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EMIRAT AG on breathing new life into lotteries

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Ralph Clemens Martin, CEO of EMIRAT AG
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As the industry focuses on the impact of European regulatory updates following a series of hefty fines in 2018, Ralph Clemens Martin, CEO of EMIRAT AG, which is recognised as the leading specialist for removing financial risk for jackpot winners, describes the importance of confidence and trust in operators, how the sector doesn’t rely on addiction and why lotteries just aren’t a young people’s game.

As a global provider of financial security for lotteries across the world, what steps are you implementing to protect operators and customers at this time?

We are probably the most serious and reliable provider of Jackpot security/insurance. Last year we covered more than €300bn in Jackpots risks and more than 10 years experience without any complaints, we are trustworthy experts in the lottery industry.
We make it simple for our operators. Firstly, out contracts are straight forward and we have no small print and secondly, our security is watertight and we ensure our people are the best experts in the market.
With regards to customer data, how operators protect this is a key asset to becoming successful. Our business is just security of financial risks and we strive to making working with us easy, safe and fair. It makes no sense to offer the cheapest premium in he market and make problems if it comes to a winner – or even find something in the small prints to hold the payout back. This will kill the operator, brings state official and regulators on the plan and makes problem to the whole industry worldwide.

How do you keep what is an analogue form of gaming entertainment relevant in a digital world?

In terms of lotteries a lot of companies have really good websites and to play the lottery these have to be easy and fast. To go to a kiosk to fill out a ticket is not convenient – to play fast on your mobile device is much easier so don’t make it too complicated for the customer!
The key is confidence and trust in a product. An analogue draw makes state lotteries trustworthy, whereas the perceived ability to cheat the customer or make it difficult to collect winnings creates problems for the digital industry. There are always black sheep on the field when it comes to earning money and becoming greedy and this has held the digital side of lotteries back, however, as we stated there’s a lot of potential with mobile and online. Fairness, a well created website with easy to play and big winnings/jackpots are the key to running a successful digital platform for lotteries with loyal customers. Oh, and a certified RNG provider is pretty important too.

With so many lotteries out there, do you feel the market is oversaturated or is the customer demand growing alongside the industry?

No. There is still a big potential to come up with additional lotteries. Lottery customers may wish to play a new game each day and mobile/online can provide this. In our eyes there is still a great potential for lotteries globally and we would love to do more in Eastern Europe, Africa, Australia and the Middle East. Asia is also a big market. Our customers/operators come from all parts of the world so in addition to Israel it is the European Islands like Malta, Gibraltar, Isle of Man, etc. which provide licenses for operators and EMIRAT AG provides the jackpot security. However we also help states and state lotteries to create new games or even start a lottery for this growing customer demand both online and analogue.

EMIRAT AG also develops new lottery games, what’s the key to making a new product stand out?

Lottery games have a vastly different approach to sports betting or casino games as they are not based on the excitement of gambling or the adrenalin rush of placing a bet. Lotteries do not rely on addicted players who spend all their money within a few hours – they rely on satisfied customers who just love the chance once or twice a week or once a day. The games are created for people who are taking the chance to make a big lifetime-changing winning and therefore a lottery needs to have big jackpots to be outstanding.
The big brands are the state lotteries as it’s difficult to create your own lottery, so most of the online or alternative lotteries function by placing a bet on these big, trustworthy and well established brands. That’s where EMIRAT AG comes in as online or alternative lotteries need companies like us to cover/insure the big jackpots, because they can’t sell as many tickets to cover or build the jackpots as the state brands do.

In addition to new technology, where do you see the opportunities for operators to better target young players?

Sorry, but lotteries are not created for young players. Yes you can target it with a cool looking website but the target group will be over 40. Only when it comes to Mega Jackpots with hundreds of millions to win or even over a billion, will young players join a lottery website – but even then, they just won’t last.
From our perspective as the world’s leading risk management specialist in covering lottery jackpots, it’s better to spend money on the real target group of the over 40s. With technology, 60-year-old players aren’t too affected by the web today and most will still buy tickets at a booth, but 30-year-old prospective customers are getting closer to that target group and so the internet and beyond hold a great deal more potential going forward. At this time the greatest opportunity is to create data about your future target group in preparation that they will start playing sooner or later.

And again, as always with lotteries, big Jackpots are key.

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The Nomination Committee’s Proposal of Catena Media’s Board of Directors at the Annual General Meeting 2024

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The Nomination Committee’s Proposal of Catena Media’s Board of Directors at the Annual General Meeting 2024
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The Nomination Committee of Catena Media proposed re-election of the following members of the Board of Directors:

Øystein Engebretsen

Theodore Bergquist

Adam Krejcik

Sean Hurley

The Nomination Committee proposed that Erik Flinck and Dan Castillo be elected as new members of the Board of Directors.

Göran Blomberg, Esther Teixeira-Boucher and Austin Malcomb have declined re-election as board members.

The Nomination Committee proposed that there will be six (6) members of the Board of Directors, changed from seven (7).

The Nomination Committee also proposed Erik Flinck to be elected as Chairman of the Board of Directors.

Erik Flinck, born in 1980, currently provides high end business consulting combined with serving as Chairman for the digital health startup, dr HUD. Mr Flinck previously served as Head of BCG Sweden and has extensive experience from corporate management, growth and turnarounds from nearly 20 years of Management Consulting and serving as Head of Group Strategy and M&A at Sandvik AB. He has a Masters Degree in Engineering (Software development and Financial Mathematics) from the Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm and a Masters Degree in Business and Administration from Stockholm University and Stockholm School of Business.

