSWV’s decision making process and it had already reviewed its German betting programme prior to the Association’s

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16 BettingBusinessInteractive • MARCH 2015

n independent bookmaker is among a handful of operators to have had new conditions attached to their premises licences to strengthen underage gambling controls.

East Lindsey District Council, Brighton and Hove City Council and Hastings Borough Council reviewed premises licences where operators failed to challenge an underage test purchaser for a second time. The operators, which also included two adult gaming centre operators and a family entertainment centre, had submitted improvement plans to their authorities after failing a first test purchase exercise, but the latest re-tests demonstrated that weaknesses in controls had not been remedied.

The betting shop has these key conditions applied to its licence: a requirement for the licensee to have a Think 21 or Think 25 policy; a requirement for regular test purchasing to be undertaken, to ensure the licensee monitors the effectiveness of their controls; the use of magnetic locks to restrict access to premises; induction and refresher training for staff.

Also, the licensee offered to move their machines closer to the counter to keep better watch on those who play them.

Matthew Hill, director at the Commission, said: “We welcome the action taken by our local authority partners to ensure that operators are able to manage the underage gambling risks at their premises, and also the cooperation of the licensees in the review processes. The recent Ipsos Mori research tells us that, while overall figures for underage gambling have remained broadly static, the prevalence of children playing gambling machines is a lot higher than for other forms of gambling participation, and has risen on previous years.

“Machines are a form of gambling that can usually be accessed without any staff interaction, and it is vitally important that operators have the controls in place to prevent children from playing age-restricted products such as these. We must remind operators not to be complacent in this key area - where weaknesses persist, other sanctions such as the suspension or revocation of a licence could be considered by regulators.”

MATHIAS DAHMS: ‘IT IS WITH GREAT CONCERN THAT WE OBSERVE A GROWING BLACK MARKET’

decision. Last month Tipico decided to remove live markets such as bets on corners, yellow cards or penalties in football matches and plans to stop offering bets on the fifth tier of the DFB, its regional associations’ league system (Oberliga) and all Junior Bundesliga matches in Germany.

The DSWV has also called on the regulators to bring some legal certainty to the industry in a bid to improve consumer protection and driving out black market operators.

Dahms said: “It is with great concern that we observe a growing black market. Unfortunately, it is only a logical consequence of the German licensing chaos. Those that are currently suffering are not only the consumer and reputable suppliers, but also the state.”

Although the gambling treaty of 2012 opened of the German sports betting market for private providers, there have still been no licences issued as the delayed implementation is currently held up in the court appeal system.

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Betting Business Interactive Edition

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March 2015

26 OpenBet’s Tim Kennedy explains how the firm is pushing back boundaries

28 SIS is using its exclusive deal with Spanish football to break into the digital market

30 Microgaming has signed a new movie licensing deal for hit comedy Bridesmaids

34 MLS and PSA have both turned to Sportradar to help them with two different issues

Essential guide to ...

Declining profitability

Watching brief

Horseracing generated GGY of £677.5m in betting shops in 2013/14 a drop of 20 per cent over five years. During that time pool betting GGY increased from £85m to £100m.

Racing is the second most popular spectator sport in the country and is also the most televised live sport on terrestrial TV. It is thought that around 4 per cent of the population bet on the sport regularly.

Important products In 2013/14 horseracing generated 54 per cent of a betting shop’s OTC turnover and 45 per cent of its OTC GGR. Greyhound racing provided 14 per cent of turnover and 15 per cent GGR.

SKY BET

Horse racing ‘viewed as a niche sport’ Sebastian Butterworth, head of horse racing at Sky Bet, explains how important the sport is to the bookmaker, despite its huge association with football. bviously Sky Bet is a very football oriented brand - where does horseracing fit in?

Football is the biggest and most important sport for Sky Bet. Horse Racing, however, is a clear second and we are one of the fastest growing departments within the company. In previous years the focus has understandably been primarily on football, but over the last twelve months this has changed somewhat, with racing taking a more prominent role.

The company understands the importance of horse racing and the growth potential for Sky Bet. We are aware that we have more football customers than racing customers, and that some of those football customers bet on racing elsewhere. It is our challenge to convince those customers to bet on racing with Sky Bet and we believe we will achieve this because Sky Bet offers an easier, more accessible, exciting and value driven customer centred product.

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What kind of marketing do you do around the horse-racing offer?

We have various different horse racing offers every day, but primarily the focus throughout the winter has been providing customers with an inimitable, unique offer on the first big televised race every Saturday. These have included various Money Back concessions, including the ludicrously generous Money Back If You Back A Loser! We also offer extra places, price boosts and enhanced returns on forecasts and tricasts every day.

Of course, it is fundamentally important how we market these. We can provide ultimate value but it is worthless if people don’t know about it. That is one of the biggest challenges we face because we do feel that once people know what we offer they will continue to use us.

How important is it for serious racing betting

brands like you to offer Totepool products to customers?

Totepool is becoming less important every day. It is a dying brand that attracts fewer and fewer customers. Win & Place markets offer no value because customers want to know what price they are taking and with Totepool you don’t know until after the race. When you take into account the percentage cut that Totepool take, there are no upsides to betting on the markets, and our customers are wiser these days and they realise this. Because the pools are now so small, the bigger your bet, the lower your likely dividend, which really doesn’t make sense. We at Sky Bet offer Best Odds Guaranteed, and our customers know that is where the value is rather than Totepool.

Placepots do offer some interest, but the Scoop 6 since being dropped by Channel 4 has less and less people playing and because it is a pool bet, it becomes less valuable.

How do your horse-racing customers differ from the rest of the sportsbook in terms of behaviour?

Horse racing customers generally are higher staking customers than say football customers. That is primarily because the events

don’t run concurrently like they might on a Saturday afternoon at 3pm, but also because of the nature of horse racing itself. Singles business is more common on racing, with a greater variety of pricing, and bigger returns available from just a single bet. Horse racing also is on every day and therefore consistent horse racing customers have more opportunities to bet than on other sports. There are of course the more casual Saturday racing customers too, but generally these customers are more prominent in football.

From the outside horse racing is, in some regards, viewed as a niche sport. Terminology can seem dated and there are a great many facets that can change the course of a race that the customer is either not aware of, or unable to foresee. For this reason, Racing customers, more than other sports, like to be given a steer into what they might want to back. Tipsters are an important part of the racing package, but of course they need to be credible. Alex Hammond, who has numerous links within the racing fraternity and is capable of tipping up big priced winners, is followed by thousands on her Twitter page, and her selection every day is often the day’s biggest loser. Sportinglife columnists such as the tipster Ben Linfoot also have a significant impact on the market and our liabilities.

Do you do any promotions around Sky Dogs?

Our greyhound product is also growing significantly, and we offer a variety of different markets for all live evening racing and offer Best Odds Guaranteed on all UK & Irish greyhounds. Live Sky Dogs are always an important racing evening for the greyhound team and they will provide customers with Price boosts, trap challenges and other topical betting opportunities. With the closure of Walthamstow and other stadiums in recent years, one might have expected greyhound racing to decline, but we’ve seen quite the reverse. Towcester recently opened a new track and the future is bright for the dogs.

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Racing GOVERNMENT CONSULTATION

‘Right to bet’ a costly concept for bookmakers Warwick Bartlett, CEO at Global Betting and Gaming Consultants (GBGC), takes a look at the government’s proposals for a horseracing ‘right to bet’, where bookmakers will be charged a fee to take bets on races, and doesn’t like what he sees.

The DCMS in its current paper is relying on each side to be pragmatic in negotiation. The bookmakers certainly will. They will not wish to unnecessarily disrupt the pattern of trade in their businesses without good reason. But racing is a different matter.

For many owners and breeders racing is a hobby. They have made their money elsewhere and they can afford to be obstinate in negotiations to the point of working against the consensus.

Racing throughout the world is in decline for a number of reasons, one of which is that the owners and breeders have taken too much out of the sport with scant regard to the rest of the industry. Many racecourses are in a poor state of repair and attendances are down. This is not the case in the UK where the Levy Board has acted as honest broker to see that the bookmaker’s payments are spent equitably across the industry.

The lure of prize money today over industry investments for the future carries the day with owners. The negotiation will be totally lop-sided. On the one side you have the bookmakers with institutional shareholders, and on the other side you have people where racing is a hobby.

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Where does that leave the bookmakers?

Paying 30 per cent plus of gross profits to racing plus 15 per cent gross profits tax and the rising cost of media rights makes horse racing uneconomic.

Some may choose not to take the product, some may choose to take the product but pass the liability on to the customer. Will the customer pay? Doubtful - he has been weaned on internet betting where the payouts are high. Will he choose to desert racing and bet on another product?

I suspect that the consultation paper has been heavily influenced by the racing lobby.

The emphasis is that racing will act reasonably in negotiation because it is in their interests to do so and that bookmakers need the racing product. The point missed by DCMS is that racing, just like greyhound racing, is not a team sport. It would not exist without betting. The consultation paper is saying that betting needs racing rather than the reverse.

The DCMS has totally ignored the horse race betting punter. There has been no assessment as to whether or not a punitive charges on bookmakers will influence the value of the bet or if the punter will continue to bet on horse racing.

My fear is that the careful balance between value and disadvantage over other betting products will set racing on a course of terminal decline. The opposite of what the consultation document is trying to achieve.

Then we have the question of Value Added Tax (VAT). VAT does not apply to the current Levy. The consultation paper says as follows: “While VAT is ultimately a matter for HMRC we believe that payments made under any of the authorisation schemes would be unlikely to attract VAT, principally because there would be no direct link between the fees paid and the authorisation to take bets on British horseracing from British customers.”

Fair enough. But if you are going to change an entire system you need to be sure and a clear unequivocal statement in writing from Treasury should be sought before proceeding. VAT will cause the product cost to bookmakers to rise twenty percent and racing will lose out. After three consultations on the very same subject I would have thought this at least would have been bottomed out.

It must be hoped for all concerned that new BHA boss Nick Rust retains some of his bookies’ pragmatism.”

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Essential Guide to ... Racing US RACING

XB Net bringing a taste of America US racing provides a strong and healthy alternative to those evenings where there is little or no domestic fare worth betting on. hile British and Irish racing is well renowned around the globe, these days punters have a much more global outlook on the sport. While domestic racing is still very much the bread and butter, turnover-wise, racing’s fans are far better educated on international racing and are far more interested in betting on foreign races.

It is little wonder then that William Hill, Paddy Power and most recently Ladbrokes has teamed up with XB Net, a member of The Stronach Group, which owns and operates premier racetracks and technology companies in North America, to provide their betting shops with US racing. Subscribers to Turf TV will have also seen the

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XB Net sourced racing, meaning that the average betting shop punter will be even more informed on the sport’s cross-Atlantic cousin.

XB Net secures track content rights, live streaming video and past performance data for TurfTV to produce and distribute a hosted program of North American racing, complete with expert analysis, interviews and selections, to UK betting shops. Tracks offered by XB Net and TurfTV include many of the top tracks in the United States and Canada, including Gulfstream Park, Saratoga, Belmont Park, Keeneland, Monmouth Park, Woodbine, Laurel Park and Pimlico Race Track, the home of the legendary Preakness Stakes.

In fact, it is such a strong product that Betfair Group’s US subsidiary TVG has just spent US$56.3m buying The Stronach Group’s domestic horseracing television network HRTV. As a result of the acquisition, TVG now has long-term television rights to the racecourses owned and operated by the Stronach Group.

The encouraging thing about live US racing is that it provides bookmakers with an attractive, risk-free wagering product. XB Net offers access to 180,000 live thoroughbred, harness and greyhound races annually, with racing in the US beginning at 12:00pm locally and continuing for 12 hours. The quantity

MARKETING

SPONSORSHIP A STILL FROM BETFAIR’S NEW TAP TAP BOOM CAMPAIGN

Betway investing in further racing sponsorship hampion Chase sponsor Betway has announced a series of major UK racing partnerships as the online sportsbook and gaming company continues its investment in the sport.

Starting with the traditional Flat season curtain-raiser, the Lincoln Handicap at Doncaster on 28 March, Betway is also lending its name to the Chester Cup at the course’s popular Boodles Meeting (6-8 May).

The firm is then sponsoring two high profile races at York, the Group 2 Yorkshire Cup at York’s Dante Festival (13-15 May) and the Group 2 Great Voltigeur Stakes on 19 August during the Welcome to Yorkshire, Ebor Festival.

Betway, which put pen to paper on a deal last October to take over sponsorship of the Queen Mother Champion Chase at Cheltenham for at least three years, will also back supporting races at all four of those race meetings.

