Gambling Insider Mar/Apr 2021

Mar/Apr 2019

Mar/Apr 2021

Appetite for data A deep dive into cyber security threats BIG QUESTION Decision making in Gibraltar as regulations take shape ROUNDTABLE Experts debate the tools LATAM needs to break through CHEQUEMATE Will outdated payment systems put elite casinos in the red?

INSIDERS RICHARD WILLIAMS

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INSIDERS RICHARD WILLIAMS

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EDITOR’S LETTER COO, EDITOR IN CHIEF Julian Perry EDITOR Carl Friedmann Carl.Friedmann@gamblinginsider.com Tel: +44 (0) 207 739 9908 SENIOR STAFF WRITER Tim Poole Tim.Poole@gamblinginsider.com STAFF WRITERS Tom Rush Tom.Rush@gamblinginsider.com Iqbal Johal Iqbal.Johal@gamblinginsider.com Ezra Amacher Ezra.Amacher@gamingamerica.com

A

Julian Perry, COO, Editor in Chief

Carl Friedmann, Editor

ccording to Fortune Business Insights, the global online gambling market is expected to reach nearly $160bn by 2028. Some of this boom will invariably come from the pandemic that channelled gamblers in their millions to online options as land-based destinations closed during those particularly difficult times last year. While online has been a mainstay for millions already, those making the leap from land-based entertainment certainly spiked. And even though casino doors have swung open again to great relief and celebration, the stickiness of online, in terms of variation and hygiene concerns, won’t tire out once we’re all allowed to convene again.

Even though online is safer regarding social distancing, however, no amount of it can make you immune from cyber threats.

For our cover feature, we examine the most urgent cyber security trends to combat threats deep in nebulous cyber space. Continent 8 Technologies, the big igaming data centre and global network solutions provider, and giant cyber security operations centre Big Cyber zero in on the changing landscape of where main threats are originating. According to Leon Allen, innovation director at Continent 8, the consensus from senior industry leaders is that the online gaming sector continues to be “plagued” with so-called traditional types of attack such as DDoS. “The meteoric growth of cloud adoption across the industry has resulted in the potential for cloud environments to not be fully secured,” he says. “The boundaries of work and home have now merged from a psychological and, more crucially given this topic, a technological perspective. These changes have opened up many more attack verticals for bad actors looking to exploit individuals or attack unsecured remote devices.”

Alexandru Petrescu, SVP at Big Cyber, adds that relying on current cyber security regulations can leave you one step behind. “Another threat is the belief that IT security requirements mandated by respective regulators equate to cyber security best-practice. They don’t,” he states. “This can give a false sense of security.”

The sheer number of people flocking online can add to that mirage of security. The soaring popularity of online gambling can be a source of great joy or a real sore spot, depending on your circumstances and luck. But no matter what side you fall on, or end up having a foot in each of the two, keeping up to speed with threats requires unprecedented vigilance, for the players and those behind the scenes guarding the ramparts. So for those committed to battling on that ghostly online front, we should thank them for their service.

CF Editor CF,

CONTRIBUTING THIS ISSUE

Peter Lynch Peter.Lynch@gamblinginsider.com LEAD DESIGNER Laura Fogar DESIGNER Olesya Adamska DESIGN ASSISTANTS Radostina Mihaylova, Aleksandra Cakikj, Inna Shtereva MARKETING & EVENTS MANAGER Mariya Savova FINANCE & ADMINISTRATION ASSISTANT Dalia Ambrazaite IT MANAGER Tom Powling COMMERCIAL DIRECTOR Deepak Malkani Deepak.Malkani@gamblinginsider.com Tel: +44 (0)20 7729 6279 EVENTS SALES MANAGER Ryan Horwood Ryan@globalgamingawards.com +44 (0) 208 638 7610 SENIOR ACCOUNT MANAGER William Aderele William.Aderele@gamblinginsider.com Tel: +44 (0)20 7739 2062 ACCOUNT MANAGERS Michael Juqula Michael.Juqula@gamblinginsider.com Tel: +44 (0)20 3487 0498 Clive Waite Clive.Waite@gamblinginsider.com Tel: +44 (0)20 7729 0643 Nitesh Patel Nitesh.Patel@gamblinginsider.com Tel: +44 (0) 207 739 5768 Martin Dilleigh Martin.Dilleigh@gamblinginsider.com Tel: +44 (0) 203 435 5628 SENIOR ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE Sam Ford Samuel.Ford@GamblingInsider.com Tel: +44 (0) 207 739 9918 US BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT MANAGER Aaron Harvey Aaron.Harvey@playerspublishing.com Tel: +1 702 425 7818 US ACCOUNT MANAGER Erica Clark Erica.Clark@playerspublishing.com Tel: +1 702 430 1912 CREDIT MANAGER Rachel Voit WITH THANKS TO: Rahul Kadavakolu, Magda Pozzo, Eddie Morales, Alessandro Fried, Dmitry Starostenkov, Ales Stefancic, Paul Sculpher, Leon Allen, Alexandru Petrescu, Duncan Pollock, Todd Haushalter, Cillian Barry, Danny Hook, Tim Kennedy, Nick Hill, Anders Basbøll Gambling Insider magazine ISSN 2043-9466 Produced and published

by Players Publishing Ltd

ALESSANDRO FRIED founder, BtoBet

6

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MAGDA POZZO SMD, Udinese Calcio

All material is strictly copyrighted and all rights reserved.

Reproduction without permission is forbidden. Every care is taken in compiling the contents of Gambling Insider but we assume no responsibility for the effects arising therefrom. The views expressed are not necessarily those of the publisher.

CONTENTS 16

36

64

ISSUES

34 Driving player engagement Michael Maerz, deputy CEO Asia Pacific at Sportradar, on the role data and tech can play to improve the sports betting experience

52 From PASPA to pandemic SportCaller MD and co-founder Cillian Barry on the company’s journey and the effects of key milestones along the way

36 The hidden problem Iqbal Johal explores the black market threat in the UK following a PwC report, and what it means in the fight against problem gambling

54 Change the channel Gustaf Hoffstedt, Secretary General of the Swedish trade association for online gambling, on the difficulties of regulation

40 Roundtable: LATAM Industry experts from BetGames.TV, BtoBet, EvenBet and Alfastreet discuss if Latin America gaming is emerging or maturing

58 Gaining prominence A look at the emerging esports vertical’s popularity in Hong Kong with Bird & Bird sport, media and tech counsel Alex Norman

46 A brighter future than ever?

Tim Kennedy, Suzo Happ VP of sales Europe, tells the GI Huddle all about the company's plans for retail sports betting in the US

60 Team effort Iqbal Johal examines the new sports betting environment experienced during the 2020-21 season, and the industry’s resilience

22 Big Question Experts from across the gaming spectrum weigh in on what effects, if any, Brexit has had on processes and efficiencies

48 Unique to women Gordon Moody Association interim CEO Matthew Hickey speaks about plans for the world's first women gambling clinic, as part of the GI Huddle’s problem gambling series

63 Safety in numbers Stefano Sordini, CEO of NetShop Internet Services Ltd, examines the increasing need for more robust safeguarding measures

30 Work in progress VigiTrust CEO Mathieu Gorge and Rowan Fogarty, data security and compliance expert, explain how leaving the EU will impact UK data privacy regulations

50 LeoVegas: Q4 in review LeoVegas CEO Gustaf Hagman chimes in to discuss the operator’s Q4 financial results on the GI Huddle

10 Facing facts The latest industry data and trends 12 In numbers A gaming snapshot by Fantini Research 14 Taking stock Tracking operator and supplier stock prices across a six-month period

FEATURES 16 An ever-evolving threat With contributions from Continent 8, Jumio and Big Cyber, Tim Poole analyses the biggest cyber security trends

64 Under pressure Harry Barnick, senior analyst at Third Bridge discusses how UK gambling is coping under the strain of increased regulation

70

87

98

66 Source of the matter Nick Hill, Premier Consulting director, discusses why gaming needs blockchain

INSIDERS

FINAL WORD

68 Better, stronger, faster Warren Tristram, president of Worldpay Gaming Solutions, on how payment options and fast pay-out speeds will be crucial going forward

84 Relax Gaming Simon Hammon

70 Chequemate Paul Sculpher, co-director of GRS Recruitment, dusts off the credibility of an antiquated payments system

86 Evolution Todd Haushalter

72 Raising the stakes With 2021 likely to be transformational for online poker, EvenBet Gaming runs the rule over the biggest developments.

74 Too early to tell Anders Basbøll at the Danish Gambling Authority speaks about how the pandemic will leave an impact on the country's gaming market 76 Sponsorships: Another perspective During the Financial Times’ Business of Football conference, panelists discussed changes to sponsorship needs 80 Cashless gaming Duncan Pollock, head of global marketing at DR Gaming Technology, raises the case for the potential of cashless gaming

85 Bayes Esports Mark Balch

87 DraftKings Jennifer Aguiar

PRODUCT REVIEWS 88 Product reviews The will to ride this pandemic out manifests itself in many ways. Here, we tap into some of the newest gaming products available in the market to help get us through

98 Future focus Björn Krantz, chief of global market operations at Yggdrasil, outlines the direction he and his team are centred on to deliver quality beyond expectation, and innovation wrought from global adversity

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Gambling Insider takes a close look at the impact of Covid-19 across the industry in the US and internationally, with many companies still struggling Ameristar to dealBlue with closures and restrictions amid global lockdowns Chip GRAPH 1 GRAPH 1 Balterra

GRAPH 1

Hollywood Lawrenceburg

November December Comparing Q4 and year-end revenue for Wynn Resorts in 2020 and 2019, French Lick 2020 due 2019 with the operator suffering from closures to Covid-19 (US$bn) Source: Wynn Resorts Horseshoe8Hammond 2020 2019

200

150

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2019

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300

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100

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100Korea Leisure Grand Jul May Jun

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Slot Machines

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4,000,000

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7500

Balterra

3,000,000

Rising Star

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5000

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Horseshoe Hammond Tropicana Evansville

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Harrah’s

Blue Chip

1,000,000

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13% Slot Machines

Gaming Tables

Ameristar

2,000,000

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Jul

Gaming Tables Tropicana Evansville 23%

Q4 2020

10000

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4,000,000

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Aug

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highlighting the negative impact of Covid-19 Source: Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority

40

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The number ofBalterra gaming tables and slot machines in Macau increased as 2020 progressed, demonstrating the region’s Hollywood Lawrenceburg steady recovery from the impact of the coronavirus pandemic French LickInspection and Coordination Bureau (DICJ) Source: Macau Gaming

Las Vegas visitor numbers reached just over 19 million in 2020, a 55%

Q3 2020

30 20

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decrease from GRAPH 3 2019, and the lowest annual visitation total since 1989,

Q2 2020

Q1 2020

40

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150

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GRAPH 3 Q1 2020 40

400

Harrah’s

4

$1.1bn in December (US$m) Source: Colorado Department of Revenue

600 300

Indiana Grand

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GRAPH 1

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2019

800 Colorado monthly sports betting handle since the state launched 200 legal sports betting in May 2020, with total handle reaching

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Of the 270 instances of suspicious betting reported to relevant300authorities in 2020, 86% came from tennis (98), football (61), table tennis (44) and esports (28) combined.

This represents a 48% increase of alerts on the 2019 figure of 183 200 Source: International Betting Integrity Association (IBIA)

5000 20

Q2 2020

Q3 2020

Gaming Tables

Q4 2020

Slot Machines

10000 0

0 May

Jun

Jul

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150

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GRAPH 3

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In the 30 months since the overturning of PASPA, the US gaming industry has made sponsorship investments of $396.6m in the five major sports leagues, with 37% of the $396.6m total going to the National Football League (NFL) 4,000,000 Source: GlobalData Sport Intelligence Center

Slot Machines

2020

2019

0 Handle

150

800

2020 2019 2019

800

0

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Comparing 2020 and 2019 full-year revenue for two foreigner-only casino operators in South Korea, with both operators impacted heavily by closures due to the pandemic (KRWbn) Source: Company reports

November November December December

200

ISSUES

13%

23%

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3%

23%

3,000,000

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13%

23%

4,000,000 4,000,000

13% 3%

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National Football League (NFL) 2,000,000 National Basketball Association (NBA) 3,000,000 3,000,000

37%

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Major League1,000,000 Baseball (MLB)

National Hockey League (NHL) 2,000,000 2,000,000

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50

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100

150

GAMBLINGINSIDER.COM

GRAPH 3

Hand

11

ISSUES

FANTINI RESEARCH

Record January for New Jersey New Jersey hit records for sports betting and online gaming in January while legacy ALL-SOURCES JANUARY ANNUAL REVENUE gaming revenue fell.

New Jersey online gaming and sports Hard Rock betting accounted $33.845 for more than half of +39.33 total revenue, helping the state grow $26.001 +31.72 Ocean 15.20% to $346.423m.

Factoring out online gaming and sports Resorts +21.97 betting, revenue fell$49.153 16.69% to $160.011m.

Online gaming grew 88.38% to +13.68 Golden Nugget $41.296 $103.771m, eclipsing the $100m mark for the first time. +10.51 Borgata (MGM) $75.415 Sports betting grew 54.29% to $82.641m, Meadowlands, which Caesars (CZR) once again led by the $23.476 +10.40 generated half of total revenue. was $958.718m in-8.66 Tropicana (CZR) Sports betting handle $22.765 January, falling short of December’s $996m record.

Bally's AC (BALY) $8.716 -23.38

LEGACY CASINO

JANUARY

ANNUAL

TABLE HOLD (%) 2021 2020

MULT PROP

Hard Rock

$26.622

+23.87

16.4

16.7

Caesars

Ocean

$20.466

+21.33

14.7

12.8

Caesars (CZR)

$15.521

-8.84

19.1

10.6

Resorts

$10.353

-16.00

15.9

14.8

Bally's AC (BALY)

$8.608

-19.70

17.1

11.4

Tropicana (CZR)

$15.560

-23.68

11.2

12.1

Borgata (MGM)

$38.245

-30.06

14.8

14.5

Golden Nugget

$9.960

-33.62

17.9

17.9

$14.676

-37.69

16.9

21.0

$160.011

-16.69

Harrah's (CZR)

$14.939

-36.86

Harrah's (CZR)

Total Gaming

$346.423

+15.20

Total Legacy Casino

D (%) 2020 16.7

MULTIPLE PROPERTIES Caesars

JANUARY

ONLINE GAMING ANNUAL

$60.754

-12.67 Hard Rock

Borgata (MGM)

JANUARY

ANNUAL

PARTNER

ALL-SOURCES REVENUE$28.709

JANUARY

Hard Rock $5.636

$33.845 +128.83

+39.33 GIG

+176.78

ANNUAL Entain, Pala

LEGACY CASINO

Hard Rock

12.8

Resorts Digital

Ocean

$22.839

$26.001 +91.66

+31.72 SGMS, FLTR

10.6

Ocean

Resorts

$0.971

$49.153 +82.68

+21.97 GAN

14.8

Caesars (CZR)

Golden Nugget $7.387

$41.296 +74.32

888,+13.68 SGMS

11.4

Golden Nugget

Borgata (MGM) $31.188

$75.415 +47.08

FLTR, GAN,+10.51 SGMS

Bally's AC

12.1

Total iGaming

Caesars (CZR) $103.771

$23.476 +88.38

+10.40

Tropicana

14.5

Online Casino

Tropicana (CZR) $101.027

$22.765 +89.71

-8.66

Borgata (MG

17.9

Poker

Bally's AC (BALY) $2.744

$8.716 +49.78

-23.38

Golden Nug

$14.939

-36.86

Harrah's (CZ

ANNUAL $346.423

PARTNER +15.20

Total Legacy

Harrah's (CZR)

21.0

TNER

, Pala GIG FLTR

12

GAMBLINGINSIDER.COM

Ocean

Caesars (CZR Resorts

SPORTS BETTING

JANUARY Total Gaming

Hard Rock

$1.587

+371.61

GiG

Borgata

$8.461

+165.71

Entain

ONLINE GAMING

Harrah's

$0.263

+144.70

SGMS

Borgata (M

Ocean

$4.565

+95.01

WMH

$46.803

+76.80

FLTR, PBH

Meadowlands

Hard Rock

Resorts Digi

$41.296 $75.415

+13.68 +10.51

Resorts Bally's AC (BALY)

$10.353 $8.608

-16.00 -19.70

15.9 17.1

14.8 11.4

$75.415 $23.476

+10.51 +10.40

Bally's AC (BALY) Tropicana (CZR)

$8.608 $15.560

-19.70 -23.68

17.1 11.2

11.4 12.1

$23.476 $22.765

+10.40 -8.66

Tropicana (CZR) Borgata (MGM)

$15.560 $38.245

-23.68 -30.06

11.2 14.8

12.1 14.5

$22.765 $8.716

-8.66 -23.38

Borgata Golden(MGM) Nugget

$38.245 $9.960

-30.06 -33.62

14.8 17.9

14.5

$8.716 $14.939

-23.38 -36.86

Golden Harrah'sNugget (CZR)

$9.960 $14.676

-33.62 -37.69

17.9 16.9

17.9 21.0

$14.939 $346.423

-36.86 +15.20

Harrah's (CZR)Casino Total Legacy

$14.676 $160.011

-37.69 -16.69

16.9

21.0

$346.423

+15.20

Total Legacy Casino

$160.011

-16.69

ONLINE GAMING ONLINE GAMING Borgata (MGM)

JANUARY

ANNUAL

PARTNER

JANUARY

ANNUAL

PARTNER

$28.709

+176.78

Entain, Pala

Borgata (MGM) Hard Rock

$28.709 $5.636

+176.78 +128.83

Entain, Pala GIG

Hard Rock Resorts Digital

$5.636 $22.839

+128.83 +91.66

GIG SGMS, FLTR

Resorts OceanDigital

$22.839 $0.971

+91.66 +82.68

SGMS, FLTR GAN

Ocean Caesars (CZR)

$0.971 $7.387

+82.68 +74.32

GAN 888, SGMS

Caesars Golden (CZR) Nugget

$7.387 $31.188

+74.32 +47.08

888, SGMS FLTR, GAN, SGMS

Golden Nugget Total iGaming

$31.188 $103.771

+47.08 +88.38

FLTR, GAN, SGMS

Total iGaming Online Casino

$103.771 $101.027

+88.38 +89.71

Online Poker Casino

$101.027 $2.744

+89.71 +49.78

$2.744

+49.78

Poker

17.9 FANTINI RESEARCH

SPORTS BETTING SPORTS BETTING Hard Rock

JANUARY

ANNUAL

PARTNER

JANUARY

ANNUAL

PARTNER

$1.587

+371.61

GiG

Hard Rock Borgata

$1.587 $8.461

+371.61 +165.71

GiG Entain

Borgata Harrah's

$8.461 $0.263

+165.71 +144.70

Entain SGMS

Harrah's Ocean

$0.263 $4.565

+144.70 +95.01

SGMS WMH

Ocean Meadowlands

$4.565 $46.803

+95.01 +76.80

WMH FLTR, PBH

Meadowlands Resorts

$46.803 $0.221

+76.80 +35.41

FLTR,DKNG PBH

Resorts Golden Nugget

$0.221 $0.149

+35.41 +27.87

DKNG DKNG/CHDN

Golden Nugget Monmouth Park

$0.149 $3.677

+27.87 -0.16

DKNG/CHDN WMH/Rush St

Monmouth Park Resorts Digital

$3.677 $15.740

-0.16 -0.98

WMH/Rush St FLTR/DKNG/Kambi

Resorts Digital Tropicana

$15.740 $0.163

-0.98 -6.43

FLTR/DKNG/Kambi WMH

Tropicana GNOG

$0.163 $0.176

-6.43 -59.18

WMH GNOG

GNOG Bally's

$0.176 $0.107

-59.18 -83.62

GNOG SGMS/888

Bally's Freehold

$0.107 $0.161

-83.62 N/A

SGMS/888 PENN/Greenwood

Freehold Caesars

$0.161 $0.568

N/A N/A

PENN/Greenwood CZR

Caesars Total Sports Betting

$0.568 $82.641

N/A +54.29

CZR

Total Betting SameSports Store**

$82.641 $81.912

+54.29 +52.93

ISSUES

$81.912 Same Store** **Same store excludes Freehold Raceway, which began operating+52.93 in September. **Same store excludes Freehold Raceway, which began operating in September.

fantiniresearch.com

GAMBLINGINSIDER.COM

13

ISSUES

TAKING STOCK

Gambling Insider tracks operator and supplier stock prices across the six-month period from September 2020 to February 2021. The stock price is taken from the first day of each month and last date available at press time MGM Resorts International

Melco Resorts (Currency USD)

(Currency USD)

20

40

15

30

10

20

5

10

Six-month high – 36.47 (Feb) Six-month low – 20.97 (Nov)

SkyCity Entertainment Group

IGT

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Ja

ce

m

nu

ar

ry

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Se

Six-month high – 18.78 (Sep) Six-month low – 16.01 (Nov)

(Currency USD)

Currency (NZD) 4

20

3

15

2

10

1

5

Six-month high – 18.08 (Feb) Six-month low – 8.46 (Nov)

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Six-month high – 3.13 (Jan) Six-month low – 2.44 (Sep)

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TAKING STOCK

elys game technology

Evolution Currency (SEK)

Currency (USD) 6

1000

750

4 500

2

250

ry

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Galaxy Gaming

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br

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Six-month high – 4.57 (Feb) Six-month low – 3.31 (Nov)

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2

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CYBER SECURITY

FEATURES

AN EVER-EVOLVING THREAT With contributions from Continent 8, Jumio and Big Cyber, Tim Poole analyses the biggest cyber security trends of 2021, as the Covid-19 pandemic exacerbates an already-vital area of concern for gaming firms As has been well documented within the pages of this magazine, online gaming is booming. With whole populations homebound across the world, players are digitalising their entertainment sources in droves – a shift already underway years prior to the pandemic, and one seen as permanent rather than temporary. But with significant increases in online usage comes significantly increased risk, especially with many businesses still operating remotely across

Anies Khan

the globe. Indeed, while the cyber space is growing, so too are the ever-increasing cyber threats that dwell within it.

Earlier this year, Miracl CEO Rob Griffin spoke to Gambling Insider about account takeovers costing the gaming industry billions in 2021. Last year, meanwhile, Cynance CEO Stav Pischits featured in this magazine discussing the weaknesses of decentralised defence systems, when faced with such unprecedented levels of remote

access to company networks. Even before the Covid-19 pandemic, cyber crime was on the rise and cyber security an increasingly pressing concern for gaming companies. Now, with those same problems compounded in a climate that organisations have to improvise to adapt to, Gambling Insider has sought industry expertise on the many challenges cyber security presents in 2021.

WHAT ARE THE BIGGEST THREATS? Cyber security as a defined term encompasses a number of areas. Much like gaming itself, you couldn’t write one article on ‘gaming;’ you would have to specify whether you mean suppliers, operators or affiliates, technology or marketing, which geographic area you are focusing on and so on. That said, when it comes to the specific cyber threats companies face, there are some that apply more to the gaming sector than others. Leon Allen, innovation director at Continent 8, is quick to highlight the particular threat of Distributed Denial of Services (DDoS): when a cyber attack can make a gaming site unavailable to its users.

“Continent 8’s opinions on the main cyber security concerns were actually echoed in the recent The Return of the Leaders and Legends webinar, which included, as panelists, senior leaders from FanDuel, Microgaming, Playtech, Scientific Games, 888 Holdings and DraftKings,” Allen explains to Gambling Insider. “They spoke about the online gaming sector continuing to be plagued with the more ‘traditional’ type attacks such as DDoS, as well as the slightly more sophisticated methods at the application layer such as BOT and API attacks.

“Further, the meteoric growth of cloud adoption across the industry has resulted in the potential for cloud environments to not be fully secured, perhaps due to a lack of time or knowledge. Given there are so

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CYBER SECURITY

Hackers can steal or spoof identities using a myriad of methods in the current climate.

One such method is credential stuffing, which then results in account takeovers.

“This is a result of the billions of personal records exposed in data breaches – there were 36 billion records breached in 2020,” Khan states. “It’s a type of cyber attack where automated bots use exposed account credentials to gain unauthorised access to user accounts. As 71% of accounts are protected by passwords used on multiple websites, credential stuffing is a key way in which attackers are able to successfully gain access to multiple accounts that could well include gaming accounts. Once logged in, users can change passwords, takeover the account and lock the real user out.”

AI-based technology can certainly assist in this area both now and in the long term.

Organisations stand a better chance of fighting fraud, according to Khan, if they shift away from exclusively using data-based approaches such as passwords or answers, because AI can assist in document-centric identity proofing. AI can quickly match ID

Alexandru Petrescu many people currently working from home, the boundaries of work and home have now merged from a psychological and, more crucially given this topic, a technological perspective. These changes have opened up many more attack verticals for bad actors looking to exploit individuals, or attack unsecured remote devices.”

The latter point is something Alexandru Petrescu, SVP at Big Cyber, is equally keen to highlight. With cyber threats both evolving in sophistication and increasing in frequency over the last 12 months, previous cyber security solutions have been stretched.

Companies’ centralised approaches of past eras have now left them more exposed to attacks in a remote world. A dependence on existing cyber security regulations can even add to the risk, Petrescu says.

