Representing the first time a US sports media organisation’s brand is serving as the face of a real money sportsbook, the entity is to replace the Betstars New Jersey portal and will sit alongside PokerStars and PokerStars Casino, which will remain available without change.

The commercial agreement is scheduled to be in place for up to 25 years, with Fox Sports having acquired a 4.99 per cent stake in Stars for in the region of $236m. 

Under the terms of the partnership, Fox Sports has the right to acquire up to a 50 per cent equity stake in Stars’ US business up until the tenth anniversary of the commercial agreement, subject to approvals.

Fox Bet is “designed to immerse fans in New Jersey,” combining sports wagering opportunities with sports content, instant scores, stats, alerts and odds updates as well as up-to-the-minute news, insight and commentary from its team of broadcasters and analysts.

Several Fox Sports on-air personalities are featured on Fox Bet, including First things First analysts Cris Carter and Nick Wright, Lock It In experts Cousin Sal, Todd Fuhrman, Clay Travis and host Rachel Bonnetta, host of The Herd Colin Cowherd and Fox NFL kick-off host Charissa Thompson.

“If you’re a sports fan in New Jersey, Fox Bet is a game changer,” noted Robin Chhabra, chief executive officer of Fox Bet. “Fox Bet combines decades of expertise in content-rich programming and regulated online gaming to drive a superior, integrated and interactive live viewing experience for our customers found nowhere else in the United States.”

The Stars Group is expected to break even in 2022 on Fox Bet, with $40m invested this year, including $10m licensing fees in each of New Jersey and Pennsylvania, where launch is said to be imminent pending regulatory approvals. 

Rafi Ashkenazi, chief executive officer of The Stars Group, said at the time of the agreement being first announced: “We believe this strategic partnership uniquely positions us to build a leading betting business in the US, which represents one of the most exciting long-term growth opportunities for our company.

“Leveraging our proven media partnership strategy with Sky Sports in the UK, we are excited to partner with Fox Sports to integrate wagering into sports media and drive customer acquisition and retention in the US.”

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Licensed organisations within the country are forbidden for allowing betting on events where players are predominantly under the age of 18, as it’s believed it could heighten the direct danger of minors being exposed to attempts to manipulate sporting results.

Considering the violations to be serious, the eight organisations have each been handed a warning and a variety of penalty fees for the breaches by the Spelinspektionen.

Hillside, the operator of bet365, and The Stars Group interactive, licensed for the PokerStars, PokerStars Casino, Full Tilt and BetStars entities, were each handed a SEK 10m (£850,000) penalty, for offering odds on five and two football matches respectively.

Flutter Entertainment’s Betfair International and ElectraWorks, licensed to operate bwin.se, were guilty of one and three breachers respectively which resulted in each being handed a penalty of SEK 5.5m (£467,500).

Gaming Innovation Group subsidiary Zecure Gaming, which has announced its intention to appeal, and Casinostugan saw their breaches result in a SEK 3.5m (£300,000) penalty, with Bethard Group, licensed to operate 19 sites in Sweden, being handed a SEK 2.5m (£212,500) fee for its two actions and Coolbet’s operator Polar penalised SEK 700,000 (£60,000).

The Spelinspektionen also notes that each company involved have taken various measures to ensure that future betting takes place according to the law, which wouldn’t permit betting on under-19 and under-21 games.

Responding to the decision GiG stated that although an under-17 game was offered online no bets were taken, commenting: “GiG intends to appeal the sanction. The company does not agree with SGA’s assessment and conclusion as the presentation of an event cannot be considered the same as accepting bets on U18 games for the purposes of both determining the infringement and the quantum.

“GiG has taken the necessary measures to ensure that all games presented on the sites to end users in Sweden are in line with SGA’s requirements and interpretation.”

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Titled Stars Affiliate Club, it is designed to support the Stars Group’s PokerStars entity, in addition to its igaming operation PokerStars Casino and leading online betting and gaming brands Full Tilt, BetStars and Sky Bet by Stars in Italy.

By utilising the service, it will allow affiliate partners access to a single resource to simultaneously promote multiple brands, and leverage the support of the Stars Affiliate Club team.