The company has already embarked on a number of other National Hunt racing sponsorships in recent weeks. Last month the betting brand supported the Welsh Champion Hurdle and the supporting card at Ffos Las, and also sponsored Chepstow’s Winter Beer Festival Raceday and Newbury’s popular Greatwood Charity Raceday.

In total, Betway-sponsored races in 2015 will provide over £1m in prize money - with a commitment to more as further opportunities arise. Betway’s Alan Alger said: “Betway wanted to continue investing heavily in UK racing after taking over the Champion Chase and are thrilled to be visiting some of the country’s finest courses over the season for a number of the calendar’s most historic contests.

“We won’t stop there and are in the process of adding other races to our portfolio. The UK POC tax has been criticised by many, but we feel it is a sign that the industry is maturing in a regulated and safe way and it won’t stop us supporting racing through sponsorship. It’s an exciting time for us and we look forward to fostering partnerships with racecourses and bringing great offers to our customers in the coming months.”

C Exhilaracing from Paddy Power Two of the industry’s biggest brands have been trading on horseracing to promote their offer ahead of the Cheltenham Festival. addy Power has announced the launch of its new ‘Exhilaracing’ multi-content advertising campaign to promote its 2015 horse racing markets. The advertising campaign will promote Paddy Powers ‘Best Price Guarantee’ and ‘money back special’ offers on UK horse racing events for both online and retail customers Paddy Power management confirmed that the advertising campaign would also help promote forthcoming product releases for horse racing, as the betting operator looks to expand its horse racing market coverage for 2015.

Paddy Power marketing won much industry recognition in 2014 for its creative and social advertising, as its 2014 Rainbow Laces campaign won five marketing awards at the 2014 UK Social Media Buzz Awards.

Paddy Power is set to roll out a total of eleven marketing clips focused on horse racing offers, feature

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and breadth of racing in the US allows European punters to continue to play the races at their convenience online, well after local LBOs have closed for the day.

Given that billions of dollars are wagered annually on US races, bookmakers also have the peace of mind that there are no questions over the integrity of the sport.

Plus, with North America’s commingled wagering model, operators make money each time one of their customers places a wager, win or lose. And with daily jackpots and massive pools that often exceed US$1m, customers will want to play the races from the US daily.

clips will include a giant godzilla-like chestnut horses wearing fashion knitwear and fat kebab-eating horses arriving at the finishing post late.

Meanwhile, Betfair marketing has unleashed its latest multi-content campaign - ‘Tap Tap Boom’. The nationwide campaign, which was launched last month, features across TV, Digital and press. Betfair’s ‘Tap Tap Boom’ campaign will follow the operator’s 2014 campaign ‘This is Play’, which proved to be a popular brand theme with customers.

Betfair supported its Cheltenham Festival build up by offering London commuters free rides to work on Betfair branded rally cars. Mark Ody, brand director at Betfair, commented: “People believe betting is exciting; and that betting with Betfair is even more exciting.

Our new suite of ads brings this to life in a highly distinctive, enjoyable and engaging way. This really is play as it should be.”

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ACTION IMGES / JULIAN HERBERT LIVEPIC

Essential Guide to ... Racing TIMEFORM

SIS

Early start for Cheltenham week SIS is hoping to add to the buzz during Cheltenham week by starting broadcasts extra early.

IS services will be on air earlier than usual to help bookmakers during one of their busiest weeks of the year.

The Cheltenham Festival from 10-13 March will bring brisk business for betting shops and many will open early to meet the demand, with SIS providing a range of content to keep punters occupied during the build-up.

The morning Sports Daily show on SIS FACTS, which normally starts at 10am, will be on air from 8am.

It is likely that there will be additional content from Australia to grab punters’ interest, including thoroughbred horse racing, harness racing and greyhounds, and SIS will schedule extra virtual content to add to the buzz for LBOs. Text, commentary and data services will support the on-air content.

Helen Scott, head of customer services at SIS Betting, said: “We always try to help our customers wherever possible and this means that if they are opening early, they have guaranteed content to keep their customers busy. As usual, we’ll also have other international, allweather and virtual content on offer to keep shop services ticking over. As in previous years, it is likely we will repeat the exercise for Grand National Day on 11 April too.”

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Providing ‘compelling content and data’ Kieran Packman, head of Timeform, explains how the firm uses its vast array of racing data and prediction models to aid bookmakers in a variety of ways. imeform is a well-known brand for horseracing expertise - but how well known are your B2B products for the betting industry?

We’ve been very encouraged by the response from the betting industry since we launched a tailored B2B service in 2012.

We supply varying types of service to almost all the major UK sportsbooks and believe that we have an increasingly compelling offer for all levels of sophistication.

One of our central aims as a brand is to provide informative data and analysis - the B2B growth has stemmed from packaging that in the right way, both for the sportsbooks (via delivery) and their customers (via multiple methods of presentation).

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Why should a bookmaker give their customers the best data and predictions?

Wouldn’t they prefer a less well-informed selection at the betting slip?

I think bookmakers are some way past that approach. Our experience with betting companies is that the current climate is fiercely competitive and it’s therefore about differentiation, what is the piece of content or data that will ensure customers build loyalty to that product. Phrases such as ‘stickability’ and ‘one stop shop’ have been prevalent for some time now, but there’s no denying that customers have an array of options and it is simply not in the long-term interests of the sportsbook to lose a customer after their opening bet.

That’s where compelling content and data comes in. It’s only then that the bookmaker can start to build a customer profile and target them with CRM material and appropriate cross-sell opportunities.

Timeform has a huge back catalogue of data to work from. How valuable is that when analysing form?

Our database is the core component of everything we produce. We took the major step in recent times of rebuilding that database to be wholly digital. That puts us in a unique position amongst horseracing data providers and, we believe, offers so much potential for innovative new datasets. Having the depth of data to call upon, in a digital format which makes mining that data so much faster, is a genuinely exciting position to be in. We are only just scratching the surface of what we can produce from that new digital database and obviously the bank grows by the day with every race meeting.

How have you managed to condense all this knowledge so that it’s easy to digest on a mobile handset?

It’s certainly easier to build a user-friendly mobile data experience than it used to be trying to squeeze it all into a groaning A4 folder! As I mentioned, the key is to provide tiers of sophistication. Many customers only have time for an instant view and that’s fine, we will give them an in-

formed verdict on that upcoming race from one of our analysts. Then it’s about building the tiers beyond that for those users who want to carry out more of their own research and analysis. We are confident that our mobile offer will appeal to both the recreational user and the serious form student. The latter will be well served by a fast download facility for offline use and by a seamless account between desktop and mobile.

How have you applied your horseracing knowledge to the sport of greyhound racing?

It’s been a fascinating process. In many ways, you could argue we tackled the more complicated sport first. There are many more variables to consider in horseracing and we’ve been able to prove the value of our data over a long period in coping with those. With greyhounds, we have taken the key tenets of our horseracing analysis and applied them, whilst also recognising that there are nuances that have to be accounted for. As you’d expect, analysing time continues to be a key component, but we’ve also come up with a potent set of Smart Stats and additional layers of data that we don’t believe anyone else is delivering.

There seems some optimism around the sport currently, especially with the exciting development at Towcester, and we hope we can add to that with a fresh approach to greyhound racing data.

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Retail B2B Retail Listings

B2B content R et ai l

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B2B publications R et ai l

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mybet takes on Betradar’s Live Channel Retail Betradar has successfully launched its retail Live Channel in selected mybet shops across Europe. The dedicated branded channel was introduced as ‘Mybet.tv’ at of beginning of January and provides nonstop live sports coverage throughout the opening hours of the mybet betting shops. mybet manager Zeno Ossoko said: “The unique combination of live moving pictures and live information emphasises our objective of providing our customers with the best possible betting experience.”

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Tim Kennedy, VP of Retail at OpenBet, explains how the firm is pushing back boundaries with its Promote display system. ompared to the constantly shifting online world, the landbased betting environment has been resistant to change. With the advent of innovation like Coral Connect, and an evolving consumer, this is changing.

A future in which customer experience and enjoyment is the fundamental consideration.

A future in which the betting shop is an invigorated, fully integrated cog in the overall operation.

A future where players are encouraged to move between channels and have the ability to remain engaged wherever and whenever they want to play.

These were key considerations for OpenBet when creating Promote, the next generation, high impact betting and gaming display system. Promote maximises customer engagement, experience, providing an engrossing, cinematic-quality canvas to market sports, and betting opportunities. It is designed to bring the mod-

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The solution software is designed to be hardware agnostic and to run on a range of display configurations, from single screen set-ups to multi-screen video walls and all variations in-between.

Content and display designs are managed centrally, allowing operators to deliver betting data, statistics, RSS feeds, marketing and live video to create a canvas and service customer will engage with and ultimately drive turnover.

Promote has also been designed to support customer information terminals, shop window and counter displays, as well as marketing screens, to provide an all in one display solution.

The most recent deployment is with BCLC’s (British Columbia Lottery Corporation) Starlight Casino. Promote is delivering content to a gigantic 12-screen display to create a unique and immersive experi-

ence at the venue in New Westminster, Canada, with plans in place to roll out the system further across BCLC’s casino and sport bar venues.

A key aim is to encourage players to visit www.playnow.com and will be supported via a selection of attention-grabbing marketing materials and attractive game promotions.

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VIRTUALS Kiron supplying to Sportech racecourses iron Interactive has signed an agreement with pool and tote betting technology provider Sportech Racing and Digital, a division of Sportech Plc, to supply virtual racing to racetracks in Latin America. The three-year deal will see Kiron’s virtual racing products incorporated into the Sportech Racing and Digital Quantum System wagering platform to complement the live on-course action. An initial roll-out will take place in Peru, at the Jockey Club Peru’s racetrack and a network of 80 plus off-track betting agencies, during the first quarter of 2015, before further distribution to additional Sportech customers in Central and South America.

Andrew Gaughan, president of Sportech Racing and Digital, said: “The Latin American market is well suited for a product such as virtual racing, which can offer an entertaining and engaging betting experience when live racing may not be available.”

Premise mobile gaming deployment in the US. GTech and MGM are expected to begin a phased deployment of the solutions at the properties in Q3 of 2015, pending regulatory approvals. GTech will modernise MGM’s sports betting offerings to include live inplay betting, and enable customers to place sports betting wagers via mobile anytime, anywhere in the state of Nevada.

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TERMINALS

TAB-Austria driving business forward for customers AB-Austria CEO Ing. Siegfried Dattl jun has said he was very happy with the outcome of ICE 2015. TAB was showcasing a host of new games, features and solutions at ExCeL as well as its Go4Platinum betting cabinet.

Dattl said: “This year, we were very pleased with the quality and volume of customers who spent time on our booth. We were busy from the opening bell until the show closed, meeting with customers to discuss our latest products to drive our customer’s business forward.”

The stand also contained the traditional bar with Austrian snacks and drinks plus an infectious mix of passion and business offering entertainment alongside the very latest developments in betting, gaming and amusement.

Special attention was given to the latest land-based betting solutions. TAB-Austria offers a wide range of turnkey betting termi-

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SSBT Ladbrokes signs up for 2,000 more SSBTs adbrokes has signed a deal with BGT (Best Gaming Technology) for over 2,000 additional self service betting terminals. The machines will mean that by the start of the 2015 football season, Ladbrokes will have doubled the number of SSBTs in the UK and Ireland and significantly increased its SSBT footprint in Belgium. Ladbrokes chief executive, Richard Glynn said: “SSBTs have proved popular with customers, particularly for football bettors, with over 80% of staking being on football and much of it incremental. They have played a major part in our improved football performance with customers enjoying the wide variety of football selections and markets offered.”

nals that provide a unique player experience. Major names in the bookmaking industry trust in the customised products from TAB-Austria, which are equipped with the latest hardware components – depending on the requirements on the customer. Among the things that can be added are a recycler, NFC, printer, scanner or card readers.

TAB Austria’s game portfolio for the Golden Island Gaming Platform has also expanded again with new games titles like Wheel of Horus, Blazing Bars and The Spirit of the Lamp. TAB describes the game mechanics as ‘astonishing’ and it has worked hard to make the graphics look incredible to increase gaming fun and underline the superior technology of the whole new gaming platform.

TAB said that the ever-growing selection of high-definition games and the number of cabinet options turned the stand to a preferred meeting point.

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Inspired goes Olimp limp, the biggest bookmaker in Kazakhstan across online and retail, is to take Inspired Gaming’s virtual sports portfolio. Inspired will initially go live with its Virtual Football, Horses, Greyhounds, Motor Racing, Speedway, Tennis and Cycling on www.olimp.kz in both English and Russian. The retail launch will begin with 50 shops in February with three feeds each showing a Virtuals race, with a view to extending to another 450 shops in due course.

