NetEnt, a leading provider of premium gaming solutions to the world’s most successful online casino operators, has announced that it will be expanding its partnerships with DraftKings that will see it covering the operator’s online casinos in Pennsylvania and West Virginia.
Following the success of their initial collaboration in New Jersey which went live in August of last year, the parties will now team up in at least two more states.
In terms of the expanded agreement, NetEnt will launch its games with DraftKings in Pennsylvania in the near future and will also roll out content in West Virginia. The two have revealed that they will also endeavor to cooperate in new jurisdictions.
Brian Kraft, NetEnt Vice-President Commercial, Americas, commented that DraftKings’ size and market presence make this launch one of the most significant to date.
Kraft went on to say that they are proud to expand their relationship with such a well-known operator and look forward to continuing the success that they have achieved together so far.
He also said that they are thrilled to have such a renowned operator on board as they enter new jurisdictions.
NetEnt has made a fantastic start to its US operations after launching in New Jersey and Pennsylvania last year. Q2 2020 figures published in July revealed that the US now accounts for 10% of group GGR, with New Jersey’s contribution up 148% year-on-year and Pennsylvania revenue doubling quarter-over-quarter.
NetEnt obtained a license to operate in Pennsylvania in March of last year and launched its games in July 2019 with initial partners Penn National Gaming and Parx Casino.
Real-time esports data and A1-powered statistics provider PandaScore has successfully completed a €5 million funding round, led by a subsidiary of French gaming giant La Francaise des Jeux (FDJ) venture capital fund ‘V13 Invest’.
The cash injection will be used by the Paris-headquartered startup in order to increase its team in Malta and France and boost its product portfolio by delivering new data-led innovations for all wagering stakeholders that includes bookmakers, risk management, platform providers, traders and marketing.
Product design and gamification expert Flavien Guillocheau launched PandaScore in 2015 in an endeavor to optimize esports odds and match-feeds through real-time A1-powered APIs.
Guillocheau commented that providing game-changing data for bookmakers is their way to fuel the growth of esports. He went added that when bookmakers can offer great esports betting it also helps in raising sponsorships for teams and tournaments.
This year has seen PandaScore boosting its commercial capacity considerably by securing new betting clients such as tier-1 LATAM sportsbook BetCris and LeoVegas AB’s challenger brand Pixelbet.
In addition to betting, PandaScore data has powered esports fantasy sports operator Sleeper and ‘all-in-one’ esports results app Strafe.
Olivier Martret, the Principal at Paris-based VC fund Serena, participated in the funding round and backed PandaScore’s proven credentials and growth plans.
Martret stated that with Francaise des Jeux, they are convinced that PandaScore’s tech is a key asset for bookmakers, enabling them to gain new market shares and more efficient and reliable services.
PandaScore is aiming to make use of its new funding in order to expand its teams in Malta and Paris, as well as to optimize its coverage of new esports titles.
Ladbrokes and Coral owner, GVC Group, has announced that it has agreed to acquire Portuguese-facing online operator, Bet.pt in an endeavor to enhance its business across the Iberian Peninsula.
Bet.pt was one of the first entrants to the Portuguese regulated market, obtaining its sports betting license in 2016 and is casino license in 2017.
According to GVC, Bet.pt is one of the prime online operators in Portugal, with a distinct emphasis on sports-betting.
A spokesperson for GVC commented that by leveraging their technology, extensive portfolio of gaming content, marketing and CRM capabilities, as well as growing the sports offering, they see plenty of opportunities to grow its profitability and market position.
Shay Segev, the Chief Executive Officer at GVC, added that this acquisition is consistent with their strategy of expanding into new markets that are either regulated or regulating, in order to support their international growth ambitions.
Segev went on to say that while the risk of further restrictions as a result of COVID-19 mean that they remain captious on the short-term outlook, in the longer term they are confident of being able to continue delivering sustainable growth for all their stakeholders.
SRIJ’s fIgures revealed that in 2020, a new record for H1 gross gaming revenue (GGR) during the period of lockdown in the nation, with operators bringing in revenue of €138.9m, up 44.2% year-on-year.
After obtaining its license from local gambling regulator SRIJ (The Portuguese Gambling Regulator) Bet.pt launched in Portugal in 2016 through a partnership with sports-book platform provider SBTech.
Casinos in Illinois earned an amount of $7.2m in revenue in August – up 99.6% from July, with players staking $140.1m – up 166.7%, with Rush Street Entertainment continuing to lead the way,
The vast majority of handle, at $124.0m, was made up of online wagers – up 155% from July with bookmakers making $6.0m online from this handle – up 80.6%. The remaining $1.2m was made through retail sportsbooks – over 5 times the revenue posted for the channel in July.
Rush Street Entertainment and its Kambi-powered sportsbook was the first to launch in the state of Illinois and carried on dominating the market that accounts for $6.3m of total revenue – up 88.5% month over month. This came on amounts wagered totaling $117.9m – up 127.8%.
Following Rush Street Entertainment was DraftKings’ sportsbook at Casino Queen in East St Louis, bringing in $657,000 in its first month of activity on handle of $14.1m while Penn National’s Argosy Casino Alton saw revenue increase five-fold to $222,000 on wagers worth $2.7m.
A further amount of $24,000 was taken in by Penn National through its sportsbook at Hollywood Casino Joliet and $27,000 at Hollywood Casino Aurora.
William Hill, which accepted a takeover offer from Caesars Entertainment this month, took in an amount of $42,000 from Elgin Riverboat Resort.
An amount of $1.2m in tax from these wagers was brought in by the state – up 100.8%, making $982,000 from online bets and $195,000m from those placed in person.
Only Rush Street and DraftKings offered an online option during August. Rush Street brought in revenue of $9,1m online and DraftKings $747,000.
An amount of $69.2m was staked on bets on final match results, classed as ‘Tier 1 bets’ in Illinois – up 130.5%. Bets on outcomes such as prop bets or over/unders, classed as ‘Tier 2 bets” saw stakes of $70.9m – up 215.1%.
A huge amount of bets were placed on professional sports, which saw $139.6m staked with a further $114.000 staked on college sports and $302,000 on motor racing.
Gaming Innovation Group (GIG), an Oslo-listed international internet gaming company that focuses on Cloud services, live betting and casinos has entered into a long-term agreement with Slotbox Limited that will see it provide its GiG’s iGaming platform (PAM), omni-channel solution and front-end development to launch their new online casino.
The new site is scheduled to launch before the end of this year under the Slotbox brand and will give online and retail customers a single point of registration, as well as a shared wallet and loyalty program.
Slotland was founded by Dublin-based Coastline Gaming, the leading Gaming and Casino Operator in Ireland, and operates eight locations across the country.
The agreement between the parties is based on a combination of fixed fees and revenue share structure and is expected to make a positive contribution to GIG’s revenues from 2021 onwards.
John Doyle, Head of Marketing at Slotbox, commented that Slotbox is founded by a team with extensive experience in the gaming industry and has strong retail operations in Ireland.
Doyle also said that at Slotbox, they are focused on building loyalty and value with their customers through a combination of excellent digital products, operational excellence, technological leadership and great service. He added that with their customer-first approach, they became Ireland’s most popular casino chain and look forward to continuing to innovate and build on that success with GIG.
Richard Brown, Chief Executive Officer of GIG said that partnering with Slotbox, who has extensive experience and presence across the Irish retail casino gaming market, provides a great opportunity to both parties.
Brown added that they look forward to delivering their online solution and omni-channel experience to their customers.