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West Virginia’s licensed casino operators collected a record $121.1m in combined wagers from sports betting and iGaming during the month of November.

The state’s five sportsbooks saw total sports betting wagers increase by 47 per cent year-on-year to $48.5m for the four-week period ended 28 November.

This comprised $20.1m from retail sports betting and $28.4m from online sports betting, an increase of 20 per cent and 74 per cent respectively compared to the same period last year.

NOVEMBER SPORTS AND IGAMING WAGERS COMPARISON (US$)
Sports Betting iGaming TOTAL
Hollywood Casino at Charles Town 25,405,027 43,942,612 69,347,639
The Greenbrier 17,885,533 28,621,341 46,506,874
The Mountaineer 3,733,376 n/a 3,733,376
The Mardis Gras Casino 953,661 n/a 953,661
Wheeling Island Casino 554,844 n/a 554,844
TOTAL 48,532,442 72,563,953 121,096,394
Penn National Gaming’s Hollywood Casino at Charles Town maintained its market leadership position as November wagers increased by 28 per cent to $25.4m, including $10.4m from DraftKings’ mobile sports betting app and $15.0m from retail sports betting.

The Greenbrier saw wagers soar 111 per cent to $17.9m, derived from mobile sports betting wagers of $16.9m from FanDuel and BetMGM, with retail contributing $944,472 in wagers.

The Mountaineer was the next biggest operator as wagers rose 3 per cent year-on-year to $3.7m, including retail wagers of $2.9m and online sports betting wagers of $821,116 from William Hill’s mobile app.

The Mardi Gras Casino generated wagers of $953,661, of which $779,379 came from retail and $174,281 from the Bet Lucky mobile app, while the sportsbook at Wheeling Island Casino contributed $554,844 in wagers, comprising $512,629 from retail and $42,216 from the Betly mobile app.

During November, a total of $43.5m was paid out in winnings during the four-week period, alongside $655,283 in voided bets, leaving the five sportsbook operators with total taxable receipts of $4.4m, an increase of 91 per cent versus a year ago.

Meanwhile, the state’s newly regulated iGaming market, with just two operators active during November, generated wagers of $72.6m, an increase of 37 per cent compared to the previous month.

Hollywood Casino and partner DraftKings generated iGaming wagers of $43.9m, with The Greenbrier contributing $28.6m through BetMGM’s online casino.

A total of $71.8m was paid out in iGaming winnings during the month, generating revenue of $2.1m for the two operators, an increase of 31 per cent month-on-month, comprised of $1.1m for Hollywood Casino and $913,964 for The Greenbrier.

The West Virginia market is expected to grow further from December following the entrance of New Jersey’s iGaming leader Golden Nugget through a partnership with The Greenbrier.

Sweden’s Consumer Agency has warned online gambling operators against using anti-money laundering regulations as an excuse to complicate players’ withdrawal requests, one of a number of issues identified during its review of gambling companies contract terms.

The Consumer Agency (Konsumentverket) reviewed the terms and conditions of 13 licensed online betting and gaming operators in Sweden earlier this year and identified a number of issues faced by consumers, with the findings applicable to many operators in the regulated market.

The overall conclusion of the agency is that many of the terms and conditions employed by operators are unfair to consumers, either by restricting their rights or presenting misleading or vague information.

Based on the review, the agency has made recommendations to licensed operators which will be evaluated over time to assess the industry’s compliance.

The first issue highlighted concerns the submission of documents by players.

The agency notes that Swedish gambling legislation allows operators to request information and documentation from players in a number of instances, such as registering a new account, making a deposit or requesting a withdrawal, in order to verify identity and for anti-money laundering purposes.

However, the review found that some operators go beyond what it considered reasonable by requesting information about personal attributes such as height, weight, eye colour and ethnic origin.

Some operators also reserve the right to request additional information for anti-money laundering purposes, without explaining what the additional information may entail, while others use the term “at our discretion” to decide which documents to request and when.

This lack of prior information could be considered unfair to consumers because it creates an imbalance between the parties.