Alexey Sinyushkin, COO at Olimp, commented: “With the launch of Inspired’s Virtual Sports, Olimp is now able to offer all the best virtual products in the industry to our customers.”

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“” This alliance is in line with achieving our vision of having the industry’s best online gaming platform, across multiple product and channel verticals.

Angelo Dalli CEO Bit8

Intralot buys into Bit8 Intralot has reached an ‘in principle’ commercial and strategic partnership agreement with Bit8, a Malta-based gaming platform solutions company. Bit8 has developed a cutting-edge online gaming platform based on proprietary artificial intelligence technology. The agreement stipulates an exclusive, joint development and marketing approach in the international online platform market and the acquisition of a significant minority stake in the company.

ACTION IMAGES / CARL RECINE LIVEPIC

DATA

Official Spanish data available through Enetpulse SIS is using its exclusive deal with Spanish football to break into the digital market - and it hopes to do so with the help of Enetpulse. atellite Information Services (SIS) and Enetpulse have teamed up to deliver Spanish football real-time data feeds to betting customers.

SIS is the official, exclusive partner of the Liga de Futbol Profesional (LFP) for collection and distribution of live data from more than 2,500 matches per season. Enetpulse has gained a reputation for quality in-running data feeds to bookmakers with whom its services are integrated. It has been delivering live data from the ATP tours for the last three years, as well as other football properties.

Now SIS has signed a non-exclusive

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deal with Enetpulse for the company to be a distributor and technical partner for SIS’s live data.

Paul Witten, commercial director at SIS, said: “Enetpulse has a long-standing expertise in delivering real-time data to bookmakers and already has systems in place, which means its feeds are technically integrated with betting companies’ platforms. This will give the global betting community even more choices for integration of our feeds, with Enetpulse complementing SIS’ own fast-path data services.

“Enetpulse has shown with its tennis feeds that it can provide fast, high-quality delivery to gambling operators the world over. We are delighted to be working with them on a non-exclusive basis and combining with them to get our Spanish football products into the market.”

Simon Skarsholm, commercial director at Enetpulse, commented: “SIS are the exclusive partner of LFP and therefore the only place to secure official Spanish football data for bookmakers. SIS is also known to deliver high quality services to

this industry.

“Enetpulse are delighted to have another first-class official feed to deliver through our reliable systems to offer to the leading worldwide bookmakers, who are at the forefront of this ever changing market and respect the setup and stability of our delivery network. The addition of Spanish football to the recent Enetpulse Football Scouting product adds another dimension to our ever-growing offering.”

SIS signed a three-year agreement with LFP in August and, since then, SIS data ‘scouts’ have been entering stadiums and gathering live statistics from matches in first division Liga BBVA, Liga Adelante, Segunda Division B, the Copa del Rey and the Supercopa.

Using proprietary gathering tools, SIS is now able to provide a range of highquality, pre-match, in-running and postmatch data feeds and products tailored to bookmakers’ needs, including Bet Suspension and Danger messages direct to the trading room by feed, interface client or console.

Witten added: “Our feed is fast and high quality and, importantly, absolutely tailored to the needs of bookmakers, their traders and their customers. La Liga is one of the top three leagues in the world and we’re confident SIS’s products and services from Spain will become a musthave for betting companies.”

Witten has also said that SIS is aiming to be as important to the online industry as it is to the retail sector. Coming off the back of a successful ICE 2015 appearance, Witten said: “For the first time in a number of years SIS took the decision to invest in a large stand at ICE. The reason we did so is because we have so many new products across different areas. Our core betting content business is unchanged and remains important to us, but we intend to remain as central to the digital marketplace as we are to the retail sector.”

Interest was particularly high for SIS’ new Dynamic Racecards, which visualise raceday information designed to engage punters’ interest, so that they can feel part of the action ahead of the race.

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COMPILATION ISO sheds light on Betradar standards etradar has achieved the ISO 9001 certification of its Life Cycle of Odds service by TÜV Thuringia. Having been certified in 2014 for Sportradar Support and Security Services, Life Cycle of Odds is the latest service that entirely fulfilled the high requirements of ISO 9001.

Betradar’s Life Cycle of Odds is the only service in the market that is managed completely in-house, providing bookmakers with all information required for a successful business.

Mark Mittasch, managing director operations at Sportradar, said: “These certifications underline the great effort we put into quality management and further demonstrate our client focus and willingness to constantly invest and improve processes which ensure good services.”

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nspired launched Rush Football 2 at last month’s ICE, the latest development in its virtual football product featuring Ultra HD graphics and over 30 bet markets. Inspired’s new Virtual Football comes in a number of formats including single game and multi-game, allowing players to place accumulator and multiples bets across several virtual matches playing at the same time. A number of spin-off games are already in development including league/tournament formats and ‘quickspin’ formats for mobile channels.

Acting chief product officer Gerhard Burda commented: “The models and animations in the new release have been reworked from scratch using brand new filmquality motion capture techniques.”

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Metric scores Hattrick etric Gaming’s SuperLive products are to be added into Hattrick Sports Group’s Gaming Platform. SuperLive is optimised for mobile devices, deploys HTML5 and push technology, and is powered by Metric’s sophisticated sports analytics to usher in the next generation of inplay betting. Hattrick is a leader in the Central European gaming market, boasting over 3,000 points of sale in seven countries with a comprehensive suite of Self-Service Terminals, retail concepts, and web and mobile betting services and technology Hattrick’s CEO Carsten Sundberg added: “Hattrick prides itself on staying at the forefront of gaming innovation and technology, so offering SuperLive was an easy choice. We are excited to be working with Metric and eager to see what our companies can do together.”

M Isibet launches with Vermantia talian bookmaker Isibet.it has launched virtual games from Vermantia and will also distribute the product via its online partner websites. Currently live with isibet.it, merkur-win.it and WinToto.it, Isibet will launch on several other websites imminently. The initial portfolio will include football, greyhound and horseracing, with new games such as cycling and motor racing to follow suit. Romano Biondi, CEO of ISIBET, commented: “I am very pleased that Isibet.it is now live with Vermantia’s Virtual Games, as we are expanding our portfolio to high-quality games by a very trusted partner.”

Fabio Massimo Molinari, Vermantia’s commercial manager for Italy, stated: “Isibet’s network of online partners and service capabilities will significantly help us increase our interactive reach in Italy.”

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Kiron has eyes on Africa iron Interactive has partnered with distribution and broadcast expert Vermantia to set up the first pan-African satellite channel dedicated to virtual games.

The premium service will showcase Kiron’s virtual games portfolio, including horses, dogs, football, motor-racing and cycling, with plans to introduce other virtual sports and number games - including Keno later this year. Steven Spartinos, co-CEO of Kiron Interactive, said they had recently expanded into 12 territories in Africa, with the continent now a core focus for the company, adding: “We’re very excited about partnering with Vermantia to make our content available to more and more customers across Africa.”

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B2B Sportsbook Listings

ICE a worthy destination for GPS CE 2015 was hailed the busiest yet for Super Soccer Oddsfeed and Abelson Info’s Goalscorer Prices & Settlement system. Ed Abelson and Simon Temple from Abelson Info, together with Super Soccer Oddsfeed’s Jeevan Jeyaratnam had compiled an extensive number of appointments with current and potential clients as their GPS service continues to grow.

The last eighteen months have witnessed deals with Coral, Ladbrokes, Betfair and BetBright, as well as extensions with existing clients. Jeyaratnam hinted at further additions to the impressive client list: “ICE was fantastic for our GPS system with appetite for goalscorers continuing apace in the UK but also growing in Europe. We are very hopeful of adding more big names to our client list this year. The system lends itself well to the growing number of sportsbook providers for whom goalscorer pricing and resulting are necessary but time-consuming and labour intensive.”

Jeyaratnam explained that a reworking of the system’s core algorithm last summer enhanced the scope of the jointly-run system.

“We underwent a massive change to core model last summer, this has given us the scope to deliver eighteen individual markets per player. Whereas before we could only provide first/last/anytime pricing we now have a plethora of additional markets, all available via the same data feed. The other key advantage the development work has allowed is the ability to provide ‘raw’ prices.

These un-margined odds give the client the ability to incorporate their own margin, allowing them individuality in the marketplace. Of course should the client wish to use our margin application then we still provide for that.”

GPS was not the only topic of conversation, with Abelson Info also taking the chance to market its popular TV guide. Already well established as a supplier of a comprehensive and up to date listings for all live sports on TV and streaming services, Abelson Info has recently expanded its coverage to include over 30 territories worldwide. Currently the listings can be viewed on Betfair.com and Oddschecker.com, among others. Abelson has recently agreed to supply William Hill, with further deals in negotiation as demand for this increasingly important product grows.

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Inspired in a Rush

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Fantasy leader TATS, the sports technology, data and content company, has been recognised for the accuracy of its fantasy football and baseball projections by the Fantasy Sports Trade Association (FSTA) in a head-to-head competition among industry leaders. The FSTA Accuracy Contest is run

by FantasyPros and awards were presented at the FSTA’s annual winter conference in Las Vegas, NV. “This is a tremendous accomplishment for our analytics teams,” said Bill Squadron, executive vice president, Pro Analytics at STATS. “STATS is offering the best tools and guidance for the growing population of daily fantasy players.

We’ll continue to build upon our highly accurate, data-driven models, both for game results and player performance projections.”

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NextGen Gaming, the Sydneybased games studio of NYX Gaming Group, has launched its slot games on paddypower.com, with the dual mobile and desktop launch of hit Merlin’s Millions Superbet.

Georgian land-based casino group Iveriabet has launched on the NYX OGS and signed up for the NYX Poker product, formerly Ongame. NYX’s David Flynn commented: “I am delighted that Iveriabet has chosen to partner with NYX for two of our leading products.�

Lightning Box strikes NextGen Gaming has announced a partnership with Lightning Box Games to create and distribute online its traditionally land-based slot games. Lightning Box and NextGen will develop a series of games on NextGen’s GDM platform, for subsequent launch across NYX Gaming Group’s large world-wide distribution network.

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Microgaming hits on the Bridesmaids Microgaming has signed a new movie licensing deal for hit comedy Bridesmaids.

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icrogaming has signed a licensing agreement with Universal Partnerships & Licensing to produce an online slot based on the breakout Universal Pictures comedy, Bridesmaids.

Released in 2011 and now available on DVD and Blu-ray, Bridesmaids features a star-studded comedy cast, including Kristen Wiig, Maya Rudolph, Melissa McCarthy and Rebel Wilson. The plot centres on thirtysomething Annie who finds her life turned completely upside down when she takes on the Maid of Honour role in her best friend Lillian’s wedding. In way over her head but determined to succeed, Annie leads a cast of bridesmaids on a wild ride down the road to the big event.

Fans of Bridesmaids can now look forward to reliving the film’s highlight moments in Microgaming’s online slot, due for launch summer 2015. It will be a five reel, multi-level bonus game, available online and via the browser of mobile devices, featuring all the main characters, as well as side-splitting clips from the movie.

Roger Raatgever, CEO of Microgaming, said: “Bridesmaids is a comedy classic. The

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storyline, characters and genuinely hilarious stand-out scenes combine to make it one of the most successful comedy films of all time. We’re thrilled to have signed another licensing agreement with Universal. Furthermore, the brand adds a completely new dimension to our branded game portfolio we’re excited for its launch later in the year.�

Last month saw Microgaming release a bundle of new games, including Lucky Firecracker, Cricket Star and Golden Era. Lucky Firecracker is a five reel, 243 waysto-win game in celebration of the Chinese New Year. Framed in gold, the reels are brimmed with Chinese traditions, such as glowing paper lanterns, bright fireworks and flamed sparklers. When three or more scatter symbols appear on the reels, 15 retriggerable free spins are delivered, during which all wins are multiplied by three.

There’s also the gamble feature, where players can try their luck and double their wins by betting on the correct card colour.

Cricket Star is the latest sports-themed game from Microgaming and was released simultaneously on desktop and mobile. The five reel, 243 ways-to-win slot has plenty of in-game action with a wild wickets feature

on reels 2, 3 and 4 and Rolling Reels. In addition, there are up to 25 free spins (with a multiplier trail) available during the free spins feature, triggered when three or more scatter symbols land on the reels.

Golden Era is a five reel, 15 line game which epitomises Hollywood glamour. The game combines visually rich artwork with a classic cinematic score to set the perfect scene.

The base game features wild and scatter symbols, three or more of which will trigger the free spins bonus selection. Players can choose from either 12 free spins with embracing wild reels or a double feature bonus.

