Nikita Krylov is 29-9 overall with two straight wins in the UFC. Can he add a third one to the list? Not if you’re asking Ryan Spann, his opponent in the UFC Fight Night 220 headliner. The American fighter is 21-7 and is also on a two-win streak.

Nikita Krylov vs Ryan Spann Odds

*Odds taken from FanDuel on Wednesday, February 20, 2023.

When, Where, and How to Watch?

• Place: UFC Apex in Las Vegas, Nevada
• Date: Saturday, February 25, 2023
• Time: ~9:00 PM ET
• How to Watch: UFC Fight Pass/ESPN+

Nikita Krylov Keeps Rising Through the UFC Light Heavyweight Ranks

Krylov’s UFC story started in 2018 and since he’s 4-4 in this promotion. That might not seem impressive, but all four of his UFC losses happened to elite fighters – Jan Blachowicz, Glover Teixeira, Magomed Ankalaev, and Paul Craig.

The fighters he defeated in the UFC are Ovince Saint Preux, Johnny Walker, Alexander Gustafsson, and Volkan Oezdemir. For his Round 1 KO win over Gustafsson, Krylov received the Performance of the Night bonus from the UFC.

The award is only accredited to companies that have shown exceptional commitment to building an inclusive and robust company culture that encourages healthy and people-centric business decisions.

Good Workplaces Are Sources of Innovation and Results

This distinction follows the acquisition of Endeavor, a sports betting provider, by OpenBet and at a time when the company is adding more team members to its lineup. The company’s London hub will now have an even more powerful argument to make when looking for new specialists.

OpenBet’s London hub also brings together a motley bunch of industry specialists who have product development and trading expertise, business support and operations professionals, among people with engineering and technological training.

The Best Workplaces list is part of the Great Place to Work, an international institute, and it’s a definitive award that recognizes exceptional working conditions. Commenting on this opportunity, OpenBet CEO Jordan Levin was similarly pleading with the opportunity and said:

As part of our continued ambitions to take the sports betting entertainment sector forward, we take great pride in establishing positive workplace cultures that inspire individuals across all our locations worldwide.

OpenBet CEO Jordan Levin

He further noted that the London hub was instrumental to the company’s success and its ability to become one of the leading brands in the sports betting vertical across Europe. OpenBet is also competing well in international markets, and all of this is owed to the success of the London office to some extent.

OpenBet Enjoys Strong Performance over the Past Months

The distinction by Great Place to Work is a further confirmation of the company’s ability to create workplaces that make people perform to the best of their ability. OpenBet has also been enjoying strong performance around the time of major sports events.

The company reported robust results during the last Super Bowl with the Kansas City Chiefs and Philadelphia Eagles driving a record sports betting handle in the United States in particular. OpenBet is also working to boost the British Columbia Lottery Corporation (BCLC)’s PlayNow platform.

The problem of money laundering was the one to receive the most attention up until recently. However, as the citizens’ voices begin to be heard more and more, public perception is also becoming an important factor in the government’s decisions.

NSW Government Addressing Slot Machines

The Liberal and Nationals New South Wales (NSW) government started paying closer attention to slot machines across the state. A recent report by The Strait Times described how the government is considering going fully cashless and introducing some stricter limitations not only on the way people use the machines, but also limit their number across the state.

While going cashless is more of an anti-money laundering measure, people are increasingly showing their concern over the hugely popular slot machines. Hence, the government is looking into limiting the working hours for establishments that have slots, with each party planning to buy back 2,000 machines from them over the next five years.

The Strait Times’ report shared the story of a woman being casually exposed to slot machines in Sydney’s pubs and clubs. This developed into a problem for her soon after she turned 18 – the legal age to enter and consume alcohol in the state. Her story, spanning over a few years, is just one of many, leading the government to also consider imposing daily loss limits.

Another proposition has been to find ways to involve family members and friends of problem gamblers. The new policy will enable relatives and friends to apply for the problem gambler to be barred from using these machines if their gambling habits become too much of a problem. The end date for changes in legislation is December 31, 2028.

Winds of Change in Gambling Across Australia

Slot machines are widely available across pubs and clubs throughout NSW, which makes them easily accessible. This led to their number reaching more than 86,600 in mid-2022. This is 30% more than the number of machines in the states of Queensland and Victoria combined. Another worrying trend is that the lowest-income households have the highest use of slots.