The Consumer Agency also found that some contracts include restrictions on withdrawals at the operator’s discretion, including split payments, maximum withdrawal amounts and refusal of withdrawals due to alleged breaches of the terms.

Sportradar
Although it acknowledged that operators cannot provide an exhaustive list of conditions to consumers, the agency found that this can lead to uncertainty which could make it is impossible for the consumer to know on what grounds the company can refuse their request.

It also found that operators should be able to assess the AML risk of a consumer based on the information provided at deposit, meaning that additional documentation requests on withdrawal could be interpreted as the gaming company making it more difficult or delaying the consumer’s right to withdraw their winnings.

Other issues highlighted include terms stating that a foreign court has jurisdiction over disputes arising from the contract, which creates an imbalance in law as the consumer cannot be expected to understand the law of the foreign court. This also applies to the use of foreign alternative dispute resolution bodies, and the implied suggestion that the consumer is not protected under Swedish law.

Operator’s complaints procedures were also found to be opaque or burdensome, while the right to amend terms and conditions at an operator’s discretion and without notice was found to be unreasonable.

Eleven of the 13 operators reviewed also included disclaimers which fully or partially waived liability to the consumer, while the consumer remained liable to the company, again creating an imbalance in law.

“Following the review, the Swedish Consumer Agency is of the opinion that there is significant room for improvement at the audited gaming companies,” the agency said. “There are contract terms that may generally be considered unclear and in some case inexhaustive.

“Terms must be compatible with applicable law and clearly stated to lead to a balance in the parties’ performance, so that the consumer runs less risk of being hit by unfair conditions.”

The agency added that it will follow up the review to determine the extent of the industry’s compliance with its recommendations.

Future Anthem chief executive Leigh Nissim believes the pace of change in the sector has just shot up a level.

What a month, what a year! The online gambling sector never stands still and has constantly evolved from download software through to mobile, live and beyond. Even by its own rapidly changing standards, surely these last few months and weeks have brought changes no-one could have imagined, and at lightning speed, too.

For an industry that is often criticised for poor operating practices (often justifiably) and saddled with a negative public perception, it is rarely applauded for its ability to adjust to market dynamics, consumer consumption, regulatory influences and technological advancements.

UK Plc seeks success stories while the government chases unicorns, yet the gambling industry is full of them. High-growth businesses like GVC and Flutter continue to outperform the FTSE index and lead the way in regulated US markets. William Hill has accepted an offer from a US leader, clearly keen on its technology and sports betting knowhow. Gamesys continues to delight with strong trading performance, while smaller public companies like Gaming Realms are also making great progress.

This is only part of the story. UK gambling is leading the way in terms of player safety. The Betting and Gaming Council recently published its Game Design Code, a guide to how casino products should be built responsibly – a significant step forward. The Gambling Commission and Facebook announced new guidelines for gambling advertising, alongside changes earlier in the year for UK sports and TV advertising. There are new rules for VIP schemes, credit cards are no longer accepted, and other consultations are still in progress.

The international terrain is also changing – Evolution finally made its move for NetEnt, who had only recently made its own move acquiring Red Tiger. After 17 years, Scientific Games also has a new significant shareholder – Caledonia – which also holds 10 per cent of Flutter. Rush Street and Golden Nugget have become public companies on the NYSE, and Penn National has raised $982m.

The sector is not immune to Covid-19 either, with every business experiencing challenges. Like its leisure brethren, retail gambling was shut for many months globally, and is still constrained. Online businesses accelerated their shift to remote working. Rightly so, responsible gambling processes are under greater scrutiny than ever before.

The seismic shifts that are changing our industry for the better would probably kill other sectors with the ferocity and pace of change. The technologies behind these entertainment businesses are colossal, processing international currencies and risk management in microseconds, with huge compliance infrastructure as you would expect in a regulated global industry. Yet its ability to adjust, innovate and compete continues.

Playtech
So exactly what might the sector look like in a year’s time? The US will clearly be a focus, both for European companies seeking to gain a foothold, and also for incumbents facing the shift from retail to digital. Regulations will continue to influence, with stake limits popping up in mainland Europe, a review of gambling laws in the UK and additional advertising restrictions. Operating practices will come under greater scrutiny, with games studios being required to take more responsibility for safer product design. Operators will seek ways to differentiate and studios will need to combine to achieve scale, with those producing high performing content attractive to acquirers.