Mike Hebden, head of casino games at Microgaming, explained: “The romance and glamour of Hollywood coincided with Valentine’s, Lucky Firecracker celebrated the Chinese New Year and a fantastic cricket themed game arrived as cricket takes centre stage on the world’s sporting calendar.�

In addition to Lucky Firecracker, Cricket Star and Golden Era, Loaded, an all-time classic Microgaming game, has been faithfully recreated in HD. The game engine has not changed; the slot has been modernised to give it a contemporary feel.

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CASINO Betsson signs with Leander eander Games has kicked off 2015 with a deal to supply content to casino operator Betsson.

Leander will integrate its own proprietary games and those from the best third party developers, via its remote gaming server platform, LeGa. Betsson, who run a number of successful Scandinavia-facing websites, recently bought the Maltalicensed online gaming group Oranje and Kroon. As part of the agreement, Leander will modernise seven of the most popular games acquired in the Oranje deal, rereleasing them on LeGa to ensure continuity for Dutch customers migrating to the Betsson platform. Leander CEO Steve Matsell believes it was this ability to deliver exclusive and localised games that was the key to capturing Betsson’s signature.

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IGT unleashes the Panther across all channels lobal gaming entertainment giant International Game Technology (IGT) has simultaneously launched Prowling Panther across all channels, with the title going live online and on mobile, in parallel with multiple locations of Genting Casinos and Grosvenor Casinos.

Jungle-themed Prowling Panther, a resounding success in land-based casinos in other markets around the world, is the first title IGT has released concurrently across all three channels in the same country.

Leigh Nissim, IGT commercial director of interactive, commented: “Prowling Panther is the perfect game for our first ever simultaneous triple channel launch - and ICE is the ideal showcase. The game’s gripping graphics, impressive audio package, and high-volatility gameplay have proven to be a winning formula

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with casino players in other territories and I expect it will be a big hit with UK players across all environments.”

As well as initiating a pipeline of simultaneous launches, IGT Interactive has developed a series of innovative Marketing Yield Features across its games. A number of meta-game, value-enhancing features, such as competitions and free spins, are to be deployed on its remote game server (rgs) to drive marketing and player engagement.

Nissim added: “IGT Interactive’s roster of superior branded content is matched by our selection of player-favourite games. Underscored by innovative marketing yield features and brand new MegaJackpots, we believe we have created an unbeatable package to drive revenues for our partners. With the worldwide igaming marketplace constantly changing, our expertise allows us to adapt to updating regulation and maximise opportunities in newly regulated markets.”

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PLATFORM

GW Games Yako hello to EveryMatrix ‘arrives’ in style at ICE E K based content studio GW Games arrived at ICE Totally Gaming on the back of two very current development successes and was looking to build on this extremely encouraging start to 2015.

Its most recent game release Spinner Takes All has been a reported success for both Sky Vegas and Ladbrokes, which GW says underlines the company’s understanding of player requirements, and its almost unique blend of youthful creativity and decades of gaming experience.

Also newly live on Ladbrokes online and mobile is Dr Frantic & the Monster Spins.

With further games going live before the end of April, and a development roadmap that now consists of over a dozen individual concepts in full production, the GW Games team is certainly looking to ‘push the envelope’ as the New Year unfolds.

Commercial director Andrew Henson was delighted with the opportunities presented by ICE and is keen to build on what has been an outstanding couple of months: “ICE was a fantastic experience for our team and as topsy-turvy as it may sound, we left the show feeling as if we had finally arrived!

“Huge progress has been made on two important fronts. Firstly, we are now working closely with certain key industry players on the development of exclusive gaming content, and this is a superb opportunity.

And secondly, I was able to have a number of conversations with potential new clients and partners, all of which was both exciting and intriguing.”

Originally conceived as a creative and specifically focused offshoot of an established and successful provider to landbased sectors, and backed by a global entertainment group, GW Games has been promoting the fact that it has both credibility and heritage behind it. Taking the company in new and exciting directions has taken time and investment, all of which is beginning to pay off. “Our business, and its make-up, have evolved almost beyond recognition over the past couple of years,” explained Henson. “Recent achievements and successes confirm that we are heading in the right direction and we are now seeking out new partnerships and relationships across all platforms.”

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veryMatrixhas reached an agreement with casino operatorYako Casinoto provide a platform as it continues to grow its client base and deliver better services tailored to the specific needs of its customers.

Yako Casino brings its unique brand of humour whilst delivering a personalised, tailormade online casino offering to players around the world. Its main goal is to provide a product and customer experience that goes beyond anything that any other online casino has dared to offer. With years of experience in gaming, e-commerce, data mining and specialised user interfaces, Yako Casino aims to

deliver a tailor-made casino experience for each and every casino player regardless of their VIP status.

Sarah Psaila, chief marketing officer of Yako Casino, commented: “No matter how brilliant your mind or strategy, if you’re playing a solo game, you’ll always lose out to a stronger team. That is why teaming up with EveryMatrix was a natural choice for Yako. We firmly believe that EveryMatrix has the technical back-end resources to take personalisation within the gaming industry to new heights. We are extremely excited to get this show on the road and firmly believe we are now in the best position to deliver a casino which is truly yours!”

Ebbe Groes, chief executive officer of EveryMatrix, added: “I’m extremely impressed with Yako Casino’s skill set and experience and strongly believe that this new partnership will bring EveryMatrix one step further towards reaching its full potential. As our platform continues to grow and our client base keeps on expanding, we’re more confident than ever that we’re doing things right.”

Steam engine

SLOTS RAY signs 20-year deal with Playtech inland’s national gaming operator RAY has signed a 20-year online contract extension with Playtech - the longest deal in both companies’ histories. The 20-year agreement includes multi-channel gaming software, content and support across online, mobile and retail with an automatic renewal period of four years, and underlines Playtech’s commitment to regulated markets. Shay Segev, COO of Playtech, said: “This is a landmark contract for both companies and we are delighted to have agreed extended terms with such a valued customer.”

Timo Kiiskinen, senior VP business operations at RAY, said: “Our four years with Playtech have performed above and beyond expectations. This agreement underlines how much we value our relationship and the industry-leading products we continue to have at our disposal.”

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TIMO KIISKINEN

Vermantia launches games on Obodo ermantia has released four new multilevel instant win games to participating operators via the Odobo Marketplace.

These include war-themed game Defcon1, exotic cocktail game Tiki Bar, Zodiacthemed slot House of Signs and Shopen, where the shops are never closed and an array of fashion items that are the key to success. Vermantia games director.

Richard Clarke stated: “These new games share a similar format but offer a very different feel and immersive experience to players. They’re HTML5 so deliver a great player experience on mobile, tablet and desktop.”

Glen Bullen, partner success manager at Odobo, commented: “Vermantia is an innovative studio that delivers innovative content quickly which exceeds the traditional instant win.”

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etEnt has released its hot new video slot Steam Tower which is inspired by the popular ‘Steampunk’ design which is a mix of old Victorian design with mechanical and modern interfaces. Set in the 19th century, the great adventure begins when players have to climb the steam tower to rescue the princess from the dangerous dragon. Steam Tower is a 5-reel, 3-row and 15-bet line game with Stacked Wilds and Free Spins with an increasing Multiplier.

Simon Hammon, chief product officer at NetEnt, commented: “Steam Tower is packed full of innovative developments and progressive features that NetEnt are renowned for. The Victorian era is synonymous with advancement and improvement, which reflects our own mission to drive the online casino market forward.”

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PROGRESSIVE Yggdrasil gets progressive ggdrasil Gaminghas launched its first pooled progressive jackpot, Joker Millions, with an ex- FREDRIK ELMQVIST pected jackpot value of 1.3m euro. Fredrik Elmqvist, CEO of Yggdrasil, said: “Progressive jackpots are an excellent marketing tool for operators, but we didn’t want to make Joker Millions all about the jackpot. Most online jackpot slots are low variance, if you remove the actual jackpot from the equation, but Joker Millions also has very exciting elements in the base game. While you are waiting for that jackpot spin there are also mystery joker wins that will take you closer and closer to the Joker Millions. Our priority is always to produce engaging content and I’m sure players will love this game.”

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BITCOIN Realistic releases new Money ritish slots and table games supplier Realistic Games has begun a roll-out of new content with the release of its latest slot Colour of Money. Phone, tablet, and desktop versions of the classic three reel arcade-style game are now live across a host of operators. Commercial director Andy Harris, said: “Colour of Money is a strong addition to our market- leading stable of three reel slot games. We expect its fun and familiar features to provide hours of entertainment to slot players around the world. It is the first of many new games that we’ll be releasing this year as we strive to deliver the best multi-channel content on the market.”

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ANDY HARRIS

Coingaming to offer Quickfire Games itcoin gaming platform provider Coingaming.io has become the first ever licensed Bitcoin-only gaming platform to offer Microgaming Quickfire games. Neill Whyte, head of product channels at Microgaming, commented: “Coingaming is wellrespected when it comes to Bitcoin gaming platforms and white label services. We are delighted that they have chosen Quickfire, powered by Microgaming, to amplify their casino games offering. By joining the Quickfire platform, they are demonstrating their passion to providing their customers with the highest level of gaming entertainment.”

Coingaming’s Mark McGuinness explained: “Our agreement with Quickfire shall see Bitcasino.io our biggest B2B partner going live first, shortly followed be our full network of online operators.”

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Back office Armenia opening

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New Innovative FD

EveryMatrix is opening its fourth development office, situated in Yerevan, Armenia, led by Levon Nikoghosyan. CEO Ebbe Groes said: “We’re very excited to be opening an office in Armenia after having garnered so much experience within the region.”

IMG has extended its exclusive deal with the the ATP and the WTA, organisers of the top men’s and women’s professional tennis tours, as the exclusive distributor of official live scoring fastpath data until 2020.

Oldham-based Innovative Technology Ltd, a global provider of cash handling equipment and banknote validators, has appointed Tom Pennington-Brookfield as its new financial director, pending the retirement of current FD, Alun Evans.

ed with this: “The US national teams had a great 2014. MLS has never been more popular. It is unsurprising that more and more fans are being drawn to US soccer.

Equally, it is not surprising that bettors around the world are placing more and more bets on US soccer as well. There is always a danger of match fixing when liquidity increases on the global betting market and there is only one way to effectively deal with that danger - that is to get ahead of it. And that is exactly what MLS has done.”

Meanwhile, Sportradar’s data division has signed a four-year agreement with the Professional Squash Association (PSA) that will see it become the PSA’s Official Sports Data Partner. Sportradar has been granted the right to distribute all PSA data to the betting and media industry, including data from the Women’s Squash Association (WSA) tour.

Over the term of the partnership infor-

mation from more than 3,000 squash events will be collected and will include data from the PSA’s new Official TriRef System - a wireless electronic refereeing programme that allows all three match referees to make independent judgements about match incidents, without the knowledge of their fellow arbiters, to determine the outcome of decisions.

PSA chief executive Alex Gough commented: “We are very pleased to have reached an agreement with Sportradar in a partnership that will allow us to further promote our sport around the world through new media channels, especially within the betting market.

“It will be a great opportunity for us to increase the awareness of squash within the marketplace and create new revenue streams for the sport and we look forward to working closely with Sportradar over the next four years as we both look to grow the sport.”

Jersey on the up Jersey eGaming, a consortium of businesses and government agencies, exhibited for the first time at ICE and saw over 250 ‘strong enquiries’. As a result, the Jersey Gambling Commission is in detailed conversations about licensing with both operators and platform providers.

Sportradar signs football and squash deals

MLS and PSA have both turned to Sportradar to help them with two different issues. portradar Security Services has announced the extension of its partnership with Major League Soccer, the top-flight professional soccer league in the United States. Under the extension, Sportradar Security Services’ Fraud Detection System (FDS) will monitor the global betting market on hundreds of soccer matches in each of 2015 and 2016. In addition, Sportradar Security Services will be providing an Integrity Workshop for all MLS match officials.

MLS first signed a partnership with Sportradar Security Services at the start of 2013 and the extension will see the company’s FDS process betting patterns and movements on both the regulated and unregulated markets across a whole range of matches and competitions. The partnership will cover over 400 games played on US soil in each of the two years of the partnership extension.

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As well as engaging the FDS, MLS has requested that Sportradar Security Services bring its experts to America this year in order to provide all PRO match officials with an Integrity Workshop.

MLS vice president operations and security Ray Whitworth said: “Sportradar Security Services has been a fantastic partner of ours for almost two years now and I am delighted that they will remain our partners for at least another two. At MLS, we are dedicated to delivering the best sports entertainment to millions of fans worldwide that follow our league.

