SCCG Weekly Newsletter #139

Last year, SCCG Management established its position as one of the top names in sports marketing for North America after facilitating the deal which saw the Cincinnati Bengals name Betfred USA Sports as their official sports betting partner. As a result of this success, SCCG Management has been selected by the Bengals to assist with finding a second branded mobile sports book partner, also known as a "skin". CEO Stephen A. Crystal will work closely with the Bengals management team to ensure a well-aligned partnership. This comes after SCCG Management achieved numerous milestones in the sports marketing space, including partnerships with other major sports teams and leagues.?

Committed to Sports and Sports Wagering in North America, SCCG manages sponsorship deals with the Cincinnati Bengals, Las Vegas Golden Knights, Colorado Rockies, Denver Broncos and the Iowa Cubs; has a business development partnership with the Northwoods Baseball League and the American Cornhole League; consults with Major Arena Soccer League; a data distribution and co-development strategic partnership with America Ultimate Disc League and a significant partnership with Hendrick Motorsports to use strategic gamification to leverage data, content and engagement.?

These partnerships have enabled SCCG to bring various sports events to the US sports betting industry while also providing consulting services such as data collection, sports betting markets, and distribution. Overall, SCCG Management's expertise in the sports industry has helped them to become one of the leading names in strategic consultation to the North American sports world. Through their commitment to sports and sports wagering in North America, SCCG has been able to establish successful sponsorship deals and partnerships with various teams and organizations, further solidifying their reputation in the industry.

The National Basketball Association has had a history of being a forward-thinking organization relative to the other major sports leagues in America, and they continue to deliver in that regard with some newsworthy changes coming to the league through a new seven-year Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA). The deal was agreed upon last week, and the changes that are coming are striking to say the least.

The NBA’s new CBA will give players the ability to invest in their own teams, other NBA teams, and WNBA teams. Players can also invest in sports betting companies, as well as cannabis companies. Other notable additions to the agreement include an in-season tournament, a new luxury-tax system that will significantly alter the way modern teams are built, and 65-game minimums for players to be considered for major awards. The last measure was put into place to combat “load management”, a modern-day basketball practice that involves star players sitting multiple games throughout the season in order to preserve their physical condition for games that hold more significance.?

After witnessing how much states have profited from legal sports betting, the league has decided to embrace the wave of sports betting in the United States head-on. There are already plenty of ties between sports betting in the United States and prominent NBA figures. Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban was an early investor in DraftKings, Michael Rubin is anticipating a sports betting boom with Fanatic Sportsbook, and just sold off his stakes in several major sports teams in order to do so. While Underdog Fantasy is not technically a Sportsbook, they have big-time investments from the likes of Kevin Durant, Trae Young, as well as, you guessed it, Mark Cuban.?

While the new CBA is not technically signed yet, it is reportedly all but a certainty, and has the potential to shake up a lot of things on and off the court. The new CBA has a structure in place that figures to benefit Owners, players, and fans alike. A midseason tournament with a large cash pool for players should increase interest, and therefore TV ratings, of regular season games. Fans should be able to go games and see their favorite players play, and the new agreement should increase the likelihood of this happening. As for the players, if they play their cards correctly, they have the potential to be on a similar financial playing field as the owners of the league itself. The new CBA runs through the 2029-2030 season.

We must do better than jump into this story cold.

Shakespeare's chorus opens the play "Romeo and Juliet" with a prologue introducing two feuding families and their star-crossed lovers. In "Henry V," his chorus presents their heroic King to the audience and sets the stage for the upcoming battle.

Our story is one of rapid growth created by two major players in artificial intelligence and machine learning: OpenAI's ChatGPT and Wolfram|Alpha by Wolfram Research.

Rather than battle and bloodshed, they allowed each other to share and learn from each other.?

This collaboration could yield dramatic functionality, accuracy, and usability improvements for both AI juggernauts.

Therefore, let us begin by introducing our players:

WHAT IS CHATGPT?

