This Week's Sports Betting Update

One big story?

Sky Bet seals record five-year sponsorship extension with the EFL

Sky Bet has announced a record five-year extension of its sponsorship deal with the English Football League (EFL). The partnership will continue until the end of the 2028-29 EFL campaign at the earliest.

The EFL and Sky Bet have linked up for the best part of a decade. Under the terms of the fresh extension, Sky Bet has increased its rights fee to the EFL by 50%, which it hopes will improve the financial sustainability of clubs at all three levels.

The new deal will also see Sky Bet pump an additional ￡1 million per year – and ￡6 million in total – into the EFL Community Fund. This fund supports local communities at EFL club locations across England and Wales.

Click here to get the thoughts of Trevor Birch, EFL CEO, on the new deal and the importance of the enhanced community investment.

What you need to know

Commercial

• ?? Spotlight Sports Group was named Sports Data Supplier of the Year at last night’s EGR B2B Awards. The award win recognises SSG’s best-in-class content engine, Superfeed. The Superfeed content engine has revolutionised in-play betting analysis for football leagues across the globe. More
• ???? FS Gaming Investments has revealed it has built a 6.6% stake in 888 Holdings plc. The New York-based fund contains a string of prominent figures from the UK gambling industry. This includes Kenny Alexander, former CEO of GVC Holdings (now Entain), and subsequent successful racehorse owner. The fund believes 888 is an undervalued equity in the financial markets, according to a report in the Financial Times. More
• ???? bet365 has formally launched in the US state of Iowa, after securing a multi-year licence through its partner Casino Queen Marquette. It’s the fifth recent launch in the US for bet365, after going live in New Jersey, Colorado, Virginia and Ohio. Residents and visitors to the Hawkeye State will be able to access this sportsbook via ia.bet365.com. More
• ?? English Premier League side Newcastle United has formally announced FUN88 as its official Asian betting partner for the 2023-24 season and beyond. The multi-year association started back in 2017-18, when it was the Magpies’ principal sponsor. More

Regulation

LeoVegas Group is the latest in a growing line of operators to become a member of the Brazilian Institute of Responsible Gaming (IBJR). The IBJR has already attracted the likes of Entain, Flutter Entertainment, bet365, Betsson Group and Betway Group, as established iGaming brands aim to shape a sustainable iGaming market for Brazil – a nation that is considered to have untapped potential in this sector. More

Technology

International Game Technology (IGT) will continue to deliver its video lottery solutions to Svenska Spel, after the pair extended their legacy technology partnership until January 2027. Ola Enquist of Svenska Spel AB noted the influential role IGT had played in Svenska Spel’s expansion and modernisation. IGT first partnered with Svenska Spel in 1996. More

People news

Andrew Peat appointed as managing director of Rank Interactive

Rank Group has confirmed the appointment of Andrew Peat as the new managing director of Rank Interactive, the group’s iGaming arm.

Peat, who is the sportsbook director at William Hill, has been in his current role since 2018. Peat’s new position at Rank Interactive will include developing and integrating a new digital strategy for Rank’s UK-focused brands.

Click here to get the thoughts of Peat on his move to Rank, as well as its new COO, Jon Martin.

This week's talking point

Racing Post’s ‘Easyview’ digital hubs are now available in Ladbrokes and Coral betting shops

Betting shops are having to move with the times, just like many other industries.

Racing Post’s new Easyview service on digital displays in a number of Ladbrokes and Coral betting shops has made scouring the day’s racecards more engaging and interactive than ever before.?

With retail betting on horseracing struggling to recover post-pandemic, Easyview is seen as a means of breaking down the barriers to entry for casual bettors who may have been deterred by the complexities of traditional form and racecards.

Easyview uses six core metrics and assigns a rating to each metric per horse, as well as an outright rating out of 100. It is now available in more than 100 Entain-owned betting shops nationwide, including on horseracing terminals.

Click here to learn more about the role Easyview is playing in helping horseracing betting to bounce back.

This week's insight

Does the UK gambling industry need to reinvent itself to regain trust?

The UK gambling industry should remember the collaborative success of the 2010 ‘Parry Report’ and look to rebuild trust, both from a regulatory perspective and a consumer perspective.

That’s the view of Bill South, former head of intelligence at the UK Gambling Commission and former group director of security at William Hill.

Following the publication of the Report of the Sports Betting Integrity Panel in February 2010, stakeholders came together to develop a framework that upheld the integrity of sports and the sports betting industry.

South believes a similar opportunity exists for the UK’s iGaming stakeholders following the publication of the government’s gambling white paper.

Instead of getting caught in the “familiar cycle” whereby operators are caught out and slapped on the wrist by the regulator – which later acknowledges the brand’s desire to improve – South believes there should be a renewed focus on improvement by all parties, rather than out-and-out reinvention. Only then does South believe trust can be rebuilt – on both sides of the argument.

Click here to read more from South on why the gambling white paper presents a golden opportunity to build a well-regulated, safe and enjoyable industry once and for all.

The BetTech Ecosystem 2023

Investigating the global landscape of sports betting and iGaming suppliers

The BetTech Ecosystem Report provides key insight into the global market of suppliers for sports betting and iGaming operators. While the visual offers an overarching view of the key suppliers across the 42 subsections that make up the BetTech Ecosystem.

Click here to read the BetTech Ecosystem Report.

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