Gambling in the USA

United States is land of esports and sports betting opportunity, states Betinvest

Published

7 months ago

April 4, 2019

United States is land of esports and sports betting opportunity, states Betinvest

Reading Time: 4 minutes

The American people’s enthusiasm for sports, inclusivity of esports and the increased roster of sporting events in the USA are just some of the reasons why Betinvest’s VP of Business Development, Valentyn Kyrylenko, believes the American market presents unlimited possibilities in 2019 as the company prepares to exhibit its Sports Betting, iFrame, eSports and AI solutions at the first ever ICE North America in Boston (May 13-15).

As a leading sports betting provider in both Europe and the US, what are the key differences to operating in North America?
When it comes to European sports, a number of famous championships can be held in just one year, as was the case in 2018, but it’s not always the case and despite lots of engaging annual tournaments taking place it can have an impact on betting. If you look at US sports, every bookmaker will be pleased to learn the country has top sporting events both monthly and annually and as Americans are real sports enthusiasts, it doesn’t end there! In addition to this regular season, before the final they have playoffs and knockout competitions which last all year, so it goes without saying there are always a lot of opportunities for betting.  Another important aspect to note is, whereas in Europe, we often bet on one of three outcomes – a victory, draw or defeat. With NBA, NHL, baseball and American football, there is no ‘draw’ option. This is an attractive prospect for customers who can focus on placing bets on the winning team which is an important detail for bookmakers to understand when heading to the US market.

What does the US market represent to your company?
The American market presents unlimited possibilities, but bookmakers wishing to get started there need to consider their how own goals line up with the specificities of every state. Regulations and player preferences vary from state to state. Let’s take Pennsylvania as an example: it’s a northern state where people tend to like ice hockey, so it’s important to offer NHL events. We also know that this state has professional basketball and American football teams, so customers living there are sure to be interested in those sports. Another thing to consider about the US market is that college games are very popular and attract enough fans to fill huge stadiums. This could be another interesting direction with lots of potential for betting.

The younger millennial market is a key focus for esports. How is Betinvest targeting this part of the US population responsibly?
The recent tremendous growth in esports is evident across the world. This is partly thanks to its appeal to the younger generation, but also because esports provides a new opportunity for anyone and everyone to become a sportsperson. This type of sport has a real sense of competition, so people enjoy it and have fun for the same reasons they do with traditional sports. The popularity of esports depends on the region. In Europe, it is still not as popular as a football, for example, but in Asia, the prize funds for esports tournaments are on a par with those of tennis matches. Interest in the tournaments is therefore very high. The popularity of esports is equivalent to that of Rugby in England and Eastern European countries. Last year, the US and China generated over half the global esports revenue. These two markets are the largest when it comes to esports.  One of the most appealing things about esports is that it promotes inclusivity. Even if you have an unsportsmanlike figure or a disability, you can still be an athlete: you are one of us. I think this is a great idea. People succeed in this sport without having any special physical abilities/gifts.

You’re making waves in the esports world with your new technology and solutions. Can you discuss your strategy for investment in US eSports?
As you know, we formed a new esports department at Betinvest to develop this aspect of the business. Everyone in the team has their own experience of being casual esports customers which helps us to better understand our esports audience. We know which games attract the biggest audiences, and this helps us to design our products. What’s more, we’ve assembled a strong team of traders and analysts who spend hours analysing esports data and new information from various games. Our live traders keep their eyes peeled, offering a wide selection of live odds which are made available to the end customer. At present, we offer odds for over 20 esports games. It’s important to remember that, although there might not be monthly tournaments running for all of those games at the same time, you’d be guaranteed to see at least six disciplines offered on our partners’ websites at any one time. Of those, the top three are Dota 2, CS:GO and League of Legends. We offer approximately 2,000 pre-match and up to 1,000 live markets for these three major games. As for our next steps, we will invest in developing our esports products. Our goal for 2019 is to become one of the top three leading esports odds providers in the world.