ChatGPT is a large language model trained by OpenAI. ChatGPT generates natural language responses to questions and prompts based on the data OpenAI's data scientists trained it against. ChatGPT can answer a wide range of questions, from fact-based questions like "What is the capital of France?" to more subjective ones like opinions or recommendations. It can also converse, explain, summarize information, and perform other language-related tasks.

WHAT IS OPENAI?

Founded in 2015, OpenAI is an artificial intelligence research laboratory whose researchers and engineers are working to advance the field of AI. OpenAI researches natural language processing, robotics, and machine learning and develops software tools and libraries to make AI accessible to developers and researchers worldwide.

WHAT IS WOLFRAM|ALPHA?

Launched in 2009, Wolfram|Alpha is a computational knowledge engine that allows users to search for answers by computing the results against its vast data collection, curated over decades. Unlike search engines like Google, which provides links to websites that may contain the answer users are looking for, Wolfram|Alpha computes the answer itself using its databases, algorithms, and real-time data streams. Wolfram|Alpha answers questions on a wide variety of topics, including mathematics, science, engineering, finance, history, and geography.

WHO IS DR. STEPHEN WOLFRAM?

Stephen Wolfram is the creator of Mathematica, Wolfram|Alpha, and the Wolfram Language; the author of A New Kind of Science; the originator of the Wolfram Physics Project; and the founder and CEO of Wolfram Research. Over more than four decades, he has been a pioneer in developing and applying computational thinking—and has been responsible for many discoveries, inventions, and innovations in science, technology, and business.

AI AND MACHINE LEARNING PLATFORMS ARE DEVELOPING AT AN INCREDIBLE SPEED AND ARE NOW LEARNING FROM EACH OTHER.

On January 9, 2026, Dr. Stephen Wolfram suggested on the writings section of his website that integration between his computational intelligence product, Wolfram|Alpha, and ChatGPT would solve one of its fundamental problems: accuracy.

ChatGPT is a large language model, created and trained by the AI research and deployment company, OpenAI, which generates human-like text based on user input.

Because ChatGPT was advertised at launch as not being connected to the internet, and the most recent training data for the language model was from September 2021, responses from ChatGPT using more current or real-time data weren't possible.

What's more, if the response requires data that doesn't exist in its training data, ChatGPT may make up a reasonable but wrong response because that's what it's trained to do: To respond reasonably to a user based on input.

Back in January 2023, as part of his proposed integration of Wolfram|Alpha to ChatGPT, Wolfram asked ChatGPT, "How far is it from Chicago to Tokyo?" and ChatGPT responded:

"The distance from Chicago, Illinois to Tokyo, Japan is approximately 7,600 miles (12,200 kilometers). This is a very long distance and it would take a significant amount of time to travel from one place to the other by any mode of transportation., The actual flight time from Chicago, IL to Tokyo, Japan is about 16 hours, but this does not take into account factors such as wind and the layover time at the airport."

This is a reasonable but incorrect response.

If you ask the same question of Wolfram|Alpha you get the following response:

It also gives you the distance in other units of measurement,

Wolfram|Alpha also provides direct travel times using different modes of transportation.

It also gives you a map of the route, and the route’s fraction of the Earth’s circumference for context.

The response is comprehensive, accurate, and to use the modern parlance, even a little “try-hard” -- but it could be more conversational.

This example shows where integration between Wolfram|Alpha and ChatGPT would have been helpful.

DR. WOLFRAM AND OPENAI DROP THE OTHER SHOE.

On March 23, 2023, Dr. Wolfram announced on his website that OpenAI and his team had successfully connected to the Wolfram plugin, giving ChatGPT access to its computational engine, data sets, and live feeds, which have Wolfram|Alpha has curated over decades.

Simultaneously, OpenAI posted release notes on March 23, 2023, announcing the following:

"We are announcing experimental support for AI plugins in ChatGPT — tools designed specifically for language models. Plugins can help ChatGPT access up-to-date information, run computations, or use third-party services."

