This expansion in Pennsylvania and West Virginia represents a significant escalation for GAN and FanDuel – which is 61 per cent owned by Paddy Power Betfair – who already work together in New Jersey.

The population of New Jersey is around nine million, while the two additional states combine to a population of nearly 15 million more US residents.

The deal includes FanDuel deploying GAN’s patented technology which allows land-based casino customers in on-property loyalty programs to link existing loyalty cards to online gambling accounts and receive loyalty points in exchange for online gambling.

FanDuel becomes GAN’s second Pennsylvania client after Parx Casino and takes FanDuel online in both new state markets.

The new agreement constitutes a five-year contract term extension on the partners existing deal, beginning in 2019 and ending in 2024.

Dermot Smurfit, CEO of GAN said in a statement: “The contract extension combined with US Patent licensing represents a significant milestone in GAN’s US evolution and reinforces our view that in the heavily regulated US online gambling market, effective and compliant ‘platforms’ are a premium component of the supply chain rather than a commodity.

“GAN is therefore very well placed to capitalise on the growth in US online gambling markets in terms of new operator clients, new states and underlying growth momentum.”

The GAN deal sees FanDuel continue to aggressively expand its interests in the US, capitalising not just on last year’s PASPA take-down but also on the online casino opportunity, so closely linked to the expansion of sports betting stateside.

The post FanDuel and GAN to offer online gambling in two new US states appeared first on CasinoBeats.

Identifying PayPal as a common method of payment for gamblers, the partnership will provide users using the payment service the option to block online gambling transactions via Gamban. 

A statement on Gamban’s website read: “PayPal offering its users the option to block gambling transactions is a welcome addition to the gambling recovery toolkit. 

“As we’ve always said, to give yourself the best chance of successfully overcoming your addiction, you may need more than one tool. 

“Between blocking gambling transactions at your bank and PayPal, blocking online gambling with Gamban, self-excluding yourself with Gamstop and seeking support from GamCare you’ll give yourself the best chance at recovery.”

By entering into the payments blocking agreement with PayPal, Gamban is also further enhancing its presence in the US betting space, which has seen rapid growth since the repeal of PASPA in 2018.

The move also comes as social responsibility takes on heightened focus in the UK, with the review of the Gambling Act and subsequent overhaul of the regulatory framework of gambling in the UK. 

It’s widely touted that new measures implemented in the region will hone in on ensuring that the environment for gambling in the UK is as socially responsible as possible. 

The measures would mark a further restriction on payment methods eligible for gambling in the UK, building on the decision by Betting and Gaming Council member operators to end the use of credit cards. 

Commenting on the significance of the credit card ban and its impact on responsible gambling in the sector, Andrew Rhodes, interim chief executive of the UKGC, stated in a previous update to stakeholders: “Protecting consumers is at the heart of everything we do, we introduced this policy as part of our multifaceted work to reduce gambling harm.”

Furthermore, the development marks the continued expansion of Gamban’s remit, with the firm last year announcing that it would update its self-exclusion system to block user engagements and access with FX, crypto and currency trading platforms.

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Speaking with SBC Americas, Andrew Maclean – Pariplay’s director of sales – said that the agreement with GAN will pave the way for new market entries.

He commented: “After being live in New Jersey for a few months we were excited to announce this expansion into new markets together with GAN and we look forward to introducing our content in more states. 

“The US market presents a massive opportunity for us and we have great plans to explore new states as they open up. We continue to follow developments closely in emerging states such as New York, Florida and California. The deal with GAN is important and highlights the demand for our content in the US.”

When it comes to player preferences, the director of sales pointed out that there has been some similarities between the top performing games in European markets and the US. 

With this in mind, Maclean said that Pariplay plans to push the same content for the European markets across to US players. He added: ”From the player data we have collected so far, we have found that the games that are the most popular in European markets are also the top performing titles in the US. Our strategy is therefore to push the same content we develop for European markets in the US. 