What’s the significance of Clarion consolidating its US events into ICE North America and what are you preparing to showcase there?
It’s great that the ICE event is coming to North America to bring together gaming providers and operators from all over the world. Our team will be attending the event, offering our Sportsbook product as well as a variety of other solutions, all of which we are constantly improving. We understand that the US market is different from the European one in terms of sports and seasons and already have a very competitive Data Feed with pre-match and live odds for the top American championships and sports: NHL, AHL, NBA, NCA, NLB, etc. We have gained our expertise through 20 years’ experience in the betting industry and our selection of odds is very strong. It’s even better than that which local bookmakers are offering in the States, and it won’t be difficult for us to add more American sports to our selection.
Recent changes in legislation means that the American market has opened up, making this exhibition an excellent opportunity for anyone looking to seize the chance to start a betting business in the States.

Betinvest will be exhibiting at ICE North America. For more information or to arrange a meeting, contact Valentyn Kyrylenko, [email protected], +38 95 231 30 44 .

Related Topics:BetInvest Betinvest’s VP of Business Development eSports ICE North America sports betting Valentyn Kyrylenko

Up Next

Casumo appoints Karin Thunholm as new CFO

Don't Miss

Goldenpark.es switches to Sportnco platform for continued Spanish growth

George Miller

George Miller started his career in content marketing and has started working as an Editor/Content Manager for our company in 2016. George has acquired many experiences when it comes to interviews and newsworthy content becoming Head of Content in 2017. He is responsible for the news being shared on multiple websites that are part of the European Gaming Media Network.

Comments

Daily Fantasy Sports

DraftKings and Sportradar Announce Long-Term Partnership Extension

Published

1 day ago

November 13, 2019

George Miller

DraftKings and Sportradar Announce Long-Term Partnership Extension

Reading Time: < 1 minute

Deal Gives DraftKings Access to Official Sports Data Feeds for Sports Betting and Daily Fantasy Sports

DraftKings Inc. a leader in the sports technology and entertainment space, and Sportradar, the world’s leading global provider of sports data and content, officially announced a long-term partnership extension whereby Sportradar will continue to be DraftKings’ supplier for data feeds and bet stimulation content.

As part of the extension, Sportradar will provide DraftKings with access to a variety of official sports data feeds, including the NFL, MLB, and the NBA for sports betting and daily fantasy sports (DFS).

“We are proud to extend our partnership with DraftKings, one of the most respected gaming companies in the US,” said Neale Deeley, Vice President of US Sales and Gaming, Sportradar. “DraftKings’ journey into sports betting has been a fantastic success, and we have been honored to be on that journey with them. We look forward to continuing that success for many years to come.”

The partnership will bring more instantaneous data feeds to the DraftKings Sportsbook, supplementing live and in-play wagering, these offers becoming more prevalent as legalized sports betting continues to expand across the nation. With the new ability to access official league data and branding, DraftKings is poised to bring fans even closer to the action.

“DraftKings’ goal is to build the best, most trusted and most customer-centric destination for sports fans and our expanded partnership with Sportradar provides us with superior support,” said Ezra Kucharz, chief business officer, DraftKings. “This partnership will enhance customer experience by allowing us to provide faster turnaround time on our products and give us the opportunity to develop new, innovative offerings for our players.”

All mobile DraftKings Sportsbook and DFS offerings are available for downloaded on both iOS and Android apps.

Canada

Bragg Gaming Group Reports Third Quarter 2019 Results

Published

2 days ago

November 12, 2019

George Miller

Bragg Gaming Group Reports Third Quarter 2019 Results

Reading Time: 3 minutes

Enters the lucrative U.S. gaming market through recently announced partnership with Kambi Group and Seneca Gaming Corporation

Bragg Gaming Group has released its results for the third quarter ended September 30, 2019, achieving strong sequential revenue growth of 13 per cent over Q2 2019.

Third Quarter 2019 Results

In the third quarter, the Company delivered continued growth with revenue of CDN $10.0M, gross profit of CDN $4.3M, EBITDA of CDN $0.2M, and net loss from continuing operations of CDN $0.2M. These results culminated in strong performance for the first nine months of 2019 with revenue of CDN $28.0M, gross profit of CDN $12.6M, EBITDA of CDN $0.6M and net loss from continuing operations of CDN $7.6M.