“Another threat is the belief that IT security requirements mandated by respective regulators equate to cyber security best-practice. They don’t,” he states.

“This can give a false sense of security.

Companies need to invest in cyber security solutions that provide security and clarity, placing safeguards to protect assets and operational continuity. Such an approach allows IT staff to concentrate on company cyber hygiene and staff training, further safeguarding the business.”

Petrescu is keen to add that criminals don’t use outdated software. In an everevolving space, hackers and cyber criminals update their software to be ahead of the

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cyber security measures taken by the market.

He asks: why should gaming companies be any different in their approach? As threats grow, companies should be proactive and actively hunting threats 24/7. Being secure just isn’t enough anymore.

ID FRAUD – STOPPING AT SOURCE As Griffin previously told us, account takeovers are a major issue facing operators today, and even they are just one example of wider fraud. ID verification specialist Jumio specifically combats fraud and Anies Khan, the company’s director of sales EMEA, sees increasing digitalisation as a doubleedged sword. As the popularity of online grew during the Covid-19 pandemic, he says, so too did the opportunities for fraudsters to scam players. “To deter cyber criminals, gaming operators must verify the real identity of their players,” Khan tells Gambling Insider.

“By requiring an ID document and a corroborating selfie, operators can reduce friendly fraud and ensure the player creating the account is who they claim to be with a high level of assurance. Deploying a biometric-based identity verification solution will also protect gaming operators against losses associated with chargeback abuse.

By confirming the identity of their players, operators have a better chance to prevent this type of friendly fraud, as it will be very difficult for an account holder to deny making a charge to an online gambling site if the charge was authorised with a selfie.”

“The costliest thing a company could do is nothing.

Companies shouldn't wait before investing in cyber security.

Post mortems and attack containment services outstrip the cost of investing in cyber defence” - Alexandru Petrescu

CYBER SECURITY

documents such as passports or driving licences, with a selfie of the user to connect real and virtual identities – much like you see at an airport with passport control.

THE IMPACT OF COVID-19 Cyber security has always been a primary concern for digital businesses, just as cyber threats will inevitably grow as a greater volume of the world’s operations move online.

Even land-based gaming organisations will have some kind of dependence on digital when it comes to their databases, marketing and even physical security systems, and this dependence will only grow with time. It is equally inevitable, however, that the Covid-19 pandemic has either accelerated these trends exponentially or created fresh concerns based on the ‘new normal’ organisations have been forced to adapt to.

Even pre-pandemic, DDoS and web application attacks were rising year-onyear. The costs of generating an attack are constantly lowering, thanks to a greater availability of devices to attack with, cheap bandwidth availability and so on. Something else Miracl CEO Griffin told us at the start of the year was that account takeovers are similarly low-cost and high-profit.

The total cost of hacking 500,000 gaming passwords is less than $1,000 nowadays,

Leon Allen

with the guaranteed success rate being a minimum of 500 of those accounts.

Understandably, the pandemic is making these numbers even more emphatic, creating records of an unwanted kind. “The pandemic is certainly exacerbating this rise,” says Allen. “Case in point, from a Continent8 perspective, we saw cyber attacks increase by 55% in Q2 2020 compared with the same period in 2019. And we mitigated the longest sustained DDoS attack in Continent 8’s history of 36.4 hours in Q4 2020. These statistics go to show what a record year 2020 was from a cyber security threat perspective.”

THE YEAR AHEAD So given the importance of cyber security, the rate of acceleration the pandemic has brought about, and the wide range of areas to consider under this far-reaching umbrella, the crucial question is how. More specifically, how can gaming companies deal with the cyber threats of 2021 head on? “There isn't a way to be 100% protected from all cyber threats. As with everything, cyber defence is part of the overall risk management of the organisation,” Petrescu of Big Cyber warns. “However, the eagerness of the gaming industry to innovate and invest in cyber defence solutions gives a positive outlook for 2021 and beyond. The costliest

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“As Petrescu states, the cost of a successful cyber attack ‘does not bear thinking about’.

Allen, meanwhile, concludes that any business which doesn’t put cyber security top of its agenda risks ‘catastrophic consequences’” thing a company could do is nothing.

Companies shouldn't wait before investing in cyber security. Post mortems and attack containment services outstrip the cost of investing in a cyber defence solution to protect the company by a gargantuan margin.”

For Jumio, meanwhile, 2021 will bring both greater threats and greater solutions.

In the first instance, Khan says: “The tactics fraudsters use are constantly evolving. They employ the use of the latest technologies to exploit individuals online and we’ve started to see how deepfakes are being weaponised by cyber criminals to carry out fraud.”

He also adds, however, that we are starting to see real breakthroughs as a result, such as digital identity verification solutions that are capable of defending against bots, advanced spoofing attacks and sophisticated deepfakes.

“This is achieved through the integration of liveness detection that can detect when photos, videos or even realistic 3D masks are used instead of actual selfies to create online accounts,” he explains.

“This serves as a powerful chilling effect on would-be cyber criminals hoping to impersonate legitimate users, and something we’ll see more of in 2021.”

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CYBER SECURITY

THREE KEY FOCUSES Looking ahead, Continent 8 feels there are three main focuses for 2021. Allen puts forward the company’s prognosis: 1. Primary defences Ensuring your primary forms of protection are in place and are as robust as possible.

Primary defences include utilising a private network for hosting and communication, enterprise DDoS and Web Application Firewall (WAF) protection, and ensuring your public and private cloud environments are secure.

2. Endpoint protection and Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) Especially given the remote working situation we find ourselves in, ensuring an organisation’s infrastructure is not breached, no matter where the perimeter may now be, is crucial. And it is critical that if something untoward happens (such as a breach) the appropriate teams are immediately notified.

If it has not been done already, it’s essential to find out how endpoint protection and security event management can be applied to your infrastructure.

3. Awareness and education It’s been widely reported that phishing attacks, and other scams targeted to exploit our natural human fears, have increased significantly during the pandemic. As such, companies need to ensure all staff members, from the board to senior executives and all employees, are trained.

This is even more crucial now because attackers are preying on emotions (such as sending malicious emails purporting to be Covid welfare checks) and because employees no longer have direct physical contact with their security teams to ask a question or raise a flag.

CATASTROPHIC CONSEQUENCES Just like any retail property must guard against obvious threats – damage to property, fraud, money laundering, and theft – running any online business naturally requires an awareness of cyber threats. And, as already stated, even those operating within the retail space must keep cyber security as high as they can on their priority lists. Petrescu tells Gambling Insider: “There is a myriad of consequences that can leave a previously strong company fighting for its survival.

Downtime, stolen data, compromised infrastructure, ransom and reputational damage are just some common results of cyber crime activity. The containment and aftermath of an attack are time-consuming and costly, often taking months.”

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This is a sentiment echoed by Allen, who emphasises the scale of the situation: “Cyber security has always been a focus for businesses, and this is especially so in online gaming, as it is one of the most attacked industries in the world. Our experience during the pandemic is that companies have increased conversations around cyber security. As well as exploring options to strengthen existing protections, conversations have also expanded into ensuring remote workers are both protected and educated around new and existing threats. Businesses that fail to prioritise cyber security are taking a massive risk because, sadly, it appears the pandemic will be with us for some time to come, and that means attacks on companies’ infrastructure and people will continue.”

When all is said and done, the lesson here is simple. While cyber security itself takes great care, planning and attention to detail, the easiest decision any senior executive has to make is whether fighting cyber crime warrants a large volume of a gaming company’s resources. There is only one answer: a resounding yes, and any hesitation will not be shown mercy by sophisticated cyber criminals.

As Petrescu states, the cost of a successful cyber attack “does not bear thinking about”.

Allen, meanwhile, concludes that any business which doesn’t put cyber security top of its agenda risks “catastrophic consequences”.

Leon Allen, innovation director, Continent8: As Continent 8’s innovation director, Leon leads the company’s mission to discover and deliver innovative technologies, and enhance its market leading connectivity, data centre, cloud and cybersecurity solutions. He is a highly experienced IT professional with 15 years' experience in the industry. Leon has a BEng degree in computer software engineering, and a first-class Master’s degree (in management of information security and risk) from City University London.

Alexandru Petrescu, SVP, Big Cyber: With over 15 years of executive-level experience, Alexandru offers an unmatched wealth of knowledge and technical know-how when it comes to cyber security. His experience includes a multitude of prestigious positions within the European Council across digital agenda and the Romanian Government that includes tenures as Minister for Communications and Information Society, Minister for the Business Environment, Trade, and Entrepreneurship, Minister for the Economy and executive and non-executive manager of strategic companies in the portfolio of the Romanian State. With a world-renowned background in IT and financial services, Alexandru is well-equipped to tailor fit a cyber security solution for your company's needs.

Anies Khan, director of sales EMEA, Jumio: With 15 years' experience in driving technology adoption to the gaming industry, Anies Khan, Director of Sales EMEA at Jumio, helps organisations combat fraud, maintain compliance and onboard players faster with Jumio end-to-end identity verification solutions. Jumio offers leading identity verification solutions to help online casinos and gaming sites verify player age, improve conversion rates and beat cyber criminals.

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BIG QUESTION

How has Brexit affected Gibraltar as a gaming jurisdiction?

Paul Foster, CEO, GBGA

Paul Foster

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Gibraltar has operated as a premier gaming jurisdiction since the movement of land-based operators to online over 20 years ago. Many of the larger multinational operators in both the B2B and B2C space have held a Gibraltar Licence over the past 20 years.

As a jurisdiction, Gibraltar has offered a lot of attractions but only offered limited licensing to companies wishing to take advantage. By limiting the licensing to a small number of operators, Gibraltar has built a very strong foundation through regulation, which is open, transparent and fair. In return, companies have invested into their Gibraltar infrastructure and operations because of the certainty that a stable fiscal and regulatory environment offered them.

With Brexit announced in June 2016, this raised questions about the jurisdiction and its future role within the industry post-Brexit.

With the expectation that Gibraltar would not be able to offer services of gaming into the EU, all companies quickly assessed their continued support and investment in Gibraltar.

Many expected the departure of key companies to other territories within the EU, such as Malta, and the corresponding shrinkage of Gibraltar as the home of licensed gaming. However, Gibraltar, and the uniqueness that built the industry there, proved to be more attractive than most others expected.

Within Gibraltar there are over 3,000 highly experienced and knowledgeable gaming personnel. It has probably the largest concentration of talent anywhere in the world.

Gibraltar has always considered itself the

Silicon Valley of gaming and innovation. This meant that while companies would face the EU challenge, it was easier to set up subsidiaries to provide services into the EU than it was to move whole companies and risk losing extensive talent, knowledge and capability.

Most companies also already had EU offices, which reduced the impact of Brexit on the Gibraltar teams. Gibraltar quickly evolved from the European Hub to the UK and non-EU hub, in which most of the emerging and fast-growing markets are in. The teams within Gibraltar switched from operational service departments to innovation and change teams. The ability of gaming and Gibraltar to adapt quickly is a key reason why Brexit has had a limited effect on the industry.

The continued and strong support of the Government and regulator also allowed an honest and open dialogue in which the industry was able to get comfort. This, together with the true global nature of most companies, dampened impacts and has set up Gibraltar as the continued base for UK and non-EU operations.

With the ease of access to the UK and nonEU markets from Gibraltar, there has been a steady stream of new applicants for licensing which has more than made up for any losses in roles, which were initially feared. The Gibraltar Government's support to review the Gambling Act and the regulator to clarify key aspects of regulatory interpretation has meant that the Gibraltar Betting and Gaming Association (GBGA) has been heavily

BIG QUESTION

involved in supporting the industry in these processes.

A strong industry body is always key to a successful jurisdiction and the GBGA has matched this expectation under the strategic leadership of chairman, Nigel Birrell.

Having overseen key aspects of Brexit and Covid-19, he has led his experienced and highly regarded volunteer board through the many complex challenges, which has helped strengthen Gibraltar as an attractive future jurisdiction. This is evident by the continued support of multinational operators

such as Entain, William Hill, Lottoland, IGT, Playtech, Gamesys, Betfred and many more key industry players.

This means that Gibraltar as a jurisdiction has evolved and is continuing to evolve at a pace most other countries cannot match. Companies are holding on to key talent, evolving into innovation hubs, and driving new market entries globally.

With a fresh new Gambling Act expected in 2021 and a responsive and respected Gambling Regulator, the challenges expected five years ago have not just been met head on, but have led to

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evolution, the way that Gibraltar has been constantly evolving since the days that Victor Chandler first got licensed there in 1996.

While nothing is ever certain in gaming – except change – Gibraltar is continuing to survive and thrive as a gaming jurisdiction, with the added benefits of great culture, people and weather.

Paul Foster is the CEO of the GBGA and runs Crucial Compliance, the industry compliance consultancy.

Peter Montegriffo QC, Hassans International Law Firm

Peter Montegriffo The post-Brexit scenario for Gibraltar will open up very significant opportunities for gaming (and other e-commerce related) companies.

The main attractions of Gibraltar remain in place: First-tier licensing and regulatory framework, robust yet with a regulator who is acknowledged to be accessible and pragmatic; competitive business environment with a highly skilled workforce familiar with the industry; strong rule of law; and a government fully supportive of innovation and entrepreneurship, while committed to maintaining Gibraltar’s international reputation, including ensuring the highest standards of responsible gambling.

This regime will be significantly enhanced as a result of new proposed EU Schengen arrangements post-Brexit. At the end of last year, an in-principle agreement between the British/Gibraltar and Spanish governments

was announced. This will see Gibraltar become part of the Schengen area, allowing for passport-free movement between Gibraltar and the EU. This will guarantee border fluidity and be enshrined in a treaty to be entered into between the European Union and the British Government by the end of June 2021. Setting these arrangements in a treaty will offer robust protection from any attempted derogation subsequently. It should be noted that entering into this treaty is likely to give rise to potential agreements on the movement of goods and other freedoms, either as part of or following these discussions.

The key challenge for the industry pre-Brexit had largely been to ensure continued fluidity of the Gibraltar/Spanish border. Gibraltar’s cross border workforce is estimated to be in the region of 15,000, many in critical areas in the public sector, financial services and gaming. The postBrexit Schengen arrangements are likely to further enhance fluidity with the consequent business (including touristic) and social benefits of mobility.

Increasing fluidity and cooperation has also been enhanced through the recent Tax Treaty entered into between UK/Gibraltar and Spain on cross border taxation (the Spain Treaty). This is soon to be incorporated into Gibraltar’s income tax act.

Our gaming industry was in many ways Brexit-agnostic, in the sense of there being no developed EU-wide passporting regime (as is the case with financial services).

There has been some restructuring by local operators of activities aimed at non-regulated European markets, where the freedom to provide services under the Treaty of Rome was an important framework. Such restructuring has had a limited impact on

the size and prospects of the sector locally.

Indeed, there has been reciprocal traffic of operators seeking to access the UK market (which Gibraltar remains uniquely entitled to service) from EU centres to this jurisdiction.

The positive outlook for the period ahead will also be strengthened by a series of reforms to Gibraltar’s gambling legislation.

This will modernise various aspects of the licensing regime, all designed to keep Gibraltar a premier jurisdiction committed to attracting entrepreneurship and quality business.

The next step in the development of the gambling industry in Gibraltar is coinciding with simultaneous growth and innovation in other digital sectors. This includes the further strengthening of our well-established fintech and DLT sectors, and a growing interest in esports and other forms of interactive entertainment.

As a forward-thinking, nimble jurisdiction with a proven track record, Gibraltar is well-positioned to provide a home for businesses seeking to operate at the intersection of these industries.

Peter Montegriffo QC is a Partner at Hassans and team leader of the firm’s pre-eminent Gaming team. As well as being closely involved in the IPOs of various gaming companies established in Gibraltar, Peter is closely involved in drafting numerous changes to Gibraltar’s legislation in relation to gaming, as well as trusts and financial services.

His unrivalled knowledge of these fields has led him to contribute to a large number of articles and books on Gibraltar’s legal system, while he is regularly invited to speak at international conferences, He now also advises regularly on cross border commercial, merger and consolidation exercises.

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BIG QUESTION

Ed Allison-Wright, director, World Trade Center Gibraltar

Ed Allison-Wright When we talk about Brexit, we should also talk about opportunities. Gibraltar has enjoyed over 30 years of around 5% annual nominal GDP growth and has great agility, making it an attractive destination for all forms of business activities, including the gaming sector.

Brexit, or at least Brexit planning, actually held a silver lining for many companies in Gibraltar when the pandemic took hold in March 2020. ‘Work from Home’ (WFH) infrastructure was devised to counter a ‘no deal’ Brexit, de-risking border fluidity for the cross-frontier workforce, only to find this exercise being rolled out through the first lockdown. This fortuitous foresight bought precious time for gaming companies to pivot to WFH consumers and to address implications of the temporary interruption to live sport.

With gaming companies on a comparatively strong footing entering 2021, the opportunities presented by Brexit in Gibraltar can be more easily captured, the biggest of which is mobility.

Long has it been known that the Channel Islands, Isle of Man and Malta have, over time, been geographically constrained for business growth.

Gibraltar has benefited from growth beyond its boundaries through its land border with Spain and a commuting workforce. But with it has been an element of uncertainty over the fluidity of access.

The ‘Proposed framework for a UK-EU legal instrument setting out Gibraltar’s future

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relationship with the EU’ – a Non-Paper agreed on 31st December 2020 – aspires to address uncertainty. While the agreement sets aside sovereignty, it proposes a relationship through which Gibraltar could see border controls moved to the ports and airport, making way for a Schengen arrangement between Gibraltar and Spain, its closest Schengen member state.

Elimination of border fluidity concerns would present a degree of certainty never seen before, enabling longer-term growth with the confidence that cross-frontier commuting is unhindered.

Shimon Akad, COO of Playtech, based in the World Trade Center Gibraltar, says: “In the past year we have seen Gibraltar handle the challenges and uncertainties of Covid with professionalism, tenacity and heart supporting business and the community.

The World Trade Center Gibraltar has implemented the Covid precaution guidelines in a manner that allows planning with confidence and flexibility. The regulator and WTC continue to support Playtech’s needs while allowing us to implement a smart and hybrid model where the office space functions as a place of innovation and engagement. Altogether, it means Playtech has all the infrastructure needed to continue to run its business smoothly.”

World Trade Center Gibraltar was 98% occupied one month after opening in February 2017, of which 38% of occupiers

were new to Gibraltar. This is a strong show of confidence.

There are 320 WTCs across the globe, in 90 countries, covering 72 capital cities.

Whether it’s North America, LATAM, EMEA or APAC, the WTC connections run deep, and in a post-Brexit trading environment, a trusted global platform is of greater importance.

While it’s not finalised quite yet, the mutual benefits being discussed and proposed are palpable. If there is one thing that Gibraltar has up its sleeve, it’s tenacity.

The grit and resilience shown to changing times have provided confidence to businesses.

There’s a rare common purpose observed when challenges arise in Gibraltar, bringing both private and public sectors together to foster innovative solutions; Covid has done just that. Couple this with an agile policy base and you have a jurisdiction more than prepared to make the most of whatever a ‘new norm’ beyond Brexit looks like.

Ed Allison-Wright, Director - World Trade Center Gibraltar, is experienced in attracting inward investment, encouraging localised growth and providing platforms for start-up enterprises to thrive. He works with government to shape policy towards supporting employment generation and highlighting the socio-economic benefits of major projects. Ed is also a Chartered Surveyor with specialism in Commercial Real Estate and a Chartered Town Planner.

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BIG QUESTION

Andrew Lyman, Gibraltar Gambling Commissioner

Andrew Lyman BACKGROUND The 2016 Brexit result was not something Gibraltar wanted, but as part of the UK family, has reluctantly accepted.

The Gibraltar gambling industry was initially partially built on the basis of the fundamental freedom to offer gambling services into EU jurisdictions, but with the passing of the transitional period, EU business has now been migrated to Malta.

Operators have not left Gibraltar for Malta, but co-located, dependent on strategic focus and outlook.

While Brexit can be considered a watershed, change was already taking place.

Many more EU jurisdictions now have mature, liberalised and compliant gambling regulatory regimes. There has also been an incremental shift to point of consumption regulation. When the UK introduced point of consumption tax and regulation in 2014, the doomsayers suggested the demise of Gibraltar as a gambling hub. In fact, it strengthened.

With the migration of EU business, the future of the Gibraltar gambling hub is plainly a matter of interest, and understandably there is a live debate on the issue.

THE FUTURE Now another element has been introduced into that debate by the strong possibility of an EU-UK treaty on Gibraltar, which will cement the tripartite "in principle" agreement between Spain, Gibraltar and the UK. This is not without complexity as the EU will not

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want to establish a precedent that has impacts on its other external relationships.

This treaty could mean Gibraltar being part of the Schengen area (free movement of people), possibly part of a localised customs union (free movement of goods) and part of an area of shared prosperity with the neighbouring Campo area of Spain.

One cannot underestimate the economic interdependence of Gibraltar and the surrounding area of Spain. It will not mean (unless there is a dramatic development) that Gibraltar will be able to supply gambling services into the EU. A treaty would leave Gibraltar as a geographically advantaged location for multi-jurisdictional gambling operators, and one which both welcomes gambling executives and provides a politically stable and welcoming environment; there's also the lifestyle benefits (including EU travel access).

This situation undoubtedly leaves Gibraltar more reliant on UK business (the Joint Ministerial Council has guaranteed UK market access) and non-EU international business.

So what needs to be done for Gibraltar to sustain itself in the sector?

First there's no rush from the Rock.

Gambling employee numbers (about 3,500) have not reduced, the number of licences has not reduced and there's even a pipeline of new licence applications (at various stages).

Gibraltar has built its reputation on licensing a limited number of tier-one operators, and while there's a need to be less risk-averse, it will remain circumspect about who it licenses and the respective economic benefits that applicant will bring to the jurisdiction in terms of substance.

In short, Gibraltar could (a) become the gambling hub of choice in respect of UK business, and (b) build out as a larger hub for non-EU international business, with a reputation for maintaining effective international AML and social responsibility standards.

New gambling legislation is in the pipeline to update the Gambling Act 2005, and one of the intentions is to ensure all relevant gambling services being conducted in or from Gibraltar are licensed. This would include marketing services if they do not already fall under licensing.

The issue around the location of IT infrastructure is also a live debate, and while the regime is not likely to grant the automatic right to operators and B2Bs to use hyper-cloud, there's likely to be more discretionary flexible arrangements (based

around a wider test), which allow optimisation and efficiency in this area. It is also likely that an approval and licensing system will be established for the essential gambling supply chain, or platform and other suppliers.

Having technology in Gibraltar will be a licensing trigger, but so will having "mind and management" in the jurisdiction. Gambling businesses and IT infrastructure providers in Gibraltar are being encouraged to have a debate about the commercial and technical arrangements that will work for the future.

This requires adaptation and flexibility on both sides. One advantage that Gibraltar has as a small jurisdiction is its agility.

Overall, there are many moving parts, but as an insider, I remain very optimistic for Gibraltar as a high-quality gambling hub of choice for gambling businesses facing into the UK and non-EU international jurisdictions.

Also with its progressive stance on regulating distributed ledger technology (Blockchain), Gibraltar remains at the cutting edge of development in this area. Mainstream gambling operators (because of alternative focus) have not really been the first movers in this area, but there is both expertise and appetite in the jurisdiction for this type of business, from reputable applicants and incumbents.

Andrew Lyman is a qualified UK lawyer and has a Masters in Sports Law and a certificate of professional competence in Gibraltar law. He is currently the Gibraltar Gambling Commissioner (a statutory appointment) and the Executive Director of the Gibraltar Gambling Division (within the Ministry of Digital and Financial Services). He was part of the original Executive team at the Gambling Commission of Great Britain (2006-2008) responsible for implementing the 2005 Gambling Act, and has worked in the gambling industry for a decade.

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BIG QUESTION

Danny Hook, director of enterprise for Gibtelecom

Danny Hook Irrespective of major shifts in policy or trade that have recently happened, or have yet to happen, Gibraltar has remained and will continue to be one of the leading e-gaming jurisdictions in the world, as well as home to many of the top and most reputable businesses in the industry. The sector has significantly evolved over the years, experiencing rapid growth amid a constantly changing regulatory landscape.

Gibraltar is an attractive jurisdiction as it has built a solid reputation for its conservative and pragmatic approach to licensing. It also boasts a forward-looking business environment, a favourable tax regime, an extraordinary Mediterranean climate, a friendly multi-cultural community and it’s a safe place to live. It also has easy access into Spain and Europe, direct air links to UK and is in close proximity to Africa.

International e-commerce businesses by their sheer nature are also largely dependent on cutting-edge technology, a secure environment for their crucial IT equipment and global reach.

Gibraltar’s service providers have developed and implemented products and services, to support the requirements of operators and software providers.

Companies have also invested heavily in state-of-the-art data centres providing co-location, managed services and a full range of cloud services

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Punching above its weight, Gibraltar is well connected to Europe and Asia by modern submarine cable systems and Gibtelecom is one of the founder consortium members of the Europe-India Gateway (EIG).

Designed for the 21st century to meet the needs of modern commsrich businesses, it was also the first direct, high-bandwidth optical-fibre undersea cable system from UK to India, with a branch landing in Gibraltar.