“Our proprietary games portfolio contains over 120 titles and offers a diverse mixture of more classic fruit-slots and titles with innovative features and mechanics. 

“The content is suitable for beginners, as well as advanced players, and land-based connoisseurs will find games that they are familiar with to introduce them to the online experience.”

For Maclean, Pariplay’s Fusion and Ignite platforms will form a key part of the supplier’s long term strategy when it comes to making its full portfolio of content available for US operators. 

“Our long-term plan is to enable our full games portfolio to US operators, including aggregated content on our Fusion and Ignite platforms,” he said. “The Fusion platform features thousands of games from the industry’s leading developers and a suite of back-office conversion and retention tools that enhance player value. 

“Our Ignite program offers independent game providers a flexible turnkey framework to create and deploy content globally through our Fusion aggregation platform. 

“We already have several studios signed up which now develop exclusive content for us which we plan to offer in the US markets as well. This adds another layer to our offering as we can offer content that is not available through other channels.”

Read the full interview here.

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What has been less prominent in the headlines has been the development of the country’s online casino industry, and the suppliers making waves there too. And they’re not all European. Sydney-based Lightning Box have been actively involved in the US land-based and social casino scene for years now, but has recently made a successful transition to online RMG.

CasinoBeats caught up with co-founder and CPO David Little to discuss the Australian company’s unsung success story and how the market is shaping up state-side.

CasinoBeats: You have a long association with the United States, could you fill us in on the background?

David Little: Lightning Box has been active in the US. since our inception in 2004. My co-founder Peter Causley and I know the land-based market very well from our days at Aristocrat and IGT.

Our experiences encouraged us to start developing our own games for those players, and we have enjoyed a productive collaboration with land-based companies like IGT in our early years, and then Incredible Technologies and Everi more recently.

“A mixture of the old and new is always important”

From there, it was a hop, skip, and a jump to social casino. We cemented our position in that sector with a deal with Penn Interactive last year and we also work with High5, who are genuine pioneers in the social space. Online RMG is a natural progression too, particularly after our success in Europe, and puts us on another level as one of the few truly omni-channel suppliers in the US.

CB: Your games have been live in New Jersey since the turn of the year. How have the first six months gone in that market from your perspective?

DL: Very well, I’m pleased to say. We had existing old flash games in the market since NJ opened via Amaya. Our launch of new games was an extension of our existing deal with SG Digital. Their reach got us in front of lots of players early on and they enjoy our games.

Some of our hits, including Chilli Gold, Astro Cat and Panda Pow have gone down particularly well in New Jersey online casinos including Golden Nugget, Borgata, Caesars, Betfair, Mohegan Sun, Resorts Casino and SugarHouse. Part of the reason for that, I’m sure, is their existing success in land based. Players are familiar with the games and are happy to try them now they’re online.

I think that trust is something to bear in mind for operators looking to put together a portfolio. A mixture of the old and new is always important, but you can’t beat content that has proven itself time and time again. 

You’ll find our US land-based games not only in Atlantic City, but Nevada, California and other native and commercial casinos across the USA as well. To date we have 13 games live in New Jersey with more to come over the next six months.

“One of the exciting areas of potential is tribal”

CB: Where next for the market in general and Lightning Box in particular?

DL: New states are either taking the plunge or looking to do so shortly, so I’m sure there will be obvious opportunities coming our way in the coming months. But for me, one of the exciting areas of potential is tribal.

In many states the tribes have been running successful land-based operations for years now. Like the rest of us, however, they are susceptible to both the economy and changing consumer habits. Many have ageing player bases whom they need to replace. With younger generations embracing new technologies it makes sense for them to do so too.

They have a great opportunity with in-venue WiFi or on the reservations to embrace online gaming. Lotteries are in a similar position. We recently did a deal to supply Lotto Quebec with our games over the border in Canada.

Their southern cousins could attract new audiences by doing something similar. When that casino content has already been validated in land-based and social, as Lightning Box’s has, they could earn themselves a very quick win.

