Las Vegas Scored Unexpectedly Good

This year’s World Cup 2022 in Qatar is taking place in the fall, which coincides with the NFL, basketball, hockey, and more. Some projections for the total betting handle considered that sharing the attention with so many other events in the sports calendar would affect how fans allocate their bets. Las Vegas is one of the places where the expectations were actually lower than the current betting activity.

A report by Associated Press (AP) cited Jay Kornegay – vice president of race and sports operations at Westgate LV Resort & Casino – and Adam Pullen – assistant director of trading at Caesars Sportsbook – who both commented on the overall picture of betting on the World Cup this year. While both recognized that changing the timing of the event would affect the bottom line, they differed in their cautiousness about expectations.

On the one hand, having the World Cup share the limelight with other sports definitely increases the importance of how sports fans prioritize and allocate their betting budget. On the other, sports betting in the US has grown considerably, compared to the last World Cup in 2018. Of course, there are many other factors that come into play, however, and the situation is much more complex.

Difficult to Predict How It Plays Out

One of the factors that affect projections is as old, as sports betting is – and, that’s whether your favorite team is still in the tournament. The US was eliminated in the World Cup in the round of 16 by the Netherlands, which naturally somewhat increased the desire American fans had to continue placing bets. While this is less of a concern for the more experienced or professional sports gamblers, the average fan is highly affected by this, as Kornegay touched on in AP’s report.

Of course, those who wanted to place bets, probably have anyway, and with the increase of states that have legalized sports betting, as well as a large increase in related content, the balance is shifted yet again and points to projections for increased total betting handle. The question is, however, whether – had the World Cup taken place during the regular period in the summer – these numbers wouldn’t have been even higher.

There is only one way to find out, of course, and that would most probably involve waiting for the World Cup to finish. Many agree that as the quarter-finals, semifinals, and grand final approach, gambling activity should hit its peak, further signaling how exactly betting on the World Cup is going to eventually pan out.

Compliance & licensing management platform OneComply has announced that thanks to customer-requested engagement, eight jurisdictions are now accessing applicant licensing information in the OneComply data repository to conduct their investigations. This means markets rely on OneComply to ensure their licensees are compliant.

OneComply’s Solutions Now Used by Regulators

OneComply said that the jurisdictions in question include six US states, namely Tennessee, Maryland, Colorado, Ohio, Virginia and Indiana. All of their respective regulators accessed OneComply client data to conduct their regulations. The compliance specialist noted that its OneComply data repository ensures a highly secure and efficient process that prevents information leaks.

OneComply explained that every time a company submits a key person or business application for a gambling license, it is required to provide additional information to support the application. Previously, companies’ licensing staff had to manually go through the hustle of finding and organizing the requested information. In addition, they’d often have to resort to using third-party file-sharing software like Dropbox.

Fortunately, OneComply offers better solutions, allowing clients to store all of their regulatory information in their personal OneComply Document Repository. All its clients need to do is create a new folder inside their repository, copy the files already residing in OneComply and then securely share only the said folder with the respective regulator or investigator. Clients can afterward make the folder private once again, preventing leaks.

OneComply Cares about Its Clients’ Data

OneComply’s founder and chief executive officer, Cameron Conn, spoke about the value of his company’s solutions. He said that his team was always aware that OneComply’s solutions were not only helpful to operators but appreciated by regulators as well. Conn noted that many clients are happy that OneComply helps them simplify the usually arduous licensing tasks. Regulators, on the other hand, are beginning to realize the effectiveness of OneComply’s solutions when it comes to compliance investigations.

Conn reasserted that OneComply’s solutions protect clients’ data from being stolen.

This capability not only centralizes data access for regulators, but reduces exposure to our clients from copying private documents from multiple locations to external file-sharing sites. We look forward to more jurisdictions coming onboard to benefit from this important capability.

Cameron Conn, founder & CEO, OneComply

Out The Gate is one of OneComply’s many satisfied customers. Christopher Kape, the former company’s chairman and chief executive officer, called OneComply an important innovator that facilitates the compliance process.

In July, OneComply further strengthened its platform, integrating WhistleBlower’s ethics reporting alerts.

Advertising and affiliate compliance expert Rightlander has announced a new partnership with the international affiliate marketing network Tradedoubler. The new alliance is meant to help Rightlander expand its foothold in new markets at a faster pace. At the same time, Tradedoubler will benefit from improved responsible gambling policies and better compliance with current regulations. 

Rightlander to Monitor Tradedoubler’s Content 

According to the new deal, Rightlander will work on revealing and closely monitoring a wide plethora of content across the special media sites that belong to Tradedoubler, along with its partner sites, Pay Per Click ad campaigns, video streaming content, instant messages, and email. Even more, Rightlander will also be busy keeping an eye on Tradedoubler’s live offers, checking their product pricing and descriptions for accuracy. This will allow them to determine whether Tradedoubler’s affiliate partners correctly follow the company’s guidelines. The overall procedure will guarantee that Tradedoubler will remain both accurate and compliant with all industry regulations. 

Speaking about the new partnership agreement, Tradedoubler’s director of international, publisher and network James Maley expressed their pleasure of turning into one of Rightlander’s clients. He also expressed their eagerness to create and nourish a “fruitful relationship” while continuing to prove their “commitment to strong network quality.” The company’s founder Ian Sims also expressed their delight at being able to welcome “such an established and prestigious name” part of the affiliate marketing industry as their new client. 