The online gaming sector is a global industry and Gibtelecom must deliver what customers need wherever in the world they may be: global footprint of data centres, a vast portfolio of services and a highly resilient private network that allows them to be agile and move fast into new markets.

Driven by this need, we are currently expanding further abroad and we are currently putting the finishing touches to our first Asian cloud platform in Johor Bahru, Malaysia.

This new facility offers the full suite of cloud products, hosting services and connectivity solutions. It connects directly

via our private network with its cloud hubs and data centres in London and Gibraltar, and it also provides European companies looking east or eastern companies looking west a secure and reliable internationallydistributed infrastructure.

Gibraltar has evolved to meet its many challenges over time, and with every challenge there have been opportunities.

Today is no different. We have already been seeing new technology, such as blockchain, entering the market and Gibraltar is once again firmly positioned and leading in its regulatory approach.

As new businesses and industries develop,there is no doubt Gibraltar will be in prime position to attract and nurture such opportunities, supporting their success both locally and internationally.

Danny Hook, Director Enterprise for Gibtelecom, is responsible for overseeing strategy and development of all products and services aimed at businesses for Gibtelecom. With over two decades as a leader in technology, operations and commercial roles, Danny has a track record of building strong teams that deliver innovative technologies motivated by customer needs.

INSIDERS RICHARD WILLIAMS

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VIGITRUST

WORK IN PROGRESS

VigiTrust CEO Mathieu Gorge and COO Rowan Fogarty, data security and compliance experts, explain how Brexit will impact UK data privacy regulations, and advise how gaming companies can remain compliant going forward

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Can you provide some context into how data privacy regulations are being addressed post-Brexit?

Mathieu Gorge:What is happening right now is that there,s a lot of uncertainty with regards to data protection in the UK. We’re getting a lot of questions from clients as to what we can do to the transfer of data between Europe and the UK post-Brexit.

First, it's worth noting that GDPR came out in 2018, but the UK has been preparing for GDPR just like every other EU country for a number of years, and the new Data Protection Act that came out in the UK is generally in line with GDPR. If you,re not part of the EU, you need to be able to demonstrate that you have at least the same level of data

protection as is required by GDPR. The question is how to prepare for that because the UK has exited the EU. So technically, they’re no longer part of that process. The uncertainty comes from the fact that there are a few months where there’s an exemption period; there’s some leeway for organisations to get started.

Second, the Information Commissioner,s office in the UK is still proceeding with inquiries, fines and so on. And in fact, some of the biggest fines issued under GDPR have been issued by the UK before they left, so, for example, Marriott and British Airways, which admittedly were brought down from around £100m ($138.6m) to £20m and £200m to £20m respectively. But they still are not very

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small numbers. It might be small for most companies, but they are scary numbers.

And then we're also seeing other regulators in Ireland and France continuing to issue fines. So this is not going to stop.

Rowan Fogarty:Bizarrely enough, the UK was one of the leading proponents of GDPR and led the way in implementing it. Therefore, there’s an expectation that the regulations in the UK post-Brexit will remain strongly aligned with EU GDPR, and that the EU Commission would adopt the adequacy decision, which would allow data to transfer from the European Union to the UK without any further safeguards.

That, like a lot of the detail around Brexit, still needs to be done. Therefore, there’s an initial four months from the end of the transition period, which can be extended to six months. Basically, it will extend to six months unless something has been agreed in the meantime. So everybody is continuing as they were previously until something happens.

The expectations were that the adequacy decision would go ahead. Recently in the last couple of weeks, because some noises have been made in the UK by some politicians about diverging from European standards, some people have expressed concerns that have applied to data protection. So it may not be possible

Mathieu Gorge

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to implement the adequacy decision. But I don’t think there’s anything substantial behind that at the moment.

In your experience, would you say companies are generally compliant?

RF:Yes and no. I still think we are in a situation now where there are people in business who consider GDPR to be an impediment to what they consider to be normal business, and therefore they have resisted it. And then there are people who believe that GDPR has now been suspended, not because of Brexit but because of COVID, and that it shouldn’t come back because it actually worked against looking after the best interests of people in such an emergency.

GDPR had all of the caveats and exclusions necessary to allow data to be shared to protect human life and human wellbeing, so that,s not very accurate. But the reality is there are still a lot of people who are anti-GDPR, and they may jump on one or another of these bandwagons.

Rowan Fogarty

Are smaller companies subject to smaller fines if found in breach of regulation?

MG:They might be smaller, but they’re not necessarily completely small. There’s also a caveat in the GDPR that the regulator might actually prevent your organisation from collecting personal data, which in most businesses would actually close them. And that could happen to a small business handling very sensitive data. Think of a small health practice, for example, or a small insurance company that would have highly sensitive information. It could be a very small business in terms of number of employees, revenues and so on, but potentially it might have a website or an app that is completely insecure. They still need to comply with regulation. That’s typically a last resort, though. I don’t think regulators want to close businesses in the middle of a pandemic and a recession.

But, technically, it could happen.

and so on. Our tool allows companies to manage that on an ongoing basis.

I often say security is a journey, not a destination. So you have a few pit stops along the way. But this is actually a good case study because you might have had companies in the UK that were completely compliant with GDPR and the Data Protection Act. They thought they were doing everything right, but now something changes. The system changes, the way the system is going to be monitored is changing too, so they need to go back to the drawing board, or at least they need to update what they're doing in order to make sure they remain compliant. It’s a moving target.

It’s difficult to remain in compliance, and that’s why some organisations that have good strategies will industrialise their process by using a tool like VigiOne, or some of the other tools on the market.

How does VigiTrust help companies remain compliant?

MG:We provide a tool called VigiOne, which is an integrated risk management piece of software that allows companies to prepare for, validate and manage their compliance with the likes of GDPR data protection acts and so on. It includes e-learning, policies and procedures – all of the official checklists and official documents to show you’re in compliance.

In the case of GDPR, you can list all your workflows, your data protection officers

Can you see the pandemic having an impact on the situation in the coming months?

RF:My experience with deadlines and Brexit is that they are built to be extended.

This one has already got an automatic extension in it. Will we have reached agreement on the details by six months’ time? Probably not. So chances are it will be extended.

MG:I do think, though, that the COVID element is something peopleneed to

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VIGITRUST

be aware of. Because with COVID, the risk surface of any organisation has dramatically increased. And the reason for that is organisations went from having maybe 10% to15% of people working from home or travelling, to 90%, sometimes 100% overnight around March last year.

So we end up with people using home devices for company business from home, that are completely invisible to any type of generic enterprise network security.

We have a lot of people working from home that haven’t been trained on the best practices as to how to protect your work environment when you're at home or when you travel.

And criminals are actually going after that increased risk surface. We’ve seen a huge rise in ransomware, we’ve seen a lot of new phishing attacks, and we’ve seen some very clever attacks on CEOs and C-level people. So I think this is having an impact. From a Brexit perspective, I think there’s probably going to be a few extensions here and there, but at some stage it has to stop. So leaning on the extensions is not a strategy, it’s just a tactic to have a bit more time to do the right thing.

How can gaming companies ensure they remain compliant?

MG: My advice would be for them to have a cyber security strategy that's driven from the top. So from top management, to club members, to executive suites, and that they make sure their privacy policies and their security strategy is visible to all users.

They should also have a programme truly mapped, showing their ecosystem from a technical perspective and from a user perspective, and, in general, show the technical controls they put in place: the policies, training, and a continuous aspect of that so if the regulator knocks on the door and says, “This is an area we want to regulate; we want to check if you're doing the right thing,” that companies can say they’re in control; they know where the data is and they can confirm they’re taking appropriate security measures.

In the case of online gambling - where you have credit card information from people, potentially credit history, and potentially other details – you must know all of the most sensitive information is on a need-to-know basis internally. You have to have two-factor authentication, encryption, training for technical staff, that you get external companies to pen test on a regular basis; and that you have a GDPR programme or a Data Protection Act compliance programme, so at

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the click of a button, you can show where you’re in compliance, where you may not be in compliance but are working towards compliance, and you can reassure people you're doing it the right way.

Gambling obviously has a lot of reputational perspectives to it. So you need to protect the reputation of your users, and protect the reputation of your platform. You don’t want the names of your users to appear in the newspaper, you don’t want your platform to be labelled as insecure, and you also don’t want your name to appear with a fine. So, again, the way to do that is to map out your ecosystem, test it out, and make sure you can demonstrate that you’ve taken the right and appropriate measures.

Would that advice be similar for all companies, regardless of what

industry they are in?

MG:It would be similar, but I think it depends on your risk surface and your appetite for risk. There’s only a few things you can do with risk. You can ignore it, which you shouldn’t, or you can transfer it, but if you transfer the operational risk to a third-party managed services provider, for example, you still own the legal risk.

You can then assess the risk and mitigate it, but eventually you end up with residual risk, and it’s that risk you need to demonstrate to the regulator that you are protecting against in the right way.

It's universal, but in the case of gambling, because of the nature of the data you have, just like health or insurance, these are sectors that are really targeted; so obviously they need to double up on security.

“Security is a journey, not a destination.

So you have a few pit stops along the way. But this is actually a good case study because you might have had companies in the UK that were completely compliant with GDPR and the Data Protection Act. They thought they were doing everything right, but now something changes.

The system changes, the way the system is going to be monitored is changing too, so they need to go back to the drawing board, or at least they need to update what they're doing in order to make sure they remain compliant” - Mathieu Gorge

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SPORTRADAR

DRIVING PLAYER ENGAGEMENT Michael Maerz, deputy CEO Asia Pacific at Sportradar, talks to Gambling Insider about the role data and technology can play in improving the sports betting experience, focusing on the Asian market

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In sports betting, bookmakers balance their risk against the profits and losses of punters.

Technology can seamlessly access, process and gain insights from data that gives bookmakers and operators the competitive leverage for the best possible odds. From pre-match odds to in-play odds based on historical results and player or team strengths, the slightest bit of data can elevate turnover and margins. Cloud computing and machine learning are increasing the amount of data we can process. The more data is available on what's happening on a playing field or a court, the more enhanced the betting experience.

The amount of data coming from operators, federations and the teams or leagues is unparalleled when compared with other industries. Fan engagement is a critical component for sports betting as it opens up a huge opportunity for data and revenue generation to come together in a way never before seen.

At the start of the pandemic, we worked with our clients and partners to provide more digitally data-driven virtual events and content in the absence of live matches and competitions. Using our database of historical sports data combined with our AI and machine learning capabilities, we developed our Simulated Reality product and launched it in April to cover the top-tier football leagues from England, Germany, and Spain. This included playing the postponed European Championship in Simulated Reality.

The first simulated reality games offered a comprehensive range of pre-match and in-play betting opportunities. The simulations reflect team form and normal match play, which created an advanced gaming experience. As a vertical, it withstood global pressures of the pandemic and continues to drive growth for our partners. Betradar, a brand of Sportradar, has been pivotal in utilising this entirely AI-driven and algorithm-based solution to create a product that allows fans the same experience as they would feel while watching and betting on a real game.

Michael Maerz As the pandemic stabilised and live matches resumed behind closed doors, we too resumed our operations with our partners, albeit with strict social distancing measures. We work with our network of over 7,500 data journalists to monitor live events or result streams, and we also make use of official representatives, known as scouts, who collect and transmit data from a live sports event while taking advantage of broadcasting time delays to formulate betting odds.

The pandemic taught us the importance of business continuity through adaptation and innovation. Furthermore, we’re always communicating with our partners and effecting modifications to our solutions based on their needs and wants. In addition, all our processes are reviewed and improved regularly to keep up with the growing demands for sporting data.

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APPETITE FOR SPORTS BETTING GROWING IN ASIA What has the Asian market’s reliance on live sport been like in 2020? Considering the impact that Covid-19 has had on the market and new trends that have emerged as a result, we’ve noted a pent-up demand for live sport consumption in terms of viewership ratings and betting patterns following the reopening of live sports.

So we have aligned our efforts to grow Sportradar's market share in the region by delivering robust data, betting and integrity capabilities. China in particular is a global sports powerhouse, with a rising domestic sports market and the eyes of the international sports industry trained upon it and its 1.37bn citizens. The Asian Cup hosted by the AFC in China is the start of President Xi’s 2050 Plan, which outlines that China will qualify, host and then win the World Cup by 2050, so there is significant investment to grow grassroots and professional football in the country.

The Asian market has strived to emulate Europe’s mobile gaming popularity and adoption; over 60% of the total revenue reported by bookmakers come from mobile devices in the region. Asia’s mobile betting market will continue to grow exponentially in the next several years. However, the figures are expected to match or overshadow the European betting markets in the years to come. Combined with the high-speed 5G network, this will provide sporting fans with more powerful and sophisticated technologies that will allow them to engage with sports content faster, more profoundly and in a more meaningful way real-time.

ADAPTING TO THE NEW SPORTING ENVIRONMENT The pandemic has caused a vast majority of sporting events to be cancelled or postponed.

Social distancing measures, brought in to limit the spread of virus, have had a significant effect on sporting fixtures and the way matches and events are being conducted.

For a period of three to four months, events were cancelled or delayed in a wide range of sports, including football, basketball, cycling, athletics, rugby, and Formula 1 racing. Globally, it’s been estimated that the industry will now generate $70bn in revenues, missing out on $60bn in revenues from 2020. The majority of major sports are reliant on broadcasting and betting income for revenue, and the lack of it is why many sporting leagues have developed contingency plans for games without live audiences as we’ve seen with the K-League in South Korea, the Bundesliga in Germany and the English Premier League in the UK. We feel that there will likely be an oversupply in 2021. There is a feast of

sporting action scheduled to take place around the world this summer and beyond.

If there is a time for bookmakers to push, it is now, with people desperate to watch and bet on sport. We are confident that regardless whether it's behind closed doors or with full houses, the sports economy will thrive once again as soon as the virus has subsided fully.

COMBATING MATCH-FIXING Each year, we monitor around 600 bookmakers and operators and cover a staggering 720,000 matches annually across more than 75 sports, helping global sporting bodies and law enforcement organisations all over the world crack down on match-fixing.

This is done using our in-house Fraud Detection System that has been in operation since 2005.

Using the data we gather, we are able to seamlessly generate data-driven statistical models that reflect the likelihood of trends and indicators across match results and athlete performance. Data anomalies can be identified and then analysed by our team of analysts in order to understand the context and root of it. These anomalies are usually isolated instances outside of the expected range of data points. But where those anomalies are unorthodox enough and where no legitimate context can be identified, match-fixing, point shaving and illegal betting may well be attributed to in those cases.

Sportradar works with a host of regional partners such as the K-League, Formula 1 and Tennis Australia for a host of engagements pertaining to integrity services and fan engagement. We have also renewed our working partnership with the AFC for a further four years that will see our integrity services utilised for the upcoming 2023 Asia Cup in China. In November, we renewed our partnership with India's premier football tournament, the Indian Super League (ISL), by signing a multi-year renewal of our four-year integrity partnership. The evolving intelligence capabilities of Sportradar will also allow the AFC and ISL to take advantage of their expertise in the areas of fan engagement, integrity and compliance matters in the years ahead.

DATA TRENDS WE CAN SEE IN THE SPORTS BETTING SECTOR THIS YEAR Machine learning is transforming the way sports data is being designed, digitised and delivered, from instantly modelling new sports, sporting formats and future events weeks ahead of schedule, to the rapid creation of new data-driven digital products. We will see a rise in automated sports betting bots powered by artificial intelligence, which are built on top of sophisticated forecasting and statistical models that can instantaneously identify both

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performance abnormalities and odds-setting opportunities during live matches.

Combined with the high-speed 5G network, this will enable sporting fans with more powerful and sophisticated technologies that will allow them to engage with sports content faster, more profoundly and in a more meaningful way in real time.

Bookmakers and operators have always been pushing to create new engagement platforms. We will see mobile betting app adoption increase with bettors, allowing betting on-the-go from anywhere and anytime seamlessly rather than being tied to betting at home on a computer.

The pandemic has elevated the pertinence of fantasy sports in Asia, especially in some specific regions like India. Tencent, Alibaba and SoftBank are investing hundreds of millions of dollars in Indian apps around fantasy sports.

The emergence and popularity of sports leagues in the Asia-Pacific region, coupled with the rapid development of digital infrastructure and payments, has led to the rise of fantasy sports as another means for sports enthusiasts to connect with their favourite sports, and test their skills and knowledge of the game.

“Machine learning is transforming the way sports data is being designed, digitised and delivered, from instantly modelling new sports, sporting formats and future events weeks ahead of schedule, to the rapid creation of new data-driven digital products.

We will see a rise in automated sports betting bots powered by AI”

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BLACK MARKET

THE HIDDEN PROBLEM

Iqbal Johal explores the debate surrounding the black market threat in the UK following a PwC report, and what it might mean for the country’s fight against problem gambling

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The degree of threat that the black market poses to the gambling industry, particularly in the UK, is a debate which has reached boiling point in recent months.

Standards body the Betting and Gaming Council (BGC) has vehemently warned of the dangers the black market poses since the BGC was formed in 2019, a sentiment often echoed by its CEO Michael Dugher when tighter regulation is threatened to be introduced; and this seems even more likely with a UK Government review of the 2005 Gambling Act underway.

Responding to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport’s (DCMS) launch of the review in December, Dugher welcomed the move but pointed to the negatives such a review may have on the economy; to which the gambling industry has contributed £8.7bn ($12.1bn) in

gross value and more than £3.2bn to HM Treasure in tax, according to Dugher. He also said the Government must ensure any changes do not drive people to the unregulated black market online, where there aren’t any safeguards to protect those deemed vulnerable.

The argument here is the concern that tighter regulation on the industry, with the review looking at potential restrictions on advertising, limits on online stakes and banning betting sponsorships in sport among others, will drive players to unlicensed operators.

The PwC report titled ‘Review of unlicensed online gambling in the UK’, which was commissioned by the BGC, outlines operators such as those who don’t hold a Gambling Commission licence for remote gambling. The report also

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outlines the issues associated with the black market, including a loss of tax revenue to the UK Government, limited player protections, less rigorous customer acceptance and anti-money laundering checks; and unfair terms and practices, along with poor product quality.

The report found that the number of gamblers using black market websites more than doubled in November 2020, compared to the year prior. Stakes with unlicensed operators in the past 12 months from November increased from £1.4bn to £2.8bn, while the number of customers using such sites increased from 210,000 two years ago, to 460,000. It also found, based on its survey, that the proportion of UK online gamblers using an unlicensed operator increased to 4.5% over a two-year period.

Responding to the research, Dugher said the report “demonstrates how the unsafe, unregulated black market is a growing threat to British punters” and that “there is a real danger of complacency,” calling the evidence “inconvenient to those who seek to dismiss and play down the threat of the black market”.

Operators Flutter Entertainment and William Hill echoed the BGC’s views, with William Hill CEO Ulrik Bengtsson adding: “Our view of the gambling black market is it’s a growing problem that we must confront." But not everyone agrees with this sentiment.

Gambling Commission CEO Neil McArthur dismissed the report, labelling it “not consistent with the intelligence picture,” arguing that it lacks any evidence to show an increase in illicit betting; and that any impact of the black market threat “may be being exaggerated”.

Neil McArthur

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Respondents who used at least one of the listed unlicensed operators for each type of bet/game in the last 12 months (Oct 2018/Mar 2019, Dec 2020) Source: PwC Analysis, PwC Survey Oct 2018/Mar 2019, Dec 2020 Oct. 2018/Mar. 2019

Dec. 2020

5

4

3

2

1

0

Change

Poker

Slots

+3.0pp

+2.8pp

Casino games Sports Betting Dog racing (e.g. blackjack, betting roulette) +2.5pp

The counter-argument to the black market threat appears to be that there’s a lack of evidence to suggest raising industry standards with tighter regulation will encourage customers to bet with illegal operators.

One such organisation that is scathing in its assessment of much of the UK gambling industry is charity Gambling with Lives.

The charity was set up by families bereaved by gambling-related suicides, with the common link being they all suffered from gambling addiction, and it aims to raise awareness of the threat gambling can pose to people and their families.

+1.5pp

+0.4pp

Bingo

Horse racing betting

+2.1pp

+0.5pp

The charity’s stance on the black market debate is not hard to gauge. It agrees with a January letter sent by 30 recovering gambling addicts to the UK Secretary of State for the DCMS, Oliver Dowden MP, saying they believe the threat of the black market has been “overstated” and that licensed operators offer “totally inadequate consumer protection”. The signatories’ main point was that they have collectively lost £11.9m with 507 regulated gambling site accounts, compared to £113,000 on the black market, as a result of gambling addiction.

Someone who has been deeply affected and has experienced the devasting consequences gambling addiction can cause is Gambling with Lives co-founder Charles Ritchie.

Ritchie’s son, Jack, tragically took his own life in 2017 aged just 24 and had suffered from a gambling disorder since he was 17.

For Ritchie, the black market debate is a deliberate distraction to what he believes is the main issue of lax regulation, products and practices in the UK market which, he tells Gambling Insider, drive addiction.

“The scale and level of harms is enormous,” Ritchie explains. “International research estimates there are 250 to 650 gambling-related suicides every year in the UK. The industry tries to highlight the ‘low and stable level’ of problem gamblers but we haven’t had any comparable population figures since 2016. The most recent figures published last spring found a problem gambling rate of 2.7%, some 1.4 million people, or a fourfold increase on the 2016 figure. More importantly, recent research

by Oxford University found one in four

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gamblers are suffering serious harms.

“Our view is that gambling should be enshrined in law as a public health issue, and government should legislate for precautionary actions that a public health approach entails. Those actions should include independent, evidence-based public health messaging about the risks associated with gambling; requirements for dangerous products to be made safer, including through slowing down speeds of play and the application of stake limits, stringent affordability checks; an end to all VIP schemes; and an end to all gambling advertising, including sponsorship of sports, among others.”

When asked if problem gambling was being dealt with in a suitable manner by the industry, Ritchie was blunt: No. But he elaborated further, saying: “The industry promotes the responsible gambling model of gambling harm, a small number of individuals rather than accepting that it is a public health issue driven by toxic products and some appalling practices.

“They claim to identify problem gamblers using algorithms based on markers of harm.

That has a role but currently each operator has their own approach, none of which has been subject to independent scrutiny. And frankly, we still hear of too many cases of people experiencing massive losses where you don’t need an algorithm – just the will to spot and intervene rather than keep on taking the money.”

On the topic of the back market, Ritchie is very much on the side of the Gambling

Commission, sharing similar views to those in the letter sent to Dowden MP. He described the tactics adopted by industry lobbyists as scaremongering, and compared them to the payday loan industry, when they opposed reform.

Ritchie added: “We are also in touch with hundreds of recovering gamblers and virtually none of them had any contact with black market sites. None of the young people from Gambling with Lives families used the black market.

“Embarrassingly for the industry, the BGC funded report found that among the biggest factors why people play on unlicensed sites are brand and reputation, odds/return to player and ease/speed of withdrawal.

Another reason is people having their accounts restricted: a reality of the industry is that if you lose you are offered bonuses to keep playing, but if you win your bets are severely restricted.

“Many in the industry used to say that affordability was the key to tackling gambling harms. Now as the prospect of action draws near, the same people cry out about the black market. The reality is that the vast majority of gamblers would not even come close to the proposed threshold of £100 per month to trigger an affordability check. And an assessment doesn’t have to be any more intrusive than applying for a bank loan; much of the information is available on open banking platforms and is already used by the industry.”

When it comes to how the industry can improve on tackling problem gambling,

Ritchie believes it needs to take action to reduce the addictiveness of high-speed games; which it has started to do with the Gambling Commission introducing an outright ban in February on auto-play, slot spin speeds faster than 2.5 seconds, features that speed up play and sounds or imagery that give the illusion of a win when the return is equal or below a stake.

Ritchie concluded: “The industry must act more responsibly in its dealings with customers. They shouldn’t offer bonuses and inducements to persuade people to keep betting or gamble beyond their means.

And they should not cross-sell high-speed addictive slots and casino games to people who actually only want to engage in sports betting. Regulation cannot be restricted or framed to allow the UK industry to continue to harm on the scale that it does.”

In debates like these, it’s naturally crucial to hear from both sides. Lee Richardson has been involved in the gambling industry for nearly 30 years and is currently the CEO of independent gaming consultancy firm Gaming Economics, which provides guidance for operators and suppliers. He is also the co-founder of podcast The Big Betting Balagan, which focuses on the good, the bad and ugly of the industry.

That at least paints a picture of Richardson’s balanced views, and that he’s not afraid to speak up against the industry even though he works within it. And that’s very much in keeping with his perspective on the black market, telling Gambling Insider that it’s not easy to define.

“More in-depth research into the key consumer motivations to use the black market would greatly help both the regulator, and the industry, in formulating sustainable changes to the regulated sector” - Lee Richardson 38

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“We are also in touch with hundreds of recovering gamblers and virtually none of them had any contact with black market sites. None of the young people from Gambling with Lives families used the black market” - Charles Ritchie “Of course, the biggest single challenge in making any real impact assessment of any black market is that no-one knows the real scale or scope of such a market by definition,” Richardson says. “It isn’t measured, nor is it easily measurable. One has to rely on estimates, guesstimates and anecdote, so it’s not the greatest basis for informed comment.

