This Week's Sports Betting Update

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 sets its stall out against unlicensed gambling threats

The UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) has laid out its new mandate to tackle the scourge of unlicensed online gambling. The UKGC’s chief executive Andrew Rhodes has disclosed the commission’s fresh evidence-led methodology designed to tackle the black market.

To this point, the UKGC’s enforcements against unregulated and unlicensed operators have focused on blocking URLs and rejecting payments in a bid to render their services inaccessible to British bettors.

It has issued more than 750 cease-and-desist notices and enforced the closure of 255 black market websites.

With the adaptations of the UK government’s online gambling white paper in the offing, the UKGC is aware of fears that some Brits may be encouraged towards unlicensed platforms.

Rhodes believes avoidance of the new regulatory framework isn’t an option for operators.?

Nevertheless, he accepts that the first step of its new evidence-led methodology is only a building block for understanding the scale of the black market issue.

Click here to get more from Rhodes on the UKGC’s new methodology, as well as its Consumer Voice programme.

What you need to know

Commercial

• Sportradar has tabled an offer worth up to ￡23.11m for XLMedia’s North American media assets. The bid, which is subject to shareholder approval in early November, has been welcomed by XLMedia chair Marcus Rich, given that its US revenue streams hadn’t matched the Group’s original plans. More ?
• LeoVegas Group has unveiled BetMGM in its native iGaming market of Sweden. The Swedish marketplace becomes the third European destination for BetMGM under the stewardship of LeoVegas, after recent rollouts in the British and Dutch markets. More
• Bally’s Corp chair Soo Kim has revealed the company is forging ahead with plans to construct a new property on the Las Vegas Strip, coinciding with the launch of the new Oakland Athletics’ stadium on the site of the former Tropicana Las Vegas resort. More
• Svenska Spel revealed year-on-year dips in revenue and net profit after Q3 2024, citing increased gambling tax rates and responsible gambling measures as the cause for the decline. Revenue for Q3 2024 weighed in at ￡130.2m, 9.2% down year-on-year, due partly to the hike in tax on gross gaming revenue in Sweden from 18% to 22% that’s been felt in the last two quarters. More

Regulation

• The International Betting Integrity Association (IBIA) has revealed a year-on-year fall in suspicious betting activity during Q3 2024. There was also a quarter-on-quarter decline, led by a reduction in the number of suspicious betting alerts during Esports events. The total number of cases in Q3 2024 was down to 42. More ?

Technology

• Sportingtech has rolled out its revamped online sportsbook interface, bosting new utility and customisation functionality for new and existing clients. The interface will be demonstrated at the SBC Summit Latinoamerica in Miami at the end of this month. More

People news

Tracy McGrady named as BVGroup’s new Safer Gambling Ambassador

BVGroup has confirmed the appointment of Tracy McGrady as the new Safer Gambling Ambassador in Canada for its BetVictor platform.

McGrady, a seven-time NBA All-Star, is deemed the ideal role model to promote safer gambling to Canadians.

BVGroup, which completed its new group corporate identity rebrand 12 months ago, is on a mission to promote responsible gambling in the Canadian market where it’s licensed by the AGCO.?

Click here to get the thoughts of McGrady on his new role and continuing his partnership with BVGroup.

This week's talking point

Senior Labour MPs hand vote of confidence to the UK’s gambling industry

Racing Post’s industry editor Bill Barber has commented on the unexpected vote of confidence in Britain’s gambling sector from senior members of the Labour government.

Although the new UK government were thought to have viewed the industry less favourably than the Conservative-led government, senior Labour MPs have come out in support of the gambling market.

Chancellor Rachel Reeves is an MP in Leeds West and she recently noted the job and wealth creation for people in Leeds due to Sky Bet’s head office being located in the West Yorkshire city.

Days later, culture secretary Lisa Nandy also intimated that the industry wasn’t the root of all evil and that, with robust protections in place, it could continue to thrive and bring joy to many Britons.

Barber noted Nandy’s use of the word ‘joy’ in connection with gambling on three separate occasions. Nandy also spoke in the House of Commons about the British horseracing industry, describing it as one the government takes incredibly seriously.

Click here to get more soundbites from Reeves and Nandy, as Barber moots whether the new UK government can back up their warm words with meaningful actions.

This week's insight

Charting the rise of Wall Street Football

Giovanni Bertoli, co-founder and CEO of Wall Street Football, spoke recently with SBC News about the rise of one of the fastest-growing brands in the betting industry right now.

The firm, which leverages machine learning to deliver optimal predictions on football player performance, recently joined forces with Tradinglab to launch WSF ODDS. A platform specialising in player prop betting markets and other niche in-play markets. It’s now operational in over 40 nations worldwide.

Bertoli said that WSF ODDS makes it possible for football bettors to wager on any available statistic of a game, both pre-game and in-play. WSF ODDS delivers odds feeds and settlement feeds to bookmakers for pre-match and live betting.

WSF ODDS is already targeting the fast-expanding LatAm market for further turnover growth. Bertoli added that it was also keen to liaise with official data owners in sports like basketball and tennis to try and negotiate good deals for the basketball and tennis betting industries on props markets despite the current monopolisation of big data.

Click here to learn more about WSF ODDS as well as the key topics discussed by Bertoli and his industry colleagues at the recent SBC Summit Lisbon.

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