"Today, we will begin extending plugin access to users and developers from our waitlist. The plugins we are rolling out with are:

Browsing: An experimental model that knows when and how to browse the internet

Code Interpreter: An experimental ChatGPT model that can use Python, and handles uploads and downloads

Third-party plugins: An experimental model that knows when and how to use external plugins."

Today, if you ask ChatGPT, "How far is it from Las Vegas to Tokyo?" it responds:

"The distance between Las Vegas, Nevada, USA, and Tokyo, Japan, is approximately 5,500 miles (8,851 kilometers). This distance is measured as a straight line, also known as the "as-the-crow-flies" distance, which does not account for the curvature of the Earth or travel routes. Actual flight distance and travel time may vary depending on the specific route taken and any layovers or connections."

Accurate.

YOU MAY GET A DIFFERENT RESPONSE

First, you may get a different response because of randomness.

If you have access to ChatGPT 4.0 and try the same question, you may get a different answer, as ChatGPT introduces a certain amount of randomness to its responses to feel more human in its responses.

The amazing fundamental simplicity behind what ChatGPT does is that it tries to generate the most reasonable next word in its response based on what it has learned by consuming what others have written on billions of web pages.

For example, if ChatGPT had generated the phrase, "Happy birthday to..", it would review a list of words that would likely come next, ranked by probability. If you assume the next most likely word would be "you," based on its experience with its large language model, randomness might select the second or third most likely next word.

The second and more likely reason you will get a different response is that ChatGPT is rolling out access to plugins to a small set of ChatGPT Plus users before releasing it to a larger population.

WHY SHOULD WE CARE?

ChatGPT and Wolfram|Alpha's integration are important because it allows each of these powerful AI tools to collaborate conversationally through an API to form more comprehensive and accurate responses.

ChatGPT is a powerful language model capable of understanding and generating human-like text. At the same time, Wolfram Alpha is a computational knowledge engine that answers factual questions based on its vast collection of data and algorithms.

By integrating the two, users get better responses, especially those requiring computational knowledge and mathematical calculations.

For example, if a user asks ChatGPT, "What is the square root of 64?" without integration with Wolfram Alpha, ChatGPT may only provide a text-based response such as "The square root of 64 is 8."

With integration with Wolfram Alpha, ChatGPT can provide the following:

A visual representation of the solution.

Alternate forms of the answer.

Other relevant information.

This year has seen an explosion of genuine, customer-facing, generative AI products.

What will happen when more of them collaborate and allow their products to extend and enhance the core functionalities of these AI and ML-based engines?

How will these emerging AI and ML-powered products change the relative value that human intelligence brings?

We cover this and other AI/ML topics in the April product release from SCCG Research, scheduled to be released on April 14, 2023.

REFERENCES:

1.??About Stephen Wolfram. https://www.stephenwolfram.com/about/?stream=top

2.??ChatGPT — Release Notes | OpenAI Help Center. https://help.openai.com/en/articles/6825453-chatgpt-release-notes

The global Gambling Industry has not seen the exponential growth being currently experienced, and Africa is no exception. Gambling, particularly sports gambling, is a preferred avenue of getting much needed income to feed families amongst the many unemployed African youth and middle-aged men. Often, all they have is a few dollars which they use to go to the nearest bookie and place bets in the morning. The hope would be to double what little they have in order to buy the evening meal for the family, and the cycle is repeated the next day.

A South African government survey from 2017 found that sports betting grew 14% per year from 2008 to 2016. This is significant growth and might point to the aforementioned economic factors-the number of unemployed people in the country is on the rise due to corruption and poor governance.?

South Africa is widely viewed as the largest gambling market on the continent. Despite the country’s issues, the economy remains among the best on the continent. This allows South Africans to have more disposable income and easier access to the internet, making online sports gaming easily accessible.?

The growth may also be attributed to access to European sports leagues, particularly soccer. The English Premier League for instance, is followed by over a billion people in the world, and the African fanbase constitutes over a quarter of this number. It is safe to say, the sharp rise in sports betting on the continent is fueled by this strong soccer culture, which is almost an obsession.