Dominic Mansour, Bragg’s CEO, said: “We’ve made significant progress this quarter, with our focus on B2B with ORYX driving 30 per cent revenue growth compared to Q3 2018. This resulted in a significant improvement in ORYX’s gross profit and in-turn drove ORYX EBITDA to grow by over 300 per cent to CDN $1.2M.

“I am extremely pleased with the Company’s progression over the past quarter. We’ve proven that, with our modern technology and seamless integration process, we are able to expand our operator base at a significantly faster rate than the competition. I am particularly pleased that the strong momentum of operator launches experienced in the first half of the year continued into Q3 with the successful launch of 10 new operators. We expect this momentum to further accelerate throughout Q4 with more than 14 launches in the pipeline.”

US Market Entry

Bragg recently entered into a partnership with Kambi Group, a well-established provider of premium sports betting services with an extensive client base. Bragg will provide their casino services and unique player account management (PAM) along with Kambi’s sports betting services to operators worldwide, with an initial focus on the burgeoning US market.

This newly created partnership recently signed a deal with New York’s Seneca Gaming Corporation (SGC), which operates all of the Seneca Nation’s Class III gaming operations in western New York. The Bragg and Kambi teams will collaborate to provide SGC with a combination of their services and products across SGC’s three New York casinos.

“Our partnership with Kambi and the initial deal with Seneca are both huge stepping stones for Bragg as we commence operations in the U.S. and continue to expand our global reach,” noted Mansour. “Our strategic focus in the U.S. is to partner with tier-1 casinos and operators. I believe that this Seneca deal will be the first of many in the coming years, particularly as the legal landscape continues to mature.”

Strategic Review of Online Media Division

The strategic review of the online media divisions consisting of the GiveMeSport asset has continued through the second half of 2019, and the Board expects this to be completed in Q1 2020.

In the interim, Bragg continues to enhance the GMS platform in order to drive more volume. The relaunch of the GMS website was completed in July, and the site is now quicker, slicker, more intuitive, and has a lighter ad load. These improvements culminated in peak site traffic in October 2019, which were 46 per cent greater than October 2018, growing from 15.9M visitors to 23.3M organic visitors.

Directorate Changes

Bragg’s CFO, Akshay Kumar, has announced his intent to step down as Chief Financial Officer of the Company for personal reasons. Effective November 13, 2019, Steven Prowse will assume the role of Chief Financial Officer. Mr. Kumar will assist Mr. Prowse, ensuring a seamless transition.

Prowse is an industry veteran with over 10 years’ experience in the betting and gaming sector. He served as Group Finance Director for PartyGaming plc (later bwin.party), a gaming business listed on the London Stock Exchange, and was instrumental in M&A, including the acquisition of Foxy Bingo and the €2.1bn merger with bwin in 2011 where he continued as Group Finance Director.

Dominic Mansour said: “I would like to thank Akshay for his hard work and contributions to Bragg. Our team wishes him all the best for the future. We also look forward to welcoming Steven to the Bragg team and believe his expertise with M&A in the sector will be extremely valuable during this pivotal time for the Company.”

Steven Prowse said: “I am delighted to join Bragg at such an early and exciting point in its growth trajectory. Bragg has market-leading technology, products and people. As such, I see enormous potential for this business and am very much looking forward to being a part of that growth.”

Compliance Updates

Illinois Gaming Board Grants First Land-Based Casino License to Rivers Casino

Published

2 days ago

November 12, 2019

Niji Narayan

Illinois Gaming Board Grants First Land-Based Casino License to Rivers Casino

Photo Source: fadmagazine.com

Reading Time: < 1 minute

The Illinois Gaming Board has granted the state’s first land-based casino license to Rivers Casino.

Granted under the sweeping expansion of the state’s gaming sector that was signed into law in June, the new license enables operator Rush Street Gaming to move its gambling operation beyond the shallow pool of water it built to qualify as a riverboat. Rivers Casino opened in 2011 under the provisions of the Riverboat Gambling Act of 1990.

Rush Street plans to invest $150 million to expand the casino and increase the number of gaming positions to 2000.