“But if we know anything, it’s that prohibition doesn’t work in any sector.

Look at the US, potentially the largest legal sports betting market in the world. Despite two-and-a-half years since the repeal of PASPA, around 75% of online sports betting is still bet with the unregulated sector. Closer to home, examine markets like Portugal, Turkey or Russia. Consumers will always seek to find alternatives where the opportunity exists, or where a regulated sector offers poor value or poor service.”

And on the topic of the PwC report, Richardson believes energy would be better spent commissioning more research into the black market threat and how to limit the risks, rather than research that only adds fuel to the fire and further debate.

Richardson, however, certainly admits the need to be aware of the the black market, and would welcome independent research to understand what drives them to it.

He said: “I’ve read some of the commentary and criticism concerning

the PwC Report into this topic, as commissioned by the BGC, and I think some of it is misplaced, frankly.

“While everyone knows research can have limitations, not least research designed to inform on either a hitherto under-researched, or poorly understood area, it’s at least resulted in debate about this issue. Risk is being better assessed, people are talking about the issue, and the consumer must ultimately benefit from that, as should the regulator and the industry itself.

“Rather than simply critique the content or conclusions, I would argue that more, not less, research into the current motivations of consumers who use the black market would help both the regulator, and the industry, in formulating sustainable changes to the regulated sector. Helping consumers to have fewer reasons to consider leaving the regulated sector should be the guiding principle here, nothing less.”

And summing up what should be done to help prevent problem gambling, Richardson concludes: “Within the current debate over problem gambling, it increasingly looks like we’ve reached an impasse. It’s unacceptable that the very tools in use to define the issue are still – but rightly – deemed imperfect by all sides, whether by the regulator, academics or the industry.

“For long-term sustainability, we need better, deeper and evidence-based understanding of what truly, and unequivocally, constitutes problem gambling. The current reform of the 2005 Gambling Act must deal with this critical weakness. More, in-depth research into the key consumer motivations to use the black market would greatly help both the regulator and the industry in formulating sustainable changes to the regulated sector.”

It’s a debate that can be argued for or against at length, but is certainly a relevant one during a pandemic, which has increased online play amid national lockdowns, and the ongoing UK Government review of the Gambling Act. Which way your views are tilted depends on your position in or outside the industry.

A Gambling Insider poll on LinkedIn from January showed the majority of readers were in favour of the industry, with 67% believing the threat of the black market was legitimate.

However, it’s clear that changes do need to be made to regulation to prevent gambling addiction, which has caused too many lives to be damaged as a result. At the same time, a greater understanding of gambling addiction and the potential threat of the black market is essential in making sure any regulation that does come in isn’t seen as draconian. But one way or the other, change is coming to the UK market.

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ROUNDTABLE

AT WHAT STAGE OF DEVELOPMENT IS LATAM GAMING? Industry experts from BetGames.TV, BtoBet, EvenBet and Alfastreet discuss whether they view the Latin American gaming market as an emerging or maturing jurisdiction THE PANEL

Alessandro Fried – BtoBet founder

Eddie Morales – LatAm sales director BetGames.TV

Ales Stefancic – sales executive Alfastreet Dmitry Starostenkov – CEO EvenBet Gaming

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ROUNDTABLE

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ALESSANDRO FRIED: The Covid-19 pandemic has brought to light several kinds of uncertainty, but one trend has become clear: it has vastly accelerated digital adoption. This has been a common denominator in all industries across all markets, with iGaming being no exception. Substantially the pandemic has reshaped consumer behaviour and business operations, with online no longer being an option, but a necessity for brick-and-mortar based operators.

When it comes to Latin America, the effects that the pandemic has had on consumer behaviour towards digital commerce have been dramatic.

For instance, MercadoLibre, which operates online marketplaces dedicated to e-commerce and online auctions across basically the whole of Latin America, has registered a 100% year-on-year demand in the early weeks after the onset of the pandemic. This shift of demand towards digital is likely to continue in the years to come across all industries.

ALES STEFANCIC: From March 2020 until now, the gaming industry in LatAm is more or less closed, especially from a land-based perspective.

Consequently it’s not possible and even unappreciated, to predict the near future in the gaming business. Together with our distributor Rosana Humar, we are taking care about customer support, as the land-based sector recovers in the region.

EDDIE MORALES: If we talk about an acceleration in terms of the casino vertical and other alternatives to sports, in which I would include BetGames, then I would certainly say an acceleration has been evident. This is of course first ‘thanks’ to the absence of sporting events last spring, but more importantly from the direct growth of the online channel, which has been driven by the Covid-induced lack of retail and the perspective of shortterm future regulations. The necessity of more regulation in order to collect more taxes and balance the economic loss of land-based businesses and other factors of course has influence on this rate of growth too. But in markets like Colombia, this has not been a hinderance for most, and we’ve seen plenty of firsts there in 2020.

HAS THE CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC ACCELERATED THE GAMING MARKET IN LATAM?

DMITRY STAROSTENKOV: Of course it has, as anywhere in the world. Both operators that were already working before the pandemic, and the newly launched projects are experiencing rapid growth at the moment, as long as the restrictions are still in place in the main markets and land-based casinos are closed.

Historically, Latin and South America always were actively gambling, and that didn’t change.

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ALESSANDRO FRIED: Throughout these past years, LatAm has been garnering a lot of attention, especially with many countries in the region opening up to legalising their local online gambling markets. I dare say that in the past months the pandemic has played an important role in quickening the pace towards mass regularisation in the region, with countries looking at the positive impact that Colombia’s legislative framework has had on the local industry, also from a tax revenue perspective. Currently Brazil is generating a lot of expectancy. The Ministry of Economy has been working to implement a law, which was enacted in December 2018, for online fixed-odds betting. And while still in the early stage of regulation, Brazil is expected to propel itself as one of the largest online gaming markets on a global scale. The same could be said when it comes to Argentina, with the province and capital city of Buenos Aires having set in place legalised and regulated online gambling. In Peru a legislative proposal has been developed and is expected to be introduced in the coming months. In Mexico, fresh news is also expected regarding the regularisation of its online market, with a bill having been stalled in the National Congress since 2014.

IS REGULATION AND LEGISLATION MOVING QUICKER AS A RESULT IN UNREGULATED COUNTRIES, WITH THE NEED TO GENERATE TAX IN THE CURRENT CLIMATE GREATER THAN EVER?

ALES STEFANCIC: We have not seen this to be the case at all. The pandemic has meant closures across the land-based industry, not just in the gaming sector. Currently, all public services are partially closed across many countries in LatAm. This has meant all certification and legislation process is delayed when it comes to legalising forms of gambling, putting any regulation way behind getting ratified and slowing down the process.

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EDDIE MORALES: It would certainly seem likely that the regulation of new territories is set to become a reality in the next two years – at least on paper, with Chile, Brazil, and Puerto Rico being good examples. Hopefully we’ll see this materialise not only based on the rationale of collecting more tax, but also with the intention of regulating online gambling in a fair and transparent way, which will create an equitable environment for all.

DMITRY STAROSTENKOV: Unfortunately, it is not.

While we see, for example, a legislation disruption in the United States, with striking revenue and gambling tax numbers in New Jersey, Nevada and Pennsylvania, and more states introducing online gambling regulation, to the south, nothing has changed much yet. Brazil, the sleeping giant, is still sleeping, and in Argentina as well, the legislation isn’t moving forward despite the lobby. Some recent positive news from Chile gives us some hope.

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ROUNDTABLE

ALESSANDRO FRIED: Regulatory aspects aside, it is a well-known fact that the region is characterised by a low penetration of credit cards. This is the primary reason why retail has been such a predominant factor in the region. Only now is the market registering strong shifts towards the digital, and adapting to a significant change in consumer behaviourism throughout the past months brought about by the pandemic. Nonetheless the market is playing catch-up, and more payment solutions are becoming available for operators to vastly reduce the digital transactional gap between operators and their players. More accessible electronic payment solutions, coupled with a strongly regulated environment, will definitely mark the step where the region will start shedding its emerging market label.

EDDIE MORALES: We’re looking at several elements that conspire to slow down LatAm’s market growth, starting with the lack of online regulation, which certainly hinders outside interest. There’s also an excessive dependency on retail and the use of cash, which covers a largely uncontrolled grey area. Arguably, this can also be further compounded by the fact that player value in the region is lower than other more developed economies where many more options to gamble legally exist locally, and with a tax return to the government that contributes to the economy. This is definitely a short-term view, however, as it’s a region with plenty of potential, especially after Brazil regulates the online channel, with brick-and-mortar casinos and other forms of land-based operations currently non-existent or illegal.

ALES STEFANCIC: Before the Covid-19 pandemic, the LatAm jurisdiction in general was a flourishing gaming market. From Panama to Argentina, we did a very good job in terms of a sales, support, development and service standpoint.

However, the pandemic has had a severe impact on the retail sector, bringing operations to a standstill, which has stunted growth in the market that we would have seen if the pandemic had not taken such a hold.

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WHAT IS HOLDING LATAM BACK FROM BECOMING A FLOURISHING GAMING MARKET?

DMITRY STAROSTENKOV: It’s the enormous size of the black market in the first place. This is the consequence of slow regulation being introduced. As a result of the online black market activity, not only are the economies lacking taxes, but the players are also deprived of protection that would secure gambling addiction prevention and quality fair gaming. Now, they are facing a lot of fraud, which also harms the online gaming industry reputation in general.

ROUNDTABLE ALES STEFANCIC: We believe the market is definitely maturing. We are expecting to be back to the market with the new developments once the Covid situation passes and we can see a brighter horizon in LatAm. That can allow us to present novelties for the market, and the region can get back to flourishing once again.

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ALESSANDRO FRIED: Without any doubt, LatAm at the moment is a highly dynamic market, with mass regularisation across the region expected on the short to medium term. The pandemic has surely benefitted the shift towards a more regulated stance, with local governments now eyeing the opportunity that the online gaming industry keeps in hold, in terms of tax revenue for the state coffers and job opportunities.

WOULD YOU SAY THE LATAM MARKET IS EMERGING OR MATURING? EDDIE MORALES: The market’s come a long way but it’s still an emerging and, in many ways, unbalanced region.

In my opinion, the regulation of Brazil, when fully deployed across all verticals and channels, will mean the start of a real era of maturity, and the ability to define the continent as one that is healthy and flourishing.

DMITRY STAROSTENKOV: With so few countries offering full online gambling regulation, it’s still emerging. Yes, at the moment, the market seems to be more or less shared between the black market, international brands and several legally working local online gaming companies; but the situation may change fully. For example, if things are progressing fast in Chile, and the land-based casino brands are allowed to work online, they’ll seize a notable share of the local players, and the whole online gaming landscape in the country will be different.

DMITRY STAROSTENKOV: We are continuing to develop our Colombiabased online poker network throughout the pandemic, and it’s actively growing in the number of players. The market is quite specific for online poker there, since it’s almost fully mobile and there are few professional poker players, so it’s hard for users there to compete with European and American experienced gamers occupying most of the international poker rooms. So, if they have a choice, they prefer to use quality local poker rooms adapted for their needs of easy formats and entertainment. In addition to that, recently we have performed an integration with one of the biggest sports betting operators in the market, Apuesta Total.

EDDIE MORALES: Colombia’s hot on the agenda for us, especially given that our games already enjoy the required certification that qualifies their eligibility for any operator in the market. Further afield, we hope to expand our current presence across other markets like Peru, Mexico, Chile and Brazil. This will include the certification of our products as markets newly regulate or amend existing legislation. It’s always our intention to capitalise on the locations that make the most business and regulatory sense for us.

In addition, we’re also preparing a new family of products that I’m sure will have a significant impact not only in LatAm but also worldwide. Hand in hand with that comes our plans to improve our current portfolio, with even more localised features and solutions; I can’t wait to show off what we’ve been working on. It’s an exciting year ahead for us.

ALES STEFANCIC: LatAm has always been a key market for us, and our brand name and products are well known for the last 30 years in the region. I believe that throughout LatAm, there is always space for expansion and that is something we are targeting in 2021 and beyond.

WHAT'S YOUR RESPECTIVE COMPANY’S PLANS FOR EXPANSION IN LATAM?

ALESSANDRO FRIED: We have always been very active in Latin America, and nowadays we’re considered as the primary gateway for all operators seeking to expand their operations in the region.

Despite the challenges and setbacks the entire industry has had to face due to the pandemic, we have put in place strategic partnerships with global betting powerhouses that will see us further increase our footprint in the short to medium term. Needless to say that at the same time, we are preparing ourselves for new market opportunities, which will further consolidate our position as market leaders in the region.

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THE HUDDLE

A brighter future than ever?

Tim Kennedy, Suzo Happ VP of sales Europe, tells the GI Huddle all about the company's plans for retail sports betting in the US. According to the executive, there is plenty of life in retail yet

You were recently appointed VP of sales Europe for Suzo Happ.

What attracted you to the role and what kind of experience do you bring?

I’ve got very extensive experience, as you can see from my age! It spans gaming, amusement and betting.

For a long time, Suzo Happ has supplied a number of OEMs in a number of markets including sports betting, but recently extended its reach to offering retail sports betting solutions. Really, what enticed me into the role was that Suzo Happ has a vision for the future of being much more than just a component supplier and more of an end-to-end solutions provider. Coupled with the opportunity in various markets including the US, it seemed like a good time to be part of that growth plan.

Off the back of that, is it fair to say it’s a new phase for both you and Suzo Happ?

Absolutely. As I said, in the past Suzo Happ was very much known for supplying components to OEMs or for operators that wanted a range of spare parts.

We’re looking now to add much more value to our customers’ relationship by being the sourcing and design service for any new solution. That’s particularly important right now for sports betting, where there’s lots of interest around retail, but not a great deal of knowledge about how to actually get something into the

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market. So I think that’s where Suzo Happ really adds value.

It won’t be news to our viewers that the US is a much-talked about market for sports betting. But from your point of view, how much of an opportunity does US retail sports betting really represent for the market as a whole?

Obviously, there’s a lot of focus on sports betting opportunities online because it’s a new area. But hand in hand with online is the essential element of retail. In the US, there are a lot of sports fans who really do like to go down to a venue and experience the buzz of getting together. That’s the ideal opportunity to offer them sports betting.

We’re talking to a number of customers who are looking to expand sports betting into sports bar operations, and we see that as an increasing part of the market. At the moment, it’s limited to racetracks and casinos.

But I think in the future you’re going to see it expand into much broader environments, including sports bars. So I think that’s where the volume of the market really does start to take off.

It’s interesting you mention properties other than casinos, particularly sports bars. That’s something different to what you might get in the UK and Europe. What are the key overall differences between retail sports betting in a typical US state and European markets?

Traditionally, sports betting was always done over the counter, so a punter would go to a betting shop or in Europe a betting corner.

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There would be a teller or member of staff behind and they would either fill out a form or type the bet into a terminal and give the consumer a receipt. I think increasingly that’s moved to much more of a self-service betting terminal operation. In the UK and across many European markets, there are a number of terminals where the player can casually walk up, place the bet via cash or a cashless mechanism and choose some bet selections.

Perhaps they can chase a certain objective, like a €100 ($121.24) win or €1,000 win and then get a receipt.

Increasingly, those retail betting solutions are integrated with online solutions. So, for example, the player can have an online wallet, and be able to play online on their phone or walk into a shop and play with the same funds.

That’s the kind of panacea of solutions and, as the US rolls out, many sportsbook providers are offering that type of functionality. It’s the ability to have a similar betting experience right across all platforms. But the way the information is presented is slightly different: in a bar it might be on a single-screen device that looks like a tablet; in a casino, it might be on a twin screen stand-up terminal; in a race track, it might be over the counter. All of those solutions are available.

While we’re talking about retail, we can’t help but talk about online at the same time. The big emerging market in the US is certainly online gaming.

Do you still feel, even though online is rising at this speed, there’s room for a strong retail offering, and that retail will always be a key part of the offering in the US? I think it will. If you think about your own personal habits and the way you shop, depending on the environment you’re in, you may flick between placing a bet or

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buying something online to actually experiencing things first hand in a retail environment. So I think it’s not one set of players that will play retail versus online.

Depending on the situation, you might play at different times of the day or in different environments. So I think for the majority of casino customers, you can imagine parts of their experience will be to go and play on slot and tables, and part of that visit will be to go to a sportsbook when there’s a big event on. Depending on the graphic or how you’re feeling, you can bet via a terminal or a mobile phone.

Equally it could be sitting at a table having a nice drink with friends, having a much more immersive experience, and having a terminal in front of you. You’ve got to offer the full range of solutions to capture the maximum opportunity of the market.

Given this omni-channel type of approach we’re talking about, what are Suzo Happ’s plans for the retail space more specifically?

We’ve been working very closely with a number of sports betting platform providers, because we feel they really hold the key to the market. These providers essentially have a platform that meets all of the legislative requirements for each of the states, and they have a technical solution that stitches everything together. It handles all of the betting information, the payment platforms and they can be deployed on a number of technical platforms. Then we basically take everything from there and provide all of the hardware solutions. We source all the components, design the terminals, certify the terminals, manufacture them and deliver them to site. So we take care of everything on the hardware side.

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THE HUDDLE

Unique to women Gordon Moody Association interim CEO Matthew Hickey speaks exclusively to Tim Poole about plans for the world's first ever women gambling clinic, as part of the GI Huddle’s problem gambling series

In a four-part series, the GI Huddle focused on a vital topic that sits at the heart of both the gambling industry and gambling itself: problem gambling. In part one, we spoke with Keith Whyte, executive director of the National Council on Problem Gambling, about the state of responsible gambling in North America. For part two, we interviewed transformative therapist Jason Shiers about the psychological aspect of problem gambling. Later, Perrin Carey, independent analyst and former chief risk and compliance officer at Stride Gaming, spoke to us about organisational culture and compliance. Here, we gain unique insight from Gordon Moody Association interim CEO Matthew Hickey, about the rise of female problem gambling.

Recently, you announced that you’ll open the world’s first women-only gambling treatment centre. Could you tell us more about what you’ve been working on at the Gordon Moody Association?

Gordon Moody is a residential treatment organisation that delivers support for those most in crisis with their gambling addiction. We are now 50 years old this year, as we head into 2021, and since the beginning, we’ve been delivering support predominantly for men. What we have seen over the last few years in particular is that more women are coming to the fore in needing support in dealing with their addiction. This year, after working with a

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number of organisations over the last year, we will be launching – depending on COVID-19 – the first women’s residential treatment centre for those who have been affected by gambling addiction; but also those who have affected others.

It’s very interesting to hear specifically about women problem gambling because, as you’ve said, treatment traditionally targets men. Can you tell us about recent figures that have shown female problem gambling is on the rise?

In terms of women and what we’ve seen over the last 12 to 18 months, there’s a substantial increase in the number of women reaching out to us for support.

That has increased three-fold year-on-year.

What we’re seeing is that more women have been affected by their addiction; more women are therefore in crisis, reaching out saying that they need to do something about their addiction.

Not at a low level but at the point of saying, “This is a really serious problem; it is destroying my life.” As a result, we have worked over the last 12 months on putting in place the right funding package to roll out this service.

Particularly since COVID-19 hit in February last year, we really have seen the number of calls from women increase, from probably 5% to now over 30%. We’re seeing those women being more in crisis.

Rather than calling and saying, “I could really do with some help,” they’re saying, “I am about to commit suicide and what can you do to help me?” We have a waiting list of women waiting to come into our services and we hope this treatment centre will have a real effect on those who need

THE HUDDLE

support. What I’m most fearful of is that we’re overwhelmed with applications. It’s brilliant that we get to open this service but maybe the floodgates will open. That is a positive, though, in that we can start doing more in providing the right sorts of services for women.

his life, and come and stay with us for 14 weeks; it’s a lot more difficult for women because they have more people who rely on them. Therefore, it will be a different sort of model in that respect.

But we really have seen an increase in the demand for residential support.

That certainly paints a drastic picture, especially the figures of 5% to over 30%. Is this new clinic for women something that was already in the works and accelerated by the pandemic, or is this more in response to a real recent surge?

We’ve been running a short-term women’s programme for the past couple of years, which was a weekend retreat with virtual support between time. What we’ve been noticing is that more women need a full-on break, to break the cycle of their addiction and do so through a residential treatment place. The profile of women is changing in that more women are severely affected by their gambling addictions, so therefore we need to open a residential facility to help them.

I don’t think it will be a 14-week programme like we have for our male residents. I think it’ll be a shorter-term programme because women’s needs are different to men. Jane Fahy, who works for us and does a substantial amount of work with women, would say women are very good at keeping calm when all around them is falling apart, whereas a man becomes very selfish and can only concentrate on himself. A woman would put others first even while suffering, making sure the children are washed and fed, and the electricity is still on, whereas a man may not.

So it may be a lot easier for a man to give up

Gordon Moody trustee Annika Lindberg has said there’s been a rise in gambling advertising specifically targeting women. What’s your take on the current level of advertising and what percentage of it is aimed at women specifically?

I think the way the adverts have been structured is that, for women, it’s about escapism. It’s about escaping the potential monotony they see every day. For an evening they can get together socially online – that’s the kind of design. And I think for the vast majority of people, that works; they are able to cope with that, whereas those who have real underlying issues need to be able to know when to stop. I think that’s where the struggle really comes to the fore; some aren’t able to know when to stop and, therefore, they carry on and it then becomes more of an issue. I’m drilling it down to its basic level because each individual is completely different.

There are stories I hear of various ladies who have become addicted to gambling for completely different reasons. One may want to try and break out of the social disadvantage she’s in, and therefore she starts on lottery scratchcards and online bingo. Or there may have been a bereavement in the family – it all depends on the individual.

To talk about everyone in the same way really dilutes the picture.

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THE HUDDLE

LeoVegas: Q4 in review Following his CEO Special interview in the Jan/Feb issue of Gambling Insider, LeoVegas CEO Gustaf Hagman returns to discuss the operator’s Q4 financial results on the GI Huddle

Could you give us your rundown of LeoVegas’ Q4 financial report?

All in all, I think it was a really solid quarter. We managed to reach around 9% in growth and a 25% EBITDA margin for the quarter. But there was also a lot of innovation.

I’m particularly proud of the LeoJackpot, which went live and is our own unique jackpot solution.

It’s at €6m [$7.2m] at the moment.

But there’s also our Open Banking solution, which is really good for the future and a strategy where we’re digging more into the food chain in this industry. So all in all a strong quarter and we had a positive update for January, too, so a lot of positive things going on right now.

LeoVegas mentioned in its report that Italy is now one of its top five markets.

Exactly how has that been achieved, given the gambling advertising ban in Italy? There was a lot of concern from operators that this ban would impact performance.

Well, I think it’s a tribute to the team. We bought a company in Milan a few years ago and they’ve been working really hard to put us on the map in Italy, and at the forefront when it comes to our position on mobile there.

I believe strongly in the product. Since we can’t do any marketing, the one with the best product will win the race, more or less. During lockdowns in Italy, people were shopping round for the best product online and the best product on mobile. They came

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across Leo and stayed. That’s essentially what’s happening now. We’re seeing a really good uptake in the Italian market.

Another market LeoVegas mentioned in its report was Germany, with the brand implementing a number of changes ahead of forthcoming regulation. This impacted revenue, but what exact changes did this involve?

The new German legislation will come into force in July this year. Ahead of that, they’ve come out with a series of implementations that need to be made. There are requirements that came out 15 October and the second set in December. These are things like a €1,000 monthly deposit limit, five seconds between spins and maximum stakes. All of these things impact the customer experience, I would say, but we managed to implement everything on time during October and December. That has impacted us substantially both in Q4 and in January.

More or less, we took the full hit of everything in January and found ourselves on new ground. Now we’re ready to grow from where we are today. We’ve also been transparent; we were around 50% to 60% down in Germany when it was the worst week, but we feel we hit the ground and we can take it from there.

Will you be facing the same in the UK with the new slot guidance and regulation put forward by the Gambling Commission?

We are waiting for what’s coming out of the UK, and there’s a lot of talk and some rumours at the moment. We’ll see what happens. To some extent we’ve already implemented some measures at LeoVegas, at least. But, yes, it will

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most likely have some kind of impact on the market when it’ll be disclosed.

That’s a trend you’ve already referred to, with LeoVegas’ report saying all core markets except Sweden and the UK enjoyed double-digit Q4 growth year-on-year. How did LeoVegas perform in Sweden for Q4?

I think given everything that’s going on in Sweden, we’re doing okay – or well. We’ve been growing sequentially, month-on-month, in the Swedish market for five or six months.

So that’s a good sign. And there are a lot of things going on in the Swedish market as well. But very high up on the prioritisation from the Government is to implement B2B licences, to protect the channelisation in Sweden, which is very low. It’s around 75%, so there is a black market of 25% in Sweden right now, which is huge. That’s a failure for the new legislation here, because they said one of the goals or milestones for them was to have channelisation above 90%. But they have acknowledged that and are working on it, so that’s a good sign.

You mention sequential growth but how are you impacted in terms of yearon-year performance, given the lower channelisation?