And in line with that, we cannot compromise when it comes to preserving the integrity of soccer in the US. “Sportradar’s breadth of coverage, its depth of analysis, its history of accuracy and its expert team of education providers made our decision to renew simple.”

Sportradar managing director strategy and integrity, Andreas Krannich, conclud-

BB126-p34-35-b2bBackOffice_Layout 1 26/02/2015 16:44 Page 2

B2B

BettingBusinessInteractive • MARCH 2015 Editor: Andrew McCarron Email: am@sjc.co.uk Tel: +44 (0) 1457 867 683 Managing editor: Ken Scott Email: ks@sjc.co.uk Tel: +44 (0) 1273 699 900 Contributors: Chris Webster, Josephe Ewens, Imogen Goodman

Advertising sales: Julie Southern, Email:jsouthern@gbmedia.eu Tel: +44 (0) 1257 277400 Fax: +44 (0) 1257 271329 Ad Production: Dave Roderick Email: gdk@sjc.co.uk

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Subscriptions: Ann Sullivan, Email: asullivan@gbmedia.eu Tel: +44 (0) 1257 277400 Fax: +44 (0) 1257 271329 Advertising & Subscriptions: GB Media Corporation Ltd Oak House,1st Floor, Suite 4, High Street, Chorley, PR7 1DW, UK Tel: +44 (0) 1257 277400

Spanish CAMEO helps segmentation rganisations in Spain can now transform their customer acquisition and retention strategies using Callcredit Information Group’s newly rebuilt consumer segmentation tool, CAMEO Spain. CAMEO is currently available in over 40 global markets and links address information to demographic, lifestyle and socio-economic insight to provide businesses with key marketing intelligence on their customers and prospects.

CAMEO Spain segments the population into 42 categories and 10 marketing groups by using the latest Spanish Census data and Callcredit’s advanced statistical and modeling techniques to identify and describe exactly ‘who’ lives in each zone. By doing so, organisations can obtain valuable marketing information, building a high-definition picture of both their online and offline customer base.

O Licensing change etConstructhas announced a new licensing option for its sportsbook product which will allow partners to license it on a software-only basis, while retaining BetConstruct’s comprehensive product support. Chief product owner Stuart Baker said: “This option will be of particular interest to established gaming operators. Those with effective trading and customer support organisations will be able to operate our sportsbook on their own technical infrastructure and continue with their established operations.”

BetConstruct has recently appointed Vahe Baloulian as the company’s new CEO. Baloulian said: “I have been working with the company for the last four years as an executive consultant and I am thrilled to join their talented team of people who are bent on making sure that gaming industry continues to innovate and thrive.”

B

MANAGEMENT New iQ from Quickfire

VAHE BALOULIAN

Dafabet turns to FSB latform provider FSB Technology (UK) Ltd has signed an agreement to supply Dafabetwith a brand new sports betting site. The deal will see FSB trade a wide variety of sports, both pre-match and in-play, for the operator, including their market-leading horse racing product. The supplier’s business development director, Richard Thorp, said: “We’re delighted to have partnered with Dafabet, whose reputation in Asia is second to none. They already have an established presence in the UK through their sports sponsorships, but they now have a great opportunity to engage with Asian and British sports bettors too.”

P

CRM

uickfire, powered by Microgaming, is introducing Quickfire iQ - a game management module that helps Quickfire operators manage their online casinos quickly, effectively and intelligently. Through the components Business Intelligence, Game Settings, Incentives, Free Games, Player Segmentation, Achievements and Recommendations, it provides casino mangers with all the necessary tools to expertly manage their players. Available on desktop and mobile, Quickfire iQ integrates seamlessly with third-party systems. Neill Whyte, head of product channels at Microgaming, explained: “This high-tech module will provide our Quickfire operators with every tool imaginable to manage players playing our games. This in turn will enable them to offer the very best gaming experience.”

Q

CNEILL WHYTE

Mobile CRM tool lement Wavehas launched Mobile Moments, the gaming industry’s first dedicated mobile CRM (mCRM) platform, designed to combat the increasing problem of mobile player churn for operators. The fully automated solution uses in-app messages, push notifications, real-time analytics and post-campaign reporting to help boost mobile player engagement and retention.

Dorothy Creaven, co-founder and CEO of Element Wave, said: “The inability to fully engage and retain mobile players is one of the biggest challenges facing the sector at present.

Mobile Moments has been specifically developed to solve this problem by analysing every app session, in-app action, deposit and bet placed by every single mobile player.”

E

DOROTHY CREAVEN

AFFILIATE Income Access deal for Betboro etboro, a Curacao-based sportsbook and live betting operator, has announced a new partnership with iGaming affiliate software and digital marketing firm, Income Access. The agreement will see Webmedia Development-owned Betboro integrate with Income Access’ affiliate marketing software to provide their advertising partners with a robust set of reporting and marketing tools. Betboro’s sportsbook and live betting products are powered by software provider Swissbet, which recently became a Certified Partner of Betradar.

“Betboro is a growing brand and we’re thrilled to have them join our roster of clients,” said Nicky Senyard, founder and CEO of Income Access. “We look forward to working with them more closely and playing a role in their continued success.”

B

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REGULATION

B2B Back Office Listings

Isle of Man buoyant over licence interest

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successful ICE Totally Gaming saw the Isle of Man increase the number of leads on 2014’s event by 15 per cent. Peter Greenhill, CEO for e-gaming development with the Isle of Man Department of Economic Development, said that now the dust has settled in the UK licensing shake-up, more companies are making plans for the future.

He explained: “Overseas operators in Asia and other parts of the world are coming to us now because there is certainty over what the UK is doing. They might have been holding off before, but now we are seeing approaches now they know how the land lies.”

Greenhill said it was not just operators looking to get an Isle of Man licence, but software developers as well. He commented that the Isle of Man was expected to see a drop off in the number of enquiries, reflecting the consolidation in the market, but numbers have actually gone up as companies review their licensing strategies.

Greenhill added that regulations dealing with matters other than gambling are also starting to make their mark, especially taxation laws such as the Base Erosion Profit Shifting (BEPS) measures that has been designed to make sure corporations pay the correct tax level.

Greenhill said: “What we are starting to see now is the realisation that BEPS is going to have an effect in offshore jurisdictions where you can’t really put the right staff in location.

“We’ve also made a deal with the UK which means that any Isle of Man licensee won’t be required to have a fiscal representative. This is also a problem for some other jurisdictions as getting a fiscal rep is not easy as no-one is likely to want to take on pure liability for whatever tax has to be paid at least not without a major fee.”

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BB126-p36-37-comment_09/10 26/02/2015 14:11 Page 1

Comment ACTION IMAGES / JULIAN HERBERT LIVEPIC

‘FOBTs are a form of onanism’ Labour Lord Lipsey is one of the few peers to be able to speak on the subject of gambling in the House of Lords with any kind of authority and, as a recent debate on B2 gaming machines showed, a flair for mental imagery. Here is an extract of what he said.

If betting on a horse race is the full sexual intercourse of betting and gambling, with foreplay when you select your horse and mounting excitement as the race goes on - we know what happens after that… when the result comes - then FOBTs are a form of onanism.

You see sad-eyed blokes - it is always blokes - in front of porn-like machines, made very glittery and unrealistic, shoving in pounds for momentary pleasure.

If FOBTs evaporated into the air tomorrow, I for one should be delighted but that does not mean that I would ban them. There are a lot of pastimes that I do not much like: fox hunting, shooting and, although the noble Baroness, Lady Golding, is beside me, I have to say also fishing. However, if others wish to practise them within the law - and of course on fox hunting there is a strict law that is their affair. Perhaps more importantly, there is the matter of unforeseen consequences.

You do not have to go into a betting shop to place a bet.

The online alternative is increasingly attractive, and I cannot see much advantage in forcing determined punters to do what they do in private rather than doing it in a betting shop, where at least there is some element of sociable atmosphere.

I can also see some disadvantages. I quite take the point of the noble Lord, Lord Dubs, on this: there would be a threat to the jobs of the hard-working staff - some 45,276 of them nationwide who work in these shops.

“

There would be a loss of tax and the loss of betting levy revenues. Those have to be weighed against the arguments we hear.

Having said that - which favours the bookmakers’ arguments - I cannot believe the hash that the bookmakers have made of arguing their case on this. I cannot believe it. They were legendary lobbyists once upon a time. If William Hill or Ladbrokes came through your door, you shivered with fear and slavered to do their will.

But now their approach has been that of the tobacco industry at its very worst.

First, they denied that there was a problem. Then they said more research was needed - an echo of the speech of the noble Lord, Lord Deben, in the debate we have just had; there is always more research needed - at the same time doing everything they could to obstruct that research by not making FOBTs available to researchers. Now, finally, their answer is to do more about problem gambling.

Of course, I welcome everything that is done about problem gambling. I applaud the work of the new Senet Group, including on gambling advertising in the windows of shops, but also more widely. I also tremendously welcome the appointment of Martin Cruddace as interim chief executive of the Association of British Bookmakers. Martin is a 21stcentury man who has some possibility of helping us find a way through this difficult problem without catastrophic damage either to the betting industry or to the people of this country.”

36 BettingBusinessInteractive • MARCH 2015

Self-exclusion flagellation he Gambling Commission’s latest LCCP has gone big on the hot potato of social responsibility, providing a nice soundbite for any politicians ahead of May’s general election. They can now legitimately say that more initiatives are being implemented on the gambling industry this year to ensure that those who get into problems will get help.

It’s certainly a lot more palatable for the industry than the basic soundbite of doubling funds to the Responsible Gambling Trust or restricting stakes. Don’t be surprised if these get an airing though as they are far easier to understand by voting Joe Public, at least in politicians’ eyes.

Of course, the question is, with 141 individual responses to the social responsibiliy changes alone, how much of a say does any one stakeholder get? Especially when there is likely political pressure from the government to make sure that those in charge have a watertight rebuttal when challenged on problem gambling, clustering, single-manning, crime or money laundering* (delete as appropriate).

Have your say, but it could well be lost among the crowd of submissions. Not to worry though, we’ve got five more consultations in the next month - try one of those.

The big challenge for the

T

andrew mccarron viewpoint

industry as a whole is the deadline that has been set for local and national self-exclusion programmes. By April 2016, land-based operators must have in place schemes that allow a customer to make a single request to selfexclude from all operators of a similar type within their area typically where they live and work - while a national online self-exclusion scheme should be in place in 2017.

There are plenty of concerns about these deadlines and with good reason. The effort that’s required to go into them to make sure they work properly and are not abused is considerable and for the most part, invisible.

A central register for problem gambling self-exclusion sounds like a great idea.

It is a great idea and could become a great tool for tackling problem gambling. Unfortunately, it’s such a simple concept, it’s not readily apparent just how difficult it is to implement.

Data protection issues aside, and they are thorny enough to keep lawyers in coin for a good few years, there are the practical issues to take into account. It seems to be generally accepted that problem gamblers exhibit their behaviour across a range of products. So shouldn’t someone who is self-excluding themselves from their local

betting shop not only find themselves excluded from other betting shops in the vicinity, but also all the adult gaming centres, bingo halls and potentially casinos nearby as well? In fact, given that geography has no bearing, shouldn’t they also be automatically excluded from all UK-facing online gambling websites as well?

Enforcement is also a tricky issue. How can on-course bookmakers hope to police an exclusion scheme at the races? They don’t have the power to restrict entry for a start. And even if the racecourses themselves were receptive to block entry, would it be feasible on busy racedays, especially when it can be legitimately argued that people were attending for the sport rather than the betting? At the other end of the scale, will newsagents and supermarkets be tasked with exclusion for lottery scratchcards?

Fortunately, the regulator is well aware of these thorny issues on all scales and has thrown itself well into the mix, working with industry representatives to develop the online self-exclusion system for a start. So the Gambling Commission will be au fait with the many challenges that lie ahead, and may yet rue the self-imposed deadline in the future.

BB126-p36-37-comment_09/10 26/02/2015 14:12 Page 2

“I’ve looked up to leading sportspeople all my life. In the last few years, you look at Brian O’Driscoll, who went out at the top. Sir Alex Ferguson won Manchester United’s 20th title and retired. That is the way you should depart, when you’re at what you think is the top of your game.�

AP McCoy explains why he’s retiring at the end of this season

Palpable fallibility John Samuels of IBAS takes aim at the measures implemented by bookmakers to protect themselves against mistakes, or as some would describe it the ‘palpable error rule’. have written regular monthly IBAS related pieces for Betting Business Interactive for over six years now. Time and again, the topic that brings the most controversy and causes the most difficulty and concern for all sports betting fans is the ‘palpable error rule’.

