This Week's Breaking News

Here is a round-up of this week's top headlines and breaking news from the betting industry.

1)?Live betting services supplier SIS Ltd announces appointment of Jacob Howard and Aaron St Pierre to its Competitive Gaming set-up. Howard moves to operator from esports data and odds provider Abios to take on role of esports product manager, while St Pierre, who has more than 10 years trading experience, joins as trading manager. Adam Conway, head of esports and competitive gaming, says: "This is a hugely exciting time for SIS, and to make such key hires is a testament to the company and our continued success in creating engaging esports betting opportunities for our partners and bettors alike."

2)? Yggdrasil Gaming Ltd reports receipt of a supplier permit in Sweden, meaning it will be able to continue to provide its services when new regulations come into force on July 1. Operator's general counsel and chief legal & compliance officer Petter Envall says: "Remaining compliant in all jurisdictions in which we operate is critical to us and has always been a key priority for Yggdrasil."

3)?Former FC Bayern München coach Julian Nagelsmann - who only left the Bundesliga International GmbH club last week - is Coral 's evens favourite in the betting to become the next Tottenham boss following Antonio Conte's departure. Ryan Mason and a return for former favourite Mauricio Pochettino are 4/1 and 5s respectively with Unibet .

4)? William Hill is issued record ￡19.2m fine by Gambling Commission for social responsibility and anti-money laundering failings at three of its businesses. WHG (International) Ltd, which runs williamhill.com, is to pay a ￡12.5m penalty, with Mr Green fined ￡3.7m and William Hill Organisation, which operates more than 1,300 gambling premises in Britain, paying the remaining ￡3m. GC CEO Andrew Rhodes says: "When we launched this investigation the failings we uncovered were so widespread and alarming serious consideration was given to licence suspension. However, because the operator immediately recognised their failings and worked with us to swiftly implement improvements, we instead opted for the largest enforcement payment in our history."

5)? 3 Oaks Gaming reports reaching a "hugely important milestone" as it takes its content live in Italy - a market it describes as "a key jurisdiction" - for the first time with platform provider Tuko Productions . MD Sebastian Damian adds: "We have continued our impressive upwards trajectory since the start of the year, and look forward to reaping the benefits in Italy thanks to the unrivalled reach of Tuko Productions and its THS platform."

6)?Sportsbook and igaming software provider Altenar announces expansion in Bulgaria via a partnership with BetMarket , which is already offering its player props markets and virtual sports. Account manager Aggelos Stravelas says of collaboration: "The Balkan region is full of fantastic operators and to launch with BetMarket allows us to understand this market further than we already do."

7)? Podium (PABS) announces multi-year partnership with Miami-based fantasy sports brand No House Advantage to provide premium Formula 1 content to its platform. As part of the new agreement, No House Advantage will receive real-time Formula 1 data, including fixtures, results, lap-by-lap updates, driver profiles, championship standings and other vital statistics. PABS says partnership is a "significant milestone" that demonstrates group's ability to offer a broad range of sports data and services to meet clients' needs.

8) Catalyst Media Group Ltd. , which holds a 20.5% stake in Sports Information Services, issues trading update, reporting SIS Ltd posted operating profit down 36% year-on-year to ￡1.9m in six months ending September 30, on revenue rising from ￡113.4m to ￡125.8m. It says SIS' current trading remains "robust" and notes that the business "continues to pursue and win new business opportunities both in terms of content acquisition...?and new customers". It adds: "SIS has advised CMG that it expects to close its financial year to 31 March 2023 with increased revenue and profit before tax year-on-year."?

9)?Online marketing and gaming operator XLMedia Plc reports full-year revenue from core sport and gaming activities up 27% to $69.6m in 2022 - with sports vertical generating $54m (up from $31.4m a year previously) and gaming contributing $15.6m ($23.2m). Adjusted Ebitda up 25% to $18.2m with a margin of 26% and gross profit 1% higher at $37.8m. CEO David King says: "We made good progress in 2022, having re-engineered the business to become one of the leading sports betting affiliates in North America and our US business is expected to continue to evolve at a rapid pace as the market starts to migrate from up front acquisition payment to revenue share agreements. However, our mix of media and betting brands, both owned and partnered, are well placed in that environment to build sustainable revenues."

10) Esports promoter Gfinity PLC reports revenue up 26% year-on-year to ￡4.1m in the six months to December 31. It says increased investment in resource attached to development and marketing of the Athlos platform and in the content and technology for Digital Media network meant adjusted operating loss increased to ￡0.8m for the period. Group says average monthly active users during period at Gfinity Digital Media arm was 13.1m, representing a 10% year-on-year reduction "following Google algorithm changes which impacted traffic from September 2022". Revenue of ￡1.4m was an 11% reduction on the equivalent period in the prior year but a 20% rise on the six-month period immediately preceding.

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Weekend of Sports?

Here is a sneak peek into the upcoming weekend's sporting extravaganza. Our Sport Production Editor, Stuart Walker , will be your expert guide as he takes you through the most significant sporting events of the weekend.

• The Premier League returns following the international break with a blockbuster of a game at the Etihad Stadium . Champions Manchester City Football Club host long-time rivals Liverpool Football Club on Saturday lunchtime looking to keep the pressure on leaders Arsenal F.C . Mikel Arteta’s side, who have an eight-point cushion albeit having played a game more, take on Leeds Hyde Park FC at the Emirates Stadium in a 3pm kick-off.
• Anthony Joshua makes his much-anticipated return to the ring when he faces Jermaine Franklin at the O2 Arena on Saturday. Joshua, who is 34 in October, will attempt to get back to winning ways after suffering back-to-back defeats to Oleksandr Usyk, who now holds the World Boxing Association , World Boxing Organisation and International Boxing Federation belts. The Finchley boxer acknowledged he is about to begin his “last run” in the sport but has targeted becoming a world champion in the heavyweight division again before he turns 35.?
• Red Bull will bid to continue their dominant start to the season as round three heads to Australia. They produced a crushing one-two finish at the Saudi Arabian GP - a fortnight after they ruled the season-opener in Bahrain – and have now won 12 of the last 13 races staged.?Mercedes (four) and Ferrari (three) have shared the last seven grands prix Down Under but only a brave person would bet against world champion Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez.

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