I can tell you that if there weren’t any unlicensed operators, then of course LeoVegas would have grown a lot better. Because we have a really strong brand, we are the strongest brand in Sweden when it comes to casino, and a great product suitable for the Swedish market. We’ve been here for nine years so, of course, it would have looked even better if it wasn’t for the channelisation and unlicensed operators. But again, the Government and other stakeholders are working on that.

Has there been any significant recent progress from the Swedish Government?

There’s been some talk in the media and some discussions going on, and I know from inside knowledge that this is high up on the Swedish Gambling Authority’s agenda. I know they are working on it, which is good. It has to do with trust as well. If the new legislation is going to be trustworthy, they need to address the issue that channelisation is 75% and not 90%, which was their goal. It’s quite far off.

Looking at overall performance and all of LeoVegas’ markets, what are your projections for the year ahead?

Well, we will continue to innovate. There will be more really good innovation like the LeoJackpot and Open Banking, which will change a lot of things for us long term. We will continue to enter new markets, with a couple of new ones during the year. And we will continue to improve our products, conversion rates, and the customer experience towards the journey of ‘king of casino.’

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FREE-TO-PLAY

FROM PASPA TO PANDEMIC SportCaller MD and co-founder Cillian Barry speaks to Gambling Insider about the company’s journey so far and the effects of key milestones along the way

How different is SportCaller today to when it started out?

SportCaller started life a decade ago under the name RaceCaller, which I set up with my brother-in-law who was a huge horse racing fan. Back then, the focus was on B2C with the intent of creating a socialtipping community and discussion forum for racing fans in the UK and Ireland. The initial premise being that casual punters would respond well to tips and comments from other sports fans, especially those who had proven themselves to be adept at finding winners in the past.

At the time, plenty of people were making good money out of the affiliate model. However, it proved heavy going for us, but we kept a focus on the product and created our own prediction-game format that helped forum users pinpoint who was worth listening to, and who was not. These games soon became interesting to operators and media owners who were looking to grow fan engagement around racing. Not long after, Racing UK asked us to create a similar tipping game for them. Sky Bet quickly followed suit and Pick Six, our breakout success story, was launched with the backing of Channel 4, then racing’s terrestrial TV broadcaster in the UK. It gave us the market traction and credibility we needed with a small but strong client base around horse racing.

A couple of years later, Paddy Power got in touch, tasking us with developing a game for Euro 2016. So we rolled out a game whereby a player had to pick an anytime goalscorer from six consecutive games to win £100,000 ($140,000). Paddy Power put it at the top of their above-theline messaging, spent a lot on marketing it,

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and paid out more than £1m in prizes over the course of a season. It did a good job for them on acquisition, and also helped with reactivation, as users with dormant accounts, who weren’t enticed by free bet offers, leapt at the chance to win £100,000.

Having successfully made that jump from racing to mainstream football, SportCaller was born.

What have been your major focuses and have they changed along the way?

That watershed moment over the Euros and our ongoing relationship with Paddy Power Betfair really consolidated our position and crystallised the value in SportCaller’s products. While the games were very playable and straightforward on the customer side, we introduced a level of complexity in the backend to ensure the games delivered repeat players, funded accounts and churn-reduction in a secure and scalable way. As a result, our free-toplay (FTP) games were allowing operators to acquire genuine customers at a low cost, but also to stay fully compliant within the tightening grip of regulation around the mechanics of sign-up bonuses and free bets.

Bonuses and enhanced odds had become such a race to the bottom that the industry was crying out for a new dynamic. These FTP games fulfilled that need to become the first real game-changer in years.

Behind the scenes as a business, we were keen to never get ahead of ourselves. We always kept three tenets front of mind: maintaining a strong team, strong tech and happy clients. These were the reins governing any progress we might make.

At the same time, we were constantly keeping a close eye on anything that could kill us – cashflow, losing a Tier-1 client, or a security or data breach were always high on the list. Managing these risks was pivotal to safeguarding SportCaller’s sustainability from our bootstrapped beginnings. Bar a €250,000 money-raise in 2014, we were self-funded and didn’t break even till 2017.

From that point onwards, we had a small, profitable and functional outfit. It was perhaps the first time I wasn’t looking over my shoulder at my young family and questioning what I was doing. After all, no matter how good the idea or how much you believe in it, self-funded startups remain, in all probability, a type of recklessness. At times, it definitely felt like a drain on my financial and mental wellbeing. So the unwavering support of my wife handling both our company accounts and two young kids at the time was the stabilising effect I couldn’t have done without. Beyond that crucial contract of marriage, I was also fortunate in meeting the right backers at the right time, and securing key hires with similar serendipity.

How did the overturning of PASPA affect the business and inform the Bally’s acquisition of SportCaller?

Obviously, history is littered with far more consequential examples or people and projects that missed their moment.

You can have a great idea, skilled staff and make all the correct moves from an executional point of view. However, if the underlying market isn’t moving in your favour, even the best-laid plans can be all for nothing. The reversal of PASPA was

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naturally a game-changer for FTP games and SportCaller. FTP is a great product in regulated states, but it’s an even better product in pre-regulated states. And such is the highly fragmented make-up of the US landscape that FTP has been given a key role to play in unpicking, and unpacking its enormous early-stage potential over the coming years.

Over the next decade, acquisition and its associated costs will continue to confirm the importance of FTP in the US – already a very expensive place if you want to get your hands on a ticket for the top table.

Bally’s, for us, was the standout partner in our formal sales process, not only in terms of the financial package but also because of the chance to do something truly significant in the US. They’ve obviously been on a tear of late, picking up the sportsbook platform Bet.Works and the fantasy sports site Monkey Knife Fight, alongside orchestrating a partnership deal with the Sinclair Broadcast Group.

And it was their desire to decisively act on the North American opportunity that was so appealing to me.

How has the pandemic affected your operations?

Well, like most, we had a horrible Q2.

However, as the pandemic exposed just how ill-prepared many in the sector were to cope with a sudden disruption to business as usual, the challenge soon became an opportunity for us. Operators pushing sports betting players towards casino games and more obscure sports, like Russian table tennis or Belarussian football, was not a good look and the industry rightly caught some heat in the media. Consequently, curbs were imposed by various jurisdictions to protect players.

All of this accelerated the growing importance of FTP to the industry. Our new breed of quiz games allowed our clients to offer a soft and responsible means of keeping players engaged with their core products of interest, during the shutdown of elite sports. Consequently, it should come as no surprise that many of our current games with leading operators in more mature European markets are aimed at player retention in a sustainable and responsible way. It’s another enduring and positive legacy effect from Covid-19 for both consumer protection and education.

What are the biggest challenges brought on by the pandemic?

Obviously, being locked up at home in Dublin, not to mention the unexpected demands of home-schooling, have created

Cillian Barry unforeseen professional and personal pressures. However, although we missed seeing our friends and colleagues face-to-face, alongside annual trips to New York or sunny California, there were some silver linings to be found on an otherwise dark Covid cloud.

Indeed, by working remotely at 100% capacity with all our distributed team, from our Dublin base to hubs in London, Kyiv, and Philadelphia, SportCaller maintained our collective output and integration pipeline at a time when many companies were struggling in this new WFH environment. By recruiting carefully and granting our team autonomy and agency, SportCaller has become a more anti-fragile and resilient company.

That said, I’m acutely aware that I’m speaking from a position of privilege in that we’d already established ourselves as a market force in FTP, which facilitated doing business as usual without a pricey entertainment or travel budget. It’s far harder for early-stage companies to break through without the easy-access

proximity of physical conferences, and that chance one-on-one encounter that can make the difference. For all our sakes, I look forward to these summits and their brilliant networking opportunities recommencing as soon as is practically possible.

What are the major aims for SportCaller in 2021?

After such an exciting 2020, we’re happy to have now settled back down. We have grown the team to deliver on a full roadmap, with client games in the UK, Europe and North America, including some exciting new products being worked on for Bally’s.

We’ve had a great start to Q1, signing deals with the likes of Sportsbet.io, the ComeOn Group and Kaizen Gaming, which has laid the groundwork for a big 2021. We’ve really enjoyed helping to drive FTP’s rapid rise and are looking forward to seeing how it can direct some welcome innovation in the US sports betting market.

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REGULATION IN SWEDEN

CHANGE THE CHANNEL Gustaf Hoffstedt, Secretary General of The Swedish Trade Association for Online Gambling, on the difficulties of regulating gaming

Gustaff Hoffstedt

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Swedish gaming regulation is facing a reckoning. Just over two years after a new licence system came into effect on 1 January, 2019, much has turned out just as well as stakeholders in our gaming market had hoped. For example, Spelpaus, the national self-exclusion scheme, has been a success with almost 60,000 Swedes blocked from any casino-related websites.

It’s reasonable to think most of them are compulsive gamblers who shouldn’t set a digital foot inside any online casino.

At the same time, there’s no doubt the Swedish licence market is leaking like a sieve, with a quarter of online gaming activity having been lost to dangerous illegal websites. The sports betting market is only faring marginally better and "channeling" is by now likely the most frequently used word in the gaming policy arena. And not without reason as channeling has much to say about whether a gaming policy framework works in practice or not.

A high rate of channeling (or channelisation) is important for all serious stakeholders and their interests, including a licensed company’s desire for profitability and the government’s desire for tax revenue. But it’s also important to ensure the efficacy of essential and politically mandated consumer protection measures. The success of all is determined by the rate of channelisation. The Swedish gaming regulation, with its low rate of channeling, is heading towards a fiasco. We are not there yet but unless steps are taken in a productive direction and additional misguided government interventions like the kind we’ve seen in the past two years are avoided, failure will soon be a fait accompli. Then, all that remains will be to argue over exactly when it happened.

When the rate of channeling reaches a critically low level, serious operators

will exit the market while those that remain – typically old state-run monopoly companies – are by themselves not able to attract consumers to the legal market.

The legitimacy of the system has then been spent and what remains for consumers is to search outside the designated market for the gaming experiences they desire.

This was Sweden’s reality less than three years ago as the rate of channeling was less than 50% in the last year of the collapsing monopoly system.

Regulating gaming doesn’t have to be that difficult. It entails including as many regulations, as many taxes, and as much consumer protection as possible without inconveniencing consumers to the point where they are encouraged to look elsewhere. An economist would probably use the Laffer Curve to illustrate this dynamic: If the tax pressure becomes too burdensome, real tax revenues will drop due to behavioral changes. Anyone wishing to maximise the desired condition, such as high tax revenues or high consumer protection, should therefore be careful not to exceed that limit.

Regulating gaming is perhaps simple, but at the same time brutal, in that there are no take-backs. Poor political decisions are irreversible and manifest as plummeting channeling rates. The customer who has once left the licensed gaming market is unlikely to return. How are we going to persuade him or her to then leave the world of milk and honey that is not subjected to gaming taxation, and where bonuses and VIP offers are completely unregulated?

Regulating gaming is like pulling on a rubber band. It's made to be stretched, so stretch it. But don’t stretch it too hard because it’ll snap. Why then is it so desperately difficult for politicians to stretch the rubber band without it snapping? I think it has to do with the

INSIDERS RICHARD WILLIAMS

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REGULATION IN SWEDEN

fact we’re an industry with few supporters in broader society beyond our customers.

This situation forces political decisionmakers to strike a sharp balance. Every attack on gaming companies is met with applause. Often, it doesn’t matter if these companies are licensed or not as few voters understand the difference. In the political world, moreover, undesirable effects of decisions are often accepted if the intentions behind them are good.

The politician who makes harmful but well-meaning policy will be rewarded, while the politician who makes policy that can at least be interpreted as a concession to the gaming industry faces a difficult challenge.

The privately owned gaming industry simply has nothing to offer the vigorous politician. He or she can’t even expect a cushy seat on a corporate board at the end of their political career, which is customary for state-run gaming companies. There is not much we can do about this. These circumstances will continue to be the natural laws of gaming policy, and the politician who wants to achieve truly good outcomes in the gaming market must accept the ungrateful basic condition that there’s no political jackpot to cash out at the end of the rainbow. On the other hand, good opportunities do exist for achieving real progress with the politician who rejects the political temptations that always come with gaming regulation.

What can we do about this as an industry? To begin with, we need to scrutinise our behavior. I’m thinking of the so-called Ninja Casino ruling in Sweden and all the activities on the part of the company that precipitated that ruling. The actions of Ninja Casino

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testified to complete tone-deafness to the societal outrage that was triggered by aggressive advertising practices, while we were peppered with messages about lightning-fast payouts before we would even arrive at the next metro station. The case of Ninja Casino is not unique as other corners of the licensed gaming market invites us to bet on whether a certain hockey game will descend into violence, or, as was the case in England, if a certain goalkeeper struggling in his private life would be eating a pie on the substitute’s bench. Meanwhile, ads for licensed online casinos pop up on websites that illegally stream copyrighted movies or contain pornographic material. Allowing such practices to continue is tantamount to self sabotage.

The same can be said for licensed gaming companies that do not recognise the value of investing resources into public advocacy, both internally in their own organisations and through collaborative efforts like national and transnational trade associations, as well as organisations dedicated to foiling international matchfixing operations. We can be sure that even if we increase these investments tenfold, we will still be nowhere near the level of resources poured into the public discourse by some other stakeholders, particularly state-operated gaming companies and their trade associations.

Such actors are currently fueling public perceptions that Sweden – despite our alarmingly low rate of channelisation – should introduce a marketing ban for online casinos while omitting the lottery market where they continue to enjoy a monopoly.

That’s why I think it's so difficult to regulate gaming.

Gustaf Hoffstedt is the Secretary General of BOS, The Swedish Trade Association for Online Gambling, and previously served as a member of the Swedish Parliament. BOS represents online gaming operators and suppliers that are active in the Swedish gaming market.

“The Swedish gaming regulation, with its low rate of channeling, is heading towards a fiasco.We are not there yet but unless steps are taken in a productive direction and additional misguided government interventions like the kind we’ve seen in the past two years are avoided, failure will soon be a fait accompli”

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ESPORTS IN HONG KONG

GAINING PROMINENCE We continue our look at the emerging esports vertical’s popularity across Asia, focusing on the Hong Kong market with Bird & Bird sport, media and tech counsel Alex Norman

Hong Kong has always inhabited a unique position in the world of business and commerce, and its positioning in the esports ecosystem is no different.

On the one hand, it can be seen as an access point to (or, indeed, part of ) the huge market in the People’s Republic of China (PRC) for gaming and esports. On the other, it’s seen as part of the emergent South East Asian (SEA) ecosystem, where publishers, event organisers and teams jostle for consumers and marketing dollars

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across a huge geographic expanse. The truth is, inevitably, somewhere between the two. Many gamers in Hong Kong have a strong affinity to the professional and well-established esports leagues in the PRC, but are also increasingly exposed to the more nascent South-East Asian equivalents. In short, Hong Kong has a foot in both camps.

It is worth pausing for a moment to understand a little more about the differences between the PRC and SEA

esports scenes. SEA is, of course, not one homogenous market. The demographics of gamers and, perhaps most importantly, the popularity of different games and hardware across SEA varies wildly. While some countries lean towards mobile first titles such as Mobile Legends: Bang Bang, others skew towards the PC-based Dota 2. Accordingly, developing pan-regional competitions like the professional Pacific Championship Series (PCS) organised

by Riot Games for its flagship League

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of Legends title is still the exception rather than the rule in SEA. By contrast, the PRC has seen an explosion of well-financed professional leagues and competitions, helped in no small measure by the fact that organisations are dealing with a single huge and potentially very lucrative jurisdiction. While SEA is quickly catching up with the PRC in terms of levels of professionalisation in esports, there is currently a vast chasm between the two in terms of some of the key financial, and marketing and engagement metrics.

SO WHAT DOES THIS MEAN FOR THE HONG KONG ESPORTS ECOSYSTEM? From what we have seen, it appears that in terms of viewership, gamers in Hong Kong are still drawn towards the big professional leagues in the PRC, and this is still seen as the gold standard for professional gaming for a number of titles, not least League of Legends.

That said, there aren’t currently any Hong Kong-based teams competing in the major esports leagues in the PRC. Instead, Hong Kong teams are typically competing in SEA-focused tournaments and competitions, such as the PCS mentioned above. This is an interesting dynamic, meaning the challenge for Hong Kongbased teams competing in these SEA events will be to engage Hong Kong viewers with Hong Kong teams, even if they aren’t currently competing in the most watched events (which typically emanate from the PRC).

ESPORTS REGULATION IN HONG KONG Hong Kong has historically operated a reasonably laissez-faire attitude to regulating esports, and there aren’t many signs of this changing in the near future. In contrast to other jurisdictions, which are looking to adopt a more structured approach to the regulation of esports, Hong Kong needs to assess more general laws and regulations to understand if and how they apply to esports.

That said, the Hong Kong Government has shown a keen interest in promoting gaming and esports, including through hosting international events like the Hong Kong esports and music festival, and the more business focused Digital Entertainment Leadership Forum.

Accordingly, Hong Kong authorities may consider a more comprehensive and specific set of regulations for esports in the longer term, and it’s likely that

developments in other jurisdictions in this regard will be followed keenly as Hong Kong attempts to establish itself as a leader in the esports industry in the region.

Given there’s no single set of laws and regulations for esports, this can be confusing for those who wish to stage esports events in Hong Kong. For example, event organisers will need to carefully consider if they require an exemption from the relevant authority in relation to the licensing requirements under the Amusement Game Centres Ordinance (Cap 435). Similarly, game publishers who organise events or promotions in Hong Kong will also need to consider if any elements of what they are promoting contravene the provisions of the Gambling Ordinance (Cap 148), which provides that gambling and lotteries are generally illegal in Hong Kong (both online and offline), except in very specific circumstances. In addition, organisations that undertake prize promotions in Hong Kong may need to get a licence to do so.

RECENT CONTROVERSIES One unique trait of the gaming audience is that it has typically been quick and unafraid to voice opinions on social and cultural issues, which has forced esports event organisers to confront some complex and controversial issues.

Following the recent political upheavals in Hong Kong, this was demonstrated as a player from Hong Kong of the popular game Hearthstone was sanctioned by the publisher of the game Blizzard for remarks made during a live stream. As well as creating a huge public controversy, this episode highlighted the sensitive PR situations that event organisers and publishers can find themselves in. In a Hong Kong legal context, this issue is now especially important since The Law of the People’s Republic of China on Safeguarding National Security in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region was brought into force in 2020.

As we look forward, we expect esports to grow in importance in Hong Kong, as it is likely to continue to do all over the world. While 2020 has undoubtedly been a catalyst for the industry and has catapulted it into the public consciousness, there is still some way to go for esports to be considered truly mainstream. Hong Kong stands, as it always has, in a unique position to exploit this growing trend, and to help develop the players, teams, infrastructure and ecosystem for the future. We certainly look forward to being part of it.

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“Hong Kong has historically operated a reasonably laissezfaire attitude to regulating esports, and there aren’t many signs of this changing in the near future.

In contrast to other jurisdictions, which are looking to adopt a more structured approach to the regulation of esports, Hong Kong needs to assess more general laws and regulations to understand if and how they apply to esports”

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SPORTS BETTING

TEAM EFFORT Iqbal Johal provides an in-depth look at the new sports betting environment experienced during the 2020-21 season, and why the industry’s resilience provides hope for the future

While certainty has been restored to the sporting schedule, the 2020-21 season has been one like no other. Casting our minds back to a year ago when the chaos of the pandemic first ensured, few would have believed that more than 12 months later sporting events all over the globe would still be played in front of nobody, amid biosecure bubbles for each team.

But that’s the stark reality. That the entire season will pretty much be carried out behind closed doors in Europe, save for

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several weeks and months last autumn when some matches were open to reduced capacity, but were completely prohibited from December.

But aside from a lack of spectators, having a near-normal schedule comes as a huge relief to operators, who had to endure between two or three months of alternative offerings during the big sporting shutdown last March. The suspension of all major live sport in mid-March lasted until May, with the German Bundesliga the first major

league to return on 16 May, followed by the Premier League on 17 June. The UEFA European Championships and the Olympics were pushed back a year, meaning operators had to be versatile to avoid heavy losses.

Losses were incurred, though. The impact on live sport led to figures in July from gambling data specialists H2 Gambling Capital forecasting betting sector gross gaming revenue (GGR), made up of horse and dog racing, sports betting among other verticals, to drop to $60bn for 2020, a 21%

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downgrade from the $75bn predicted at the start of the year.

However, an upturn of fortunes was seen during a gradual return at the start of last summer. Gambling Commission data covering the biggest online operators in the UK showed sports betting gross gambling yield (GGY) fell from £160.9m ($224.3m) in March 2020, down to £61.9m for April directly as a result of the shutdown.

However, as major leagues returned by June, GGY sky rocketed to £217.5m, and £290m in October during a sporting bonanza in the US, with all its major leagues taking place in September, as well as a full football calendar in Europe.

Pent up demand was one factor attributed to the rise in GGY as punters were left without elite sport for months on end during the height of the coronavirus pandemic.

A greater emphasis on online play helped boost figures, so too has been the packed and condensed European football schedule, which has seen the biggest clubs finding themselves playing every weekend and mid-week to catch up on lost time for starting the season in September.

As mentioned, sports betting operators and suppliers had to be diverse to stem the losses during the first wave of the virus, something echoed by EveryMatrix CEO Ebbe Groes. He told Gambling Insider that the supplier’s pivot towards esports helped mitigate against its loss of revenue

Ebbe Groes

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“I am a huge sports fan, and I definitely miss the thrills of being more present in the game. During the sports crisis last year, we did a massive switch to esports for our sportsbook and clients’ success. One of the things we focused on with esports was getting live streams added as much as possible. Given this enormous boost, we came out of the sports lockdown even stronger than before” - Ebbe Groes experienced during the sporting shutdown, and how there’s been more uptake in its sportsbook products since the pandemic.

“It’s tough to see matches being played behind closed doors, that’s for sure,” Groes admitted.“I am a huge sports fan, and I definitely miss the thrills of being more present in the game.

“During the sports crisis last year, we did a massive switch to esports for our

sportsbook and clients' success. One of the things we focused on with esports was getting live streams added as much as possible. Given this enormous boost, we came out of the sports lockdown even stronger than before.

“We’ve definitely seen more uptake for our sports betting products.We chose not to hibernate through a crisis, and acted fast and efficiently to mitigate the drop in revenue, which was something around 80% at the beginning of this crisis. Thankfully, once we started pushing more alternatives to live sports events, we saw the revenues coming back.

“Our Q4 2020 is well above Q4 2019, despite Covid-19 still having some negative effects to this day in terms of cancelled events. This is above expectations and makes us quite optimistic for 2021.”

Perhaps the biggest lesson to take from the pandemic has been the importance of an online offering, during the apparent digital transformation not only experienced by the gambling industry, but by most worldwide.

Those who weren’t ready have suffered according to Groes, and “not only in the short-term from revenue loss but also in the long-term in driving players over to competitors with stronger online offerings.”

There have been some noticeable trends spotted during the new sporting environment, particularly with a lack of fans present at the majority of events worldwide. That is particularly true in the major European football leagues, with more away wins meaning lower odds and more customers betting on them to win. That point is backed up by statistics that show 39% of all wins in the Premier League for

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SPORTS BETTING

the 2020-21 season as of 1 March have come away from home, with 37% at home. It’s a trend Groes has also spotted.

“Statistically, it seems that away teams have a better chance of succeeding,” he says. “Odds for the away teams are dropping while the odds for home teams are rising.

Also, something worth noting is that more points and goals have been scored with no fans in the stadium.”

The delayed Euros is a tournament in real danger of being played behind closed doors, and could need re-scheduling again considering it’s due to be played in 12 cities, which might not be possible due to current travel restrictions across Europe that are set to remain beyond June. Groes is still confident the Euros will take place and regardless of how it does, they will still be the biggest sporting event of the year. He was also quick to praise the industry for its resilience during the toughest of times.

“I’m confident that Euro 2020 will take place this year, even if it’s one year later than all of us imagined,” he says. “Bookmakers still have three months to prepare for what is believed to be the biggest betting event of the year in Europe. Even held behind closed doors, the Euros remain a muchexpected event by football fans, and for sure, they’ll be watching it from a distance if it will not be able to attend in person.

“Sports betting is alive and kicking, despite 2020’s unfortunate turn of events.

We went through some wild months last year, which we are all going to remember, that’s for sure. On a broader note, I am just really impressed with the resilience and ingenuity of the professional sports leagues in terms of managing to stage events under largely safe conditions for participants.

Missing the fans in stadiums is unfortunate,

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but the show had to go on – and it did.”

Betsson sports product director Joakim Thor spoke of the challenges the new sporting environment and calendar presented to the operator, but also how the condensed schedule increased income.

The operator’s group revenue for 2020 increased by 24% year-on-year to SEK 6.39bn ($757.3m), aided by a 37% rise in Q4. In terms of its sportsbook, revenue rose 23% for 2020 compared to the year prior and 47% for Q4.

“The return of major events came with a condensed sporting schedule for a number of months,” Thor tells Gambling Insider.

"Any operational challenges this presented were embraced and overcome and it was an exciting period for sportsbook. Live betting became a slightly higher proportion of our book’s turnover, particularly for football.

“The key driver for this was the revised schedules, which meant there were highprofile matches seven days a week and kick-off times were staggered even more so than usual, rather than having numerous concurrent games. This has continued for competitions such as the Premier League, where there are rarely more than two matches kicking off at once. Ensuring a highly competitive live offering is therefore even more important and we are always looking at new ways of enhancing the live betting experience.”

