This Week's Sports Betting Update

Hello, this week's edition of our newsletter is sponsored by ICE 2024, which returns to ExCel London 6-8 February, 2024. Grab a coffee, take five minutes and we’ll fill you in on everything you need to know from this week.

One big story?

FDJ launches ￡2.1 billion bid to buy Kindred Group

French gaming and lottery organisation, La Francaise des Jeux (FDJ) has mounted a formal offer worth ￡2.1bn to acquire the remaining share capital of Kindred Group. FDJ has offered 130 Swedish krona per share, which is almost 25% higher than the Kindred Group share price on the close of trading last week.

The offer from FDJ means it’s valuing Kindred Group at 10.9 times its underlying EBITDA during 2023. Kindred has “unanimously” recommended that its shareholders accept the bid, with the window for accepting the bid said to open from 20th February and expiring on 19th November.

Within its own official statement on the deal, FDJ confirmed its intention to form Europe’s second-largest gaming organisation, cementing its position as a “European gaming champion”.

Click here to get the thoughts of Kindred CEO Nils Anden on the proposal, as well as more on the firm’s ongoing strategic review.

Product spotlight?

Affiliate Management System: Built to simplify your affiliate marketing needs

Spotlight Sports Group's Affiliate Management System (AMS) was developed to automate the always time-consuming process of updating promotional offers from sports betting and gaming operators across affiliate sites.

The AMS displays geo-targeted offers to audiences based on your relationships, and/or regulations in a country or state. The AMS can display offers for sportsbooks, iGaming operators, paid fantasy sports operators, or any other company with offers that are relevant to your audience.

Learn more about the Affiliate Management System and how it can help unlock your audience value.

What you need to know

Commercial

• ?? Better Collective has inched closer to closing the buyout of Playmaker Capital, after its shareholders voted in favour of the transaction. A €176 million fee has already been agreed and with just 0.001% of shareholders voting against the takeover, the deal could be completed in a matter of weeks. More
• ???? The Great Lakes State of Michigan posted gross revenues for online sports betting and iGaming worth $2.3bn in 2023. This is up 18% year-on-year and is comfortably the highest annual figure since the launch of its licensed market. More
• ???? Fanatics Sportsbook has been given the green light to launch in the Pennsylvania market. The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board has supervised a two-day soft launch of Fanatics’ online sportsbook and online casino services. It marks the eleventh US state in which Fanatics is operational. More
• ???? Mobile sports betting in the regulated market of North Carolina is set to go live on 11th March, 2024. The North Carolina State Lottery Commission has approved the launch date, with citizens permitted to register accounts from 1st March, 2024. If all goes to plan, it should be live for March Madness. More

Regulation

The number of registrations for the UK’s Gamstop self-exclusion scheme rose 10% year-on-year in 2023. Over 92,000 players registered throughout the year, with over half (55%) opting for a five-year-long exclusion from UK-licensed gambling sites. H2 2023 also saw a 31% year-on-year rise in the number of Gamstop registrations among those aged 16-24. More

Technology

Spotlight Sports Group’s Racing Post has rolled out its new Smart View racecards for greyhound race meetings. Following on from the success of its horseracing Smart View racecards within retail betting shops, the technology has now been applied to simplify the greyhound betting experience. More

People news

Tom Ustunel appointed as Sportingtech’s new CEO

Sportingtech has confirmed the appointment of Tim Ustunel as its new chief executive. The former betting and gaming director of News UK has accepted the role to spearhead expansion plans into the Latin American market this year and beyond.

Ustunel has also worked at close quarters with Sportingtech as an advisor through his own First Gen Consulting firm.

During his time at News UK, Ustunel built a string of gaming brands and assets, namely Sun Bingo and Fabulous Bingo.

Click here to get the thoughts of Ustunel on his new role and learn more about Sportingtech’s broader growth strategy.

This week's talking point

Exploring the contrasting fortunes of 888 and Flutter in their latest trading updates

Both Flutter Entertainment and 888 Holdings published their latest trading updates to the stock markets, documenting their Q4 2023 performance and their output for the year as a whole. It’s fair to say the last 12 months have been bumpier for 888 than Flutter.

888 experienced a year of upheaval, starting with the loss of its longtime CEO, Itai Pazner. An 8% decline in online revenues from its UK and Irish segment was also revealed. At the other end of the spectrum, Flutter’s UK and Irish segment saw revenues fly by 15% to ￡2.2bn.

Regulus analysts have revealed Flutter’s 2023 performance in the UK was the “standout” among the nation’s licensed operators. As for 888, Regulus didn’t pull any punches, confirming it had lost around 1% per annum of its 18% market share from 2014.

Click here to learn more about Flutter and 888’s US-based objectives, as well as further conjecture on a possible entry for Flutter into the newly legalised Brazilian sports betting and iGaming market.

This week's insight

Financial risk checks in the UK market are increasingly feared by global iGaming operators

Over half of compliance executives across the global betting and iGaming sector fear the negative impact of financial risk checks in the UK market. That’s according to a recent survey, commissioned by IDnow, titled the ‘SBC Media Challenges in Compliance Survey’.

The subject of affordability checks in the UK market was a hot topic. Two-thirds (67%) of compliance professionals anticipate a decline in customer sign-ups, compared with just 26% who predict there will be no impact from the checks.

One unnamed compliance executive employed by a UK sportsbook said the UK Gambling Commission’s proposals would embolden the black market. Another working for a multi-brand firm licensed across a string of European markets said there will be a rise of operators ceasing trading in the UK due to the loss of sign-ups and customer retention and revenue.

Click here to get the thoughts of SBC content director Ted Menmuir on the survey’s findings.

Enjoy this email? If so, let us know what you would like to hear more (or less) about here. We value your feedback to provide the most informative weekly newsletter in the industry.?

Was this forwarded to you by a friend or colleague? Sign up here to get your own copy of the news that matters sent to your inbox every week.