The latest in sports betting news

Hi there, we’ve taken a look at what’s news, trending and being talked about in the sports betting world this week. Grab a coffee, take five minutes and we’ll fill you in on everything you need to know.

One big story

Kambi Group and Genius Sports refute speculation on merger talks

Reports suggesting Genius Sports was mulling over the acquisition of Kambi Group have been promptly thrown out by Kambi chair Anders Strom.

Strom said that Kambi Group doesn’t typically comment on speculation but they opted to reiterate that Kambi wasn’t engaged in any buyout deals.

In addition, Mark Locke, CEO of Genius Sports, said the firm wasn’t locked in discussions of this nature with Kambi. Analysts at ABG Sunder Collier feel Kambi is ripe for acquisition, particularly by an organisation looking to invest in a readymade proprietary sportsbook solution.

In an analyst note in June, ABG Sunder Collier said its proven product currently powers tier 1 operators and is already at the forefront of AI trading.

In July, Werner Becher became the new CEO for Kambi Group, replacing the outgoing Kristian Nylen. In Q2 2024, Kambi saw revenue rise 6.5% year-on-year, with its EBITDA margin also up to 16.4%.

Click here to get the lowdown on the recent goings on at Kambi and Genius.

What you need to know

Commercial

• The American tribal gaming market achieved record-high revenues last year, reaching ￡31.83bn. That’s according to the 26th Annual Indian Gaming Cost of Doing Business report, spanning 132 tribal casino operators working out of 18 U.S. states. Despite the all-time-high revenues, profit margins fell from 30% to 26% in 2023. More ?
• Parimatch has been confirmed as the new UK sports betting partner of Premier League club, Nottingham Forest. The deal covers the 2024/25 Premier League season and is their second season-long partnership this campaign having already joined forces with Leicester City. More ?
• Macau’s casinos saw August 2024’s gross gaming revenues surge 14.8% year-on-year, as the city state inches closer to its pre-pandemic levels. It’s currently achieving more than four-fifths (81.5%) of its pre-Covid gross gaming revenues, although JP Morgan believes there are a handful of potential headwinds to further growth in the near-to-medium term. More ?
• Veikkaus, the state-owned gambling monopoly of Finland, saw a sizeable downturn in H1 2024 revenue and profit. There was a 6.8% year-on-year decline in sales revenue, with operating profit falling sharper still by 20.4% year-on-year to ￡208.16m. An overhaul of the Finnish gambling regime is anticipated in 2027. More

Regulation

• New data from Yield Sec indicates newly licensed operators in the Brazilian online gambling market could make up less than a tenth of the country’s existing industry. Some 114 iGaming and online sportsbook operators have submitted applications for licences ahead of the provisional 1st January 2025 launch date. However, Yield Sec claims 3,674 black market operators served Brazilian players in H1 2024. More

Technology

• Google is joining forces with the Gemeinsame Glucksspielbehorde der Lander (GGL) to take charge of the black market issues in the German gambling industry. The search engine behemoth is revising its German gambling and games policy in September, ensuring only sites and affiliates licensed by the GGL can seek digital advertising certification with Google. More

People news

Daniel De Souza appointed vice-president of commercial at iGaming automation specialists Flows

Daniel De Souza has joined Flows as vice-president of commercial, leaving his previous role as global director of partnerships at Optimove.

De Souza is enthused at Flows’ ability to redefine how iGaming firms “automate and manage their operations”, describing the firm as the “most talked-about startup in the [iGaming] industry”.

Click here to hear more from De Souza on his excitement about his new role, as well as Flows CEO James King.

This week’s talking point

Does the World Pool have the potential to save global horse racing?

At the recent Asian Racing Conference, global horseracing was described as being at a “critical juncture” by Winfried Engelbrecht-Bresges, the CEO of Hong Kong Jockey Club.

Racing Post reporter Jonathan Harding said this sobering view on the state of the sport at international level came amid a backdrop of negative trend upon negative trend. Whether it was falling betting turnover, flagging attendances or an ageing active demographic, all these issues contributed to a rather bleak overall picture of the industry.

Despite this, the World Pool attracted a significant amount of airtime. In fact, it was one of the beacons of light at the end of the tunnel for global horseracing. Peter V’landys, CEO of Racing New South Wales, said the global collaboration of pari-mutuel pools had the “potential to save world racing”.

Click here to learn more about the expansion of the World Pool and where British and Irish horseracing fits into this dynamic.

This week’s insight

Reviewing the upgrades to US online sportsbooks ahead of the new NFL season

The new NFL season is fast approaching and multiple American online sportsbooks have rolled out upgrades to their digital betting platforms ahead of the most lucrative sports season of the year.

BetMGM has unveiled a streamlined NFL betslip, as well as the ability to build unique NFL parlays on and offline. Betr has also followed suit with same-game parlays and enhanced player prop bets at the heart of their NFL betting offering.

Caesars Sportsbook’s close-season acquisition of ZeroFlucs has also improved its parlay offering for bettors. In-app live streaming of NFL games has also been made possible. FanDuel, the largest US online sportsbook by market share, has improved the speed and efficiency of its Quick Bets tab, aimed at increasing the volume of short-duration in-play NFL wagers.

FanDuel’s leading competitor, DraftKings, has unveiled new player prop bets across all major league sports in the US, along with a state-of-the-art cash-out function.

Click here to learn more about the biggest NFL betting trends among the market leaders of the US online sports betting market.