Christmas came early for some 3,000 locals here during the launch of the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation’s Bawat Buhay Mahalaga Serbisyo Caravan today.

The two-day event at the Bulacan Capitol Gymnasium is inspired by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s pledge to bring government services closer to local communities, according to PAGCOR Chairman and CEO Alejandro H. Tengco.

“Today, Christmas comes early to the people and the province of Bulacan because we will be giving away gifts that will last beyond Christmas – life-changing gifts because they will serve as a new beginning for our people,” he said during the launch.

“Ito ang kauna-unahang caravan na ating inilunsad sa ilalim ng ating pamamahala,” he told the packed crowd at the capitol gymnasium.

PAGCOR has allocated Php50 million for the caravan launch alone. It covers educational grants for 2,000 students, 45 sari-sari store livelihood packages, more than 4,000 bicycle units and Php5 million worth of hospital equipment for the Bulacan Medical Center.

There were also wheelchairs, medicines, food packs as well as reading glasses and canes for senior citizens on top of medical and dental consultations during the two-day event.

Mr. Tengco said the educational grant for 2,000 students will cover both college and technical-vocational students who will each receive Php10,000 every year.

“Isanlibo po sa mga iskolar na ito ay manggagaling sa vocational schools bilang pagpapakita ng ating suporta at pagkilala sa kahalagahan ng vocational and technical education sa pangkalahatang pag-unlad ng ating mga industriya,” he said.

The state gaming agency partnered with the Bulacan Provincial Government, the Armed Forces of the Philippines Health Service Command, National University College of Dentistry, University of the Philippines (UP) Manila Chancellor’s Office and UP Manila Ugnayan ng Pahinungod for the initial caravan.

Bulacan Governor Daniel Fernando, who also graced the event, expressed his gratitude to PAGCOR for choosing the province as the first recipient of the state gaming agency’s service caravan.

“Taos-puso kaming nagpapasalamat sa PAGCOR at kay Chairman Alejandro H. Tengco sa mga handog sa aming lalawigan kabilang na ang mga livelihood packages, scholarship grants, wheelchairs at iba pa.”

After Bulacan, the caravan will go around the country to continue providing essential services, medical assistance and livelihood packages on a quarterly basis as one of PAGCOR’s major corporate social responsibility initiatives.

Existing partnership has seen the launch of numerous innovations to bring more fans closer to elite women’s tennis including deeper live data, AI-enriched insights and award-winning live streaming experiences

Stats Perform’s products and content distribution network has been cited as an intrinsic part of the WTA’s fan experience plans as it expands Tour footprint, profile, fanbase and sponsors and moves towards equal prize money

Sports content pioneer Stats Perform today announced it has extended its exclusive agreement with the recently enhanced WTA Tour to collect and distribute official WTA data and live streams to licensed sportsbooks until the end of the decade.

The extended agreement continues the longstanding partnership between the two organizations and makes official WTA live scores, stats and content available across Stats Perform’s vast worldwide distribution network; including global media, tech giants, broadcasters and betting operators to bring tennis fans closer to the sport.

Since its inception, the partnership has seen the development and introduction of numerous successful and award-winning fan engagement innovations such as:

• Full coverage of outer courts and qualifiers
• New AI-enriched Opta metrics like clutch points and win probabilities
• Interactive AI-enriched live streaming features like instant highlights and tailored insights that display on-screen during games
• Expert Opta research support for commentators and interviewers
• Addition of a more detailed in-venue data feed alongside the umpire data feed

“We’re honored and delighted to extend our deep relationship with the WTA, who is a highly progressive and professional sports organization,” the Chief Commercial Officer for Stats Perform, Alex Rice, said. “We’re proud of what our respective teams have achieved together so far and excited to continue to elevate fan and bettor experiences with the most reliable, comprehensive and innovative official WTA content; even more so as the Tour is set to feature more tournaments and more matches, meaning even more opportunities for our sportsbook and media partners to showcase the incredible action to their customers.”

“We are excited to extend our successful partnership with Stats Perform,” the Chief Executive Officer for WTA Ventures, Marina Storti, said. “The data and insights it provides are an important part of our plans to drive fan engagement through product innovation and enriched experiences. The development of long-term relationships with industry partners is an important source of commercial revenue underpinning our ambition to reinvest in the sport and help the WTA achieve the goal of equal prize money for women at all top events.”

WTA tennis sits alongside official live streams and data from Tennis Australia in Stats Perform’s exclusive betting and media rights portfolio as well as content from the world’s biggest global leagues and competitions across football, basketball, cricket, rugby, ice hockey, badminton and more. The announcement comes shortly after Stats Perform claimed Best Sports Data Product for the second year running at the 2023 SBC Awards.

For more information, please contact the WTA on WTACommunications@ WTATennis .com or Stats Perform on Media.Relations@ StatsPerform .com.

B2B gaming supplier Push Gaming has expanded its reach across Europe, following its entry into Switzerland with the prominent operator Grand Casino Luzern.

The agreement is the first for Push Gaming within the regulated Swiss jurisdiction and will see world-renowned titles like Razor Returns, Jammin’ Jars and Wild Swarm be offered to the operator, alongside new hits such as Boss Bear.

Grand Casino Luzern’s online brand mycasino will gain access to these titles on an eight-week exclusivity deal. During this time, it will be the only operator to offer Push Gaming titles in the market before its portfolio is rolled out to additional operators thereafter.

Push Gaming’s entry into Switzerland exemplifies the provider’s global expansion strategy and acts as a precursor for further growth within Europe and around the world. It follows the company’s recent entries into markets including Greece, Colombia and Italy.

Fiona Hickey, Director of New Business and Markets at Push Gaming, said: “We are thrilled to be partnering with Grand Casino Luzern whilst simultaneously entering the Swiss market.

“The operator’s leading position within Switzerland will allow our fan favourite titles to reach a vast audience and aid in further growth within the market thereafter. We are excited to see players’ reception to our unique content.”

Wolfgang Bliem, CEO at Grand Casino Luzern, said: “We are thrilled to be the first operator to introduce Push Gaming’s captivating slot titles to the passionate Swiss player base. This achievement underscores our leading position in the industry and the esteemed reputation of the mycasino brand.

“Our goal is to offer players the broadest range of high-quality titles that also provide innovation and transformative gameplay experiences, and through the partnership with Push Gaming, we reaffirm these aspirations. We are ecstatic to exclusively showcase their content on our platform, leading the way in doing so in Switzerland.”