Industry News
SportCaller extends William Hill partnership with £1m Golden Race
Leading operator enlists FTP specialist with the Midas touch to improve client acquisition and retention for the Cheltenham Festival
SportCaller, the free-to-play (FTP) sports-game specialist, has extended its partnership with William Hill ahead of the Cheltenham Festival by launching a new game, Golden Race, to help engage and optimise the operator’s thriving customer base.
Golden Race is a competition which asks players to compete for a prize pot of up to £1m by predicting the finishing order of a given number of runners in the featured “Golden Race” each day at the four-day meeting horse racing spectacular.
In order to play the game, entrants must place a £10 qualifying bet (or £5 each-way) on any UK/IRE race that same day, which then entitles the player to then participate in the Golden Race for the jaw-dropping £1m, or a consolation prize of £50,000 for forecasting the first two finishers home, if the jackpot isn’t won.
This easy-to-integrate game is already proven to accelerate account acquisition and increase betting activity for thousands of William Hill customers. Indeed, after its recent roll-out, a £100,000 jackpot has already dropped on Wednesday 6th March, when one lucky player successfully predicted the first six horses home in the Golden Race at Kempton. On that race alone, another player ended up a wafer shy of greatness with the first five correct, but they still went on to share the consolation rewards with 113 others.
Unlike many improbable jackpot games, this FTP continues to demonstrate its attainable credentials with authentic, regular payouts to William Hill customers who are flocking to its engaging playability and credibility.
Golden Race has been specifically tailored by SportCaller to drive retention across all operator platforms, boosting the user experience on horse racing’s showpiece festival which traditionally exerts a huge pull on annual targets. This FTP game has been ingeniously integrated into the William Hill account architecture, accessible from a single-sign-on facility on the iPhone app and easily monitored through bet history tab.
In a largely standardised marketplace for sign-up offers and bonuses, SportCaller is unlocking another vertical for enhanced recruitment, reactivation and retention through deep engagement and organic gameplay on mass-appeal sporting events.
SportCaller MD Cillian Barry said: “Having originated the first free-to-play jackpot game with Channel 4 Racing way back in 2014, it’s great to return to our first love ahead of Cheltenham with the next generation in horse racing FTP.
“It’s a real validation for Hills, a name so intrinsically connected with horse racing and The Festival, to have enlisted our services and we can’t wait for Golden Race to come under starter’s orders next week and for one, or more, lucky punters to bag the £1m daily jackpot!”
Liam Wallwork, Commercial Director at William Hill, said: “Having successfully showcased the potential of FTP with our popular Lucky 7 racing game, we were keen to recruit SportCaller’s services again for Cheltenham, a tentpole event for us where client retention is invariably at a premium.
“SportCaller have again delivered on a refreshing new FTP which has already proved a boon for player engagement. Jackpot games have to be winnable, otherwise our clients won’t trust or play them. So, we were thrilled to see so many enjoy the Midas touch at Kempton’s Golden Race on Wednesday. The game will now be the cornerstone of our marketing and advertising campaign for The Festival and beyond. In fact, we will be running the £1m Golden Race in tandem across the meeting alongside Lucky 7 for 100k-a-day. It’s by far the most generous FTP offering in the village.”
Industry News
SKS365 keeps investing in people: GROW People Management Program took the next level
11 experienced people managers from the SKS365 group’s 4 locations gathered last week in Belgrade for the new GROW People Management Program. From 15 th to 19 th of April, through trainings, discussions, and social connections, people had the opportunity to further grow individually and as a team, while enjoying Belgrade’s city center and rivers.
Created in 2023 with the purpose of building foundation people management skills across the organization, GROW initiative evolved this year by including a new, advanced program for experienced people managers to further consolidate their skills and prepare for future opportunities.
Building and fostering connections, sharing experiences, and enjoying team building experiences – all these activities have been part of the GROWpmp agenda for the 11 people managers coming from Commercial, Product and Development, Finance, and Sportsbook departments of the group’s 4 locations – Malta, Italy, Austria, Serbia.
GROWpmp included a variety of topics that people managers in SKS365 recognized as the key areas for management development. Topics such as influence through communication, team effectiveness, DEI, through to presentation skills and business topics like understanding finance and management reporting, were delivered with the support of external professionals and internal experts, while designed and organized by the SKS365 People & Culture team.
Industry News
Kindred’s Share of Revenue from High-risk Players Shows Slight Increase
Kindred Group plc’s (Kindred) share of revenue from high-risk players showed a slight increase to 3.2% (Q4 2023 3.1%) in the first quarter of 2024. Compared to the first quarter of 2023, the high-risk revenue share decreased marginally. The percentage of detected customers who exhibited improved behaviour after interventions came in at 87.1% (compared to 87.4% in Q4 2023 and 83.0% in Q1 2023). This sustained trajectory in the improvement effect after interventions, observed over an extended period, serves as a testament to the strong dedication and collective efforts throughout the company. It reflects Kindred’s ongoing commitment to fostering positive change within the industry.