Thor was also optimistic of Euro 2020 taking place this summer as expected and doesn’t believe the lack of crowds will have an impact on the betting industry. He said: “Anything can happen in these uncertain times, but it would seem most likely that Euro 2020 will take place this summer, albeit with the format and some locations potentially changed.

“Fan attendance will, at best, be limited one would imagine, but this has become the norm of late and is not likely to have any significant impact. While any further cancellation of the tournament would be disappointing, we are entering a very exciting period at Betsson so we’ll be well prepared for any eventuality.”

After the lows of a year ago, the sports betting landscape looks a lot brighter. More matches and more certainty regarding a continuation of leagues and events regardless of another outbreak seem assured.

That also provides certainty to operators that they will have a product to offer. With restrictions also expected to ease this summer across Europe, there’s reason to be hopeful.

“The key driver for this was the revised schedules, which meant there were high-profile matches seven days a week and kick-off times were staggered more. Ensuring a highly competitive live offering is therefore even more important and we are always looking at new ways of enhancing the live betting experience” - Joakim Thor

NETSHOP

FEATURES

SAFETY IN NUMBERS Stefano Sordini, CEO of NetShop Internet Services Ltd, examines the ever-increasing need for more robust safeguarding measures, as hosting services face greater challenges to data client regulated by the Gambling Commission, and while the UK was under a heavy DDoS attack, we managed to switch them to the Malta data centre within 15 minutes, instead of being down for hours.

Stefano Sordini Can you provide a brief overview of NetShop?

We started off with the traditional web hosting and server hosting services, and we entered the online gaming market in 2011, starting from Malta. Since then, we’ve expanded in more locations, where we facilitate online gaming for B2B and B2C clients. So online gaming is one of our main industries that we do hosting with.

How has the pandemic affected the company?

Throughout Covid, there have been an increased number of DDoS attacks worldwide. So we, like many other companies, suffered from some

downtime caused by them, not necessarily targeting NetShop ISP, but targeting whole countries. For example, Italy was heavily targeted, and Malta has a direct link with Italy, so one of our Malta data centres was affected.

What differentiates NetShop with the rest of our competitors is that in every country that we’re located, we have data centres. This means that those clients who had redundancy with us, if one data centre was on under a DDoS attack, our clients were able to remain up and running through the second data centre.

And this was one of the main benefits we could give clients during these incidents.

For example, we have an online gaming

What are your plans for further expansion, and what are the main priorities at NetShop?

We have enhanced and we are still working internally towards further improving our 24/7 global coverage for technical support, to make sure that clients from any country are getting the best service when they need it for any technical matters.

During this first quarter of 2021, we'll release service-level agreements (SLA), where we'll be able to offer up to 20-minute response times to specific SLA plans. Right now, all the technical support we offer is free of charge, and this is how it will remain. But with the announcement of our SLA plans, we’ll be able to provide the same service with premium support to those who really need it. So companies that can’t afford any downtime will be able to go to the premium SLA plan to get almost instant technical hands-on from our team at any time.

The second thing is the work at home bundle, which is a product suite that’s been designed and developed as a relief for businesses for the Covid impact.

This is going to be transformed into an IT services solution, where we’ll be able to provide all the necessary IT services for companies, freelancers and small teams that don’t have in-house IT people.

Everything will be hosted in our private cloud infrastructure, in a location that depends where the company is based.

For example for a Singapore law firm, we’ll be able to host in Singapore. Or for a small online gaming translation team in the UK, we’ll be able to offer the IT service in our UK data centre. These are the two main things we're going to announce this year.

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THIRD BRIDGE

UNDER PRESSURE Harry Barnick, senior analyst at research provider Third Bridge, discusses how the UK gambling industry is coping under the strain of increased regulation and what we can expect as deadlines loom The UK gambling industry is facing tougher regulation. This follows historical clampdowns on fixed-odds betting terminals (FOBTs) in retail and, more recently, credit card deposits online. The Government wants to reduce problem gambling, an intensely political debate that is closely followed by the mass media. The key suggestions are to limit how much gamblers can stake, to review treatment of high-value customers, to improve affordability checks and to reduce sports sponsorship. A consultation on these questions is currently live, with

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the Gambling Commission's role also being examined.

The gambling industry, which some claim was wrong-footed by FOBT changes, argues that tighter regulation will push people towards the black market and cause problem gambler rates to soar. They also warn that regulation is a blunt instrument affecting millions, when problem gambler rates are actually quite modest: according to our experts, it only makes up 0.5% of the gambling population. The gambling industry has commissioned a report highlighting

how the number of UK residents already using black market sites is on the rise.

Meanwhile, gambling addiction groups say this is reminiscent of how PayDay lenders responded to potential legislation.

On 2 February this year, the Gambling Commission announced a clampdown on online slots games. This includes a ban on features that speed up play or give the illusion of control over the outcome. The Gambling Commission says there is clear evidence these features increase the risk of harm to customers, so a ban will come into

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force on 31 October. This restriction is just the beginning as the regulator is minded to increase online gambling controls, after an increase in gambling activity during the lockdowns caused by the Covid pandemic.

The media, pressure groups and parliamentarians are all coalescing around this topic. Following a manifesto pledge, the Government is expected to publish its proposals for the 2005 Gambling Act in December this year with legislation soon after. Experts in the industry are unsure of the exact timeline, but early estimates suggest a timeline of between nine and 18 months. Below I run through what regulation is likely and how that could affect the industry. The views shared are direct from industry experts that I engage with on a regular basis on this topic.

SPEED LIMITS The Gambling Commission has been clear with speed limits. The most recent agreement between the Gambling Commission and the Betting & Gaming Council introduces a minimum speed of play for random number generator games, like online slots and online roulette. The 2.5-second minimum spin time is to be enforced, with operators given until 31 October to make the necessary changes. The risk now is that this could swell to something in the 3-5-second range. In looking at speed controls, the review will have to take into account game design and user experience.

VIP CUSTOMER CONTACT It’s highly likely that operators will have to meet new duty of care standards and this will impact any VIP programmes where high spenders are incentivised to play. While operators have moved away from regular VIP communication, many companies at present still contact VIP customers to offer special bets, bundles and bonuses. This group, which makes up just 1% of total gamblers, drives close to 20% of total revenues. Consequently, any restrictions on deposit limits and promotions could have a significant impact on industry revenues. Regulation is also likely to include guidance around affordability checks, with operators being required to ask for proof of source of wealth. In total, our experts indicate this could have a £500m ($693.6m) impact on revenues.

INTRODUCING MAXIMUM DEPOSITS As noted above, maximum deposit limits look likely and could take the form of a weekly amount or a monthly maximum, after which affordability checks would kick in. A number that has been passed around

frequently is a £100 per month threshold.

Our experts take a more favourable view, suggesting a £250 threshold given discretionary income levels in the UK. STAKE LIMITS After the introduction of £2 stake limits on FOBTs, the message is clear: we are heading towards a £2 stake limit online.

It’ll be difficult for operators to argue that in an online environment, which can be accessed by anyone with internet connection, customers should be able to bet more than in the retail environment.

The impact on revenues will be substantial.

While the value of customers playing slots at more than £2 per spin is only 10% of the session, it represents 50% of revenues.

How much of this will be lost remains to be seen but history teaches us that this may reduce revenues above that threshold to 20% post-regulation. Despite this impact, there is some relief: the regulation will only affect online random number generator games. Bingo and casino are likely to be unaffected.

LESS ADVERTISING In terms of sponsorship restrictions, the industry has already agreed to a whistleto-whistle ban on advertising. This is now likely to become more stringent. While this might appear negative at first, it could actually have a positive impact on profits

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for major operators. Indeed, smaller brands would struggle to build brand awareness, consolidating revenues across the major players in the UK. One final point is on the tax rate outlook.

Covid has led to an unprecedented fiscal package from the Government to support businesses and their employees. With the treasury looking to recoup this spend, gambling is an obvious target for increased tax rates. Online tax currently sits at 21% of gross gaming revenue, but there is a risk this could quickly increase to more than 25%.

The next few months are going to be critical to the future of the UK gambling industry. Looking elsewhere, Italy already limits when gambling can be advertised on television; Spain is banning gambling sites from advertising on La Liga shirts; and in Germany there’s a stake limit before rigorous affordability checks come into play.

With the Daily Mail and Daily Telegraph taking clear editorial positions on this, the debate is likely to become fractious and emotionally charged.

At its heart, there is the question of how far the state should intervene in order to protect a vulnerable minority, if those steps also impede a mainstream majority. Faced with such a dilemma you might hope that data, logic, and common sense alone will prevail, but history points to the contrary.

“Covid has led to an unprecedented fiscal package from the Government to support businesses and their employees. With the treasury looking to recoup this spend, gambling is an obvious target for increased tax rates. Online tax currently sits at 21% of GGR, but there is a risk this could quickly increase to more than 25%” - Harry Barnick GAMBLINGINSIDER.COM

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BLOCKCHAIN

SOURCE OF THE MATTER Nick Hill, Premier Consulting director, discusses why gaming needs blockchain and the value of it in the ever-changing online gaming sector The strength of gaming these days, with player numbers soaring, is in large part thanks to the convenience and flexibility of online and mobile options.

Still, there are technological barriers existing within the gaming sector that hold back progress. Trust and transparency remain a significant issue for some players, and for operators.

Compliance with the licensing standards set by regulators and lawmakers poses its own problems for operators to solve.

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The gaming experience is often reliant on centralised systems, which in themselves are vulnerable to manipulation and hacking.

This is where blockchain comes in.

WHY DOES GAMING NEED BLOCKCHAIN? Blockchain technology offers a number of unique advantages over other systems that make it such a perfect fit for gaming.

The list of benefits blockchain brings to the table is non-exhaustive, and,

in reality, there are many more ways everyone benefits with it. As a result, it’s hardly surprising more businesses and operators are turning to blockchain tech to future-proof their businesses.

First, let’s discuss the transparency angle. In blockchain systems, data is written automatically to a distributed ledger, which by definition provides an immutable, trusted source of truth.

Blockchain gaming data can be relied upon by operators, players and

BLOCKCHAIN

regulators, all of whom can access the same data in real-time, and accordingly make decisions either manually or automatically. Players and regulators no longer need to trust the f low of information coming from gambling operators. Instead, the information is known to be true at the point it is generated, and time-stamped to leave a perfect audit trail.

This is helpful for resolving player trust issues and the disputes that inevitably arise along the way. But it’s also incredibly useful for operators meeting their compliance requirements.

Regulators can be given permissioned access to data in real-time, building a relationship of trust between authorities and operators that simply cannot exist to the same extent in today’s siloed-data world.

Then there’s the security angle, with data held on the blockchain theoretically unhackable and totally secure. The decentralisation of this core information means operators are no longer vulnerable to hacks on central points of weakness, while delivering fairer, more transparent gaming for everyone involved.

And beyond all that, blockchain tech is just more efficient for gaming operators, allowing for automatically settled bets, more streamlined onboarding, withdrawal and deposit processes, and even low-cost blockchain payments through native tokens like Bitcoin SV (BSV).

WHAT GOES ON-CHAIN? With the case for blockchain in gaming pretty much settled, the question turns to the technical difficulties, and what exactly operators can run on-chain.

While already technically possible, there is no need to put everything on-chain to reap the rewards of blockchain tech. In reality, the optimum system makes use of elements both on and off-chain, working seamlessly together to provide all the upsides of blockchain in a way that is feasible within current technical boundaries and safeguards the commercial sensitivities of operators.

Gaming operators can still keep hold of proprietary information and game logic, running these off-chain for privacy reasons. On-chain, player profiles and data, as well as game

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information, allows for more seamless operation, as well as introducing those key benefits of transparency and visibility for regulators. The combination of on-chain data, derived from off-chain game logic and interactions, makes for a model that is perfect for meeting the needs of the gaming sector.

FUTURE-PROOFING YOUR BUSINESS Blockchain tech is still improving, and at a rapid rate. At the same time, it’s now an inevitability that gaming will move increasingly towards blockchain in the years to come. While futureproofing in the first instance can seem costly, the costs of not upgrading now are comparable, if not worse. With the industry already inching towards blockchain-powered infrastructure, it’s only a matter of time before all operators will need to think about whether they invest or get left behind.

Most businesses tend to look forward 18, maybe 24 months at a time. But think of the ongoing shift over the next five to 10 years. As with cloud services, where everything has and continues to move towards the cloud, the same is happening with blockchain. The only choice is whether to integrate now, possibly on a cheaper basis, or to wait until later.

CHOOSE BSV As it follows the original whitepaper vision of Bitcoin (BTC), BSV is everything Bitcoin isn’t. That means fast, efficient transactions, low transaction costs, massive scale potential, and more user-friendly thanks to the emerging suite of developer tools and third-party apps. Built for developers, BSV offers a technologically superior platform for building on a public blockchain. And with the help of BSV’s native token, BSV, it even allows for automated digital currency payments to be built within on-chain systems.

Nick Hill

Nick Hill is a seasoned online gaming professional, having held positions as head of eBusiness in the UK and Ireland at Cable & Wireless Plc., COO at Interactive Gaming Holdings Plc (IGH) and chief commercial officer at EveryMatrix. More recently, Nick has been involved in providing consultancy services to a number of businesses on a global basis with an emphasis on Asia. These have led him into new and innovative technologies and verticals including events, processing and utilising tokenisation and blockchain.

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WORLDPAY

BETTER, STRONGER, FASTER Warren Tristram, president of Worldpay Gaming Solutions, Worldpay from FIS, speaks to Gambling Insider about how the need for multiple payment options and fast pay-out speed will be crucial going forward in the US gaming industry, following last year’s digital transformation 2021 will mark three years since the Supreme Court PASPA repeal paved the way for legalised sports betting in the US. In that time, the sports betting market has progressively advanced and is poised to become bigger than ever before. With US gaming managed at a state level, a patchwork of regulation means brands have to adapt their operations to different frameworks and offerings. Despite these challenges, growth in the market over the past 12

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months has been substantial, which seemed unlikely just a few years ago after a long period of uncertainty for the sector. However, several regulatory and market factors have combined to now make this a distinct reality.

Online gaming increased its dominance within the US sports betting market over the course of 2020, with digital channels now representing 88% of total sports betting activity in the US, up from 60% the previous year, with approximately 45% of the US

adult audience now living in a state where sports betting is legal. It is now becoming more mainstream, with the National Football League (NFL) allowing teams to sign casino and sportsbook sponsors, while golfers are beginning to wear betting company logos.

In many ways this growth in online sports betting can be connected to the shift online seen across all industries in response to the Covid-19 pandemic, but it is also driven by a growing preference for mobile and in-play

WORLDPAY

gaming as consumers look for improved, more seamless and immersive experiences that mobile gaming can offer.

With this rapid advancement set to continue in the US as states continue to move quickly to update gaming regulations, we can expect to see operators utilising a welloptimised and customer-oriented payments experience to positively impact the perception of prospective new players, while also helping to retain existing customers.

PAYMENTS AND GAMBLING GO HAND IN HAND Gaming is all about choice. Picking the right team to back. Selecting black or red.

Deciding to go with the favourite or the underdog. But before any of those choices can be made, a player needs to choose an operator to place their bet and make their payment.

Despite a lot of competition across the market, once a player has chosen an operator, they tend to remain loyal to their preferred sites or apps. Across the US, players use an average of three to four gambling websites or apps at one time, according to recent research by Worldpay from FIS. This suggests that players keep using providers they like and trust, rather than a different operator or app every time they want to make a bet.

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with their global payments partners to help them expand and enter new markets, using their knowledge of the industry to attract new customers.

THE NEED FOR SPEED Faster, agile user experience is crucial across the entire payments journey. When it comes to sports betting, many bets are made against the clock, so it’s vital that deposits can be made efficiently and quickly to help to avoid any risk of missing a bet deadline.

With sports betting becoming mainstream in the US, and 44% of US players using their winnings to place new bets, faster payments are becoming even more crucial. Recent research by Worldpay from FIS found more than a third (41%) of US players chose to only use betting companies that pay out within 30 minutes.

Operators need to ensure they actively promote the speed of pay-out capabilities to stand out above the competition, and those that are doing this, including BetMGM and Bet365, are growing their market share.

MERGING THE PHYSICAL WITH DIGITAL 2020 was all about digital, and with the uncertainty of the global pandemic being prolonged, behaviour that has been learned over the past 12 months will continue to exist even after normal service has resumed. The SHOW ME THE MONEY next step for the gambling industry is to bring As the US’ relationship with online gaming consumers the seamless experiences they continues to evolve, the payment experience have become accustomed to online into is becoming even more crucial for consumers physical casinos. and it’s not just about who can provide the With consumers rapidly moving away best odds. Recent research by Worldpay from cash payments due to hygiene concerns from FIS shows that 70% of US consumers and a greater acceptance of digital payments, factor in speed of pay-out when choosing an it’s essential for physical casinos to adapt operator and 23% stated convenience was the and update. Data from Worldpay by FIS top factor when selecting an operator. shows that 57% of casino visitors placed This shows that the payments experience digital payments on the casino f loor as can be an opportunity to differentiate in the important post-Covid. market and also provide an opportunity to Digital payments are already being attract new customers. When a prospective seen on the casino floor, with virtual new player visits an operator’s site, the first wallets allowing for customers to use step typically requires the player to make their mobile devices to activate slot an initial deposit before they’re able to bet. machines, with the funds tied to a It’s vital the operator provides multiple player loyalty account, removing the payment methods so that consumers are able need for cash. to choose their preferred payment method The move towards digital payments also and will continue on the site. This is no longer brings the opportunity to give operators just a preference but a necessity. a single view of the customer, whether Around 22% of all US consumers stated in a casino or on the website providing that if they can’t find their preferred payment an enhanced understanding of player method on a site, they’ll leave and place a bet behaviour. This understanding allows elsewhere. In the US, both debit and credit operators to provide more tailored or cards are the preferred payment method for personalised experiences, which can be a over half of consumers. competitive differentiator as well as giving As more states begin to bring in regulation the customer a greater choice. in the US, we can expect to see operators Digitalising deposits also gives operators who are already active elsewhere working and customers more control in regard to

Warren Tristram responsible gambling. Many banks now offer the ability to set spending limits or cooling off periods on their bank accounts for customers, which they are unable to do with cash. From an operations perspective, cash can be an expensive form of payment with the human resource cost of counting cash, security transporting money and bank charges for depositing cash.

POWER-UP THE PAYMENTS EXPERIENCE As online gaming legislation and regulation continues to evolve across the US, we are expecting to see the market continue to expand throughout 2021. Sports betting is now mainstream, and more states look set to adopt online sports betting over the course of the year.

This increase in opportunity is opening up countless possibilities for operators.

To capitalise on the growth in these new markets, operators need to enable customers to pay how they want while providing a fast pay-out experience. A customeroriented payments experience will help to provide operators with a positive impact on prospective new players, while also helping to retain existing customers.

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PAYMENTS

CHEQUEMATE Paul Sculpher, co-director of GRS Recruitment, dusts off the credibility of an antiquated payments system and asks if progress might actually signal the end of Mayfair’s world-leading exclusive casinos

Anyone who works in the gaming industry can’t help but notice the bombardment we all get via LinkedIn and other avenues from payment processors, generally offering ever sketchier sounding solutions for online casino providers to help their clients deposit funds. However, there’s a world of trouble being caused at the very pinnacle of the market due to the imminent withdrawal of a far older payment method – cheques (checks to our American brethren).

While to most people, cheques are a distant memory – the last time I got one, I think it was a tax rebate years ago, and I had

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to go into an actual bank branch to deposit it, like some sort of caveman – they’re a key part of the UK high-end casino business.

Their use in casinos was ubiquitous years ago, before the 2005 Gambling Act came into force, where they were permitted by secondary legislation under strict rules.

With no ATMs allowed, and before the days of debit cards, there was a period when most casino guests could use up to three cheques per day, backed by their “cheque guarantee card”, a concept from yesteryear. It was also permitted to set up a cheque cashing facility (CCF), which allowed larger cheques

to be drawn by players, up to an agreed facility limit with strict rules on how that limit could be extended. It was possible to have “house cheques” which were in a blank chequebook, where the casino would fill in the account details for the player from their records, so they didn’t even need to remember their own chequebook.

The system was very effective, and indeed I remember, as a trainee dealer, the glorious pleasure of being plucked by a friendly pit boss from a tedious day shift to walk up to the bank and deposit the 20-odd cheques from the previous day’s trading. However

PAYMENTS

even in those days, the cheque situation was much more fundamental to the existence of the Mayfair casinos, as it was the only practical way to access funds for gaming beyond carrying cash itself – obviously no joke when you’re into five figures and beyond.

Fast forward to the last five years, and the cheque element of the top-end casinos is critical. Mayfair and those associated high-end casinos of London are alongside the top destinations in the casino world, and with staggering sums changing hands, any friction in the flow of funds is going to be problematic, especially when dealing

with people not necessarily known for their patient attitude to service issues.

The problem is that the processing of foreign cheques is already beginning to end, and, for example, RBS has closed accounts for some of the high-end casinos.

Given that you, I and everyone we know outside casinos don’t use cheques any more, that kind of makes sense. However, this is going to cause an absolute disaster for the Mayfair casinos in terms of access for players to their own funds. You might well ask “So what? Every business has to adapt to the modern world.” And well they should, but the anachronistic legislation does not allow it.

The implications are also wider than just the business of the people concerned.

Consider that, pre-Covid, the last numbers publicly available for the “big six” top-end casinos (classified as Les Ambassadeurs, Crockfords, Aspinalls, Ritz, Maxims and the Clermont) showed their combined GGR was about a third of a billion pounds per annum, so straight away that’s well over £100 ($139m) in gaming duty per year.

It’s not like the people who visit these sites only spend money in casinos too.

This pinnacle of wealthy tourists tends to hang their visits around the casino option but they aren’t scared to spend money elsewhere in town during their stay, along with generally a pretty large entourage.

There is also the employment these casinos offer, in a traditionally staff intensive hospitality environment of well over a thousand employees. Finally, if the perception is that these businesses are so wealthy that they can withstand any storm, bear in mind that the legendary Ritz casino is gone from Mayfair for good, closed in early Covid.

No business is immune.

I spoke with David Livermore, legal and compliance director at Les Ambassadeurs Club, who told me, “The Mayfair casinos have operated for just a few days since the first lockdown in March and this sector is unlikely to open again until the summer.

Even then, our high net worth customers may not return to the UK, certainly until they are confident in the travel arrangements and their ability to transact at our casinos when they arrive. It is extremely frustrating that we’ve been discussing what amounts to a minor change to the legislation with DCMS, Treasury and the Gambling Commission for over four years, and despite an agreement that it’s necessary and sensible, there has been no progress. The proposed change would allow the Gambling Commission to regulate all transaction methods, replacing the current outdated restriction that exists on the face of the Act. Without this adjustment, our customers will

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be unable to sensibly transact and are thus unlikely to come back to London at all. The loss of so many jobs and vital revenue for the UK, for the sake of a minor regulatory adjustment, would be irresponsible.”

It does seem that asking for a minor change in the legislation, to bring more methods of funding under the Gambling Commission purview, shouldn’t be that big a deal. While sympathy may be in short supply for these incredibly luxurious and exclusive properties, it certainly shouldn’t be for the staff who work there, and that’s before we even think about the nine-figure sum of tax raised annually by their players.

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POKER

RAISING THE STAKES With 2021 looking likely to be a transformational one for online poker, especially in the US, EvenBet Gaming runs the rule over the biggest developments in the rapidly growing market The first final numbers for 2020 clearly show how successful online poker was throughout the year. The state of New Jersey published impressive data showing 74% online poker growth in 2020, with the revenues of top operators going up even more.

Reports indicate that the US has seen growth in first-time online poker players of 255% since the introduction of lockdown measures. All in all, the industry has had a 43% increase since April 2020.

LEGISLATION Americas Some experts believe that Joe Biden has every chance to bring back online poker in the United States. According to reports, he may look to cancel the 2018 decision made by the Department of Justice on the Wire Act. Elsewhere, Indiana could be the next state to get the ball rolling on poker legislation.

The region already has a large sports betting economy, which is only growing – in December 2020 the state took $313m in wagers on sporting events, which outstrips its earlier record by $62m.

Meanwhile, Michigan has approved its first 15 online gambling licences since December and may now look to permit interstate traffic in online poker.

Additionally, New Jersey, Nevada and Delaware have been sharing poker players since 2018, but Caesars Interactive Entertainment, and its 888 Holdings partner, are now exclusively

operating online poker sites in all three states.

Pennsylvania has allowed the operation of online poker, but is yet to join these other states in a joint liquidity pool.

Europe Germany is currently compiling data on online gaming growth, and a new effort by finance ministers has led to a new tax proposal: they are offering a tax of 5.3% for online poker stakes and 8% for online slots.

The Dusseldorf Institute for Competition Economics concluded the tax rates would have an untoward effect, which would result in more gamblers taking their business underground. It said that taxes should be fixed against gross revenue at 15 to 20%.

There’s still no evidence as to whether policy makers will adopt this recommendation.

There has been big news in Ukraine also.