Born in 1980, Dan Castillo has accumulated over 20 years of experience across startups, growth companies and turnarounds. Since 2015, Castillo has invested in Catena Media, maintaining a close watch on its progression, especially after its IPO in 2016. He has previous experience of listed board work in Kotipizza which Orkla acquired in 2018. He currently serves on the boards of five companies in different sectors, including Quartr.com in Fintech and Hope Studios in movie production. His academic background includes studies in Finance and Economics at Linköping University.

The Nomination Committee of Catena Media consists of:

Nicklas Paulson, representing Investment AB Öresund (chair of the nomination committee)

Marianne Stenberg, representing Second Swedish National Pension Fund

Martin Zetterlund, representing Niklas Karlsson

Göran Blomberg, chairman of the board of Catena Media.

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IGT Announces Executive and Board Leadership Changes

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IGT Announces Executive and Board Leadership Changes
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International Game Technology PLC (IGT) announced that on March 21, 2024, its Board of Directors implemented changes to the Company’s Board and executive team.

Marco Drago announced that he will step down from his role as a non-executive director of the IGT Board of Directors. He will carry out his remaining term and depart from the Board at the conclusion of the Company’s Annual General Meeting (AGM) on May 14, 2024.

Enrico Drago has been appointed by the IGT Board of Directors as a non-executive director of the IGT Board. In addition, Enrico Drago will resign from his current role of CEO of IGT PlayDigital, and Gil Rotem, who is currently IGT PlayDigital President of iGaming, will expand his role to become IGT PlayDigital President and report directly to Vince Sadusky, CEO of IGT. These changes will be effective April 1, 2024. Enrico Drago will continue in his role as vice chairman of De Agostini S.p.A.

“As Marco Drago prepares to step down from his position on the IGT Board of Directors, I’d like to thank him for his many years of service and his unwavering commitment to driving results and creating value for all IGT stakeholders. Enrico Drago joining the Board and leaving his executive leadership position at IGT is a natural evolution that supports the Company’s vision for its next era of growth and transformation. Enrico’s value-creation mindset and understanding of global growth opportunities will enhance the Board and align with IGT’s strategic priorities,” said Marco Sala, IGT Executive Chair of the Board.

“Watching and guiding IGT through its evolution from a collection of companies that started with Lottomatica and GTECH grow into a unified global gaming leader has been very gratifying. We have been fortunate to have a great group of board members and business unit leaders that have helped drive IGT’s growth during this time. I thank them for their contributions and am certain that IGT is positioned for continued growth as we go forward with the bold initiatives we have undertaken,” said Marco Drago, IGT Non-Executive Director.

“Over the last five-plus years, IGT PlayDigital has established leadership positions in the global iGaming and North American sports betting sectors that will be foundational to the Company’s future successes. I thank the entire IGT PlayDigital team for all that we have accomplished in this time, and I look forward to supporting IGT in a new capacity and further helping the Company define its vision and strategy,” said Enrico Drago, CEO of IGT PlayDigital.

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Bidstack Executive Team Acquires Bidstack Limited and all its Subsidiaries

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Bidstack Executive Team Acquires Bidstack Limited and all its Subsidiaries
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The executive team of Bidstack has acquired Bidstack Limited and all the operating entities of the Group, from the administrators of Bidstack Group PLC. The deal sees James Draper, Founder & CEO, and the executive team of Bidstack Ltd become significant majority shareholders.

All contracts and client relationships will continue within the new ownership structure – safeguarding jobs for the UK and European-based staff.

Bidstack, the multi award-winning in-game middleware technology provider that initially set about bringing programmatic advertising revenue to the most renowned sports gaming franchises in the world, has diversified into a broader offering, taking advantage of the most advanced off-engine content management system in gaming.

Following the announcement of a partnership with the Washington Commanders, where the NFL franchise became the first-ever sports team to utilise a platform to control advertising within their virtual stadium, across official NFL games, from multiple studios and developers, the management team has been focusing on sports rights holders as a key customer type.

The executive team has the support of the world’s leading rights-holder professionals in the sports industry. It will continue to execute from its position as the leading technology for the sports industry, for fan engagement and brand activations, in video games.

The executive management consists of James Draper continuing as Chief Executive Officer, with Lisa Hau stepping up to Chief Financial Officer, Dave Garvey continuing as Chief Legal Officer, Will Stewart moving to Chief Product Officer and Daniel Barrigas to Chief Technology Officer.

James Draper, Bidstack’s Founder & CEO, said: “The acquisition is a pivotal moment for the next phase of growth for the business. Our technology is at the forefront of sports technology, and I couldn’t be more excited. I am proud that we are able to reward our ambitious and industry-pioneering team and have them as shareholders alongside myself.”

“I want to thank the staff and customers for standing by us during this strategic review, which has obviously been an uncertain period. For all of our customers to have stood strong alongside us is testament to the relationships we’ve built over the years, as well as the incredible staff we have here who have fostered those connections.

“The company can now focus on the enormous potential we have, to enable sports teams to get closer to their fans and improve the player experience by bringing their virtual IP to life, with real-time messaging, rewards and engagements.

“Thank you to the management team who have invested to protect the incredible work our talented group has produced. It’s extremely motivating to see the unwavering belief we collectively have in our vision and product. Sadly, the public market is an uncertain place currently, and it’s a challenging environment for growth businesses such as ours.

“The interest and support we’ve had from some of the leading players in the sports industry has given our team great confidence and motivation as we work with some of the world’s largest sporting franchises and leagues.

“Thank you to everyone’s support and to our Board of Directors, who have assisted myself and management throughout.”

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