“We continue to see our share of revenue from high-risk players fluctuate quarter to quarter, and we are working closely with all teams across the company to support customers towards a more sustainable gambling experience. However, it is encouraging to see that our Journey towards Zero data has steadily decreased since 2020. A similar trend can be seen across the healthier gambling behaviour effect after interventions. This tells us two things: our work is paying off, but we need to continue to push ourselves to propel a sustainable progression,” Alexander Westrell, Director of Communications at Kindred Group, said.
“It was very encouraging to witness the open and transparent discussions at the Sustainable Gambling Conference in London on 20 March, where those with lived experience shared their important stories. Also, it is evident that technology is moving forward, and will provide greater opportunities to detect and intervene in the future. We hope to see more regulators engage with the industry and with experts to secure a more sustainable industry for everyone,” Alexander Westrell added.
Industry News
PENN Entertainment Names Aaron LaBerge as Chief Technology Officer
PENN Entertainment announced that Aaron LaBerge has been named Chief Technology Officer (CTO) effective July 1, 2024, subject to customary regulatory approvals. Mr. LaBerge will report directly to PENN CEO & President Jay Snowden.
In his new role, Mr. LaBerge will be responsible for driving the technology strategy and execution for PENN, while leading the multinational team of technologists and serving as the key business leader for the company’s Interactive division.
Mr. LaBerge spent more than 20 years at The Walt Disney Company, in two stints separated by five and a half years as a technology entrepreneur. He was most recently President & Chief Technology Officer for Disney Entertainment and ESPN where he was responsible for driving all technology and product development in support of The Walt Disney Company’s two media divisions. In that role, he helped set the vision and strategic leadership for how Disney uses technology to enable storytelling and innovation, drive its business, and create unparalleled consumer experiences with entertainment and sports content.
“We are thrilled to have someone of Aaron’s caliber join our PENN executive team. Having overseen a global organization of thousands of engineers, product developers, designers, technologists, and data scientists that created some of the largest scale and most successful media properties in the world, there is no better candidate to lead our Technology and Interactive division into its future. I know Aaron is looking forward to working with Todd George, our head of operations, and our entire Executive Team to continue growing our position as a leader in online gaming, sports betting, and digital sports media,” Mr. Snowden said.
“I’m excited to join another talented team at PENN Interactive and lead our technology strategy. PENN Entertainment is at the forefront of the fast-changing gaming and sports media industry. I plan to use my experience from Disney and ESPN to help make ESPN BET an essential piece of the sports fan experience. Together, we’ll push the limits and redefine how fans interact with sports and gaming,” Mr. LaBerge said.
Prior to his most recent role at the Walt Disney Company, Mr. LaBerge was Executive Vice President and Chief Technology Officer at ESPN from 2015 to 2018. At ESPN he played an instrumental role in the growth of ESPN’s consumer-facing digital media products and services – leading many of ESPN’s most ambitious and challenging projects and helping establish ESPN’s position as the leader in digital sports and innovative sports technology development. He was a key architect in the design, development, and engineering of ESPN’s state-of-the-art facilities in Bristol, CT; Los Angeles, CA; Charlotte, NC; and Austin, TX, as well as data centers and infrastructure that connect those facilities around the world, as well as the technology design and development to support the launch of the multi-platform SEC Network.
Between 2007 and 2012, LaBerge was co-founder and CEO of Fanzter, Inc. – a venture-funded consumer software and digital product development company. At Fanzter, he directed all day-to-day operations and led the development and launch of a variety of consumer-focused internet and mobile products, ground-breaking social and commerce technologies and more.
-
eSports7 days ago
Everything you need to know ahead of ESL Pro League Season 19
-
Latest News7 days ago
New Market Alert! Hacksaw Gaming Touch Down in Portugal with Solverde.pt
-
Latest News4 days ago
THE UNIT APPOINTS ADAM NOBLE AS CHIEF COMMERCIAL OFFICER
-
Gaming5 days ago
The German Games Industry Association congratulates all winners of the German Computer Game Awards 2024
-
Baltics4 days ago
MARE BALTICUM Gaming & TECH Summit Announces Final Agenda for 2024 Event
-
Africa4 days ago
NE Group powers 888bets launch in Angola
-
Latest News4 days ago
INSPIRED LAUNCHES VIRTUAL SPORTS WITH COMEON GROUP
-
Industry News4 days ago
Wazdan set to gain more ground at Casino Beats Summit Malta