As a result, many operators view Africa as a lucrative market for expansion and growth. It is also prudent to mention that most of these markets are not as heavily regulated as the European, Asian and American markets which significantly reduces barriers of entry. In the coming years expect to see more and more expansion in this region.

At BettorFantasy, we understand the importance of having a deep understanding of our users' experience on our app. To gain valuable insights, we use qualitative research sessions with the 5 Whys method. This approach helps us identify our users' pain points and their motivations for using our app in a way that can't be uncovered in a survey. In this article, I'll provide a quick framework for how you can use the 5 Whys method for your next set of interviews.

Identify the Research Objective

Before conducting a user research study, it's important to identify the research objective. Determine what information you want to obtain from the study. For example, let's assume that users of your platform aren't using your new odds comparison tool at the frequency you hoped they would. Your research objective in this case is to learn why a user hasn't used the odds comparison tool.

Ask an Open-Ended Question to Start

When conducting user research, it's important to start with an open-ended question to encourage users to share their true thoughts and feelings. Here's a good opening question based on the research objective we mentioned above, "Why haven't you used the odds comparison tool?" The key here is to keep the opening question simple but targeted to the topic you're trying to learn more about.

Ask the 5 Whys

Once you have your opening question, it's time to ask "why" five times. If a user reports that they find your odds comparison feature confusing, you might ask, "Why do you find the odds comparison feature confusing?" They might respond, "Because I don't understand how to read the odds." You can then ask, "Why don't you understand how to read the odds?" The user might respond, "Because I'm not familiar with the different odds formats." Continue asking "why" for each response until you reach the root cause, such as "Because there is no explanation of the different odds formats in the app."

Analyze the Results

Conduct several interviews with the same opening question, then analyze the results to understand the root cause of the user feedback. Look for common themes or issues that multiple users have reported. You might find a common issue faced by the entire community using your product. These insights are invaluable for you and your product team to uncover.

Take Action!

Now that you have uncovered the root cause of the issue, take action to address it. For instance, if users report that they find the odds comparison feature confusing, you might add a tutorial or explanation of different odds formats. Share this tutorial with the users you interviewed earlier to see if it solves the problem. If it does, then you know you've got something.?

In conclusion, using the 5 Why method has helped our team at BettorFantasy gain empathy and a better understanding of our users' experiences. The key to success is to ask open-ended questions and be an exceptional listener. During qualitative research sessions, it's important to talk as little as possible and avoid leading questions. Just ask "why?" five times and you might just uncover priceless insights that will improve your user experience in a big way.

Anyone trying to make some sense of the rumors, bills, interviews and pretty much anything else in Brazil in terms of potential online sports betting regulations is already tired. If you’ve been following this scenario for a lifetime (work lifetime) like me, I like to call a week like this a ‘week of no news, yet so much in the news’.

This week, some ‘agents’ of the market such as soccer clubs – that earn a lot with online sports betting sponsorship for the grey market – the Brazilian Soccer Confederation, and the Federal Administration made statements regarding the highly-sought after potential tax revenue coming from the sports betting industry.

However, some lawyers that represent gaming companies in Brazil were mentioned in big newspapers, and they were stating the obvious and expected situation: it looks like the public sector, and pseudo-public sector entities like the Brazilian Soccer Confederation want a big too much in taxes.

Everyone wants a piece of the seemingly newly discovered gold mine.

But that’s not how gaming works. Our industry is highly productive and profitable because it is extremely efficient and combines the great, unique talent of hard-to-find executives with cutting-edge technology and the best corporate practices possible.

And when we fail with this last part, that’s why regulatory bodies exist.

But it looks like there’s some kind of idea that we’re alchemists. If alchemists still exist in 2023, they’re very well-hidden in some shack in the woods out there. Not in a CXO or stakeholder role in the gaming industry.

Bad News?