Given that we now live in a technological age with filter and quality control systems supposedly in place, not to mention executive clarion calls to put customer service ‘at the heart of all that an operator does’, we still at IBAS see wrong prices and incorrect handicap propositions etc. being advertised and shown on shop screens, internet sites and apps. Inevitably, the consequence is that bets are laid with wrong prices or terms.

How do some operators tend to respond to such mistakes and oversights made by data systems, odds compilers, text in-putters, and branch staff? Answer: Out comes the ‘error’ rule or, as some flippantly refer to it, the ‘palp’ rule!

I

Some operators have error rules that go something along the lines of ‘if a price is offered and laid in error that is out of line with that available in the general marketplace it will be changed to the correct price that we meant to lay’.

Other operators have an error rule that determines that the price will be corrected to the right one if the price is ‘obviously’ incorrect.

Both are rather subjective and potentially grey areas for any who have to decide if the error was ‘obvious’. And how does one counter another’s argument that the error was ‘obvious’ or not?

Some may say if the error was so obviously wrong, why was it advertised and the bet accepted?

In some cases the operator simply states that if they make a mistake it will be corrected. No mention of obvious or palpable error or it being out of kilter with the general market.

Although it can be seen why operators have an error rule, one

cynical but repetitive observation is that operators attract customers to bet with them because of the (incorrect) seemingly generous prices displayed and supposedly available. Then, once the bet is accepted and becomes a winner, the price given is not honoured under the cover of the ‘error’ rule.

What is particularly frustrating for IBAS is that many bookmakers will then not recognise that this could be construed not only as misleading advertising, but also poor customer service, and will only give the price that they intended to lay. They will not even offer the customer the best competitor’s price that the customer could feasibly have taken if they had been advised of the mistake at the point the bet was struck.

I hasten to add that a number of bookmakers do have this ‘best price in the village if we make a mistake’ proviso written in to their rules. It is a pity that many others do not follow suit.

Take the effort out of goalscorer pricing and settlement

IBAS is aware of a few cases relating to obvious error that have proceeded beyond IBAS to the small claims courts. The results of these cases seem to be mixed, but there are certainly occasions where the ruling has gone in the favour of the customer. Without public access to these findings it is impossible to ascertain whether they have been driven by the specific, unique circumstances of the disputed bets, or a more general rejection of the fairness of the ‘palpable error’ rules.

Of course, IBAS always hopes that its adjudications will avoid the need for either party to pay for court costs, but we cannot help but think that if a bookmaker has done everything reasonable in recognition not just of their rules but of their own original mistake, this will help both to reduce the number of court cases and to protect the principle of rulesbased settlement on occasions that a judge does consider a case.

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BettingBusinessInteractive • MARCH 2015 37

BB126-p40-Business_09/10 26/02/2015 14:39 Page 1

Business

Cherry buys big stake in affiliate business Game Lounge They say content is king, and Cherry is buying a lot of content with its 51 per cent stake in Game Lounge.

AFFILIATION

wedish online casino operator Cherry has signed an agreement to acquire a controlling 51 per cent stake in affiliate business Game Lounge Ltd. The deal will also involve Game Lounge selecting Cherry as a white label partner for SveaCasino.com and other brands in the future.

The acquisition is expected to enable Cherry to increase volumes quickly on current brands and through future white label partnerships, as well as acquiring more customers at a significantly lower cost. It is also expected to increase both Cherry’s revenues and EBIT in the next three years and bring in more than 40,000 new depositing customers.

Cherry will pay 1.43m euro (£1.1m) in cash for the existing shares, and an additional 2m euro (£1.5m) based on certain conditions being met. Cherry has the right to pay through shares or cash. If things go particularly well, then Cherry can activate the option to acquire 100 per cent of the business after three years.

Fredrik Burvall, CEO Cherry, commented: “The acquisition of Game Lounge is a significant development for Cherry as we enter into our first white label agreement and give Cherry a stronger position in the affiliate sector. It has the potential to increase volumes at a much lower cost, both for Cherry’s current brands and the white label brands. The affiliate market is an important part of the online gaming industry and Cherry continues to strengthen its online business with this acquisition.

“Acquiring a profitable affiliate operation with a team highly skilled in search-engine optimisation (SEO) and affiliation will also enable our brands to get strong positions on other affiliate sites and search engines. This is an extremely exciting acquisition for Cherry and will push the online gaming business area forward.”

Jonas Cederholm, CEO at Game Lounge, added: “We are delighted to have Cherry as investors in Game Lounge and we know from working with Cherry that we will be able to launch SveaCasino.com as a top casino on desktop, mobile and tablet on one of the best platforms in the industry. Our strength within SEO and affiliation and Cherry’s long experience with running online casinos is a good match which will enable us to

S

38 BettingBusinessInteractive • MARCH 2015

appointments

SSA, the regulated betting industry’s integrity body, EO’Kane has re-elected Ladbrokes business director Mike as its chairman for a further two years. ESSA secretary general Khalid Ali welcomed the decision: “I have worked closely with Mike now for a number of years and he has been a key factor in refocusing the organisation and delivering a number of significant achievements for the regulated sector. The organisation has grown in both membership and influence during that time, and has become a more visible and effective body.”

MIKE O’KANE

er Norman has been appointed as the new CEO of Mr Pentrusted Green & Co. He said: “It is a great honour to be with the development of Mr Green & Co and our subsidiaries. I am passionate about our tradition of giving visitors the best gaming experience in the industry.”

Chairman Tommy Trollborg commented: “With Per Norman as our CEO, we will acquire a leader who knows the company well and can continue to develop the company, while also leveraging Mr Green & Co’s entrepreneurial culture.” ideen Shortt has assumed a A position as partner consultant at Random Consulting, the firm founded by Mario Galea.

Galea said: “With Aideen on board, we are now taking a strategic position in the marketing, mobile and social gaming sectors of our industry. Aideen will also be overseeing the European gaming markets so we continue to strengthen our position over that region.”

FREDRIK BURVALL: ‘A SIGNIFICANT DEVELOPMENT FOR CHERRY’

grow further both within affiliation and through white labels.”

Cherry will be hoping that this investment will not find itself scuttled by political manoeuvrings. The operator has been forced to phase out its involvement in the Swedish sports lottery Klubblo as the ‘conditions for conducting the business have changed’.

Cherry explained that the Swedish gaming regulator, Lotteriinspektionen, has changed the application of the regulatory framework, which has made it impossible for Klubblo to cooperate with sports associations whose federations are not members of the sports alliance Idrottsalliansen.

This means that some major federations, including the Football Federation and Ice Hockey Federation, are prevented from joining the Sports Alliance due to exclusivity agreements with Svenska Spel.

Burvall was not happy: “The goal was that Klubblo, with its focus on the grass root sports, would take a strong position as a partner to Swedish sports within the area of gaming and lotteries. Under the prevailing conditions, Klubblo does not fit into Cherry’s strategy.”

ANALYSIS Cherry’s long-term strategy is to continue to grow within online gaming, both organically and through acquisitions, with the goal to quickly reach profitability. As such, the buying of an established affiliate will not only put its own brands in prime position, but potentially squeeze out some of the competitors. The company is also quick to cauterise any mistakes it might have made.

It has swiftly ended the Klubbo deal, albeit at a cost.

The firm explained: “Liquidity is affected negatively by approximately SEK -1.5m (£116,000) during the 4th quarter and the remainder of 2015. Impairment of assets and shares as well as results related to Svenska Klubbspel AB will be charged to financial income from associated companies with SEK -7.7m (£600,000) and will be reported in the 4th quarter of 2014.”

AIDEEN SHORTT

which operates a total of 160 adult gaming Pclubsraesepe, centres, family entertainment centres and bingo located throughout the UK, has confirmed the appointment of Sue Griffiths to the newly created post of Compliance Officer. Griffiths, who has over a decade’s gaming industry experience, most recently with Embed-UK, reports directly to commercial director Byron Evans who has overall group responsibility for compliance. iane Dalli has become the new chief financial officer at D EveryMatrix, bringing valuable financial management expertise having worked in the online gaming industry for over 12 years with Evolution Gaming, Melita Gaming Network, and Nordic Gaming Group.

Chief executive Ebbe Groes commented: “We are thrilled to have a highly experienced finance professional such as Diane join EveryMatrix. Her financial management expertise in the online gaming sector is exactly what our business needs in order to become even more responsive in meeting our customers’ needs and anticipating industry trends.”

YX Gaming Group has appointed Hamish Brown as N group chief operating officer, joining from the firm’s Sydney-based game development studio NextGen Gaming. Matt Davey, CEO of NYX Gaming Group, commented: “It gives me great pleasure to promote from within the business as our talented staff continue to grow and deliver excellent value to the company.”

More than just a leading publisher

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BB126-p40-Business_09/10 26/02/2015 14:39 Page 2

Mr Green saves for tax bill

Business

Listed gaming operator Mr Green & Co is putting aside SEK 108m (£11.5m) from its 2014 accounts in case it loses its Austrian tax dispute. Mikael Pawlo, outgoing CEO of Mr Green & Co, commented: “We contest the tax liability and are hopeful that our objections will be given due consideration.”

International ICE provides variety of opportunities ICE 2015 saw significant interest in virtual sports from a wide variety of operators from all over the globe, according to Kiron Interactive’s coCEO Steven Spartinos.

Time to get progressive G with Yggdrasil Fredrik Elmqvist, CEO of Yggdrasil, explains why his company has made the decision to release its first progressive jackpot, Joker Millions. nline casinos are always on the lookout for ways to differentiate themselves in an increasingly competitive market and the opportunity to win life-changing prizes through progressive jackpots is a fantastic marketing opportunity. Attracting players to your casino games with the chance to land a massive cash prize has huge cross-border and cross-cultural appeal.

As the prize pool builds, so too does the win anticipation. News spreads that the total is nearing its limit and the number of players looking to get involved has a direct correlation to how close the fall-out point is. It showcases that large jackpots and a high volume of players can drive additional

O

player acquisition and cause the prize money to grow rapidly.

Last month we launched our inaugural pooled progressive jackpot, Joker Millions, which comes with an expected fall out value of 1.3m euro (£960,000). Joker Millions joins our existing portfolio of exciting slot games, including our first 3D game Reef Run and first HTML5 slot The Dark Joker Rizes. It is also going to be simultaneously available on desktop and mobile which means that operators can reduce their marketing costs with one launch.

We have designed the player experience with Joker Millions to be exceptional and it’s not just consigned to the jackpot spins feature. Unlike many of the existing online progressive

jackpot slots, Joker Millions offers engaging entertainment at every level. Alternative online jackpots tend to be low variance without the jackpot, but Joker Millions provides thrilling features at base level too.

It includes sticky symbols and joker symbols that use the traditional ‘collect symbols’ mechanic. Once a full screen of sticky jokers is achieved, the jackpot is triggered. While you are waiting to access that level there are also mystery joker wins that help players reach the ultimate prize in a short time.

The introduction of our first progressive jackpot was the natural next step for Yggdrasil. There was no point us doing this before we had a big enough customer base, but now with 19 operators on board the time

was right to enter the space.

Joker Millions has launched in 19 languages and 25 currencies which gives us global reach and a local flavor, helping us to continually boost liquidity.

Other competitors in the market often concentrate solely on the jackpot, but we haven’t done that, making sure that the entire gaming experience of Joker Millions is immersive. A stimulating customer journey is imperative and the fact that players can win millions is an added bonus.

For operators aiming to provide a complete portfolio, progressive jackpots are an integral part of a casino offering. Their ability to drive player numbers, as well as retention benefits, makes them an invaluable product.

Big Q4 performance dip for 500.com CHINA

00.com Ltd, the NYSElisted online sportslottery operator in China, has reported a 44 per cent drop in operating profit and warning that ticket purchases may decline further this quarter.

Operating profit for the fourth quarter was RMB19.0m (£1.97m) compared to RMB33.9m (£3.5m) during the corresponding period in 2013. The yearover-year decrease was primarily due to increases in general and administrative and service development expenses.

Operating profit as a percentage of net revenue was

5

13.0 per cent for the fourth quarter of 2014, compared to 35.3 per cent in 2013, and 20.9 per cent in the third quarter of 2014.

Activity on the site during Q4 2014 also took a huge drop compared to the previous quarter. Active users decreased by 71.9 per cent to approximately 984,000 during the period, compared to 3,500,000 in the third quarter of 2014, understandably due to increased user activity in connection with the FIFA World Cup which was held during the third quarter of 2014.

New active users accounted for 52.4 per cent

40 BettingBusinessInteractive • MARCH 2015

of the company’s total purchase amount during the fourth quarter of 2014, a decrease from 61.1 per cent during the third quarter of 2014.