How long will it be before mainstream media and digital companies move in, attracted by the robust earnings of global gambling companies built in the UK and mainland Europe?

At Future Anthem, we are expecting data to play an ever-increasing role, from personalisation through to product design and player safety. While the sector grapples with the sea of changes, the Spotify generation will expect a better entertainment experience from gambling companies.

While it is hard to predict the next 12 months, one thing is for sure – the sector will continue to change at pace. And that is one of my favourite aspects of the industry – it never stands still. And with change comes opportunity.

Germany’s sports betting licensing authority approved three new operators this week, taking the total number of licenses issued to date to 21.

The latest approvals were granted to Oddset Sportwetten, the sports betting operation of German state lotteries, and Malta-based operators NetXBetting and Tipster.

Oddset received a license to offer retail betting, while NetXBetting was approved to offer online betting and Tipster both online and retail betting.

Following this week’s approvals, 21 companies are licensed to offer sport betting to German players via 28 internet domains.

Sportradar
LICENSED SPORTS BETTING OPERATORS IN GERMANY AS OF 24 NOVEMBER 2020
Company Online Retail Domain(s)
Admiral Sportwetten GmbH X X admiral.bet.de
BV (Germany) Ltd. X betvictor.de
bildsportwetten.de
bild-sportwetten.de
bildsportwette.de
bild-sportwette.de
bildbet.de
bild-bet.de
Bwin (Deutschland) Ltd. X bwin.de
Cashpoint (Malta) Limited X X xtip.de
merkur-sports.de
Gamebookers (Deutschland) Ltd. X gamebookers.de
Greenvest Betting Limited X neobet.de
Hillside (Sports) ENC X bet365.com
I.B.C. Sportsbetting Ltd. X X wettarena.de
JAXX GmbH X sportwetten-jaxx.de
Ladbrokes (Deutschland) Ltd. X ladbrokes.de
NetXBetting Ltd. X sportwetten.de
Oddset Sportwetten GmbH X —
Sportingbet (Deutschland) Ltd. X sportingbet.de
Tipico Co. Ltd. X X tipico.de
Tipin Ltd. X X tipbet.de
tip-in.de
Tipster Limited X X tipster.de
Tipwin Limited X X tipwin.de
Trinity Bet Operations Limited X X de.hpybet.com

The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) has identified four illegal online gaming sites that will now be blocked by Australian internet service providers.

The four websites are accused of providing online casino games to players in Australia, in breach of the Interactive Gambling Act.

The ACMA said Wednesday that it requested ISPs to block access to the sites after receiving numerous complaints from Australian consumers, taking the total number of blocked gambling sites to 180 since the first blocking request in November 2019.

Sportradar
The new additions are all Curacao-based casinos – Gibson Casino, operated by Cyberrock Entertainment; Always Vegas, operated by SSC Entertainment; Gammix STS’s ViggoSlots; and Merus UK’s Malibu Club Casino.

Sweden’s licensed gambling operators grew third quarter revenue by 1.3 per cent year-on-year, according to the latest data from gambling regulator Spelinspektionen.

The data is based on information from the Swedish tax authority and shows that licensed operators, both online and land-based, generated total gross gaming revenue of SEK6bn in the third quarter of 2020.

Commercial online betting and gaming GGR grew by 5.8 per cent year-on-year to SEK3.69bn, with revenue from state lottery and slot machine games climbing 7.7 per cent to SEK1.47bn. Other non-profit lotteries saw revenue climb by 5.4 per cent to SEK780m.

This growth was partially offset by the performance of land-based casino operations (Casino Cosmopol), which generated no revenue during the period due to COVID-related closures, compared to revenue of SEK245m in Q3 2019.

The third quarter period also saw declines in non-profit retail bingo, where GGR fell by 20.4 per cent to SEK47m, as well as retail commercial gaming (incl. restaurant casinos), where revenue fell by 23.7 per cent to SEK45m.