I always thought that this ‘ever-impending’ situation of upcoming gaming regulations could eventually stall with the discussion about the magic number: a percentage of tax revenue that can allow the industry to remain profitable and interesting, unlike it happened in some European countries, and not the 0% and de facto tax haven of the current online sports betting grey market in Brazil which many consider outrageous.

I believe Malta has found the magic 5% in the past: enough to be highly competitive and attract a lot of capital, and not 0%, which benefits the island ultimately.

Have we moved from a situation of ‘intentions’ to regulate our industry, to a dispute between our industry and the government?

At the risk of stating the obvious, overly aggressive taxation benefits only the black markets. Poor regulation will spook operators that are enjoying the grey market and the de facto tax haven situation that I’ve explained on numerous occasions in this publication.

The global market of iGaming is always expanding. Operators work remotely in Brazil, and focusing on other countries requires very little: igniting a turn-key solution to translate the website, integrate a few payment methods, hire a few executives (remotely too), and bingo! Brazil won’t be the ‘El Dorado’ that many are expecting. Some of the lawyers interviewed by a big newspaper in Brazil went as far as saying that the government doesn’t get how sportsbooks operate and what are the margins that can be exploited by taxes without hurting the businesses to the point that… they could leave Brazil.

Reportedly, the Federal Administration of Brazil really is eager to earn some tax revenue and use it to help them with a critical budget scenario which is the constant state of the fiscal ‘homework’ in Brazil.

Time will tell what tends to happen. Unfortunately, however, I don’t believe much in an easy agreement about the tax revenue.?

The reasons are simple: we aren’t really understood in terms of how gaming operators make money. Let me be absolutely clear. The Brazilian government obviously doesn’t know how our business model works as much as we do, and that is expected.

Moreover, depending on the hot topics and the next breaking news in Brazil, the discussion about our industry is constantly in and out of the political agenda.?

Sometimes when it comes to the clash between the public sector and private investments, trying to do things for real, in practice, shows the true challenges behind trying to find converging points in the agendas of politicians and executives.

I believe the right balance between the right taxation and the best for the industry and Brazilian soccer will not be tested in practice in a very smooth way. I guess the government isn’t much worried about taxing the industry beyond what’s reasonable. How could they know if the industry is just defending exorbitant profit margins?

Perhaps it’ll take a few big companies leaving the country and stopping to pay for sponsorship of top Brazilian clubs to make them realize that although the industry knows a lot about gaming… this is not a bluff.

The concept of a Metaverse has been around for a while, but in recent years, it has become a buzzword in the tech industry. The Metaverse is essentially a virtual world where people can interact with each other, attend events, and engage in various activities. It's been compared to a combination of Second Life, Fortnite, and the internet itself. The industry is rapidly evolving, with new players entering the market, and established companies expanding their offerings.?

One of the latest developments in the Metaverse industry is the news that Disney has reportedly closed their Metaverse department. This decision comes as a surprise, as the company has been investing heavily in the development of its Metaverse products. Disney had previously announced plans to create a Metaverse that would allow fans to interact with their favorite characters and explore new worlds.

META, on the other hand, had been working on developing a virtual world that would allow users to create their content and experiences but even had a good number of employees being laid off unfortunately. The decision to pull the plug on these projects is likely due to a variety of factors, including the high cost of development and uncertain ROI. Despite this setback, the Metaverse industry is still going strong, with many companies continuing to invest in the technology.?

Companies like Apple recently announced the introduction of new VR glasses. The glasses, which are expected to launch in 2023, will be the company's first foray into the world of virtual reality. While details are still scarce, it's expected that the glasses will be lightweight and wireless and will allow users to experience a wide range of VR content.?

Another major player in the Metaverse industry is META, despite the challenges, they have been investing heavily in the development of its virtual world, Horizon Workrooms. The platform is designed to allow users to collaborate and work together in a virtual environment, and it's been touted as a potential game-changer for remote work. Facebook has also been working on developing new technologies that would allow users to experience the Metaverse in a more immersive way, such as haptic feedback suits and full-body tracking.?

