In a Betting and Gaming Council blog, Steve Birch, Chief Commercial Officer of Sky Betting and Gaming, touched upon the next steps after the brand took its EFL sponsorship beyond the 10-year barrier.

Noting that this is “close to our hearts at Sky Bet,” and further hailed as “one of the longest running and most successful in professional sport”, Birch elaborated on an EFL alliance that is held in particularly high esteem by the brand. 

“I’m particularly proud that the emphasis both ourselves and the EFL put on social responsibility was held up by the government in its white paper earlier this year as an example for others to learn from when looking at sports sponsorship,” he said.

Citing the Championship play-off final from this past season, where perimeter ads highlighted that one million people have now signed up to utilise safer gambling tools at Sky Bet, Birth touched upon internal targets regarding such an uptake.

This has seen Flutter Entertainment, the parent company of Sky Betting and Gaming, set what is dubbed as a “challenging target” of having 75 per cent of customers using safer gambling. tools by 2030.

“At Sky Bet, we’re already at 50 per cent and it’s a huge testament to everyone in our business, and the teams of people in our head office in Leeds dedicated to customer safety,” he added.

In addition to stressing a commitment to “continually learn and improve our safer gambling messaging so it can be as effective as it can be,” recent dialogue has also caused a slight alteration to the strategy adopted by the brand.

Birch noted that discussions alongside academics and leading consultants, across areas such as behavioural science, brought a realisation that messaging must be made more relevant to individuals. 

“And it’s a theme we intend to build on as the season progresses, be it signs at Hillsborough about the number of Sky Bet customers who have signed up in Sheffield or other grounds with LED perimeter boards across the EFL,” he continued.

“Our latest approach is just the latest example of safer gambling being more than just words to us at Sky Bet. It’s a key priority for our business and we are constantly seeking to use our tech and data to put the right protections in place – and to ensure our marketing campaigns are as impactful and effective as possible.

“We know that for the vast majority going to watch their favourite EFL team – or just enjoying a game on the TV – a flutter on the football is harmless fun. But we’re absolutely committed to making sure we do all we can to protect those who may be at risk of harm.

“The EFL shares this belief and it’s why safer gambling is very much front and centre of our partnership as we begin a new season together.”

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Accessing player bases in over 25 regulated markets worldwide, this deal will see Play’n GO supply its games to Flutter subsidiary Sky Betting and Gaming’s online casino platform. 

Anna Mackney, Regional Director, UK, Play’n GO, said: “This partnership between Sky Betting and Gaming and Play’n GO is an exciting prospect, as it joins together two of the most forward-thinking, agile businesses in our industry. 

“Play’n GO is committed to growing our UK business and the addition of Sky Betting and Gaming is a major milestone on that journey. We look forward to working with the team at Sky Betting and Gaming to deliver a safe, exciting experience for their players.”

This collaboration has extended the supplier’s partnership with Flutter as the two entities have remained close partners in the UK market for several years.

Sky players will gain access to Play’n GO’s complete catalogue of slot releases including ‘flagship titles’ Book of Dead, Reactoonz and Boat Bonanza. 

Eamonn Beardsley, Head of Content, Sky Betting and Gaming, added: “Play’n GO has been part of the Flutter family for some time now, so it’s a great pleasure to bring them under the Sky Betting and Gaming umbrella now too. 

“Play’n GO’s customer-friendly, inventive catalogue of titles, as well as their steadfast commitment to player safety, make them a perfect partner for Sky Betting and Gaming, and we look forward to many years working together.”

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Despite the global pandemic nearing a means to an end, the virus was still ever present in the news throughout the month of March as the UK ended all remaining restrictions on international travel. 

The conflict in eastern-Europe was at the forefront of everyone’s minds, with this month signifying a global movement towards punishing Russian Oligarchs for their connection to the Kremlin. 

Most notably, Roman Abramovich was stripped of his ownership of Chelsea football club with whom he had won every major trophy in a tenure spanning over two decades, as all his assets within the UK were frozen. 

Elsewhere in the sporting world, Beijing became the first city to host both the Summer and Winter Paralympics whilst Russia and Belarus were banned from the Winter competition for their involvement in the conflict in Ukraine. 

In the industry, the UKGC had a busy month as it handed fines to both SkyBet and 888 for regulatory failures, lawmakers in New York slashed the state’s online sports betting tax and a number of companies targeted Ontario ahead of the region’s market opening in April.

Feature of the month

As global expansion is at the forefront of both operator’s and supplier’s yearly roadmaps, these companies are constantly looking for ways to make the most out of global markets. 

With this in mind, uncharted territories can present limitless opportunities and one continent that remains fairly underserved is Africa. 

