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888 Holdings Expand Their Online Bingo Offerings

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888 Deploys Diffusion for Real-Time Bingo App
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Since they burst onto the online gambling scene in 1997, 888 Holdings have grown from strength to strength. From pioneers to market leaders, their meteoric rise has been fuelled in no small part by the shrewd business decisions of the group’s board of directors. Many of these decisions have involved buying out and taking over competing businesses, and last month 888 Holdings added another big name to their portfolio with the acquisition of Costa Bingo from the JPJ Group. The deal, which included other Mandalay Media games, came to a total of £18 billion and is expected to be finalised by the end of March 2019.

The Mandalay Media group had previously been bought by the JPJ Group, then called Intertain, in 2014. In 2018 it generated £11 million worth of revenue for them, amounting to £3.7 million profit – meaning that if the brand’s success continues, 888 Holdings can look forward to a quick, and large, return on their investment. For their part, the JPJ Group have gone on record as being glad for the opportunity for the investment, as it now enables them to ‘concentrate on a more focused brand strategy’ in the United Kingdom promoting their other online games.

888 Holdings have a long history of deals within the online gambling market. The company first ventured into the bingo world in 2008 when they launched their own bingo site aimed at women. In a bid to expand further into the market, they soon attained Wink Bingo, the successful deal has ensured the online bingo platform has become 888 Holdings’ second-largest bingo brand with almost 1,000,000 registered users worldwide. Wink Bingo has since become a major household name in the United Kingdom thanks to a significant marketing campaign which drew in new players in droves. The fun and friendly atmosphere of the chatrooms and the variety of games have brought people back again and again.

And their first investment paid off, proving to be hugely successful almost immediately. In the first five weeks after adding Wink Bingo to their portfolio, 888 Holdings saw a 52% increase in customers signing up to their sites, and the average daily operating income rose by 18% compared to the previous 3 months. Obviously buoyed by this success, since 2008, 888 Holdings have gone on to acquire a further six bingo sites, including Posh Bingo, Tasty Bingo and most recently Red Bus Bingo. The purchase of Costa Bingo and its sister companies including Wish, Sun, City and Fancy means that they now own and manage a considerable chunk of the online bingo sector.

Although 888 Holdings started out as an online casino company, since diversifying into the bingo market they have fully embraced the different atmosphere and looked closely at understanding the needs of their new clientele. Eager to offer something extra to their loyal customers, 888 Holdings have linked their biggest bingo sites together within their unique Joy of Bingo network. Players can earn Joy points and transfer their points between all of 888’s sites, or exchange them for virtual gifts and bonuses. It has proven a wildly popular addition to the bingo community.

They have also been busy developing software to give their games a technological advantage. 888’s bingo software, Dragonfish, runs not only their own games, but it is licenced out to other companies looking for the best place to host their games. They are now ranked in the top three online bingo software providers in the world for 2019. Just as they revolutionised the emerging online casino industry 20 years ago, 888 have now gone above and beyond to make sure that they are instrumental in shaping the current online bingo market, a marketplace which has enjoyed continued success in recent years.

However, not everything has been as rosy for 888 Holdings. Although they are a Gibraltar-based company, their websites are accessible in the United Kingdom and have therefore been affected by recent changes in UK gambling laws. These laws have mostly been centred around the promotion of responsible gambling, with gambling establishments, both physical and online, now having to show that they are looking after their clientele in the same way a bartender has a responsibility not to serve those who are too drunk. As a result their UK revenue fell by 18% last year, mostly due to a change in their practises as they look to work with the new regulations.

And yet, the decision to purchase Costa Bingo underlies their commitment to the online bingo marketplace. 888 are not going to be dissuaded by a small bump in the road. Costa Bingo and the rest of the Mandalay group have not been served well by JPJ in the past and have been viewed by industry experts as underperforming. 888 Holdings have the market experience and capital to turn these great games into winners on a level with their other brands. Linking these new acquisitions to their existing Joy of Bingo will bring them to the awareness of thousands of potential new players, and they will almost surely benefit from a similar level of marketing to 888’s other famous bingo brands. Whether the Mandalay group games will prove to be as successful and profitable as Wink Bingo has been remains to be seen. But judging by the jump in 888 Holding’s share prices after the deal was announced, it seems that everyone is backing this to be yet another success for the online gambling giant.

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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
Reading Time: 2 minutes

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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