As a result of the partnership, Income Access is to supply affiliate marketing software, equipped with multi-channel tracking and reporting technology, to an array of partners across the regulated igaming space.

Jason Prasad, department head of affiliates at The Stars Group, said of the new agreement: “We believe Stars Affiliate Club is the first programme of its kind in the industry. The affiliate team here has worked closely with our partners on this for some time, and we’re really excited to see it in action. It’s a big step forward in our goal to become the number one affiliate programme worldwide.”

Affiliate partners of Stars’ offering are to utilise an array of features from the Income Access platform, such as reporting tracking features that are designed to aid in the enhancement of acquisition and retention initiatives.

Furthermore, a selection of tools are to enable the effective promotion of corresponding brands, complementing Stars Affiliate Club’s existing suite of online marketing and monitoring technologies.

Tara Wilson, SVP and general manager at Income Access, commented: “Partnering with The Stars Group, one of the gaming industry’s most respected leaders in quality entertainment and social responsibility, represents a landmark occasion for Income Access.

“Through this mutually beneficial relationship, we will further solidify our position as the leading provider of strategic solutions for the industry’s top brands.”

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Inking its previous deal under its BetStars brand, the new agreement comes concerning its majority owned Australian BetEasy entity, which has secured the honour of becoming the first official wagering partner of the NBA in the nation.

Under the terms of the deal, BetEasy is to have the right use NBA assets across its marketing materials, in addition to having its products promoted directly to NBA fans in the country.

Furthermore, the company is to also become the presenting partner of ‘NBA Pick‘Em: Weekly 6’, a free-to-play game where fans can win prizes for predicting NBA games, which is pencilled in to launch in Australia later this year.

The partnership will be promoted throughout Australia on BetEasy assets and the NBA’s online platforms, including the league’s official local destination, the NBA App and the NBA’s localised Facebook and Twitter accounts.

BetEasy will use official NBA betting data, as well as working closely with the NBA to protect the game’s integrity and promote responsible wagering.

Scott Levy, executive vice president and managing director of NBA Asia, explained: “As we continue to explore international opportunities in the sports betting space, we are thrilled to extend our partnership with The Stars Group to include BetEasy in Australia.

“Australia has set the standard for cooperation between leagues and sports betting operators, and we are excited to leverage the local and global expertise of BetEasy, to create the best possible gaming experience for our passionate NBA fans in Australia.”

Launched in August of last year, BetEasy’s founding followed Australia-based CrownBet’s acquisition of, and integration with, William Hill Australia.

“Basketball is the most-popular and fastest-growing sport for Australian wagering customers, and our partnership with the NBA will allow us to offer the best NBA betting experience for our customers,” commented Matt Tripp, BetEasy CEO.

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As a result, MuchBetter is now available as an option to The Stars Group’s millions of active customers in selected markets and on selected brands, through its payment app, which is available for download via both iOS and Android devices.

Amongst The Stars Group brands set to see the benefit of the new deal, are PokerStars, PokerStars Casino, BetStars, and Full Tilt.

In a media release regarding the agreement, MuchBetter details that it is to now provide Stars Group customers “with an e-wallet that protects their information through device pairing, touch ID, dynamic security codes and a transaction review system that ensures only legitimate payments are approved to be processed.

“The modern payment service was engineered to comply with the recent and evolving regulatory environment for online gaming providers, and features a transparent approach to data and use of open APIs – which allows operators to develop on top of MuchBetter’s platform.

“MuchBetter also provides business partners with features such as dynamic customer authentication, innovative pricing that can reduce payment processing fees, instant pay-outs, anti-fraud features and competitive fees.

“With extensive gaming industry expertise across the MuchBetter team, its payments service has been customised specifically for The Stars Group brands, and its diverse customer base.”

Jens Bader, co-founder of MuchBetter, added: “MuchBetter’s business model is to challenge the legacy igaming payments companies, by providing an agile alternative that puts the user experience first.

“Our goal is simple – to provide The Stars Group with the best possible payments service, and to introduce users to our MuchBetter product.”

This news comes a short time after the BetStars brand launched in the New Jersey market, via its partnership with Atlantic City’s Resorts Casino Hotel.

