Latest News
Wayne Rooney Joins Derby County
Manchester United legend Wayne Rooney has signed a deal with the bookmaker 32Red. Rooney announced that he will join Derby County, where he will adopt the 32 shirt in tribute to the club’s lead sponsor, 32Red.
The buzzworthy signing of the striker has been subsidised by 32Red via a record-breaking sponsorship deal. Rooney will be paid five times the average wage in England’s second tier, at £90,000 a week.
“The commercial opportunities this creates are widespread and significant… on the back of Wayne joining the club, we have just been offered a record-breaking sponsorship deal with our principal shirt sponsor, 32Red,” Mel Morris, Derby County owner said.
“I’m not sure that gambling addiction is as funny as marketing people seem to think. And in terms of the sophistication of their marketing messages, this lot make Paddy Power sound like Stephen Fry. There’s two things happening in the betting market: tightening advertising legislation in the UK and the opening up of sports betting in America. So, it’s all about playing nice with voluntary advertising codes on one hand and making as much noise as possible on the other,” journalist Richard Gillis said.
Football sponsorships help online bookmakers to differentiate themselves in the real world and build trust with punters. He concluded: “The normalisation of gambling might be football’s defining marketing legacy of the last twenty years.”
eSports
Guilhoto to lead GIANTX in the LEC
The Portuguese head coach signs a two-year deal to guide GIANTX in Europe’s top esports league and aim for the Worlds. Guilhoto embarks on his third tenure with the organization and returns to the LEC after reaching two finals.
Nico Perez and Emi complete the coaching staff
André Guilhoto will be the head coach of GIANTX in the League of Legends EMEA Championship (LEC), Europe’s premier esports league. Guilhoto returns to the organization to replace Christophe ‘Kaas’ van Oudheusden and lead its League of Legends international project. His goal is to qualify the team for the Worlds. He has signed a two-year contract for the 2025 and 2026 seasons.
Guilhoto (Portugal, 1994) returns to both GIANTX and the LEC. Between 2018 and 2020, he coached several teams in the European league, including reaching two finals with Schalke 04 and Origen. He entered the European scene after winning the Spanish league with GIANTX, then known as Giants Gaming.
After his time in the LEC, he coached in North America with Immortals and Team Liquid. In 2023, he returned to Málaga to work with Giants, which later merged with British club Excel to form GIANTX. In 2024, he coached in the Superliga with CASE Esports and Team Heretics, where he won the Spanish championship.
Guilhoto is one of the most experienced head coaches in the scene and a well-known figure within the Spanish-speaking League of Legends community. GIANTX announced his return with a video confirming his new role as head coach.
GIANTX looks to Guilhoto to improve its results in the LEC. The team finished eighth in the winter and spring splits and reached the summer season finals, but missed out on qualifying for the Worlds. The organization aims to achieve this goal with Guilhoto leading the coaching staff.
Joining Guilhoto in Berlin, the home of the LEC, are assistant coach Nico Perez (France, 1998) and strategic coach Emanuel Ursachi ‘Emi’ (Romania, 1995). Nico spent the last year with GIANTX, first as head coach in the Superliga and then as assistant coach in the LEC. Emi, now in his second tenure with the company, will serve as the strategic coach.
The LEC season begins on January 18, 2025. GIANTX will announce the roster under Guilhoto’s leadership in the coming days.
Industry News
ICE Barcelona to deliver razor-sharp focus on LatAm and evolving Brazilian Market
January’s first edition of ICE Barcelona will feature a programme of content, discussions and C-suite networking curated specifically to meet the needs of the new regulated market in Brazil and the broader opportunities which exist in Latin America.
Living up to its reputation for being the business-to-business event which is at the forefront of industry developments across both regulation and emerging technologies ICE 2025 will feature a three day program which is dedicated to all aspects of the market in Brazil including regulation, compliance and the adoption of new technologies including the use of biometric recognition in relation to age verification and consumer protection.
Announcing the program and confirming ICE Barcelona’s role as the meeting place for international decision-makers and stakeholders, Clarion Gaming Managing Director Stuart Hunter said: “ICE was recently described in trade media as being the most important gaming event on the ‘planet’ and I believe that the show will live-up to that accolade when we welcome the world industry to our new Barcelona home in January.
