The latest 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

UKGC provides more details on its affordability check pilot

The UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) has added more context to its upcoming pilot for ‘light touch’ affordability checks, commencing from 30th August.

The six-month pilot will initially apply light-touch affordability checks on individuals it deems to be ‘high risk’ based on a threshold of making ￡500 worth of deposits every month.

This threshold will move to just ￡150 a month by February 2025, which will become the mandatory limit for light-touch checks to be applied by online sportsbooks.

The UKGC is working in tandem with unnamed credit agencies and licensed gambling operators to gauge the impact of deposit thresholds where “assessments aren’t being rolled out in a live environment”.

Click here to read more from the UKGC’s director of major policy projects and evaluations, Helen Rhodes, on the initial stage of the pilot and its core objectives.

What you need to know

Commercial

• A fresh report from the World Tote Association has called for reduced taxes on pool betting to reflect the lower levels of gambling harm associated with tote betting. The association believes this would enable pool betting to be considered a legitimate competitor to black market gambling operators. More ?
• DraftKings has sealed a deal to acquire in-play sports betting specialists, Simplebet, as the US sportsbook seeks to ramp up its in-play offering, as well as its AI game. It’s the second purchase of 2024 for DraftKings, following on from its buyout of Jackpocket in May. More ?
• Kambi Group has extended its relationship with Rush Street Interactive. The pair have worked in tandem since 2018, with Kambi’s underlying sportsbook technology, as well as its trading and risk management services, embedded within Rush Street Interactive’s platform that’s now licensed across North and Latin America. More ?
• Gaming Innovation Group (GiG) has praised its media arm, Gentoo Media, which achieved a 14th successive quarter of all-time-high revenues in Q2 2024. Revenues were up 39% year-on-year, with Gentoo Media attracting 121,000 new customers for GiG clients. More

Regulation

• Swedish state-owned gambling organisation, Svenska Spel, generated 93.2% of its corporate income from non-risk players in Q2 2024. Net gaming revenues worth ￡139m were generated, with the vast majority deemed “healthy”. This represents a 1% improvement on Q1 2024, when 92.2% of revenues were deemed low-risk. More

Technology

• Betr Holdings has been handed a licence by Huddle to use its tech stack, featuring odds-making, risk management, trading, futures, player props, as well as conventional markets spanning pre-game and in-play. The deal accelerates Betr’s product roadmap, allowing it to develop its own products and technologies without reliance on third parties. More

People news

Ciarán Carruthers announces resignation as Crown Resorts CEO

The CEO of Crown Resorts in Sydney, Ciarán Carruthers, has confirmed his intention to step down at the end of the year.

A string of media outlets have reported that Carruthers’ likely replacement will be David Tsai, Crown Resorts’ president and chief operating officer.

Carruthers played a key role in ushering Crown Resorts through a period of regulatory uncertainty and sanctions from the Australian government, as well as a company-wide restructuring resulting in 1,000+ job losses.

Click here to get the thoughts of Carruthers on his eventful period at Crown Resorts.

This week’s talking point

Why UK gambling regulators must learn the lessons from Asia’s regulated market

Racing Post’s industry editor Bill Barber caught a glimpse of the reading material supplied to delegates at this week’s Asian Racing Conference, stating it provides a stark warning to UK gambling regulators.

Within the 198-page dossier, it shows an online advert targeting Britons keen to bet on this year’s Cheltenham Festival. This may not raise eyebrows on the surface but delve deeper and it shows the advert promoting an illegal, unlicensed operator, Citibet.

Citibet is a black-market sports betting exchange and is the number-one portal for unlicensed horse racing betting in Asia. Its annual turnover is allegedly north of ￡38 billion.

Barber says the apparent targeting of UK-based customers should concern UK regulators. The prospect of hiked betting duties could also push more British bettors to consider wagering with black-market platforms.

Click here to read more about the issues raised by the Asian Racing Federation.

This week’s insight

How are responsible gambling efforts working in the US?

The American Gaming Association (AGA) has released new data to demonstrate the effects of responsible gambling efforts in licensed US betting markets.

Following a nationwide survey of 2,000 people, 75% said they believed the gaming industry behaved “responsibly” within its communities. Furthermore, 90% of respondents said they deemed sports betting an acceptable form of entertainment, with 75% happy to have legal, regulated sports betting industries in their respective states.

Almost two-thirds (65%) of respondents felt there was sincerity in the responsible gambling efforts of US operators. This figure is up 10% year-on-year. It also rose to 81% among active iGamers and 88% among active sports bettors.

On the subject of advertising and marketing, 65% said gaming ads are now “truthful” in their promotional approach, up 7% year-on-year. Familiarity with responsible gambling tools is also on the rise. More than three-quarters (76%) said they knew at least one tool and how to use it, up from 65% in 2022.

Click here to read the full results from the AGA’s survey, as well as comments on the report from the AGA’s senior vice president of strategic communications Joe Maloney.