Tradedoubler Will Benefit from Automated Screening Solutions

As part of the new deal, Rightlander will also provide Tradedoubler with additional tools needed to remain compliant. The list includes Screen, an automated screening solution aimed at potential partners’ content prior to them being officially ushered in into Tradedoubler’s affiliate program. This way, Tradedoubler should manage to cut a number of risks including poor-quality traffic and damage to the brand. Screen relies on on-demand crawling technology used to verify affiliate sites for specific red flag markers along with fresh new content which does not pose a direct regulatory risk or represent a negative brand sentiment. With the help of crawlers, the system reaches deep into affiliate websites and identifies content that has not been moderated, profanities, hate speech, extremism, violence, pornography, controlled substances or prescription drugs mentions, and other red flags. After a fast and thorough assessment of these red flags, Tradedoubler will get to decide whether the respective affiliate is safe to work with. The same crawlers can be customized for filtering red flag terms and offering insights into the content on the website. 

Rightlander Screen is just one of the many top compliance tools developed by Rightlander as a means of assisting marketplaces and networks with providing content compliance for clients and merchants. In October, the company launched Smart Workbench, an innovative marketing compliance tool meant to cut the time needed to solve compliance issues. The topic is known to still trigger various concerns in many regulated markets, making these tools vital for any affiliate marketing network looking to expand.

The Dutch gambling regulator, Kansspelautoriteit (KSA), warned the industry that it will continue to monitor the betting market with vigilance, ready to pounce on every occasion in which gambling providers are trying to push the boundaries of the rules.

Orange Fever

The regulatory monitoring of the market intensified alongside the progression of the Dutch national team in the World Cup and will continue to remain in line with the Orange fever as the team earned a match with one of the bookies’ favorites, Argentina, for a spot in the semi-finals.

The KSA stated that it has issued 14 warnings to operators over the recent weeks for violations of the rules around the World Cup but clarified that all providers warned by the regulator acted swiftly to amend their behavior that was found in breach of the regulations.

World Cup Pools, Role Models

The regulator contacted two gambling providers for advertising a game in which participants have to create a World Cup pool. Such offers are forbidden as legislators sought to prevent young people who have a genuine interest in games to be tempted by advertisements to participate in games of chance. Upon the KSA’s intervention, both operators stopped the advertisements.

Another area where the KSA’s resolve to uphold the rules was tested in the past week was the rule prohibiting the use of role models in gambling advertising or sponsorship. Gambling providers doing so were called upon and they ceased the violation.

Despite this, the KSA used the occasion to remind operators that, according to the rule, a company name or logo cannot be associated with an image, voice or name of a role model, and the same applies to sponsoring an event or TV program.

In-Play Betting, Illegal Bets

The regulator approached another operator for advertising bets on a match that was still in progress and, following the regulatory intervention, the gambling provider acted swiftly to stop breaching the rule. KSA stated that this rule is there to prevent impulsive gambling behavior among the people watching the matches.

In relation to a local café that was involved in organizing bets on the Oranje matches, the KSA stated that such forms of betting constitute illegal games of chance and are not allowed. The café in question heeded the warning and immediately stopped offering the illegal form of betting.

The brief report is the second issued by the KSA since the beginning of the World Cup. In the first report last month, the regulator outlined breaches of three specific rules – the use of celebrities in advertisements, offering illegal bets and organizing an illegal game with a massive jackpot.

FSB Technology, an award-winning global sports betting and iGaming supplier, has joined forces with the payment provider Trust Payments. FSB’s goal is to enhance its clients’ players’ payment experiences throughout the FIFA World Cup soccer championship.

FSB and Trust Payments Teamed Up

FSB shared that it is proud of the opportunity to offer Trust Payments’ payment gateways throughout its highly scalable platform. The supplier noted that many operators, including the sportsbooks Fitzdares and Bet Goodwin, are already benefiting from this agreement.

FSB noted that the current World Cup is a first of its kind as it is the first to take place in the winter. To celebrate the occasion, FSB provided fans with four fast-paced games in a row each day. FSB explained that this initiative was made possible by the Trust Payments TRY Connect payment gateway, which has allowed the supplier’s partners to keep up with the growing demand for in-game wagering.

The sports betting supplier added that FSB and Trust Payments are using specialized tools to reduce fraud and ensure healthy betting experiences for professional soccer enthusiasts. Thanks to this, players can enjoy smooth deposits and withdrawals and not bother with trivialities while enjoying the most exciting soccer event of the year. If they do encounter problems, however, they should rest easy as Trust Payments’ solutions are backed by 24/7 support.

In addition, Trust Payments offers a selection of responsible gambling tools that punters can use to moderate their spending behavior.

The World Cup’s Importance Cannot Be Understated

Rio Broadfoot, Trust Payments’ head of gaming, spoke about the agreement with FSB. He pointed out that the World Cup is a major sporting occasion for bettors all over the world and said that his team is happy to team up with FSB for the occasion. Broadfoot noted that he is delighted to provide FSB, its partnering operators and their clients with enhanced support around transactions.

Our technology will help to deliver high approval and authorization rates, betting protection for users and a smooth pay-in and pay-out experience throughout all 64 games.

Rio Broadfoot, head of gaming, Trust Payments

Achilleas Chrysafis, FSB Technology’s head of platform, agrees that the World Cup is of crucial significance to the sports and sports betting sectors. He noted that his company’s global partners are going to use the occasion to drive customer acquisition and retention. Because of that, it is very important to provide them with robust payment solutions during the global soccer competition. Chrysafis concluded that Trust Payments was the perfect partner for FSB.

As an award-winning global platform provider it’s imperative that we work with the best third-party services to enhance partner and player experiences.

Achilleas Chrysafis, head of platform, FSB Technology

Two weeks ago, FSB enhanced its team with new hires and inked a few new partnership agreements.