Other companies that are active in the Metaverse industry include Roblox and Epic Games, the developer behind Fortnite. Both companies have been working on expanding their offerings to include more Metaverse-style experiences, such as virtual concerts and events.?

Overall, the Metaverse industry is still in its early stages, and there's no telling what the future holds. However, with major players from big tech companies investing heavily in the technology, it's clear that the Metaverse is here to stay. As the technology evolves and becomes more accessible, we can expect to see a wide range of new applications and use cases emerge, from gaming and entertainment to education and healthcare.

Asia has the potential to become the driving force behind the global adoption of Web3 Games in the coming years. Today, almost two-thirds of the largest gaming companies in the world are from China, Japan and South Korea.?

The Web3 gaming sector is growing fast, accounting for around half of the entire blockchain industry in terms of on-chain activity, and its here in the Asia Pacific that’s leading the trend. China alone having over 700 million players ready to adopt blockchain-based games. And its in China where development of its own Web3 ecosystem is being fast-tracked to meet demand. The most prevalent iteration being a local version of non-fungible tokens (NFTs) known as "digital collectibles” China's strength in Web3 lies in developing applications for users, rather than building blockchain's underlying infrastructure. Web3 platforms could also give Chinese citizens an alternative to China's own technology ecosystem.?

Web3 technologies of course refer to a set of decentralized technologies that aim to create a new version of the internet. These technologies are built on principles such as decentralization, permission-less access, and native payments using cryptocurrency. Blockchain being just one example. However, Web3 in China still faces many obstacles such as a weak technical foundation, financial risks of speculation and fraud, and uncertainty in regulatory policies. While China has actively promoted the digital technology of blockchain and used it for its sovereign digital currency, it has also banned token issuance and financing, and continued to crack down on crypto mining.

And more recently we are seeing many Asian companies including those from China exploring overseas markets to stimulate the global adoption of Web3 gaming. One of them is Giant Network, a publicly traded Chinese company that has been gaining traction in Asian markets for about two decades. In March 2023, Giant Network introduced its new Web3 gaming brand for the overseas market at the 2023 Game Developers Conference in San Francisco, known as ZTimes. The new brand aims to create a new generation of video games by leveraging Web3 infrastructure, its goal is to explore new business models and develop games with new concepts while empowering players. These new gaming models could change the industry as a whole.?

ZTimes aims to build a Web3 gaming ecosystem that gives game asset ownership back to players and where in-game items can be traded freely. Players will be able to buy and sell in-game assets, equipment and props within the community without any transaction limits or price limits set by the games. They will be free to set their own prices and conduct transactions within the ecosystem or on secondary markets. This gives users the right to truly own their earned assets and experience a variety of interesting and social experiences through trading.

The Chinese market is one of the more lucrative in the world, at this stage doing business in China is not without barriers. Foreign game companies must work with a domestic game publisher who will operate the game in China, and the game being submitted for approval must have already obtained a certificate from the NCA, National Copyright Administration for the game.?

All games published in China must be operated by a Chinese majority-owned company, according to China law designed to protect the domestic telecom infrastructure. China has however granted approvals to 44 foreign video games. It is legally required for foreign gaming companies looking to operate in China to have a local partner.

Does that mean it’s too hard for foreign companies to enter China, no. But they need to have a solid business plan and a partner who understands the rules and regulations. Getting approvals will take time. This is why foreign company’s should talk with the team at SCCG Asia, we can assist.?

The Kings League is a semi-professional 7-a-side soccer league created in November 2022 in Barcelona, Spain. It was founded by former Spanish footballer Gerard Piqué and his company Kosmos. It features twelve teams made up of 10 players each, as the matches are 7 against 7. Each team is presided over by a famous streamer or ex-footballer who makes all the decisions regarding his club.

After retiring from soccer, Piqué dedicated all his time to his new project: an amateur soccer league in which streamers and ex-footballers participate. Thus, was born the Kings League, a tournament with a mega production that became one of the best events in the history of Twitch.