There are currently 100 companies holding active gaming licenses in Sweden, 72 of which are licensed to offer commercial online betting and gaming.

The data also shows that just over 56,000 people had excluded from gambling using the national exclusion register Spelpaus by the end of the period, an increase of 7 per cent versus the previous quarter, with the number of self-exclusions climbing to almost 58,000 by mid-November.

Alongside the Q3 data, Spelinspektionen also voiced its support for the proposed extension of temporary gambling restrictions in Sweden, which were first introduced in July in an effort to combat problem gambling during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The proposal to extend restrictions on online casino deposit limits and land-based gaming machine loss limits was the subject of a public consultation which ended today (23 Nov.).

Mississippi’s regulated sports betting market saw total wagers increase by 27 per cent to $61.2m in October.

Following the start of the new NFL season in September, American football generated the bulk of the total with wagers of $38.5m, with baseball contributing $8.0m and basketball $2.3m.

Sports Parlay Cards contributed a further $7.1m during the month, while other sports accounted for wagers of $5.3m.

MISSISSIPPI SPORTS BETTING HANDLE: OCTOBER 2020 (US$)
Central Coastal Northern TOTAL
American Football 4,646,814 25,416,917 8,593,099 38,656,830
Basketball 219,049 1,636,412 463,638 2,319,099
Baseball 466,459 5,826,905 1,692,057 7,985,421
Sports Parlay Cards 2,493,981 3,457,035 1,128,660 7,079,676
Other 143,159 4,866,835 323,404 5,333,398
TOTAL 7,787,462 41,204,104 12,200,859 61,192,425
The Coastal region’s 12 casinos saw wagers increase by 23 per cent year-on-year to $41.2m in October, comprised of American football wagers of $25.4m, baseball wagers of $5.8m and basketball wagers of $1.6m. Sports Parlay Cards contributed wagers of $3.5m, and other sports a further $4.9m.

Wagers from the Northern region’s seven casinos increased by 33 per cent to $12.2m, with nearly three-quarters of the total derived from American football wagers at $8.6m. Baseball contributed wagers of $1.7m, with basketball accounting for $0.5m, Sports Parlay Cards $1.1m and other sports the remaining $0.3m.

Sports betting wagers from the Central region’s seven casinos rose 44 per cent to $7.8m, including American football wagers of $4.5m and wagers from Sports Parlay Cards of $2.5m. Baseball accounted for a further $0.5m in wagers, with basketball wagers at $0.2m and other sports at $0.1m.

Overall, the state’s licensed sportsbook operators generated taxable revenue of $8.8m in October, down 29 per cent compared to a year ago, comprising $5.3m from Coastal casinos, $1.8m from Northern casinos and $1.7m from Central casinos.

New York-listed lottery and gaming supplier Scientific Games will provide the Massachusetts Lottery with instant games, second chance promotions and digital engagement programs under a new five-year contract.

The new contract extends the company’s long-term relationship with the Massachusetts Lottery, which launched its first instant game from Scientific Games in 1974 and last year generated $3bn in sales from the company’s instant games portfolio.

“The combined expertise of the Mass Lottery team and the teams at Scientific Games has resulted in great instant game entertainment that has generated strong revenues to benefit programs in the Commonwealth,” said Ed Farley, chief marketing officer of the Massachusetts State Lottery Commission. “We look forward to continuing this partnership and working to expand player digital engagement.”

The new contract also aims to address the shift in player preferences to digital forms of entertainment through the launch of additional second-chance promotions such as the James Bond Lottery Challenge, which is played through desktop and mobile applications.

“It goes without saying that the Mass Lottery has been the highest performing instant game lottery in the world for many years and continues to set the bar for lotteries around the globe. We are extremely proud of the results of this trusted business partnership over the past four decades,” said John Schulz, SVP of Lottery Instant Products at Scientific Games.

Scientific Games Lottery
“Our 2nd chance and digital services are second to none, and we look forward to further expanding Scientific Games’ services to player engagement in online/mobile channels in Massachusetts.”

Shares in Scientific Games Corp. (NSQ:SGMS) closed 2.95 per cent higher at $35.20 per share in New York Monday.