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Stressing that “in most cases exceeded our own internal expectations” with regards to Q1 goals and initiatives established at the outset, online gaming platform and content provider Oryx Gaming drew large praise. 

Lauding its $9.2m first quarter revenue, representing an 83 per cent year-on-year increase, customer increases and diversified revenues was also addressed, which sees top five clients account for 49 percent of total incoming, as opposed to 75 per cent from the top two a year earlier.

Regarding Oryx, Mansour went on to explain: “Regulatory developments in Germany around casino licensing have resulted in an extremely favourable position for Oryx. As a result, Oryx is now even better situated to capitalise from the German market, as many of Germany’s casino licensees use the Oryx platform. 

“In the US, the repeal of PASPA last year represents possibly the most exciting development in gaming in the past decade. Oryx’s unique B2B offering means significantly lower cost of entry and reduced risk.”

With nine states current live across the US, many more having regulations in place and expectations suggesting in excess of 30 could be fully regulated by the close of 2020, the US opportunity was addressed further still in Mansour’s correspondence.

Stressing that estimates for market size show a larger offering than the UK within three to four years at $5.7bn, it was added: “This opportunity is going to be big and we’re very well-positioned to benefit from this. 

“From a B2B perspective we have all the ingredients we need – strong modern technology that’s easy to integrate into existing platforms, a strong network and an aggressive approach to succeed. 

“We’re going to need to make an investment into the team to drive the sales pipeline, and potentially partner with others to ensure that our offering is best in market. This is going to move quickly and we’re not going to miss it.”

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Located in the city of Albuquerque, USBookmaking has been detailed as Isleta’s provider on the project, deepening its own roots within the state, after inking a similar such deal with the land of enchantment’s Santa Ana Star Casino and Hotel in October last year, becoming the region’s first sports betting provider in the process.

Vic Salerno, president of USBookmaking, said of the latest moves being made within New Mexico: “We are proud to be selected by Isleta Resort and Casino to provide sports betting services for their casino. We offer outstanding service for our clients, and our selection by Isleta validates the tremendous value that USBookmaking contributes.”

Lauding the US Supreme Court ruling on PASPA as “a victory for those pushing for more gaming options,” Isleta states that the new offering is scheduled to make its grand appearance sometime in late summer.

Harold Baugus, CEO of Isleta Resort and Casino, commented: “We’re very excited to be answering the requests of our guests to bring sports gambling to New Mexico. We look forward to unveiling all of the exciting possibilities to our patrons.” 

New Mexico doubled its sportsbooks last month, when the Pueblo of Pojoaque owned Buffalo Thunder Resort and Casino debuted its offering just in time for the NCAA’s annual March Madness getting underway.

Upon opening its own sportsbook in October, Santa Ana Star Casino and Hotel CEO John Cirrincione, explained why such a step had taken place despite legislature not expressively legalising sports wagering: “The tribal-state compact allows tribal casinos in New Mexico to operate all forms of class III gaming. Sports betting is class III gaming. The Pueblo of Santa Ana is a sovereign nation, with its own laws allowing all forms of class III gaming in its casino.”

Due to the compact, reports indicate that bets will not be permitted on games involving the University of New Mexico or New Mexico State University.

The post Isleta Casino joins New Mexico’s sports wagering scene appeared first on CasinoBeats.

It’s $33.5m gaming win represented a 53 per cent year-on-year increase from $21.9m, helping to boost total gaming revenue to $220.6m, 19.7 per cent up from $184.3m the previous year, from the casino industry in January, which increased further still when encapsulating sports wagering revenue from the Meadowlands and Monmouth Park racetracks to $229.6m, up 24.6 per cent from $184.3m.

The Golden Nugget’s igaming revenues saw a 66.9 per cent surge to £12.1m (2018: $7.2m) to secure market-leading status, ahead of Resorts Digital which saw a 65.8 per cent yoy increase to $6.4m (2018: $3.8m).