Amongst the 54 countries on the continent, a number of jurisdictions are beginning to emerge with South Africa and Nigeria leading the way and Ghana, Kenya, Tanzania and Ethiopia following suit. 

In an interview with CasinoBeats, James Everett, Africa Sales Director at BetGames, discussed the potential of these regions, before explaining how tech adoption is fuelling new levels of growth. 

“Looking at the last 3-5 years, more and more game providers have entered the African market; taking advantage of the maturing infrastructure and increasingly educated population,” explained Everett. 

“Currently, mobile betting continues to be the biggest medium for players, with many operators focusing on mobile-first gaming providers, thus the online casino industry has rapidly adapted to produce games that are conducive to the demand.”

In the news

For the second year in a row, March was a busy month for the UK Gambling Commission with two hefty fines issued to some of the industry’s biggest operators.

Firstly, 888 received a fine of £9.4m after an investigation discovered social responsibility, player safety and money laundering failures, in addition to an order to undergo “extensive independent auditing.”

Sky Betting and Gaming were next on the naughty list after an “investigation out of licence review” found that the firm had sent promotional emails to customers who had unsubscribed from receiving marketing.

After 41,395 self-excluded customers and 249,159 unsubscribed customers received an offer to ‘bet £5 get 100 free spins’ from Sky Vegas, the company was issued a fine of $1.17m.

Crossing the pond, New York was in the news as its lawmakers moved to slash the state’s online sports betting tax rate, whilst increasing licence fees and the number of active operators in the state. 

According to a 2022/2023 state budget proposal, operators seeking approval to operate a downstate casino would have to pay a minimum of £1bn in licensing fees. 

Furthermore, companies targeted expansion into Ontario as the Canadian province announced an initial batch of operators to go live when the igaming market debuted the next month. 

Licence recipients within this initial batch included BetMGM, bet365, Rush Street Interactive and Unibet, with Light & Wonder and Kindred receiving approval from the Alcohol & Gaming Commision Ontario shortly afterwards. 

Recommended reading

As March drew to a close, the Eilers-Fantini Online Game Performance Report saw Design Works Gaming climb the ranks with its Break the Bounty title while slots proved to account for 89.9 per cent of games tracked in the US’ igaming ecosystem.

Responding to a move that eventually fell through towards the end of 2022, David Flynn, Glitnor Group CEO, discussed the significance of his company’s acquisition of Malta-based igaming affiliate KaFe Rocks.

Video of the month

In the maiden video edition of CB100 Pathways, Responsible Gaming Council CEO Shelley White highlighted the importance of collaborative leadership while examining ongoing challenges and future opportunities.

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The collaboration between the two companies will see titles from Push Gaming’s portfolio, such as Razor Shark, Jammin’ Jars and Wild Swarm, become available to players utilising the UK-based operator’s platform. 

Fiona Hickey, Head of Sales at Push Gaming, commented: “We are excited to be partnering with Sky, an agreement that will enhance our presence further in the UK and will allow even more players to gain access to our award-winning slot titles.

“Sky Betting and Gaming holds top-tier status in a key market that will aid in our expansion both locally and across Europe as we continue our global growth strategy.”

Moreover, the deal will see the igaming supplier gain access to numerous brands within the Sky roster, including Sky Vegas, Sky Bingo and Sky Casino. 

Philippa Ayres, Head of Content at Sky Betting and Gaming, added: “Being a leading operator within one of the biggest igaming markets means our players have an expectation of quality games that come from a wide portfolio of releases, so adding Push Gaming’s innovative and player-first titles to our offering will deliver exactly that.

“We are incredibly happy to be working with Push Gaming and look forward to seeing how our players receive its content.” 

As it stands, Push Gaming is live across the majority of Europe’s key regulated markets with the likes of LeoVegas, Entain, 32red, 888, Casumo, Betsson, Svenska Spel and PaddyPowerBetfair.

The expansion of Push’s presence within the UK comes after the supplier was approved to supply its online gaming suite to players across the Ontario market last month. 

The approval saw Push take its catalogue to the newly regulated Canadian province, following registration with the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario.

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Totalling around £34.7m, excluding regulatory settlements, the voluntary donations from the gambling industry, Betfair also contributed £6m, Ladbrokes Coral offering £4.765m, William Hill donated £4,578,812 and Entain providing £4m.

Received between April 2, 2021 to March 31, 2022, GambleAware currently asks all those who profit from gambling in Britain to donate a minimum of 0.1 per cent of their annual gross gambling yield direct to the charity each year. 

“These donations fund essential services for the prevention of gambling harms, helping build a coalition of expertise to tackle and prevent gambling harms across Great Britain,” said Zoë Osmund, GambleAware CEO.