In February the county granted its first online casino licence since a 2009 ban. Spaceiks LLC became the first online gambling operator licensed under the new 2020 act, and two more licences have been granted since.

KRAIL, Ukraine’s commission for the regulation of gambling and lotteries, has quite a few crucial demands for applicants, however. Prior to the acceptance of the Spaceiks application, five other companies were outright refused by the authority because of incorrect execution of the needed documents. Spaceiks itself was turned down a total of three times.

Revenue and YOY growth for 2020

Market focus: Switzerland

- WSOP/888: $16.3m, 84.9%

At the end of 2020, the first regulated poker room was opened in Switzerland by Swiss Casinos Holding AG. It currently operates four of the 21 licensed casinos in the country, although this will be the company’s first foray into online poker. Swiss Casinos has partnered with Playtech, and set up its online poker room on the iPoker network.

This ended an 18-month ‘call ups’ period in the country for operators due to regulations.

While other online games have been available over the past two years, the Swiss Casino poker platform is the first of its kind in the market.

- PokerStars NJ: $12.6m, 81% - Partypoker US: $9.7m, 91.85% *All stats and text from EvenBet's Online Poker Wrap-Up (Feb 2021)

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DANISH GAMBLING AUTHORITY

TOO EARLY TO TELL Anders Basbøll, Danish Gambling Authority gaming machines and systems chief adviser, speaks to Gambling Insider about how the Danish gaming market has weathered the pandemic, and whether it will leave an ever-lasting impact

Like the majority of markets in Europe, Denmark has had to contend with a fall in gaming revenue due to the impact the coronavirus pandemic has had, particularly on its land-based venues. Of course, the suspension of live sport in March severely hurt the industry and as a result, the gambling market in Denmark saw its gross gaming revenue (GGR) fall by 5% year-on-year for Q3 2020, down to DKK 1.53bn ($249.5m).

Sports betting was impacted, with GGR dropping 11% from the same period a year prior to DKK 558m, while online casino

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GGR saw a 2% decrease down to DKK 555m.

However, land-based casinos saw a rise in revenue, up 6% to DKK 87m.

The Danish Gambling Authority, Spillemyndigheden, released the figures, and said at the time: “Betting was significantly affected by the coronavirus in Q2 2020 because many sports events were cancelled or postponed. However, in Q3 2020 the market has increased again. The reason why the most recent quarter still represents the second-lowest GGR since Q2 2017 may be that the autumn football season started later than previously due to the coronavirus crisis.”

To get more on the impact Covid-19 has had on the Danish market, we caught up with the DGA’s gaming machines and systems chief adviser Anders Basbøll, who explains more.

How has the coronavirus pandemic impacted the online gambling industry in Denmark? Has there been a rise in online activity?

There has been a fall in betting, probably mostly due to cancelled sports events, as well as gambling on gaming machines and in other land-based gambling activities.

DANISH GAMBLING AUTHORITY

“There has been a more general lockdown in Denmark in Q4 and later than in Q3 of 2020, so it’s hard to know if the lack of other entertainment has caused more people to gamble or if people are less willing to spend money, including on gambling. Before the pandemic, sports betting was relatively stable the last couple of years.

Whether Covid-19 has a long-lasting impact, it is too early to tell” - Anders Basbøll

But there has not been an increase in online gambling activities to compensate the fall. In fact, online casino saw the smallest increase in nominal terms since the liberalisation in 2012. Either the pandemic has not influenced the online casino market much, or there’s been a move from betting and land-based gambling to online casino, but this is compensating a decrease that would otherwise have been on online casino.

What measures have been put in place by the Danish Gambling Authority to help people to spend within their means in lockdown; and how has the industry in Denmark and the DGA helped support and stop problem gambling figures from rising?

While not instigated due to the Covid-19 pandemic, new requirements came into force on 1 January 2020. One of the new requirements meant that players must set a deposit limit for themselves. Prior to the adoption of this requirement, gambling operators only had to make the option available to players. In addition to this, bonuses have been restricted and a new duty of care took effect. This obliges licence holders to monitor the gambling pattern of each player to look out for problematic gambling behaviour. Thus, to the degree that more players have shown signs of problematic gambling, it means licence holders have had to help more often.

Has the sports betting industry showed signs of improvement after a Q3 revenue rise? How do you rate the state and popularity of sports betting in Denmark right now and how can it grow?

In Q3, the GGR of betting was 11% lower than the Q3 GGR in 2019. However, it was an increase of nearly 50% compared to Q2 in 2020. So Q3 was a step towards normality, but still lower than usual.

Some Q4 numbers are just in. Betting has had the all-time highest GGR in nominal terms. Part of the explanation is a decline in RTP [return-to-player], which might be due to arbitrary factors such as how Denmark and Danish teams have done in international competitions.

But there is also an increase in stakes, which might be part of a general return to betting, while some of it might also be due to the very compact scheduling of football matches in Q4.

There has been a more general lockdown in Denmark in Q4 and later than in Q3 of 2020, so it’s hard to know if the lack of other entertainment has caused more people to gamble or if people are less willing to spend money, including on gambling. Before the

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pandemic, sports betting was relatively stable the last couple of years. Whether Covid-19 has a long-lasting impact, it’s too early to tell.

inflation. This might partially be due to an increased channelisation to the regulated market. I am sorry, but we do not make forecasts for future years.

How would you describe regulation in Denmark compared to other big markets in Europe? Do you think it's strong or are there areas that need tightening?

That is a political question about what regulation is needed and I am therefore unable to give an answer. However, I can say that the Danish Gambling Authority is very proud of ROFUS, the service that allows Danes to self-exclude from all online gambling activities and land-based casinos at all licensed operators at once. Players may opt to exclude for one day or one, three, six months or permanently, which can be ended at any time after a year. At present, there are about 25,000 people registered with ROFUS.

How do you view the proposed rise in gaming revenue tax in the market?

Do you think it will lead to more black market operations?

We have no view on the tax as a regulator.

But to answer your other question, on its own, the rise will increase the unregulated market. That is a basic economical principle, and calculations on this have been presented to Parliament when the legislation was introduced.

Would you say the online market is thriving in Denmark and will continue to do so?

Online casino has grown over the last few years, also when adjusting for general

How would you sum up the role of the DGA in protecting and strengthening the Danish gambling market?

The Danish Gambling Authority’s role is to protect consumers by ensuring that licence holders comply with rules on protection of players. But also, just to come back to the earlier question, to make sure that “Licensed by the DGA” is a stamp of approval, which may also give the licence holders a competitive advantage, compared to the unregulated and untaxed competition they face.

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FT: BUSINESS OF FOOTBALL

SPONSORSHIPS: ANOTHER PERSPECTIVE During the Financial Times’ Business of Football conference, panelists from Udinese Calcio and Rakuten discussed their sponsorship needs and how this may have changed during the Covid-19 pandemic

THE PANEL Moderator: Samuel Agini – sports business reporter, Financial Times RK - Rahul Kadavakolu – VP, global sports business & director – global branding & marketing, Rakuten MP - Magda Pozzo – strategic marketing director, Udinese

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Gaming companies have become one of the primary sponsorship partners for football clubs around the world, not least in the UK where a huge number of shirt sponsors and club partners herald from the gambling sector. While that has led to talk of a sponsorship ban in the UK, and similar complications in Italy and Spain, the natural link between sports and betting cannot be denied. In the burgeoning legal US sports betting space, for instance, leagues, clubs and brand ambassadors have

signed deal after deal with gaming brands since PASPA was overturned.

As such, we are likely to see gaming firms continue to work with teams and organisations to maximise that link, until perhaps regulation no longer permits it.

During the Financial Times’ Business of Football conference, two executives from each side of the sponsorship realm joined the newspaper to discuss how the dynamics of sponsorship have been affected by the pandemic. While gaming operators will

FT: BUSINESS OF FOOTBALL

know exactly what they want from their partnerships, this conference presented the opportunity to learn what other firms look to gain, as well as football clubs themselves.

Gambling Insider distills key points from the event relevant to our industry.

Moderator: How bad was the impact of the pandemic and how did you manage relationships with existing partners?

Magda Pozzo: The Italian and UK experiences give me a much broader view, so I have this pragmatic view together with a more emotional implication in this particular time. Of course, the loss is there – it’s a big one. In our case, considering medium and small teams, the impact is a little bit different. But I think it’s important we think about concepts. The concept is we need to be creative. This tragic pandemic has pushed us to realise we cannot survive only on matchday revenues. This leads us to sponsorships. All our sponsors and partners, when they decided to go for our projects, it wasn’t only because of our on-pitch experience. We share values with our partners but this is long-term commitment and matching values is a lot more important than on-thepitch results.

The pandemic is tragic but one positive message coming out of it is we must move Source: Financial Times

Magda Pozzo

towards this new philosophy. I have to be very honest, we closed very important contracts with multinational corporations during the Covid era. Our main jersey sponsor and stadium naming rights even decided to renew their contract during the pandemic. So besides all the problems we know, they were still very sure about the message and being connected to the strong philosophy of the company. The cooperation of the company is not as important as the message involved: more and more we have to be sustainable, and focus more on our mission and commitment than the onpitch results.

How understanding were your partners Rahul? Have you sought any rebates on your contracts?

Rahul Kadavakolu: Overall, it’s not a one-size-fits-all answer. I think Covid-19 has certainly had an impact; sponsorship is not a small piece of the pie when it comes to revenue where a team or athlete is concerned. But I think the depth of the impact depends on what the brand is, whether it’s a B2B or B2C brand, what the lifecycle of the brand is and what level of sponsorships they have. For us, being centre of the FC Barcelona jersey, once live games started again, some of the value started coming back. We’ve been extremely lucky in terms of our partnership with Barca

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because they were very proactive in their approach. It was more a conversation we had to bring to the table: accept that there is a situation. Sometimes, a lot of positivity and plans can be built once there’s acceptance there is a situation. In the initial phase, nobody could see the depth of the problem or how long it would last. What compounded this was the work-from-home scenario; all of us had to change the model we operated.

But I personally believe it brought a lot of creative thinking to the forefront.

I don’t think conversations with us were about refunds or rebates. I think it comes down to the kind of objectives you have set for yourself. I don’t think the objectives or the partnership itself would change, but the means of achieving those objectives would obviously change given the pandemic. For example, what we did was not try and push our brand out there heavily from a promotional point of view. I think there was a need for an emotional connection and sports does a much better job of bringing that than other means and platforms. It was a huge change for fans not being able to see players live, so it gave us an opportunity to reach out to fans and also work with our brand ambassadors, like Steph Curry and Andrés Iniesta, to increase our engagement. It wasn’t about getting our brand out there, impressions and clicks, but creating a meaningful engagement from this. We found solutions about how we can still achieve the plans we set for ourselves.

How can you measure the marketing value of being featured on Barcelona’s shirt, and has that changed pre-and-post pandemic?

RK: We need to wait for the post-pandemic figures. But we do have an independent study that’s done internally. And we also rely on several studies that are out there, including studies that come from the club. The answer is yes there has been an impact, just given that the jersey value is primarily measured by the amount of time it gets in front of the camera at the end of the day. So with games not happening, that was reduced. But we found other ways of engaging our fans; for us it was not only the fans in the stadium, it is the 250 to 300 million fans around the world we wanted to engage with. Of course, the 95,000 to 100,000 fans in the stadium are extremely critical.

But the challenge for us was how do we create a similar touch-feel experience in a scenario like this even when fans are not in the stadium.

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FT: BUSINESS OF FOOTBALL

How are you creating that value away from the stadium? How are future sponsorship agreements being structured?

MP: Even if it’s a different situation – Barcelona or a smaller team like ours – again, we have to think about mission. We have to think about a niche market. Before, it was very easy; the matchday was brand awareness, creating fan engagement all over the world. Now, if you go back to the sponsorship, you need to create with each of them a niche strategy to replace what is the stadium activation we are not currently able to do. This is why it’s very important to have a strong mission and philosophy. I think we are actually quite reinforced and reassured that we always had it and we have been working on it all this time. We focus on innovation and our sponsors who work with us now are not just speaking to us because of particular marketing activations during a matchday, but it’s because of what we represent and the constancy in our philosophy. It’s a good message we should all think of.

How has Rakuten evaluated and justified the emotional connection instead of the quantifiable results of social media numbers?

RK: Engagement is one of the best ways to measure emotional value. The way fans have engaged with a brand campaign or messaging campaign you’ve run is the best way to measure it. To see how people have Source: Financial Times

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engaged, what kind of feedback you’ve got – we have a fairly robust system that keeps track of all this. We ran two campaigns over six months and we saw that engagement was the best way to measure this emotional value.

How has Watford’s sponsorship revenue been impacted following relegation?

[Watford is another club owned by the Pozzo family, alongside Udinese] MP: Of course, it’s had an important impact.

But it was also limited by the fact there is a philosophy behind the club. There was great performance over a number of years, so we consider it as a limited moment in the life of the club, and we have big expectations for the future.

We’ve seen TV companies being given rebates due to the pandemic. Has there been compensation for sponsors from clubs and leagues?

MP: Some of our most important contracts we renewed or signed during the pandemic.

So I think everybody was conscious of the problem and it was a problem we all had. We all signed contracts taking into account the limits we faced. So we didn’t have any problems with that and we were able to focus and share this situation. Where the future is concerned, we’re still talking about the tremendous impact of the pandemic. I think we should all be working now towards a pragmatic protocol to go back and open stadiums. We are currently in conversation

about this in Italy and we are ready to be the first stadium to do this.

RK: It depends brand to brand and scenario to scenario. For us, sports have always been part of our game as we own a soccer team, we own baseball teams and we always use sports as a channel to engage with fans. So for us we have the power and belief in the faith of sports. Rakuten in Japanese means optimism. I can’t think of a medium that represents optimism better than sport. But I think we need to open things back up in the safest possible way; that’s the most critical thing. This isn’t just one crisis that’s affected one country or club. Hopefully, we can return to a situation where fans can enjoy the sport they love the most.

How are UK audiences being targeted

by Watford and what new sponsorship methods have been used during the pandemic?

MP: It goes back to what I said with Udinese. It still all has to be related to a mission and seeing the development, along with the great results of the past, which are still a reality. The impact of the pandemic is going to be difficult to see; we have to think a little bit bigger. We need to look at the long term, so it’s very difficult to answer this question. We had a tremendous increase in previous years and this year was a little stop. We still have big objectives for next year.

“Engagement is one of the best ways to measure emotional value.

The way fans have engaged with a brand campaign or messaging campaign you’ve run is the best way to measure it” - Rahul Kadavakolu

INSIDERS RICHARD WILLIAMS

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FEATURES

DR GAMING TECHNOLOGY

CASHLESS GAMING: AFFECTING CHANGE Duncan Pollock, head of global marketing at DR Gaming Technology, speaks to Gambling Insider about cashless gaming and its growing potential

Why is cashless gaming such a prominent topic right now?

Cashless has, in my view, always been a prominent topic, quite simply because that's what we do here at DR Gaming Technology.

I think, though, what is coming more to the fore is cashless gaming in its truest form, where players not only no longer need to touch coins or cash, but also tickets (TITO) and player cards as well. It’s a solution where NFC or RFID technology enables players to only ever have to touch their own personalised player cards or their phone (via an app) to add or remove cash from slot machines, buy-in or

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cash-out from live tables games, or even purchase drinks, a show ticket, or book a hotel room.

You list a couple of value-adds there, but what are the main benefits of cashless gaming?

Specifically, in respect of the current state of affairs, it limits the shared touching of any cash, tickets, or cards– so solely from a hygiene, health andsocial responsibility point of view, it offers a lot of value. Notwithstanding these benefits, the purely operational and player-related value is almost unquantifiable.

What cashless gaming offers operators is direct cost savings in respect of the tickets themselves; a reduction in repair and maintenance costs due to the removal (in time) of physical cash handling equipment like hoppers, ticket readers, ticket printers and the like; and there's better tracking and assigning of gameplay data to specific players.

As a result, the capture of invaluable data that, if mined correctly, will result in the creation of such valuable player-centric offers that customers will have absolutely zero inclination to share their custom with anyone else.

In turn, what it offers players is increased security, unprecedented

DR GAMING TECHNOLOGY FEATURES

“As consumers, we no longer accept being told what to do, where to do it, and how to do it. We want and expect choice, and if we are faced with no choice, we will invariably take our business to a vendor who is prepared to give us that choice” convenience, and an all-round enhanced gaming experience. There are no queues to cash-in or cash-out, no waiting for hand pays, tailored promotions and bonuses ‘just for me’, as well as rewards and benefits linked directly to ‘my custom’ and served at a time that best suits me.

One of the key benefits of going cashless you mentioned was the elimination of many of the physical cash handling costs. Even so, cash remains on offer as a payment option at many casinos, some of which also offer cashless in some form or another. Why do you think this is?

While we believe the most cost-effective way to manage a casino is via cashless technology, one can never forget the wants and needs of players – they must come first.

As consumers, we no longer accept being told what to do, where to do it, and how to do it. We want and expect choice, and if we are faced with no choice, we will invariably take our business to a vendor who is prepared to give us that choice.

Players will no doubt want alternate choices in the future, but for now it is cash or cashless, or a hybrid of the two.

How cost-effective is it?

Well, SMART card technology initially replaced cash and coin gaming; it was then replaced by RFID and NFC card

Duncan Pollock technology, a solution that already affords operators about a 50% saving per card. In addition, in terms of a TITO to RFID card migration, our view is that the expense of issuing players with RFID cards is off-set after what would have been the issue of no more than 100 tickets.

Furthermore, RFID cards don’t have to be replaced after every transaction (like a ticket), and then ultimately, when true cardless technology is embraced, there will be absolutely nothing to print and, as a result, nothing to throw away either.

How has the pandemic affected your company, and how do you believe it has accelerated the drive towards cashless gaming?

Covid-19 has affected us all, directly or indirectly, and for some unfortunately on a personal level too. That said, we were, and remain, in the fortunate position of being almost debt-free, and as a result able to manage, as best possible, the effect of the closure and or limits to trading hours of many of our customers’ establishments during the various stages, and levels of lockdown implemented across the globe.

Then with regard to the pandemic accelerating the drive towards cashless, operators have always seen the value therein, with most of them also always willing to embrace and adopt any new technology that can make their lives easier

and more efficient, and similarly the lives and the overall gaming experience of their players. That said, casinos are businesses, and businesses that operate within a highly regulated industry. As such, the ‘adoption barrier’ has at times been financial, and at other times regulatory, or simply operational.

What the pandemic has taught everyone, though – and our CEO Jurgen De Munck alluded to this in his response to a similar question recently – is that change can be affected, in whatever sphere of business or life, a lot quicker than we all thought, and if an accelerated drive towards cashless is what one such change is, we’re both willing and able to embrace it wholeheartedly.

How soon do you think it will be before all operations within the industry are cashless?

Our view, as stated many times previously, remains that both TITO and player cards will become a technology of the past, in that order, over the next five to 10 years.

In addition to the current pandemic and its associated risks, TITO ticket costs are also becoming more prohibitive. The move to RFID cards, and ultimately cardless gaming, makes both practical and commercial sense.

Cashless solutions, through electronic fund transfers (via either a player card or an aforementioned app), are without a doubt the future. It is a safer, simpler and easier-to-manage solution for players and operators alike.

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INSIDERS

ALEX CZAJKOWSKI

In every issue, Gambling Insider commissions guest columns from people at the heart of the gaming industry to discover more about the challenges its leaders, pioneers and innovators face. These insightful columnists are The Insiders.

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MARK BALCH Bayes Esports

SIMON HAMMON Relax Gaming

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TODD HAUSHALTER Evolution

JENNIFER AGUIAR DraftKings

INSIDERS RICHARD WILLIAMS

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INSIDERS SIMON HAMMON

Opportunities in challenges Simon Hammon, Relax Gaming CPO, discusses using technology to adapt during the Covid-19 pandemic

“Suppliers should take regionalised content a step further, devising packages of collected games tailored to particular markets” Already a year into the global pandemic and the ripple effects brought about by Covid-19 are still having an impact.

Online gaming at large is continuing to undergo a period of transition that never tires of introducing new requirements and conditions among the usual upkeep of player wants and trends. In an environment that demands efficiency against reactive needs, whether from the industry itself or an unforeseen global pandemic, are there positive opportunities to be found?

One key area that was highly impacted by the Covid-19 outbreak was the global closure of casino outlets. Mitigation efforts to stop the spread of the virus saw most land-based operations shuttered more than 10 months ago with minimal support available for businesses of this nature. The sudden industry shift gave rise to the need for migrating land-based content into the digital world so players could continue to access their favourite games. Adding new studios at speed is nothing new, but land-based to online

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conversion is not as simple as rebuilding a title in a digital format. Suppliers need agility when delivering on new or unusual requirements. Technical frameworks were needed to support new entrants into the online market and to do it at a speed that alleviated the pain points these studios needed to mitigate quickly.

Moreover, as the legislative landscape continues to evolve, it’s become vital for suppliers to be able to provide games that are not only targeted in theme but tailored to the technical needs of every new jurisdiction that their operators set their sights on. Content derived directly from the region marginalises risk while increasing its potential for success. Products created in the same region as their target audience lend the work a multitude of subliminal cultural references, or preferences, that are felt and enjoyed by players of all kinds. As a game provider navigating the current online gaming environment, it’s imperative to address the needs of players in detail, to satisfy those of casino clients.

With this in mind, suppliers should take regionalised content a step further, devising packages of collected games tailored to particular markets. Nordicfocused aggregator Games Inc, for example, is releasing a collection of titles, "The Ultimate Joker Suite", through the Relax platform to specifically target the Norwegian market. Packages of this kind allow operators to pick and choose content that aligns with their global strategy, reducing risk and ensuring they secure high-quality games that have the potential or have already proven successful in their markets.

Suppliers must add value across the supply chain with a more prominent focus on markets. In a market as competitive and changeable as this one, it is those who can adapt to the shifting environment at speed and with a vision for creative solutions that will prevail, and that boils down to scalable and reliable technology, as well as the drive to differentiate.

MARK BALCH INSIDERS

One for the ages Mark Balch, VP of esports betting services at Bayes Esports, analyses age verification challenges in esports and discusses the complexities of putting a comprehensive framework in place

A regulatory development that has already hit parts of the world is currently looming large on the horizon for esports betting, and it could be very costly if we don’t work together for solutions. What I am talking about is player age requirements for betting.

If you’re reading this as an operator from Sweden or other countries that already have this rule, you’ll understand just how costly it can be.

Although this is not an issue only specific to esports, it will be extremely challenging to operate the way we do now if it is enforced in more jurisdictions.

In traditional sports, generally all leagues are coordinated centrally by an organisation and most follow similar rules when it comes to player registration, even giving distinct leagues for player age brackets like U16, U21 and so on, even across different sports.

Esports fundamentally lacks this kind of coordination outside a few examples.

Not only that, two of the most important betting titles, CSGO and Dota 2, are the

worst in this regard.

While some are attempting to create central coordination, it may never be entirely encompassing like a government-backed organisation.

If you’re wondering what the regulations are that I am referring to, some betting licences are now restricted to only offering betting on matches where either no player is under the age of 18, or in some cases at least 50% of the team is not under the age of 18.

Ethically there is nothing wrong with this rule, and I doubt anyone will stand against it.

Practically, however, what it means is that every fixture that is offered must be carefully researched, and every player’s age recorded and verified. In an organised government-backed sport where every player registers to a central database, the solution may not be easy, but at least it’s possible.

The more content that’s attempted to be offered, the more work it requires to check and verify each player. If the rules are broken it can be enormously costly to operators.

At a Tier 1 level, this really isn't too difficult; most high-level player ages are well known and can be found. But the further down you go, the more difficult it gets.

At the lowest levels of competition, open qualifiers for example, nearly anyone can play in these games with almost no need for registration. It could be absolutely impossible to find details of these players. Even in some regional qualifiers for big events, there have been cases where players' names were fake, or even unknown entirely, let alone their date of birth.

If this rule were to be adopted to more jurisdictions, all that is likely to happen is content will become restricted to those

where details can be sourced. This will take a big toll as legitimate operators potentially lose revenue or customers, and the knock on effect may be less sponsorship or partnership revenue that flows back to esports operators.

ESPORTS COORDINATION While most players in esports are much older than 18, there are plenty of cases where they are not. For example, Lee Young Ho or “Flash”, the legendary Starcraft player, first entered the pro scene at 14, and there are many other pros across the board who are in their teens.

Even within just CSGO itself, there’s no central organisation that can force everyone to follow the same rules. This power would rest solely with the publisher, but CSGO is a self-organising community. This means that even if most of the organisers follow the rules, there are bound to be some who relax the rules. Not only this, every company has different processes, databases, interfaces and websites so there’s no central source of truth.

Even if players who are well established and organised, a lot of teams bring in players to stand-in for regular players almost randomly.

The rule would include these players and ignorance is not a defence.

Add to this privacy regulations, since we’re talking about personal information, and the fact that this cannot just simply be made public, and we have a perfect storm of misinformation and doubt.

At the end of the day, all organisations involved would have to agree on solutions that go across business that would make sure such details are cross-checked and players are who they say they are. Teams would also have a role to play to make sure all of their players are vetted and details are checked.