Across the board increases in online gaming is in contrast to land-based revenues, which saw Resorts once again become the only long-standing property to post a profit.

Its 8.8 per cent boost from $11.6m to $12.6m helped the overall land-based figure reach $177.2m, representing a 9.2 per cent increase from the 2018 total of $162.3m.

In the midst of the increased competition in the shape of Hard Rock and Ocean Resort, who posted revenues of $15.5m and $12.3m respectively, it’s Caesars that has the unfortunate honour of seeing the largest percentage decrease, dropping 21.3 per cent yoy from $21.7m to $17.1m.

In a traditionally quiet period for the state, New Jersey sportsbook raked in almost $400m in bets during the month, as the region took advantage of the first NFL playoff wagering opportunity since the fall of PASPA in May of last year.

Securing $9.7m in revenues from the sportsbooks of Atlantic City, which rose to $18.7m when encapsulating the aforementioned racetracks, it’s the FanDuel sportsbook at Meadowlands which remained the dominant entity with revenues of $7m.

The DraftKings Sportsbook which operates under the Resorts license swelled its coffers to $6.9m, with Dustin Gouker, lead sports betting analyst for PlayNJ.com, commenting: “Super Bowl betting didn’t quite reach expectations, but there were definitely some positives.

“The NFL Playoffs generated significant action in January, and anecdotal evidence suggests visitation to Atlantic City for the weekend of the Super Bowl was way up. All in all, it was a successful first season of the NFL for New Jersey’s sportsbooks.”

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In addition to the lengthening of its online systems contract, Intralot is to also proceed with the creation of a game tied to the outcome of sporting events.

Set to be the first lottery across the US to authorise such a title to be available through its approximately 1,100 retail terminal network, user are to be enabled to make selections from a wide menu of sporting events made available to them, together with their possible outcomes.

David Barden, New Mexico Lottery’s chief executive officer, explained: “Today we reinforced our strong partnership with our systems vendor, Intralot by extending our contract for another 2 years.  

“We also moved the lottery industry forward as we took the approval from our board to launch a sports lottery game throughout our retail network.

“We are convinced sports lottery games will provide new and exciting experiences for our players, while significantly increasing dollars being transferred to our scholarship fund for student beneficiaries.   

“We are always looking for games that strengthen our lottery brand, by attracting millennials and other new players.  Lottery games of this type are fun to play, and will move us in that direction.”

Via the new agreement Intralot is to deploy and customise its cross-channel sports lottery gaming platform, in addition to the terminal software, for the full New Mexico Lottery suite.

Intralot will also provide its fully managed services related to the game, including risk management and trading services guaranteeing the payout of the game, as well as a series of product and marketing services.

The firm is to also offer dedicated training to all of New Mexico’s retail network and lottery personnel, in addition to related system operation, software maintenance and supporting activities.

Antonios Kerastaris, Intralot CEO, added: “This is a special day for us, not only because we renew our partnership with a great client, but also for breaking ground with a new sports lottery contract, leveraging our extensive experience and our latest technology on sports prognostics, our first such venture in the US in the post-PASPA period.  

“I look forward to the new era bringing in all our lottery modernisation expertise, while extending my sincere thanks the New Mexico Lottery for their trust and continued partnership.”

The post Intralot strengthens US provisions via New Mexico Lottery extension appeared first on CasinoBeats.

Coming in the aftermath of securing record third quarter financial results, Freeman is also president and CEO of the Grocery Manufacturers Association, “the leading representative of the $2.1trn food, beverage and consumer products industry”.

David Lopez, AGS president and chief executive officer, commented: “We are excited to welcome Geoff as a new independent director to the AGS board. Not only does he have a proven track record of effecting significant positive change in our industry, he is a recognised and respected business leader who brings deep strategic, operational and market development experiences that span across multiple industries.