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Initially available through mobile, and providing customers with “an innovative and robust mobile-led sportsbook,” BetStars is to complement the group’s existing poker and casino offerings through PokerStarsNJ and PokerStarsCasinoNJ.

As part of the launch, a series of player focused promotions are to be featured by BetStars, aimed at introducing new customers to BetStars, including a sign-up bonus and “odds boosts”, which multiply the odds and the potential payout to customers.

Matt Primeaux, SVP strategy & operations of the USA at The Stars Group, explained: “We are excited to introduce BetStars to New Jersey sports fans. As one of the largest online gaming companies in the world with millions of customers worldwide, we have successfully launched BetStars in regulated markets across Europe, and look forward to expanding and enhancing our New Jersey BetStars offering, including through leveraging the Sky Betting & Gaming acquisition following approval from the UK Competition and Markets Authority, to provide a premier product and experience to our customers in this new and developing market.”

This new launch follows updates of a Pokerstars and BetStars collaboration for The Big Race, a motorsports themed $2 buy-in online poker tournament offering players the chance to win a plethora of prizes.

The Big Race tournament will take place on Sunday 23 September at 14:00 ET, and will randomly assign the top 20-placed players with a driver in the Russian Grand Prix on September 30.

The player with the winning driver will receive an EPT Prague package worth approximately €7,200, including eight nights’ accommodation at the Hilton Prague Hotel, a Main Event seat worth €5,300 and approximately €500 spending money.

In addition to the first prize package and players’ shares of the prize pool, the top 500 finishers in The Big Race will be awarded up to $2,500 worth of free BetStars bets in total, ranging from $2 to $50, awarded as follows:

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The Mohegan Sun property’s sportsbook is now open to the public, following the long-term goal of establishing a sports betting scene within the Garden State becoming a reality on June 11.

Featuring six betting windows and an interactive lounge area, Resorts promises that its sportsbook will act as a temporary sports betting location, with a larger, permanent sportsbook opening in the near future.     

Mark Giannantonio, president and chief executive officer of Resorts Casino Hotel, explained: “As the birthplace of casino gaming in New Jersey, Resorts Casino Hotel is thrilled our state has authorised legal sports betting as this marks a great advancement for the gaming industry.

“The opening of our new sports book will set a precedent for sports betting in Atlantic City, offering an elevated gaming experience for our loyal guests. We are proud to introduce the accessibility of an on-property sportsbook, further strengthening Resorts as the place to experience New Jersey’s best-in-class gaming.”

Partnering with DraftKings “to launch the first-ever online sports betting platform in New Jersey,” Resorts also forged an extension of its partnership with The Stars Group to add mobile and online sports betting through its BetStars brand.

Resorts also details that it is to launch a third sports betting option on ResortsCasino.com later in the year via an alliance with SBTech, which it states “ will fulfil Resorts’ third and final online skin, making it the only casino in Atlantic City with online and on-property sports betting”.

New Jersey’s sports betting scene brought in revenues of $3.8m during the month of july, aligning to overall revenues of $7.2m since the Borgata and Monmouth Park Racetrack became to first to commence operations within the state on June 14.

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Relating to the period ending June 30, real-money online poker, gaming and betting revenues represented 52.7 per cent, 24.8 per cent, and 19.7 per cent of total revenues for the quarter, respectively.

Poker revenues for the period came in at $217m (£170m), a 6.9 per cent boost, primarily driven by its Star Rewards loyalty program, foreign exchange fluctuations and shared poke liquidity in Portugal.

Gaming revenues increased 26.3 per cent to $101.9m (£79.8m), driven by product and content improvement to PokerStars Casino, while betting revenues jumped significantly to $19.6m (£15.3m).

The 122.2 per cent year on year rise aligned to increased wagering activity due to product and content improvements to BetStars, the launch of BetStars in new markets and the 2018 FIFA World Cup.

During the quarter the group also announced the completion of its $4.7bn (£3.68bn) purchase of Sky Betting and Gaming, in addition to increasing its equity interest in CrownBet from 62 per cent to 80 per cent, who then acquired William Hill Australia.