“We welcome the commitment from the ‘Big Four’ operators to increase their donations over the coming years, however, there remains an inconsistent approach to funding across the wider gambling industry, which leads to uncertainty and instability.

“That’s why we are calling on the government to introduce a mandatory levy on the gambling industry as a condition of licence.”

In the latest update, other significant contributors included Stars Interactive (£680,000), Tombola (£663,599) and Hillside (UK Sports) with £2.69m, in addition to the £601,000 from its UK Gaming subsidiary.

Within the gaming sector, Playtech was one of the noticeable contributors with £101,768.46, followed by Platinum Gaming with £92,000. Others included; Broadway Gaming (£72,796), InTouch Games (£56,400), Greentube (£55,000), Red Tiger (£51,000), Videoslots (£50,000), Zecure Gaming (£50,000), White Hat Gaming (£47,230), 32Red (£28,000) and Gamesys (£22,989.47).

Osmund continued: “The gambling industry should take the necessary and responsible steps by matching its success to the scale of gambling harms risk, especially at a time of rising financial and economic hardship across the country. 

“This would commit much more funding to treatment, prevention, and research per year – and could be delivered in a matter of months.”

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This comes after an “investigation outside of a licence review” discovered that a Sky Vegas promotional offer was distributed by the Flutter Entertainment brand on November 2, 2021.

Subsequently, the UKGC says that 41,395 self-excluded customers and 249,159 customers who had unsubscribed from the operator’s marketing emails received an offer that read “bet £5 get 100 free spins”.

This breached social responsibility code of practice 3.5.3(2), which stipulates that “licensees must, as soon as practicable, take all reasonable steps to prevent any marketing material being sent to a self-excluded customer”.

Furthermore, it also saw Sky Bet fail to comply with SRCP 5.1.11, which expresses that “consumers must not be contacted with direct electronic marketing without their informed and specific consent,” as well as being provided with an option to withdraw from such communications and not being contacted thereafter.

UKGC officials noted the immediate remedial action that was taken by the licensee, and acknowledged the co-operation evidenced throughout the investigation. 

Andrew Rhodes, Gambling Commission Chief Executive, commented: “Self-excluded customers are likely to be suffering gambling harm and should absolutely not be sent direct marketing that could tempt them back into gambling.

“We would advise all operators to learn from Sky Betting and Gaming’s costly errors and ensure their systems are robust enough to always prevent the self-excluded, and those who have clearly rejected marketing, from receiving promotional material.

“This latest fine would have been a lot higher had Sky Betting and Gaming allowed any of the self-excluded customers to actually gamble, failed to cooperate, and not taken decisive action aimed at preventing a repeat.”

This latest fine from the Commission follows enforcement action in recent weeks against operators 888 and BetVictor which brought financial penalties totalling £11.4m.

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The location is designed to act as a centre of excellence in tech and innovation for Flutter brands operating in the UK and Ireland, as well as helping to drive innovation across the group through the development of “industry-leading digital products” for global consumers.

The space, set across 136,000 square feet, will house 1,700 colleagues, 800 of which will wot across key functions such as its global sports trading platform, digital infrastructure, platform services, and information security.

Conor Grant, CEO of Flutter Entertainment UK and Ireland, commented on the opening: “Our new office in Leeds is our vision for the future of working and we are excited to welcome our colleagues to this modern, agile and flexible workspace. 

“The entire Flutter Group has benefited greatly from the leading technology capabilities we have developed in Leeds through our talented and highly skilled workforce, and this investment demonstrates our ongoing commitment to both the city and our colleagues. 

“We will also continue to be a positive force in the communities we serve, with our skills academy and kickstart scheme offering exciting opportunities for young people to develop their skills.”

Furthermore, the hub will also continue to house Sky Betting and Gaming’s ‘Skills Academy,’ which offers selected graduates a fully funded MSc in digital and technology solutions from Sheffield Hallam University, while they gain in-house experience working with teams across the business. 

In a bid to better represent the communities it operates in, SBG has also launched a self-funded version of the government’s Kickstart scheme, creating 13 new roles for young people at risk of long-term unemployment. These are spread across business areas and functions including marketing, finance, people, tech and design.

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The aim of the newly-created committee is to enhance the board’s awareness of employee matters in the context of the board’s decision-making process.

Duties will include, but are not limited to, ensuring Flutter maintains appropriate workforce engagement policies, processes and communication channels throughout each division; encouraging participation in and evaluating feedback received from workforce engagement initiatives; and keeping fully informed on issues identified by employees and other stakeholders as having a material impact on the group’s workforce, and communicating such issues to the board.

The Workforce Engagement Committee will replace the Employee Voice Forum previously established by Flutter for the purposes of employee engagement in accordance with the recommendations of the 2018 UK Corporate Governance Code.