The duration of the Kings League matches is 40 minutes, with no stoppage time and divided into two 20-minute halves. If at the end of the match there is a draw, the winner is decided by a penalty shootout consisting of a one-on-one shootout: the attacker comes out from the center of the field and has 5 seconds to score against the opposing goalkeeper. If the goalkeeper touches the ball and prevents it from entering the goal, it is considered a missed penalty. In the first phase of the tournament, all teams face each other. There, the top eight teams will qualify for the playoffs, in which the first team will face the eighth, the second the seventh, and so on.

To put into context the overwhelming success of the Kings League, it is enough to review the numbers registered on March 26 during the final four, where the four semifinalists of the tournament faced each other. 92,522 people gathered at the Spotify Camp Nou Stadium and more than 1.1 million viewers followed the matches live on the streaming platform Twitch.

Attendance at the Kings League Final Four at the Camp Nou in Barcelona exceeded the 88,966 spectators who filled Qatar's Lusail Stadium during the final of the last World Cup between Argentina and France. Although this new tournament is still far from the attendance of FIFA tournaments, it has more than proved that the format is attractive to the public and that, if it continues to grow, it could compete with traditional soccer. The Kings League has also recently established a version for female players, called the Queens League. In addition, franchise leagues (starting with Brazil) will soon come into play.

The Kings League plays an important role in promoting esports as a legitimate sport. By providing a platform for soccer esports players to compete and showcase their skills, it helps build recognition and respect for the industry. This, in turn, can help attract more fans, sponsors and investors to the industry, which will ultimately lead to its continued growth and success.

Considering that soccer is the most popular sport in many Latin American countries, the Kings League can help to build a strong and vibrant esports ecosystem in the region, providing a platform for young soccer players to develop their skills by promoting a more structured and professional environment for competitions, while fostering inclusion and diversity.

In the world of online sports betting, it is crucial for iGaming operators to verify the identities of their customers. This is not only to comply with legal and regulatory requirements but also to protect their platforms from fraudulent activity. In this article, we will discuss how iGaming operators verify the identities of their customers and how an automated ID verification process can help with KYC compliance.

Age and Identity Verification

One of the primary methods that iGaming operators use to verify customer identity is age and identity verification. This typically involves manually collecting personal information from the customer, such as their name, address, and date of birth, as well as government-issued identification documents like a passport or driver's license. The operator then compares this information against databases of known fraudulent identities and checks the age of the customer against the legal gambling age in their jurisdiction. An automated ID verification platform like that offered by OCR Labs enables iGaming operators to streamline their age and verification process by allowing bettors to autofill their personal information by taking a picture of their ID. While verifying if the ID is fraudulent or not the platform can also check against databases reducing the amount of work for the operator and giving an almost instantaneous response on if the bettor is verified or not.?

Address Verification

Another method that iGaming operators use to verify customer identity is address verification. This involves verifying the customer's address against databases of known addresses and cross-checking it against the information provided by the customer. Address verification is important because it helps to prevent fraud and ensures that the customer is located in a jurisdiction where online sports betting is legal. With an automated ID verification platform addresses can be pulled off of driver's licenses to reduce the amount of effort it takes bettors to get onboarded. An additional check can also be done on the bettor's cellphone location so that if they are traveling to a legal betting location they are allowed to bet. This helps increase the bettor experience, especially while traveling. It also increases the amount of betting an operator can facilitate as ID addresses and the actual location of the bettor only align when the bettor is at home. Think about the number of people that travel to Las Vegas to place bets that wouldn’t be able to gamble if not for travel.?

Fraud Detection and Prevention

iGaming operators also use various fraud detection and prevention measures to identify and prevent fraudulent activity on their platforms. This typically includes monitoring for unusual activity or patterns, as well as using third-party fraud prevention services. These measures help to protect the operator's platform from fraudulent activity and ensure that sports betting is conducted in a fair and transparent manner. One of the areas lacking in the digital sports betting industry is the ability to tell if an ID document is fraudulent or not. With the rise of synthetic IDs and the ability to purchase high-quality fakes online detection is becoming more difficult. An automated ID verification platform like that offered by OCR Labs can detect fake IDs by doing a document fraud assessment in line with ID verification delivering a frictionless customer experience and ensuring the bettor can start betting quickly.?