New York-listed lottery and gaming supplier International Game Technology (IGT) has posted a 15 per cent fall in total revenue to $982m for the third quarter of 2020, despite seeing strong growth in digital and betting revenue during the period.

Third quarter results reflected the continued global impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, but at a lower level compared to the second quarter.

Global lottery revenue grew by 3 per cent to $570m, driven by double-digit growth in North America same-store sales. This was offset by a 31 per cent fall in global gaming revenue to $412m, impacted by pandemic-related closures and restrictions.

The US and Canada represented just under a half of IGT’s Q3 total as revenue fell by 18 per cent to $443m, while revenue from Italy rose 3 per cent to $416m and the rest of world revenue declined 42 per cent to $123m.

Overall, digital and betting revenue rose 41 per cent to $104m, equivalent to 11 per cent of total revenue.

“The resilience of our portfolio, particularly in lottery, and benefits from our swift cost reduction initiatives are on full display in our third quarter results,” said IGT CEO Marco Sala. “Strong player demand and a host of compelling new games, systems, and digital solutions led to a sharp, sequential improvement in our most important markets.

“We continue to monitor the evolution and impact of the pandemic around the world. With a simplified organization firmly in place, we are creating a leaner, stronger IGT.”

Q3 AND JAN-SEP 2020 RESULTS COMPARISON (US$)
Q3 2020 Q3 2019 Jan-Sep 2020 Jan-Sep 2019
Revenue 981.5m 1,153.2m 2,559.2m 3,532.4m
Cost of Services (541.1m) (575.6m) (1,479.6m) (1,765.5m)
Cost of Product Sales (81.5m) (136.2m) (239.8m) (397.2m)
Selling, General and Administrative (180.3m) (201.4m) (515.9m) (616.5m)
Research and Development (48.0m) (68.8m) (140.1m) (200.3m)
Restructuring 0.1m (16.2m) (47.0m) (21.9m)
Goodwill Impairment — — (296.0m) —
Other Operating Expenses/(Income), Net 2.1m 1.2m 3.7m (24.7m)
Operating Income/(Loss) 128.5m 153.9m (162.9m) 555.7m
Total Non-Operating (Expenses)/Income (257.5m) 21.2m (490.5m) (145.2m)
(Benefit from)/Provision for Income Taxes (26.6m) 44.5m (34.8m) 160.5m
Net Income/(Loss) (102.3m) 130.6m (618.6m) 250.0m
Less: Net Income Attributable to Non-Controlling Interests (25.7m) (27.0m) (37.3m) (101.4m)
Net Income/(Loss) Attributable to IGT (128.0m) 103.6m (655.9m) 148.7m
Basic EPS (0.62) 0.51 (3.20) 0.73
IGT reduced total operating expenses by 15 per cent to $853.0m in Q3, as cost of services fell 6 per cent to $541.1m and cost of product sales declined 40 per cent to $81.5m. Selling, general and administrative expenses were down 10 per cent at $180.3m, while research and development costs fell by 30 per cent to $48.0m.

Operating income in the third quarter was 17 per cent lower than a year ago at $128.5m, while total non-operating expenses amounted to $257.5m, comprised of $101.0m of interest expense and foreign exchange losses of $149.4m. As a result, IGT posted a net loss of $128.0m for Q3 compared to net income of $103.6m a year ago.

For the first nine months of 2020, total revenue was down 28 per cent at $2.56bn, generating a net loss of $655.9m compared to net income of $148.7m last year.

“Robust cash flow generation during the quarter and year-to-date periods have enabled us to improve our liquidity and reduce net debt,” said IGT chief financial officer Max Chiara. “We are on track to achieve our 2020 temporary cost-reduction targets and have identified a number of initiatives that will enable us to deliver over $200m of structural savings over the next two years.

“As a result, the improvement in our profitability should support our continued focus on reducing debt.”

As at 30 September the company held cash and cash equivalents of $1.14bn compared to $763.7m a year ago.

Shares in International Game Technology plc (NYSE:IGT) closed 2.16 per cent lower at $9.96 per share in New York Wednesday.