Independent non-executive director Mary Turner will chair the committee, with appointed members including Nancy Cruickshank, Nancy Dubuc, Richard Flint and Gary McGann.

Flutter, whose network includes Paddy Power, PokerStars, FanDuel, and Sky Betting and Gaming, among others, has over 14,000 colleagues from 75 different nationalities speaking 62 languages spread across five continents.

Gary McGann, chairperson at Flutter, commented: “As a diverse international group, we recognise the important role our workforce plays in our success.

“The establishment of the new Workforce Engagement Committee will provide a clear mechanism for the board to listen to the views of our workforce and take account of these views in the board’s decision-making process”.

Furthermore, Flutter’s FanDuel subsidiary has also announced that its new technology campus which will be located at Ponce City Market in Atlanta, Georgia.

The company plans to grow its Atlanta-based work force to approximately 900 colleagues over the next five years. These will be housed in a newly built-out 68,000 square foot space on the building’s third floor.

“Ponce City Market is the perfect location for our new technology campus and reflects our commitment to becoming a central part of the Atlanta corporate footprint,” said Sarah Butterfass, chief product officer for FanDuel Group. 

“This historic building offers our employees a blend of old-world charm, cutting edge sophistication and modern amenities that will deliver an unmatched working environment. Additionally, its location allows us to build deep ties to Atlanta’s diverse pipeline of talent coming from its many top-flight universities.”

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The mobile focused game developer has announced that its expects 2020 revenue and adjusted EBITDA to be in the region of $11.2m and £3.1m, respectively, a slight increase on the £10.7m and £2.75m expectations communicated in December.

The jump comes as a result of a “record month in December,” driven by the company’s content licensing business which it says has “continued to go from strength to strength”.

Gaming Realms reports growth of more than 100 per cent during the year, boosted by 26 commercial tie-ups which include DraftKings in the US, as well as Sky Betting and Gaming and PaddyPower Betfair in the UK and Europe.

Michael Buckley, chairman of Gaming Realms, commented: “We are delighted with last year’s performance, which illustrates both the popularity of our games and our ability to licence multiple different partners. At the same time, we have taken a significant step forward to becoming a global platform business with multiple games, all of which is testament to our talented and motivated team. 

“The combination of our excellent games portfolio, our existing distribution agreements with global partners and our strong pipeline of new partnerships, makes us optimistic about the significant opportunities ahead as we focus on our continued expansion and international growth.”

Subsequently, attention turns to the period that lies ahead, with a recent launch of Slingo content in Italy with both Goldbet and Sisal said to represent the continuance of the prior year’s momentum.

The US has also been a prime target of expansion during recent times, with a multi-state contract with BetMGM and provisional supplier licence by the Michigan Gaming Control Board the latest steps in its strategy.

Permitting Slingo Originals content to be provided to Michigan’s licenced online casino operators, and sitting alongside its New Jersey licence, Gaming Realms anticipates that Pennsylvania will become its next market of entry in the country.

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Commenting that its content licensing business “continued to go from strength to strength,” Gaming Realms has lauded the launch of its Slingo Originals content “with two key international operators”.

Commencing a three-year partnership with Sky Betting and Gaming, the firm is to provide its real-money gaming portfolio to customers across the UK, Ireland and Europe.

The agreement begins with Slingo Rainbow Riches content immediately becoming available on SBG’s Sky Vegas online casino, via a prior link-up Scientific Games. This will be followed by a further roll-out of Slingo Originals content across SBG’s portfolio sites.

Furthermore, Gaming Realms has entered a three-year deal with US-based digital sports entertainment and gaming company DraftKings that is to see Slingo Originals content become available via its New Jersey site.

Michael Buckley, interim CEO and non-executive chairman of Gaming Realms, explained: “Our expanding portfolio of Slingo games continues to grow in popularity and these partnerships are testament to the quality of the content that we at Gaming Realms produce. It is thanks to leading operators such as SBG and DraftKings that we are increasing our global footprint and reaching ever greater numbers of customers. 

“We are extremely pleased to be partnering with such esteemed operators in the industry and look forward to working closely with the teams at both SBG and DraftKings to deliver exciting and unique content to all their users over the coming months. These agreements help to underpin the board’s confidence in the year ahead.”

DraftKings has also debuted its fifth new office in two years, with the organisation introducing an engineering center in Dublin that is to complement its US workforce.

“It is a great honour to build our team and brand in Dublin – a prime destination for technology and sports gaming, and we could not be more excited to tap Irish talent,” stated Travis Dunn, chief technology officer. “Staffing a European office in close collaboration with our Boston headquarters will allow us to serve our customers.”

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