“Geoff is an extraordinary executive and a great cultural fit, who brings a new perspective to our board and will be invaluable to the continued growth and success of AGS.”

During his five year AGA tenure, Freeman led the company a number of successes, including expanding its membership by 200 per cent, leading the firm through the overturning of PASPA, significantly improving relationships between tribal and commercial gaming operators and heading up the ‘Get to Know Gaming’ campaign aimed at focusing on the economic benefits gaming brings.

Freeman added: “I’m honoured to join the AGS board of directors at such an exciting time in the company’s growth journey.

“Having worked closely with David Lopez and the entire AGS leadership team on numerous initiatives, including their annual GameON customer summit, I’m excited to help this passionate, experienced, innovative and intelligent team take the company to the next level.

“I have tremendous respect for the AGS Board, and I look forward to working with them to help AGS continue its momentum.”

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For the year to date, online net revenue was up four per cent year on year, with sports betting up eight per cent and gaming climbing just one per cent.

Retail net revenue fell four percent against the same period, with sportsbook down six per cent and gaming dropping two per cent.

However, William Hill’s existing US business continues to perform strongly in Nevada, with net revenue YTD up 36 per cent (local currency).

On top of this, the company said in a statement that, post PASPA, it had seen around $200m wagered in the states – in Delaware, New Jersey, Mississippi and West Virginia – which is “in line with expectations”.

US prospects continue to counter the mood in the bookie’s home market, with market access secured in 17 states with partnership deals signed with Eldorado Resorts, Golden Entertainment and IGT.

William Hill also reiterated the terms of its proposed £242m acquisition of MRG, which will give its European online gaming business a huge boost should it go through.

The company said that operating profit for the full year is expected to be in the range of £225m to £245m, assuming normalised gross win margins in the remaining period.

Philip Bowcock, CEO, said in the statement: “I’m pleased to report that we’ve built on our market leading position in Nevada to make rapid progress in other states as they legalise sports betting, and are the only company to be taking sports bets in the first five states to have regulated.

“Our goal is to be in every state. Supported by the extensive experience of our existing US business in Nevada, we’re building a network of market access agreements, including our strategic partnership with Eldorado, expanding our relationship with Golden Entertainment and exclusively partnering with IGT for sports lottery opportunities. We’ve opened 18 new sports books and launched our initial mobile offering in New Jersey.”

With reference to the company’s ongoing digital overhaul, Bowcock said: “In our existing markets, Online continues to deliver good underlying KPIs. Our greater mass market focus is successfully driving new accounts growth, up 11 per cent YTD. As expected average revenue per user is 19 per cent lower, reflecting the more sustainable customer base we are building, with mass market actives up 28 per cent YTD.

“Adverse regulatory and tax changes will impact online profit growth in 2018 and 2019, including enhanced customer due diligence processes and an increase in Remote Gaming Duty to 21 per cent.

“The gross effect of these is to reduce profit by £20m in 2018 and a further £25m in 2019. The net effect in 2018 is expected to be lower given the offsetting positive impact of online’s otherwise strong underlying performance, and from 2020 onwards the online business is expected to return to strong operating profit growth.

“We have recently announced the proposed acquisition of MRG for £242m. Our strategy is to build a digitally led, geographically diverse gambling business, and this acquisition will bring us an enlarged pan-European footprint in faster growing digital markets, an established Malta hub from which to expand online internationally and a team with a proven track record of consistently strong revenue growth,” he said.

The CEO also referenced the FOBT stakes reduction that will hit high street bookies hard in the UK “The UK government has stated that the Triennial Review changes will be implemented in October 2019 and we will be ready to meet that deadline, though mitigation benefits are not expected to flow through until 2020,” said Bowcock.

“We are continuing to experience a period of significant change for our industry and have already made important changes over the last two years to transform our digital business, broaden the management team and enhance our financial flexibility ahead of key regulatory changes. The proposed acquisition of Mr Green will accelerate the diversification of William Hill into a more digital and international business.”

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