“Some industry events place a strong emphasis on the past but for ICE our focus is unashamedly on the future. To this end we have been working closely with colleagues and stakeholders in Latin America to ensure that ICE is on the front foot bringing together the lawmakers, regulatory bodies, thought leaders, operators, innovators and technology providers all of whom have an important role to play in developing the market infrastructure.”
He added: “The importance of LatAm will be evident from the very start of ICE Barcelona when Vicente Fox, the former President of Mexicoheadlines the World Regulatory Briefing taking place Monday 20 January when he will address the topic of ‘Regulation and Revitalisation’ and the requirements needed to balance economic growth with community protection.
“A critic of the populist movements sweeping the region, he will outline his business-centric approach to the development of Mexico, and why he favours casinos as a tax benefit to reduce Mexico’s dependence on unpredictable oil income, and for heling to grow the local tourism industry. The keynote reflects the importance of Latin America as a leading voice in the global gambling industry and represents a major coup for ICE Barcelona.”
“The following day we will be staging a seminar which will cover the very latest business-critical information on the market in Brazil which will be supplemented by sessions focussed on Latin America. On the closing day the LatAm sessions will address the key issue of responsible gambling including the ground-breaking use of biometrics which will be of huge interest to regulators and operators from throughout the world.”
He concluded: “In all of the extensive research that we undertake in order to identify the most important issues impacting the business Brazil and Latin America consistently top the list. By attending ICE Barcelona gaming industry professionals will be able to connect with the main players, learn everything they need to know about doing business in Latin America and find the right organisations to collaborate with. For anyone with an interest in Latin America and in particular the Brazilian iGaming market ICE Barcelona is undoubtedly the place to be.”
For more information on the world’s greatest gathering of gaming professionals and to register: icegaming.com
Latest News
SOFTSWISS Wraps Up SiGMA Europe 2024 with Key Achievements
SOFTSWISS has successfully wrapped up its participation in SiGMA Europe 2024. This final major event of the year highlighted the achievements and progress of the iGaming industry over the past months. With a dynamic presence and the award-winning concept ‘Grab Success in iGaming’, SOFTSWISS made a lasting impact over the three action-packed days of the conference.
The SOFTSWISS booth became a nexus for clients, partners, and industry professionals, sparking new connections and fueling discussions on the latest trends. Among the highlights was the unveiling of the iGaming Trends Report 2025, offering a forward-looking analysis of the industry’s trajectory. Positioned as the ‘mother of all conferences’, SiGMA Europe proved the ideal stage for the report’s launch, with all 27,000 attendees able to grant complimentary access to this vital resource.
“iGaming is growing at a rapid pace, and for many, the main challenge is to keep up with this growth. SOFTSWISS takes a much broader view in this regard: it is important for us to understand where iGaming is heading and anticipate trends in order to strengthen our leadership positions,” said Vitali Matsukevich, COO at SOFTSWISS.
Before the expo officially opened, SOFTSWISS was honoured as the Best Platform Provider at the SiGMA Europe Awards 2024. This accolade is a testament to the company’s commitment to delivering robust, innovative technology solutions that empower iGaming operators worldwide.
One of the event’s most highly anticipated discussions, “How to Choose a Secure and Safe Crypto Casino,” featured Vitali Matsukevich among its expert panellists. The session drew a full house, reflecting the high interest in the future of crypto casinos amidst the evolving global economic and political landscape.
During the discussion, Matsukevich shared his deep knowledge and insights on leveraging blockchain technology to ensure smarter, safer choices for consumers in the crypto casino space. His expertise underscored SOFTSWISS’ position at the forefront of innovation in this fast-growing market segment.
SiGMA Europe 2024 provided a platform not only to showcase SOFTSWISS’ accomplishments but also to reaffirm its role as an industry leader. Already preparing for the next major event, ICE Barcelona 2025 in January, SOFTSWISS will once again present its cutting-edge tools and insights to operators worldwide.
About SOFTSWISS
SOFTSWISS is an international technology company with over 15 years of experience in developing innovative solutions for the iGaming industry. SOFTSWISS holds a number of gaming licences and provides comprehensive software for managing iGaming projects. The company’s product portfolio includes the Online Casino Platform, the Game Aggregator with over 23,500 casino games, the Affilka Affiliate Platform, the Sportsbook software and the Jackpot Aggregator. In 2013, SOFTSWISS revolutionised the industry by introducing the world’s first Bitcoin-optimised online casino solution. The expert team, based in Malta, Poland, and Georgia, counts over 2,000 employees.
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