Conclusion

In conclusion, iGaming operators use various methods to verify the identities of their customers, including age and identity verification, address verification, and fraud detection and prevention measures. These methods help to ensure that sports betting is conducted in a fair and transparent manner and protect the operator's platform from fraudulent activity.

An automated ID verification process can help iGaming operators with KYC compliance by streamlining the identity verification process and reducing the risk of human error. By using advanced technology to verify customer identity quickly and accurately, iGaming operators can provide a robust and auditable record of the identity verification process, helping to comply with regulatory requirements and protect their platform from fraudulent activity.

By Gambling Insider

Century Casinos strikes gold

Century Casinos has bought the full operations of the Nugget Casino Resort for $100m.

The Nevada-based Nugget casino was owned by Marnell Gaming and features two hotel towers, an amphitheatre, 1,472 total parking spaces, bars, restaurants, 892 slot machines and 29 table games.

Century Casinos is using it as an opportunity to expand into Nevada, with Erwin Haitzmann and Peter Hoetzinger, Co-CEOs of Century Casinos, saying: "The Nugget is a great addition to our portfolio. We have plans to update the fa?ade, signage, slot floor, and food and beverage venues of the Nugget."

365-degree turn

Entain has bought 365scores for ￡120m ($150m), which has over 15 million active users around the world, with plans to expand further.

365scores offers editorial and social content to players, as well as scores & sports information with free-to-play sports-themed games.

Furthermore, customers will have access to a wider selection of interactive content and experiences, thanks to the combination of 365scores' expertise in data-driven sports media content and Entain's global reach and market platform capabilities.?

Who Allwyn gonna call… Vodafone!

The UK’s incoming lottery operator has partnered with Vodafone to improve, upgrade and overhaul its existing mobile-first infrastructure – as the company focuses on pushing mobile-first lottery gaming.

However, despite its focus on mobile lottery products, Allwyn has further committed to supporting high-street retailers throughout its decade-long tenure of the Fourth National Lottery Licence, with Vodafone providing digital skills training for retailers that sell lottery products.

Allwyn will take over the licence officially in February 2024, and recently purchased outgoing operator, Camelot’s, UK lottery operations.

Nick Gliddon, UK Business Director of Vodafone, said: “We understand the role that digital technology can play in transforming a business and improving customer experience. Since the lottery began, local shops have used pen and paper at lottery kiosks, and despite the significant technological shifts, not much has changed."

Checking in on the players

The results of an OLBG survey were released this week, which found that only 65% of bettors would refuse to face affordability checks if asked to do so.

The survey, carried out by YouGov on behalf of OLBG, interviewed 1,007 bettors on the topic of affordability checks. Out of the 21.8% of bettors that had been asked to submit documentation to at least one bookmaker, 74.3% had provided them; however, 17.9% of bettors had refused to comply with the affordability check and had moved to a different operator.

Richard Moffat, CEO at OLBG, said: “Most bettors who have been asked to provide documents have done so.

“More importantly, very few of those who were asked stopped gambling or went to the black market, the latter being the worst unintended consequence of measures aimed at making gambling more responsible."

To Jamul or not Jamul

The Jamul Indian Village Development Corporation (JIVDC) secured $515m in credit facilities for the development of a new 16-storey hotel.

The new resort will be connected to the current property that the JIVDC has, the Jamul Casino.

Erica M. Pinto, JIVDC and Tribal Chairwoman, said: "We are thankful for the partnership with KeyBanc and appreciate their approach, flexibility, and collaboration.

“The terms of this transaction will allow us to focus on our long-term financial stability and new projects that will continue to provide benefits for the Tribe."

Contact: Julian Perigo - CEO - [email protected]

Tom Smelt - Recruitment Director - [email protected]