Rafi Ashkenazi, The Stars Group’s chief executive officer, commented: “The Stars Group’s quarterly results reflect both continued organic growth within our International business and the contributions of our Australian acquisitions.

“We continued enhancing our products and user experience across all verticals and executing on our cross-selling strategy.

“The continued emergence of our sports betting and casino offerings and the addition of our 2018 acquisitions have transformed our business and greatly enhanced the foundation and diversity of our consolidated revenue base, which will now be nearly equally split among verticals and roughly 75% locally regulated or taxed.

“We are now focused on the next stage of our transformation – integration.

“While this will be a phased and measured process, we expect that it will prepare us to not only be a leader within the world’s largest regulated markets but to also leverage the strength of our combined platform to take advantage of new opportunities and markets.”

The group also issued an update to its full year guidance to reflect partial contributions from its recent acquisitions, and subsequent changes in capital structure:

• Revenues of between $1.995 and $2.145 billion, as compared to between $1.390 and $1.470 billion.
• Adjusted EBITDA of between $755 and $810 million, as compared to between $625 and $650 million.
• Adjusted Net Earnings of between $485 and $545 million, as compared to between $487 and $512 million.
• Adjusted Diluted Net Earnings per Share of between $1.99 and $2.22, as compared to between $2.33 and $2.471.
• Capital Expenditures of between $110 million and $150 million.

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In the three months to March 31, online poker accounted for 62.6 per cent of revenue while combined casino and sports betting revenues amounted to 34.2 per cent of revenue for the quarter.

Poker revenues in Q1 were US$245.9m, a 12.4 per cent year-on-year rise, primarily driven up by the Stars Rewards loyalty programme, foreign exchange fluctuations and the launch of shared poker liquidity in France and Spain.

Real-money online casino and sportsbook combined revenues for the period were $134.5m, up around 55 per cent year on year, with a fifth coming from sports betting.

The climb in casino and sportsbook revenue was predominantly driven by continued improvements in the group’s casino and sportsbook product offerings, positive impacts of foreign exchange fluctuations and the addition of revenue related to the CrownBet acquisition.

Rafi Ashkenazi, CEO of The Stars Group, said the strong results continued the company’s “organic growth trajectory”.

“We are pleased with the performance of each of our verticals, poker, casino and sportsbook, which are benefiting not only from the continued success of Stars Rewards, but also from our strategy of focusing on the customer and continued improvements to our product offerings,” he said.

“Moving forward, the exceptional foundation of our existing business will be complemented by our acquisitions of CrownBet and William Hill Australia, and expected completion of the Sky Betting and Gaming acquisition.

“These acquisitions will help diversify our revenue base, increase our exposure to regulated markets and transform our combined sportsbook into a second customer acquisition channel,” continued Ashkenazi.

“These new additions will accelerate not only the organic growth we are seeing in our existing business but also our progress towards realising our vision of becoming the world’s favourite igaming destination.”

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The sales of ordinary shares, totalling approximately 7.5%, in Jackpotjoy for $59.5, takes its total net cash profits in 2017 to over the $100m mark.

This sale follows the $26.3m sale of 13.7% of shares in NYX Gaming Group, and the $16.1 sale of 40.45% of shares in Innova Gaming Group.

Zenno Ossko, Managing Director of Betstars, has been speaking to Casino Beats about the sales, and said: “The successful sale of these legacy non-core investments is another step in our efforts to focus on our strategic business objectives.

“The proceeds from our recent divestiture efforts provide us with additional financial capacity and flexibility to continue to execute on our organic and external growth initiatives.”

The Stars Group has also announced that BetStars, its sports betting site, is to enter the Czech market, following Pokerstars into the European nation.

Becoming the first international betting operator to service the newly regulated online gambling market, Betstars follows the flagship brand, who in January of this year became the first online poker and casino operator to be granted a license in the country.

Ossko added: “This is a great opportunity for BetStars in the Czech Republic and we will be able to provide players with a Stars experience which local players can’t do.

“The Czech Republic is a sizeable market and regulated markets are at the core of our strategy.”

BetStars.cz is to be available across desktop, web and mobile devices on Android and iOS, and will give players access to over 20 sports and specialist betting options.

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