Founder, chairman and chief executive officer Man San Law commented: “We finished the year on a strong note with net revenues increasing 52.1 per cent year-over-year. Total purchase amount during the quarter increased 63.7 per cent from the same period last year to US$283.3m (£183.5m) as non-GAAP net income grew significantly, increasing 98.5 per cent to US$8.3m (£5.4m). We con-

tinue to invest in the marketing of our mobile app as purchases made through mobile channels rapidly approaches half of all purchases. We expect to see this trend continue as we roll out new functions and games to enhance the overall user experience.”

Nick Ning, an analyst at 86Research Ltd. based in Shanghai, told Bloomberg: “500.com’s sales are not growing as fast as the market. Its first-quarter guidance is also weak. It has lost market share to competitors like Alibaba’s lottery site, while NetEase is getting more aggressive.”

iven its size and heritage, ICE Totally Gaming has always been one of the most important shows at which to exhibit for suppliers like Kiron. But its record number of attendees this year, and the real diversity of both the territories and areas of the industry they came from, were unprecedented.

Throughout the three days, we saw interest from markets where virtual gaming is already popular, as operators look to bolster their portfolios with new content. Yet, as deregulation gathers pace, they were joined at ExCeL by a large number of companies who’ve been quick to spot the variety of opportunities the vertical could offer them too.

Most of these came from a number of Western European countries currently being regulated, as well Eastern Europe and the CIS countries. But operators from Africa, China and the United States, for whom the product remains new and exciting, also made their presence felt.

As a well-established provider of top quality virtual products with a proven track record of success, we’re very conscious of meeting the local needs of those different territories. That has given us the impetus to add new content to our portfolio which reflects the sports that matter to their customers. As a result, the five new games we’ve added so far in 2014 were very well-received by visitors to our stand at ICE. These games hold appeal not only to sportsbook and retail betting shop customers, but those looking to

be entertained with something new in gaming environments, such as casinos, and sports arenas. This has been borne out in a series of deals we concluded recently on three different continents.

The first, in association with IPG International, saw us launch our Keno product in Cambodia’s Nagaworld Casino, where customers were seeking an alternative to card and dice games. This was followed by a deal with Sportech Racing and Digital to supply virtual racing to racetracks in Latin America.

And we will very shortly be launching our very own virtual games satellite channel in Africa, which will beam virtual sports into the retail estates of companies in a number of countries including Uganda, Nigeria, Ghana, and Kenya.

The cross-over nature of virtual sports has facilitated their adoption across verticals. As the industry experiences consolidation and operators expand their offering, while so many territories are in a state of flux at the moment, interest in Kiron’s products is set to increase even further in 2015.

Dedicated to servicing the needs of the international betting and iGaming industry, Betting Business interactive is your partner of choice if you’re searching for the very best journalism, the widest distribution and inventive advertising opportunities.

For more information, simply contact John Sullivan at jsullivan@gbmedia.eu or call us on +44 (0) 1257 277 400.

bbi

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Agenda ACTION IMAGES / JASON CAIRNDUFF LIVEPIC

LISTINGS

Ante Post: What the bookies say March is always a busy month with the Cheltenham Festival being the star of the show - but there is always an alternative for those who don’t like racing. arch is quite frankly a punters dream with the climax to both the Six Nations and the Cricket World Cup mixed in with the quarter-finals of the Champions League, not to mention the ongoing drama at both ends of the Premier League and the Football League tables.

All these pale into insignificance however when up against the Cheltenham Festival, which is quite frankly the greatest show on turf.

Those punters willing to invest their hard-earned cash months in advance will be sat on some rather tasty ante-post vouchers; with those following-in some of Willie Mullins’ fancied runners early well and truly in clover.

The King of Clossutton has no less than five favourites heading into Day One of the Cheltenham Festival, with Douvan, Un De Sceaux, Faugheen, Annie Power and Don Poli all heading their respective engagements. When you

M

throw into the mix a host of exciting novices’ and potential handicap plots up his sleeve, the Irish Champion Trainer looks a shoe-in at 1/6 to be leading in more winners than his peers, much to the delight of punters on both sides’ of the Irish Sea. JACK MILNER PR Executive BetVictor

bizarre conditions you are likely to see for a snooker event! The players then jet off to Mumbai for the Indian Open from the 10-15 March, then they are off to Beijing as Ding Junhui attempts to defend his China Open title.

The cricket World Cup continues to gather momentum as the group stages come to an end on 15 March. The final is on the 29 March and I am sure India will be at the MCG and lift the trophy! They have a great batting line-up and a solid one day bowling attack.

For the winter sport lovers there is also plenty of action as the Biathlon World Championships, the women’s Curling World Championship, World Figure Ice Skating Championships and the women’s Ice Hockey World Championships all take place throughout March on various different continents.

Racing people from all over the world will be watching in anticipation and waiting for the roar as the tape goes up for the Supreme Novices on 10 March. I think this year will be Silviniaco Conti’s year in the Gold Cup. Although the horse has never won at Cheltenham it has definitely improved more this year than any other horse I’ve seen.

The snooker shootout is back for the fifth year at Blackpool’s Circus Arena. The Spaceman LEON HOSKING (Dominic Dale) is trying to defend Director of sportsbook and online his title in what has to be the most Apollobet

Cheltenham Festival is the biggest jump race meeting anywhere in the world and is the seasonal focal point for trainers, jockeys and many of the best horses. It is also the highest turnover racing of the entire bookmaking year and there will be fortunes won and lost across the four days of the festival. Willie Mullins is the man to beat with many of the favourites across the Festival and it could be a bloodbath for bookies if they win!

In the Cheltenham Gold Cup, two look particularly appealing at this stage against the likely favourite silviniaco Conti. First, Road to Riches, who has been very impressive so far this season winning two Grade 1 Chases in Ireland and secondly, Smad Place, who is likely to be a tasty price and has finished in the places at the festival in each of the last three years.

JOE CRILLY Press Officer William Hill

AskGamblers aiming to raise standards with Certificate of Trust skGamblers has made what it is describing as ‘another revolutionary step in the world of online gambling’ by creating a Certificate of Trust - an exclusive club to which only the best and the most trusted casinos have access.

While gambling at any online casino, players might run into some problems and when that happens AskGamblers is there to help. Just a few years ago the company started dealing with disputes between players and online casinos as an independent and transparent third party via the unique AskGamblers Casino Complaint Service.

AskGamblers has now introduced a Certificate of Trust which will single out the best quality and most secure online casinos in the industry. Moreover, it will prove

A

42 BettingBusinessInteractive • MARCH 2015

that these carefully chosen casinos are transparent, customer oriented and willing to solve any issues as quickly as possible.

Igor Salindrija, CEO of AskGamblers, explained: “The main idea of this certificate is creating a new standard in the industry to promote truth, honesty and integrity. We try

will be added to their review page.

In order to receive a Certificate of Trust, online casinos need to meet the following criteria: Have CasinoRank Score above 7.5 Have at least 80 per cent solved players’ complaints Have been listed on AskGamblers for at least 6 months Add a special “Complaints” page on their website, so players can easily and directly seek help Add Certificate badge to break away from the trends of Betat Casino and Slotty Vegas the gaming industry and take it to Casino are the first to join AskGamthe next level with each new break- blers circle of trust. By adding the through that we make.” complaints page on their websites, By being accepted in this exclu- these two casinos are urging their sive club, online casinos will players to post complaints publicly become visible on ‘Certified and at the same time letting their Casinos’ page on AskGamblers members know that someone is and the Certificate of Trust badge looking after them.

MONTHLY BRIEFING

MARCH 12 Healy’s iGaming Breakfast Seminar, Healy’s LLP 15-17 Jockey’s Field, London 17-19 iGaming Asia Congress, Grand Hyatt, Macau 17-19 Mobile Gaming & Social Casino Asia 2015, Grand Hyatt, Macau 18-19 Caribbean Gaming Show & Summit, Caribe Hilton, San Juan 18-19 FAJDA Peru 2015, Atlantic City, Lima, Peru 19 EGR Breakfast Briefing: Ahead of the game: How to stay ahead in online casino, Sunborn, Gibraltar 24-26 FER-Interazar 2015, Juan Carlos Exhibition Site, IFEMA, Madrid, Spain 25 iGaming Investor Conference, Morgan Stanley office, New York, USA 30-2 (April) NIGA Indian Gaming 2015, San Diego Convention Center, San Diego, California, USA APRIL 8-9 FADJA Andean Gaming Show 2015, Bogota, Colombia 14-16 iGaming North America 2015, Planet Hollywood, Las Vegas, USA 15-17 7th Annual i-Gaming Forum, Hotel Berns, Stockholm, Sweden 20-22 Social Casino Summit 2015, San Francisco, California, USA 21-23 GiGSE 2015, Hyatt Regency, San Francisco, USA 28-30 2nd Annual Customer Experience Transformation: Gambling Summit, London, UK MAY 5-7 Bingo World 2015, Biloxi, Mississippi, USA 5-7 Southern Gaming Summit 2015, Biloxi, Mississippi, USA 11-13 Sports Betting East Africa, Kampala Serena Hotel, Uganda 13-14 SAGSE 2015 Panama, El Panama Hotel, Panama City, Panama 14 US Online Gaming, New York, USA 19-21 Global Gaming Expo (G2E), The Venetian, Macau, Macao 20-21 ad:tech San Francisco 2015, San Francisco, USA 26-28 Joint EL/WLA Sports Betting Seminar 2015, Sofitel Warsaw Victoria, Warsaw, Poland 27 East Coast Gaming Congress & iGaming Institute, Atlantic City, NJ, USA

AROUND THE WORLD

ODDSLIFE IS YOUR TICKET TO A GLOBAL SOCIAL SPORTS AND GAMING NETWORK

PARTNERS

YOUR SOCIAL SPORTS AND GAMING PARTNER

BB126-p42-45-Agenda_09/10 26/02/2015 15:07 Page 2

GiGse dates confirmed

Agenda

Clarion Gaming’s GiGse conference has returned to its traditional dates on April 21-23, 2015 at the Hyatt Regency in San Francisco, California and is expected to be attended by 700 iGaming professionals from both sides of the Atlantic.

IGAMING NORTH AMERICA IS BEING HELD AT PLANET HOLLYWOOD

Gamevy wins inaugural Pitch ICE contest nline games developer Gamevy has taken the largest share of the public vote to win the inaugural Pitch ICE competition, produced by GamCrowd and Clarion Events. The employee-owned company was judged to be the start-up with the most potential after it received 32 per cent of the 741 votes cast.

Runner-up Bet Trade, the online casino where players compete against each other rather than the house, polled 26 per cent, ahead of innovative content provider Web Tech Games, with 22 per cent.

Gamevy was represented at ICE Totally Gaming 2015 by co-founders Paul Dolman-Darrall and Helen Walton, who pitched the company’s Bornlucky Gameshows mobile and tablet app, which allows players to be the star of their very own gameshow.

Dolman-Darrall commented: “The number and strength of Pitch ICE entries shows just what an achievement it is to win the competition. We received fantastic exposure just from taking part - being announced winner will take this to another level and it endorses the faith we have in the product.”

Gamevy has now gained entry to the GamCrowd Incubator service as winner of Pitch ICE. The program is designed to help start-ups secure investment, fill skills and expertise gaps, and provide valuable introductions to operators in the industry for testing and distribution.

GamCrowd CEO Chris North said: “Gamevy is a model start-up and the deserving winner of Pitch ICE. They have created a great product and developed it, showing that they understand how the industry works. We look forward to working closely alongside Paul, Helen and their team to help take their business forward, with the aim of attracting funding and achieving real success.”

Bb126-agenda-pitchice.jpg

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Lesniak to speak in Vegas on sports betting One of the main drivers behind legalising sports betting will be speaking at next month’s iGaming North America event.

EVENT

iGaming North America has announced that Senator Raymond Lesniak will be speaking at this year’s event.

The New Jersey senator has been at the helm of efforts to legalise sports betting in the Garden State for years.

He will be presenting the “Progress Report - The Legalization of Sports Betting” at the iGaming North America Conference on the 16 April at 3pm.

Senator Lesniak will update attendees on where the effort stands, prospects for success and what to expect, followed by a discussion with other experts in this field.

Moderator Terry Leiweke, managing director for Absolute Sports Info/The Linemakers, commented: “This is a great panel - very diversified, with panelists who have been around all aspects of this issue for quite a while. Their commentary will be very insightful and informative. If you’re interested in the sports betting indus-

i

Silver: The question, right now, is ‘when’ not ‘if’ Americans will be able to bet on the Super Bowl legally Best Marketing Campaign outside of Nevada. And what plays out Operator of the Year in the Third Circuit Court of Appeals Best Social Gaming Operator this spring between the leagues and Best Payments System New Jersey will go a long way in Best Fantasy Sports Provider answering that question.”