The last thing anyone in esports wants is for government bodies to step in and make sweeping judgements on things they don’t understand, possibly even restricting how tournaments are played and where.

If as a community these (and similar fundamental issues on transparency and legitimacy) are not addressed, eventually it could lead to substantial consequences.

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INSIDERS TODD HAUSHALTER

Pushing the boundaries Chief product officer at Evolution, Todd Haushalter, speaks to Gambling Insider about how the supplier is using innovation and technology to increase its industry footprint

“I don’t think it’s fair to say any regulation is unjustified because each country or jurisdiction is unique, and they have to do what is right for their citizenry and we have to comply” HOW MUCH HAS THE RECENT INCREASE IN ONLINE GAMING LED TO A STRONGER APPETITE FOR EVOLUTION'S LIVE CASINO GAMES? We are used to a growing demand for our games, but it’s been exceptional as the world accelerates its adoption of all things online.

The growth is not just from a greater demand of online entertainment, though, as in the last 12 months, we launched 12 new games.

We’ve seen customer growth and a constant and unwavering demand for our classics, such as roulette, blackjack and baccarat. We’ve also seen strong growth and success from our game shows, and have launched craps this year, which nobody else offers in a live format, and it’s been a great addition for our more serious players. So we have really added something for everyone in the last year.

DOES THIS CREATE A GREATER NEED FOR PRODUCT INNOVATION? Having more players means we can justify doing new game types that other providers wouldn’t do. For example, if we do a game

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that only appeals to 5% of our players, then it’s easier to justify when 5% represents a much bigger number. This coming year we’re really pushing the boundaries on innovation and doing stuff that players will love, like a few strategy-type games that are different from anything we have done before. We’re diving into the world of virtual reality now that the Oculus and other VR headsets have become more popular, and we’re doing a lot of quiet innovation that players will see and feel but won’t necessarily be the big headlines people talk about.

DO YOU AGREE WITH THE PROPOSED UK REGULATION REDUCING GAME SPEED AND DOES THAT, ALONG WITH OTHER REGULATIONS ACROSS EUROPE, MAKE PRODUCT ENHANCEMENT TOUGHER, OR ARE SUCH REGULATIONS JUSTIFIED? We have the slowest games in the industry, which is the nature of live casino. We average around 50 seconds per game and do just fine with this. Some slots are under two seconds

per game, so the industry really runs the gamut. We are used to lots of regulatory changes and this is all part of possessing a privileged license to offer casino games. We need regulation in our industry and some of it helps achieve the objectives it desires, and other regulations have unintended consequences that have the opposite effect.

I don’t think it’s fair to say any regulation is unjustified because each country or jurisdiction is unique, and they have to do what is right for their citizenry and we have to comply.

EVOLUTION HAS SEEN BIG REVENUE RISES IN 2020. CAN WE EXPECT TO SEE MORE IN 2021, AND HOW WILL THE NETENT ACQUISITION BE A BENEFIT? As highlighted in our recent year-end report, we continue to see a positive increase in player numbers and engagement levels. Revenues amounted to €177.7m ($211.6m) in Q4 and as a result of our acquisition of NetEnt and Red Tiger, €17.8 million of the revenue is derived from NetEnt games.

We have now added top-performing online slots to our live casino product portfolio and will utilise NetEnt’s most iconic titles, blending NetEnt player favourites into the world of live casino to create a new wave of games that provide players with amazing new entertainment experiences. This approach has already paid dividends for NetEnt and Red Tiger, whose collaborations have resulted in massively successful slots.

As for trends in live casino, we’re doing a lot this year in the way of new games and features to support our massively growing baccarat business and we’ll continue to expand our range of game shows to appeal to an even broader spectrum of players. You might say a theme to watch in our upcoming roadmap is ‘player choice’. Most of the games today are ‘bet and watch’ games, but we’ll deviate from this a bit for 2021 and do some great stuff that gives players control, sort of in the way blackjack does.

JENNIFER AGUIAR INSIDERS

Empowering female voices DraftKings’ Jennifer Aguiar speaks to Tim Poole after being appointed the operator’s chief compliance officer, discussing her evolving duties, regulatory challenges and Women’s History Month

and online gaming. As chief compliance officer, I will remain at the forefront of ensuring the company is prepared on day one to meet all the required standards across the jurisdictions we operate, as we continue to launch new products.

HOW HAVE YOUR DUTIES EVOLVED SINCE JOINING DRAFTKINGS? Since joining in 2016 as head of compliance and risk, my responsibilities have evolved while maintaining a central focus of ensuring DraftKings is in a position to succeed. Back then, the company was navigating through the emergence of daily fantasy sports (DFS) and the state-by-state licensing and regulatory process. In my role, I was tasked with leading the development of the internal DraftKings compliance and risk programs from the ground up, with the primary goal of instilling a culture of compliance across the business. The framework created has been a critical element in positioning DraftKings to enter new states quickly following the legalisation of sports betting

HOW CHALLENGING IS ENSURING COMPLIANCE IN MULTIPLE STATES WITH VARYING REGULATIONS? DFS, online gaming and sports betting are all regulated on a state-by-state basis, which makes adaptability of processes and product vital. While each state has varying regulation, at DraftKings we’ve created a flexible, scalable platform for our products, which allows us to adhere to whatever the regulatory construct may be. We’ve been navigating this state-by-state framework since our inception, so it is fundamental to our approach, thinking and operations.

DURING WOMEN’S HISTORY MONTH, IS IT FAIR TO SAY THE ROLE OF WOMEN IN GAMING IS GROWING? The amount of women in the gaming industry is certainly growing, but not as quickly as many would hope. I think it’s important that we continue to increase the amount of powerful female voices in the room. As a female in the sports

tech and gaming industry, and in the midst of Women’s History Month, I am honoured to be recognised and to take on this new role as chief compliance officer, leading the expansion of the compliance, fraud and payments teams as the company continues to rapidly grow and expand.

We believe the best work and innovation comes from diverse perspectives, thoughts, beliefs, ideas and experiences. We work hard to foster a culture of inclusion and belonging that makes our employees feel safe, empowered, engaged, championed and inspired to be the very best. Personally, I’m excited to be joining our executive leadership team, adding a new and different perspective, and executing on the projects at hand.

HOW DO YOU REFLECT ON WOMEN'S CHANCES OF REPRESENTATION IN GAMING BOARDROOMS TODAY? The room is changing. It’s no secret that our industry still has a lot of work to do when it comes to equity and leveling the playing field, but it’s nice to see more females being promoted to executive leadership positions, joining the conversation and sharing their perspectives. I’m proud to say that we have a large number of women in leadership positions throughout the company, which is something I feel largely contributes to our overall success and position as a leader in the industry.

I’ve been fortunate to have many mentors and peers who have invested their time and resources into developing me to aid in my success, and I work hard to foster that same investment into other females both at DraftKings and outside the office.

WHAT ARE YOUR PERSONAL GOALS AS CHIEF COMPLIANCE OFFICER? Personally, I’m committed, and my team is as well, to ensuring we’re the gold standard in compliance in the industry. In this leadership role, I will represent the many women across DraftKings on the company's executive team, so I look forward to bringing new ideas to further promote the company’s efforts in inclusion, equity and belonging, while also demonstrating that not only is their voice important, it’s essential.

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PRODUCT REVIEWS

WHAT’S NEW ON THE MARKET The will to ride this pandemic out manifests itself in many ways.

Here, Gambling Insider taps into some of the newest gaming products available in the market that signal progress NSOFT: IN-PLAY BETTING MTS Since 2014, live betting has been an integral part of NSoft's sportsbook. With 110 clients using Live MTS in 22 countries, and a client base growth rate of over 35% in 2020, NSoft is an established name in sports betting.

NSoft’s live sports betting package covers 23 different sports and includes over 220,000 live matches per year and more than 800 unique markets, including one-minute markets and player props. The offer also includes electronic leagues and esports.

A long-term partnership with Sportradar has helped NSoft shape Sportsbook MTS. This covers every step on the way to a successful sportsbook offer: a full package of Betradar Odds feed and risk management provided by NSoft experts.

NSoft offers match streaming in the retail channel, a great way to bring punters' experiences to the next level. Live sports betting for the retail channel is available at over 6,000 betting shops and more than 3,000 SSBTs on five continents.

It is a turnkey solution with no additional fees.

Some other specifics of the retail channel: - The entire live betting offer is available through clients' applications, even if only some of them are being displayed on TVs Four different displays in retail are available simultaneously - Retail Specific remote device NSoft management centralises the process of retail display management. Display management is performed from one, central place within the back-office application.

Live Betting MTS has been in NSoft’s focus for quite some time. In 2020, the sportsbook team has amplified the development of its live betting web and mobile application, with a redesigned

and refreshed v2 UI/UX solution. The new interface is more user-friendly, faster and more intuitive.

With cash out as a standard feature of live sports betting offers, NSoft has rounded the product infrastructure and made it first-choice for different sportsbook operators.

Spotlight Sports Group

SPOTLIGHT SPORTS GROUP: SUPERFEED Superfeed from Spotlight Sports Group is the world's most comprehensive supply of independent betting insights and verdicts enabling companies to engage more customers, across every global sporting event. The product comes from data scientists from Spotlight Sports Group who crunch the numbers. Editorial teams from across the group, including Racing Post, then bring the data to life with topical content that resonates with customers in up to 70 languages. Available across any sport, Superfeed can be integrated through an API or a purpose-built widget that can seamlessly fit on any sportsbook, as seen on Betfred and MansionBet. By integrating Superfeed, your sportsbook can serve impartial, expert betting insights and verdicts across your platform and marketing channels, activating 25,000 events on your feed annually. The industry leading insights

and verdicts are directly attributed to a key betting market to engage an audience and enrich your betting experience. Once the game kicks off, the revolutionary technology provides real-time in-play insights based on statistical analysis and on-field events across the key betting markets for 90 football competitions in 70 languages. Enhancing the in-play experience, you can signpost reactive Cash Out opportunities for your customers through the smartest content algorithms.

The final part of Superfeed leverages the authority of the Racing Post super brand to produce industry-standard racing coverage, analysing 60,000 races annually. The industry standard Racing Post racecard is supplemented by a full suite of betting content, including race verdicts and horse by horse comments, all handwritten by our expert team making every race matter from the UK, Ireland, South Africa, US, UAE and Hong Kong.

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PRODUCT REVIEWS

BTOBET: ADVANCED AI AND ML BtoBet is set to launch a set of tools based on advanced AI and ML, allowing for a more player-centric betting experience. These tools provide the answers to a lot of the conundrums that operators and their teams face on a daily basis. Through in-depth data analytics based on various elements – such as player betting behaviour, betting preferences, amounts deposited and staked amongst many other filters – operators would be able to increase the engagement of their players through a more personalised approach, recommending bets based on individual preferences or other trending events that would interest the player directly. This data analysis also proves very handy in terms of protecting the operator against fraudulent behaviour, and the player himself by avoiding betting patterns that could lead to problem gambling. Ultimately, through these databased recommendations, operators would be able to increase the player-lifetime-value far more effectively. Another interesting tool that will be launched with the new product add-on portfolio will be sportsbook gamification through tournaments. This could be either predefined by the operator themself, or created by the individual players and shared with their friends, even on social media. Another add-on tool that is expected to have a significant impact in terms of increased player engagement, retention and acquisition, is free-to-play sports games and tournaments. Available for all the

Kambi

FEATURES

BtoBet

major sports and leagues, this tool is highly engaging and also determined from an acquisition perspective.

Last but not least is the AI Writing tool that provides operators with the solution on how to automatically populate their site

with in-depth sports news, based on statistics. This highly advanced tool allows operators to provide detailed news items covering any sport, in multiple languages, without the need to employ a legion of writers.

KAMBI: INSTANT BETTING In-game has long been an integral part of the sports betting experience and where customers are increasingly won or lost.

Kambi has invested heavily in its live betting offering in recent years, and, by extension, our instant betting product, which accounts for wagers with a short lifespan such as whether the next field goal in basketball will be a two or three pointer, or the next point winner market in tennis. Instant markets can provide a real point of differentiation for online books by appealing to a variety of player types and extending the lifetime of a sporting event where the result may have been decided early in the game, for example, the result of pitch in baseball when the game itself has long been decided. In the US, we've also found that bettors who engage with instant betting place more wagers overall during a game. Kambi has consistently been ahead of the curve with regards to instant betting, rolling out its extensive offering across a range of high-profile

sports including tennis, soccer and golf.

We've always held a particularly strong position in soccer, which will no doubt be a key focus for our partners during the Euros. The power and complexity under the hood required to present all of these instant markets in a seamless, automated manner to the bettor, with low delays, cannot be overstated, and nor can the expertise this requires in our proprietary pricing. The growing popularity of instant betting clearly illustrates the need for a best-in-class sportsbook, underpinned by proven, high-performance technology in meeting the demands of the modern player.

Our data so far suggests American bettors have a real appetite for this type of ‘snack’ betting. For instance, across Kambi’s US partner network in 2020, we experienced a threefold year-on-year increase in instant betting as a proportion of all NFL live turnover. In-game betting is the key battleground among US sportsbooks, and instant betting is increasingly having its say.

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PRODUCT REVIEWS

DS VIRTUAL GAMING: POS RETAIL DEVICE In the last few years, DS Virtual Gaming has positioned itself as a sophisticated and reliable software developing company and comprehensive service provider for the virtual betting industry. The portfolio of the firm encompasses top choice products and services for betting shops and online gambling platforms. The focus of this article will be laid on the most successful solution for the land-based business, namely the POS retail device. The next-generation pointof-sale cashier system entails a touchscreen with integrated barcode scanner, network connection and an adjustable base. It packs an innovative, space-saving and modular design and only weighs 3kg. Understanding and using the module and its displays is a straightforward affair. The customer tells the seller the desired combination of bets and receives a corresponding betting slip once they have paid. Any winnings are paid out upon presenting this betting slip. One of the cash register system’s prime advantages is that it allows for concurrent bets on the same race. This solution is also available as an HTML web version (web retail device), where the same software is used on existing hardware devices.

The optimal add-on for the cash register system is the Android TV Box, which

DS Virtual Gaming uses the latest in streaming technology to offer a more user-friendly and cutting edge real-time transmission. Back-up has also been thought out. Let’s say that internet connection is a little slower in some regions.

In order to bring all ends up to speed, the videos can be played straight from the integrated memory. Needless to say that all games are available on the POS software. Be

it Racingdogs, Racingdogs+, Racinghorses, Racingkarts and roulette. The games and odds are synchronised in all locations.

That means that all players, regardless of geo-location, can experience the same action-packed communal event for some shared thrills.

DS Virtual Gaming is a top choice when it comes to user-friendliness, reliability and state-of-the-art security standards.

increasing the punters’ satisfaction and loyalty: the relaunched BonusSystem now powers rewards delivered via OddsMatrix.

Operators get a whole set of new tools to boost the creativity of their bonus programs and go beyond free bets or deposit-based bonuses. Plugged into OddsMatrix, the bonus system enables the configuration of reward programs for any bet types. A wide range of

conditions can be applied to control the campaigns into the smallest details, such as contribution rates or bonus interdependency, to name just two. The conditional versatility makes it possible to broaden or narrow the rewards’ scope until they match the operator’s needs.

Either this means letting players bet on virtually anything available, or guiding them to specific events or markets.

Customisation also resides in the bonus types. For example, the CashBack bonus is traditionally restricted to a percentage of the player’s losses. With BonusEngine, operators on the OddsMatrix platform can opt to configure the CashBack based on loss levels, meaning that the punter can be compensated with a fixed bonus proportional to their loss. Add the simplification of bonus management into the mix: the CashBack bonus comes with a recurrence feature. But automation is available for any type of bonus once wagering requirements are applied. This means that operators can sit back once they set up the initial reward campaign, and let the system do its job while focusing on analysing the results and getting the most from this sportsbook bonusing tool.

EveryMatrix EVERYMATRIX: ODDSMATRIX After more than a decade on the online gaming market, OddsMatrix, the fully managed sportsbook solution of EveryMatrix, rolls out a number of innovative features to the benefit of bookmakers looking to make the most out of their player acquisition and retention.

The latest addition to the platform’s capacities has everything to do with

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PRODUCT REVIEWS

GOLDENRACE: OMNICHANNEL VIRTUAL SPORTS SOLUTION GoldenRace is always investing in having better solutions to help its customers.

With that aim, the leading virtual sports and betting technologies provider has improved its virtual sports solution, introducing interesting innovations such as a unified back-office and the possibility of integrating all the online and retail events to add more convenience and profitability to GoldenRace’s clients’ businesses. This updated omnichannel betting platform includes new games to the wide GoldenRace’s portfolio: horse races of 8, 10 and 12 horses, in sprint and flat racecourses; harness races; dirt track; world teams football and super Euro League; real fighting, 3x3 basket, Perfect 6, and Spin2Win Royale. The unified back-office offers full management and control of the betting businesses, and a server that creates events that can be consumed simultaneously in retail and online.

This refreshed solution is very intuitive and easy to use, and possesses unprecedented features in the virtual sports industry like the Ultimate Branding+, an extra package for maximised player engagement and retention, seamless branding and customisation for a more immersive experience, full control, and increased benefits. It also includes several online and retail-specific features to increase users’ engagement and improve the branding experience. For example,

GoldenRace main online features that are unique in the virtual sports industry are the flexible virtual betslip (to look exactly like the one in the sportsbook section), free bets systems to attract more players by offering promos, and loyalty programmes – such as combination bonuses and “piggy bank” bonuses – to increase user engagement.

GoldenRace’s special Combi Bonus solution can be easily integrated into the operator’s platform to offer an extra percentage to their virtual sports players, as they can combine up to 10 bets through the different events, weeks and rounds on every football league and tournament, and horses and motor races.

product’s comprehensive sports data feeds, it allows its users to have full control by pricing, creating and suspending their odds per their set requirements. Operators are able to create the most accurate fair value odds and set their margins in the most efficient way possible.

The product offers an extensive filtering

system (lists, sports, regions, leagues, fixtures and more) allowing users to set their margins to any chosen group. They’re also able to automatically suspend their odds following predecided factors.Using models of “wisdom of the crowd”, the company ensures its data integrity and reliability. STM also applies its smart logic to automatically handle out of coverage situations once triggered, and switches its data in accordance with the operator’s pre-set choices.

STM sports data feeds has comprehensive coverage of over 60 sports, an average of 105,000 monthly pre-match events, 55,000 in-play events, and over 1,500 betting markets. The API is backed by a user-friendly interface displaying all messages received pre, post, and during an event. The product’s upcoming features also include an advanced recommendation system. Seeing as its database is updated in real-time across dozens of bookmakers, STM will eventually produce live recommendations for traders to secure them the best odds possible.

With the lowest latency in the market, an allin-one data lifecycle, and significantly reduced operational costs, STM seems to be a solid and intriguing new solution for sportsbooks worldwide, with a few dozen of them already upgraded to the advanced solution.

LSports LSPORTS: AUTOMATIC SPORTS TRADING MANAGER LSports’ Sports Trading Manager product serves as a new take on sports trading. The STM is a unique and advanced trading system, aiming to cut costs and improve sportsbooks outcomes. Along with the

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PINNACLE SOLUTION: IFRAME/ TURNKEY SPORTSBOOK Pinnacle Solution knows what it takes to help you win at sports betting. With the purest risk management strategies honed over decades of expertise in high-volume, low-margin trading, our sportsbook product delivers operators more value through better hold, and a proven point of difference on pricing and content.

With a market-leading trading team covering major and minor sports in-depth, as well as an award-winning esports product that has taken in well over 30 million bets, Pinnacle Solution is helping to set the trading benchmark.

2021 has seen the sports betting industry return quickly to a new form of normality, and with that, we’re doubling down on our product development and content provisions to stay ahead of the market. With a recently expanded tennis offer incorporating more events and more markets, both pre-match and in-play, we can service you with the level of content that your customers demand. Similar additions are coming to our US sports offering, while new, pioneering product launches are imminent across esports

Digitain DIGITAIN: LIVE FOOTBALL TRACKER AND TAX ENGINE Digitain has recently launched an updated version of its Live Football Tracker – offering its partners’ players a super interactive experience.

Covering football matches from over 150 different countries and 726 separate

Pinnacle Solution and for in-play betting. Leveraging our B2C expertise, Pinnacle Solution has the unique know-how and understanding of the challenges faced by sports betting operators, and we’re ready to meet them.

Integrating our flexible offering has never been easier, allowing your brand to reap the benefits of a respected, proven sportsbook

quickly and cost-effectively.

Whether you’re launching a brand new sportsbook or want to enhance your existing offering, our client-driven approach and choice of iFrame API or Turnkey solutions can work for both your content and platform needs, helping you achieve business goals.

all Digitain channels, and web, mobile and native applications. Operator customisation is available and more sports will be added soon.

Also launched this year is the new Tax Engine.

That grew out of conversations with its partners in Africa, where there are often some challenges for operators concerning collection of the correct gaming taxes. The Tax Engine does all the heavy lifting for the operators and allows them to focus instead on marketing and developing their business. Main functionality includes the ability to automatically deduct betting tax from the customer's stake, from their winnings or, in the case of some countries, from both.

The Tax Engine is compatible with all versions of Digitain’s sportsbook, and also works across all channels, web, mobile and even in bet shops.

Plus, there’s a great reporting suite too. Peter Nolan, Digitain’s strategic consultant, is delighted with the new products; “Our Football Live Tracker is a really exciting development. Our pre-match information is comprehensive and will help customers make informed, data-based decisions when choosing their selections. Our championships, the new Football Tracker features live betting data, stats and visualisations are 177 different stats and team options. It really delivered extremely quickly due to our use of the is a great addition to the players’ experience. The latest web socket technology. “The Tax Engine comprehensive package includes goals, cards adds real value in markets with complex and squad details and player information, as gaming tax requirements, giving operators well as up-to-the-second team possession confidence that they can quickly handle any animation. This version will be available across regulatory changes.”

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FINAL WORD Future focus Björn Krantz, chief of global market operations at Yggdrasil, outlines the direction he and his team are centred on in order to deliver quality beyond expectation, and innovation wrought from global adversity needs, at the same time securing reliable and available services for our partners. During the past year, we have launched key revenue driving initiatives in line with our publisher strategy; including the introduction of the franchise as a concept, significantly enhancing our third-party YG Masters Program, powered by our GATI technology, and the monetisation of our proven GEM (Game Engagement Mechanics) framework IPs such as Gigablox, Multimax and Splits.

“Recently, we signed our first game IP deal with Veikkaus and we can’t wait to go live and support their multi-channel agenda” What is the outlook for the rest of this year in terms of developing further opportunities, and delivering on your publisher business strategy?

In early 2020, we set a clear path forward, and outlined our vision to become the undisputed leader of online casino game publishing worldwide. We are blessed to have very motivated, dedicated and passionate colleagues that are fully tuned into the company strategy and direction. Our plan this year is to significantly ramp up our output of games, as well as enhance our operational focus on what we call “quality of sustainable earnings”. We will continue to invest in our modern and flexible technology, that enable us to be very responsive to new market and customer

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What are your hopes for a return to physical shows, and what other areas are you exploring to build awareness and visibility?

With ICE having been moved to 2022, the chances that we will return to big shows anytime soon are slim. We have entered into a new notion of normal to which we all must adapt. In that norm, however, we believe there will be new innovative routes to enhance internal and external ways of building, communicating and carrying out our core value statements. One interesting observation is that in light of current events, we are already seeing a significant increase in video and podcast productions. These productions carry key messages and positioning statements that provide a 360-degree connection for key stakeholders; whether they be linked to employer branding, reaching new and existing customer segments, exploring new financial markets and more. Since these unignorably fall in line with some of our own core values, we have since spent time scrutinising the enhancements video and podcasting productions can make on our own offering.

We feel strongly that we would have no problem communicating with our client and player base across visual media channels with insightful and exciting information.

Specifically, how do you see retail fitting into a multi-channel business strategy?

Traditionally, we have focused on the online casino arena. As such, we have optimised our technology and business initiatives to enable us to be at the forefront of innovation within this industry space. In relation to collaborations with our key partners, as we have evolved into a multi-channel business, we have seen an increased demand for our content over multiple channels. Despite our multi-channel approach being in its infancy, we know that cross-selling our products comes with increased business strategy benefits, such as augmented brand awareness and ARPU. Our multi-channel approach allows us to really home in on our partners’ holistic market strategy, which is exactly the position we want to occupy.

Recently, we signed our first game IP deal with Veikkaus and we can’t wait to go live and support their multi-channel agenda.

How scalable is your business model, in terms of entering new markets, and adding new product offerings?

I am truly impressed by our teams’ capability to drive optimisation with eyes fixed firmly on improving our modern technology stack.

However, our colleagues’ focus is not a lone one. Building business automation that can cater for the significant ramping up of our Global Roadmap Games, addressing new local and global markets, securing new customer opportunities and launching new value propositions remain at the forefront of our business consciousness. In terms of output, we see a completely different machine today than the one we set out with. Delivering to the markets, clients and customers we operate with is executed with an exceptionally positive difference. We are agile in our ways of working and always try to understand our customers' reel needs to allow us to become a more integral part of their strategy. By being closer to our partners’ strategy, we can be more efficient and align on priorities that matter most for our partners; and for our own business strategies.

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