Their sheer number came under the spotlight amid what started as allegations that they were used for money laundering, which was consequently proved as a fact, however, the most recent concerns lie in what these high levels of accessibility mean for the regular citizen. So, the focus for change now doesn’t lie in simply tackling money laundering, but also problem gambling.

As the number of victims of problem gambling increases throughout the entire country, and the public perception keeps becoming increasingly negative, changes were bound to come. The government’s five-year plan aims to address many of the problems associated with slots and poker machines, and money laundering and preserving the public’s health are top priorities.

The move is designed to further help enhance XFL’s prominence in sports life in the United States. Genius will be able to distribute official data from every league game and have exclusive rights to do so across its global network of media and betting partners.

XFL and Genius Sports Ready to Drive Fan Engagement and Revenue

This will enable sportsbooks to provide accurate data and betting options to customers for every XFL event, thus driving engagement and boosting overall fan satisfaction. XFL data will also be available to brands and advertisers with all the information managed intelligently by the Genius Marketing Suite, which is the company’s unifying engagement platform.

Genius Sports will move forward as a trusted partner for the XFL, helping the league to significantly expand its digital audience and also leading to better engagement opportunities with players. The company also built the XFL Pick’Em game which is available to fans for free and can be downloaded for them to engage and enjoy the experience even more.

The app contains all sorts of interesting activities, including bets on various games, players and teams, as part of the XFL. Genius Sports and XFL have seen the value of “gamifying the experience,” meaning that fans will be engaged in what transpires in the games and be tuning in to watch more often, while also growing in numbers.

Besides, for those who manage to climb the F2P weekly rank lists, the XFL and Genius Sports are planning to offer a number of excellent prizes, such as FL Shop gift cards, a trip to the 2023 XFL Championship Game, and a lot more. XFL chief business & legal officer Wendy Bass has welcomed the opportunity to see the league grow its opportunities for fan engagement.

Bass hailed Genius Sports and said that it was a great partner and one that the XFL was happy to align itself. She further noted that Genius Sports has established itself as a leader in engaging with the next generation of fans.

Genius Sports EVP Sean Conroy was similarly pleased with the opportunity and emphasized its wider implications for the business as such. Having a robust data strategy, he noted, was a good way to drive new revenue opportunities and boost fan engagement. The XFL is a professional American football league which has been on and off for the past few decades.

The league was finally restored on January 25, 2018, but it soon faced a new existential threat brought about by the 2020 COVID-19 outbreak. The XFL managed to survive the shuttering of global sports events and has emerged doubly motivated to become a permanent fixture of the American betting and sports calendar.

Tim Berners-Lee was talking to “Beyond The Valley” podcast, a CNBC production, last Friday when he shared his thoughts on the industry and how he felt about cryptocurrencies. He didn’t hesitate to highlight the high-risk profile of such assets – whether when considered as an investment or as part of the broader financial system.

Crypto Is Gambling and Dangerous, But Blockchain Makes Sense

Digital currencies are “only speculative,” Berners-Lee cautioned and said that the current build-up in the crypto industry was reminiscent of how investors inflated internet stocks in the 2000s when a dot-com bubble burst and wiped off a lot of value for a lot of people. This speculative nature, Berners-Lee further warned, was dangerous on many levels.

It’s basically the same as getting a kick out of gambling he explained, and added he would not consider spending his own funds into the sector. Berners-Lee did not condemn the entire crypto sector, however, and acknowledged that the blockchain as an accountancy system was a robust and solid solution that deserved more attention.

In fact, blockchain remittances would make it easier for the financial world to transfer money, reduce costs, and boost efficiencies, Bernes-Lee suggest. However, his scepticism on crypto is not entirely surprising, as he is hardly the only prominent person to have urged caution – at the very least – when approaching the crypto sector.

Charlie Munger, a known critic of the sector, took the opportunity last week to once again call gambling “stupid” and went even further, referring to it as “worthless shit.” Such vitriol is hardly justifiable, but it also refers to a huge split between crypto hawks and doves.

However, it’s equally important to keep track of crypto for what it can offer and address its dangers head-on rather than falling into a pre-determined way of thinking about the industry that is not based in fact.