Best Platform Supplier The organisers will also be running Best Innovation in North American the inaugural iGaming North America Awards during their upcoming event iGaming in Las Vegas in April.

The 2015 awards will be presented try, you won’t want to miss this unfil- during a special awards lunch taking tered conversation.” place on day three of the iGaming The expert speakers include: North America conference and exhibiSenator Raymond Lesniak, Senator, tion. There will be seven awards in New Jersey; David Purdum, Gaming total, which include categories that Industry Reporter, ESPN; Benjie Cher- are targeted at both the B2B and B2C niak, Managing Director, Don Best sides of the industry.

Sports; Terry Leiweke, Managing Director, Absolute Sports Info/The IGAMING NORTH AMERICA 14-16 April Linemakers (Moderator) David Purdum, gaming industry Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino reporter from ESPN, commented: “I Las Vegas agree with NBA commissioner Adam Nevada, USA THE IGAMING NORTH AMERICA AWARDS CATEGORIES ARE:

Isle of Man | London | Paris | Dublin | Singapore Gibraltar | Guernsey | Malta | Montreal | New Jersey

continent8.com

BettingBusinessInteractive • MARCH 2015 45

BB126-p46-47-Analysis_09/10 27/02/2015 13:40 Page 1

Analysis

Is it tim that neg mobile p Monitoring company SciVisum warns about the use of content delivery networks and the effect they can have on performance. n this month’s SciVisum mobile betting performance analysis we found problems that might be due to the use of content delivery networks (CDNs). Online betting is based upon content that is continually changing, and it appears that some sites are experiencing problems linked to the use of these third party networks.

ACTION IMAGES / JULIAN HERBERT LIVEPIC

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TOP TEN MOBILE JOURNEY CONSISTENCY (SD) 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

(2) Sky Bet - 0.37 (4) Bet Victor - 0.46 (5) Paddy Power - 0.48 (3) BetFred - 0.50 (6) Bet 365 - 0.56 (9) William Hill – 0.88 (7) Ladbrokes – 1.09 (10) Coral 1.74 (8) Stan James – 2.27 (-) Sportingbet – 2.68

Chart supplied by: SciVism. Data for January Working Hours 08:00-23:00

TOP TEN MOBILE JOURNEY AVAILABILITY (%) 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Chart supplied by: SciVism. Data for January Working Hours 08:00-23:00

Bet365 Betfair William Hill Paddy Power Betfred 888sport Stan James Winner Betway BetVictor

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Chart supplied by: Freebets.com. Data for January

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Cheltenham - BetBright Best For Festival Betting Handicap Chase Cheltenham - Dornan Engineering Hurdle Cheltenham - EBF Cheltenham Pony Club Standard Open Cheltenham - BetBright On Mobile Handicap Chase Cheltenham - BetBright Novices’ Chase Cheltenham - BetBright Casino Handicap Hurdle Cheltenham - Steel Plate And Sections Handicap Hurdle Cheltenham - Neptune Investment Management Novices’ Hurdle Cheltenham - freebets.com Trophy Chase (A Handicap) Sandown Park - 32Red Casino Handicap Chase

Chart supplied by: Totepool. Data for January

(1) SportingBet – 120.71 (2) Bet Victor – 140.25 (6) Coral – 144.40 (3) Bet 365 – 149.40 (4) Sky Bet - 171.80 (5) Ladbrokes – 188.29 (7) William Hill – 232.17 (8) Betfair – 277.50 (9) BetFred – 555.80 (10) Stan James – 632.17

Chart supplied by: SciVism. Data for January Working Hours 08:00-23:00

TOP TEN RETAIL BETTING EVENTS

TOP TEN UK HORSERACE POOLS

TOP TEN MONEY BACK BOOKMAKERS 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

(10) Ladbrokes – 99.96 (9) Coral – 99.84 (3) Bet365 - 99.79 (5) Betfair- 99.72 (-) Paddy Power – 99.58 (3) Stan James - 99.58 (4) Bet Victor- 99.54 (6) Sportingbet – 99.10 (7) Totepool – 99.03 (-) William Hill – 98.80

TOP TEN MOBILE AVERAGE JOURNEY - PAGE SIZE (KB)

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Tennis - Australian Open, Melbourne Domestic Football - Chelsea v Man City Darts - PDC World Championships Final, Alexandra Palace Horseracing - Betfred Classic Chase, Warwick Domestic Football - Liverpool v Chelsea, Capital One Cup Horseracing - BetBright Cup Chase, Cheltenham Snooker - The Masters, Alexandra Palace International Cricket - Australia v England, ODI Tri Series Horseracing - Peter Marsh Chase Golf - Abu Dhabi Championship, Abu Dhabi

Chart supplied by: BetVictor. Data for January

THE £10,000,000 COLOSSUS

ALL OTHER BETS ARE LOWER LEAGUE 46 BettingBusinessInteractive • MARCH 2015

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BB126-p46-47-Analysis_09/10 27/02/2015 13:40 Page 2

TOP TEN

SPONSORED BY COLOSSUS BETS

time to disarm CDNs negatively affect ile performance?

During our testing, one site occasionally served content in the wrong language. This can be caused by the local CDN node being out of capacity and temporarily asking a node in another country to serve the data, although there are other possible causes, including glitches in the timing of the delivery of the content.

We’ve seen problems that could be due to the operation of CDNs in previous analysis. Although they are a popular way for websites to improve their performance by adding the bandwidth of the CDN, it’s clear that if their use causes content in the wrong language to be displayed, revenue can be lost and customers alienated.

During our performance monitoring tests, we also saw sites fail to deliver ele-

TOP TEN MOBILE AVERAGE JOURNEY - PAGE DELIVERY TIME (SECS) 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

(1) SportingBet- 0.85 (2) Betfair - 0.88 (3) Sky Bet - 1.03 (5) Bet 365 - 1.49 (6) Bet Victor - 1.56 (10) Coral – 1.85 (7) Ladbrokes - 1.90 (9) Paddy Power - 1.98 (8) Totepool – 2.29 (-) William Hill – 2.53

Chart supplied by: SciVisum. Data for January Working Hours 08:00-23:00

ments of the content, such as “next races” and the horse racing option in the main navigation menu, whilst one site had an intermittent issue with the popup login window that made the stake boxes unavailable. Obviously there are financial consequences when customers are unable to place bets!

These problems can be hard to replicate and

resolve as they typically appear sporadically, and using a website performance monitoring solution like SciVisum is sometimes the only way to identify the issues. The fact that major betting sites are experiencing these issues shows how easily errors that will cause lost revenue can occur, particularly if third party CDNs are used to improve the website performance.

TOP TEN MONEYBACK OFFERS BY VALUE 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Bet365 – Greyhounds: Sky dogs 2/1 Paddy Power – Football: If Arsenal don’t beat Hull Paddy Power – Rugby: If losings 1st tryscorer scores a try anytime Paddy Power – Cricket: If 6 in a final over Paddy Power – Football: If Akinfenwa scores against Liverpool Paddy Power – Football: If Sanchez scores first Paddy Power – Football: Pick your own money back Paddy Power – Tennis: If player wins 1st set and loses match Paddy Power – Football: If RVP scores first Boylesports – Tennis: If Sharapova wins Australian Open

Chart supplied by: Freebets.com . Data for January

GBR - The £10,000,000 Colossus – E13,521,000 SWE - V75 Bergsaker – E9,323,099 ESP - La Quinella – E4,269,472.08 GBR - Classic Pools – E4,056,300 CHI - HDA15 football lottery – E3,391,206 GBR - Millionaire Pick 6 – E2,704,200 GBR - HDA15 Jackpot – E2,704,200 SWE - V86 Solvalla – E2,507,438 SWE - V64 Bollnas – E1,113,832 AUS - Ladbrokes Megafecta – Magic Millions – E694,956

Chart supplied by: Colossus Bets. Calculated by biggest pools/guarantees over a week’s period during the month. One entry per bet type. Data for January

Bet on our easy-to-play weekly pick 7 football game.

RESPONSE TIME (SECS)

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Sky Bet – Racing: If Fav wins 1st race on Channel 4 Bet365 – Greyhounds: Sky dogs 2/1 Coral – Greyhounds: If 2nd by a length or less Paddy Power – Football: If Arsenal don’t beat Hull Paddy Power – Football: If a draw Betfair – Football: Cashback extra Betfair – Rugby: If first conversion missed Boylesports – Snooker: If player loses in final frame decider Betfair – Racing: 3/14 Free Bet Special Titanbet – Tennis: Treble insurance

Chart supplied by: Freebets.com . Data for January

TOP TEN

SPORTS SPREAD MARKETS 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

International Cricket – Australia v India £49,349,904.00 International Cricket – South Africa v West Indies (1st ODI) £45,942,196.24 International Cricket – Australia v India (4th Test) £45,168,562.12 International Cricket – Australia v England £44,871,502.66 International Cricket – South Africa v West Indies (2nd T20) £41,764,092.82 Regional Cricket – Sydney Sixers v Sydney Thunder £41,592,684.46 Regional Cricket – Perth Scorchers v Melbourne Stars £38,668,076.50 Regional Cricket – Melbourne Stars v Perth Scorchers £38,171,232.78 Regional Cricket – Melbourne Renegades v Adelaide Strikers £38,104,864.40 Regional Cricket – Brisbane Heat v Hobart Hurricanes £37,510,593.82

Chart supplied by: Betfair. Data for January

Cash-In profits in full

International Cricket - South Africa v West Indies 3rd Test International Cricket - Australia v India 4th Test International Cricket - New Zealand v Sri Lanka 2nd Test Domestic Football - Tottenham v Chelsea Domestic Football - Man City v Arsenal Domestic Football - Man Utd v Southampton Domestic Football - Chelsea v Liverpool Domestic Football - Everton v West Brom Domestic Football - C Palace v Tottenham Domestic Football - Cambridge Utd v Man Utd

Chart supplied by: Spreadex. Calculated on volume of bets.Data for January

TOP TEN FINANCIAL SPREAD MARKETS 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Germany 30, Daily Wall Street, Daily UK 100, Daily Spot, EUR/USD Spot, GBP/USD Germany 30, Mar UK 100, Mar Wall Street, Mar Brent Crude, Mar SPX 500, Mar

Chart supplied by: Spreadex. Calculated on volume of bets. Data for January

TOP TEN FOOTBALL BETTING WEBSITES 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Bet365 - 19.12% Betfair - 17.98% BetVictor - 11.26% Paddy Power - 8.42% William Hill - 7.92% Coral - 5.97% Sky Bet - 5.87% Ladbrokes - 5.02% Stan James - 3.05% BetFred - 2.83%

Chart supplied by: Oddschecker . Calculated on market share of betslip clicks from Oddschecker.com. Data for January

TOP TEN ONLINE BETTING EVENTS

TOP TEN BETTING EXCHANGE MARKETS 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

(1) Bet365 – 0.79 (2) Betfair Sports – 1.45 (3) BetVictor – 1.59 (4) Totesport – 1.86 (5) Ladbrokes – 1.99 (7) Sky Bet – 2.33 (6) Betclic – 2.76 (-) Jennings Bet – 2.97 (8) Paddy Power – 3.07 (9) Gamebookers – 3.31

Chart supplied by: Gomez. Data for January

TOP TEN MONEYBACK OFFERS BY CHANCE

TOP TEN GLOBAL POOLS 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

How SciVisum monitors performance for Betting Business As previously, the journeys involved randomly selecting a horse race, randomly selecting a runner, adding the runner to the bet slip, checking the runner was present on the slip and ending the journey.

This month’s results have been based on working hours of 08:00 – 23:00 to minimise the impact of planned maintenance.

Number of steps: Varies between 3 – 7 steps per journey, most commonly 5 steps.

Journey Sampling Frequency: Every 300 seconds Journey Availability - the percentage of the time period selected that the journey was available to users.

Error - Error in page content - or error with a vital page component (.js or .css).

ONLINE SPORTSBOOK PERFORMANCE

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Domestic Football - Manchester City v Arsenal Domestic Football - Manchester United v Southampton Domestic Football - Chelsea v Manchester City Domestic Football - Tottenham Hotspur v Chelsea Domestic Football - Everton v West Brom Domestic Football - Chelsea v Liverpool Domestic Football - Arsenal v Stoke City Domestic Football - Liverpool v Chelsea Domestic Football - Cambridge United v Manchester United Domestic Football - Stoke City v Manchester United

Chart supplied by: BetVictor. Data for January

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BettingBusinessInteractive • MARCH 2015 47

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