Provider of marketing technology BETEGY announced the launch of a new feature on its platform aimed at companies operating in sports betting, online casino and sports media sectors.

Automation and Personalization

The new feature added to BETEGY’s ad scaling and automation platform, Creative Studio, connects marketers’ assets with live data by identifying dynamic fields in the assets and delivering them to media outlets, utilizing a personalized system.

Creative Studio comes with language localization, geo-compliance and built-in analytics functions and BETEGY’s chief executive officer Alex Kornilov believes it has the potential to turn into a game changer for the industry.

“Creative Studio will take industry campaigns to the next level, ensuring any marketing department which deploys our platform will have a true edge over the market,” Kornilov commented, highlighting its ease of use and personalization capabilities that allow “with just a few clicks” tailored marketing campaigns “to reach a personalized and segmented set of demographics.”

Designed to increase engagement and drive incentives for participation for the target audiences, Creative Studio is equally effective when targeting demographics based on their preference for a sports team, or when adjusting to a fixture of the sporting calendar throughout the year.

It identifies dynamic fields of the inputted ad using automation to feed all campaign elements, including dynamic data such as odds, sports stats and personalized information, and once ad assets are scaled, the platform automatically exports its end product to programmatic platforms, affiliates and direct media outlets through an Amazon Web Services server capable of handling high traffic.

Localization and Geolocation

To make sure all the content that is deployed from one centralized source is compliant with multiple jurisdictions and laws, Creative Studio includes language localization and geolocation features, and its in-built analytics provides feedback to help marketers keep track of campaign success and reach.

Empowering marketers with data-driven and fully personalized banner campaigns and video ads, the new feature of BETEGY’s platform is expected to increase click-through rates and view-through conversions after a closed experiment conducted by the company showed encouraging results.

Providing marketing services across digital, retail and broadcast channels, BETEGY caters to the needs of its clients, including high-profile sports betting brands such as Parimatch, Unibet, Tipico and Sportsbet, online poker operators World Series of Poker (WSOP) and PokerGO, as well as sports magazine Kicker.

The marketing technology provider received industry recognition for two years in a row after winning the 2021 EGR Award for Innovation in Sports Betting and the 2022 SBC Award for Innovation of the Year.

Online casino operator Rootz announced this week it has been granted an operating license in Ontario, allowing it to offer its suite of casino games to players in the Canadian province from January 2023.

Following the approval, the Rootz family of casinos is ready to hit the regulated market of Ontario and offer online casino players a taste of the immersive slot play provided by the operator’s brands Wildz, Spinz, Caxino and Wheelz.

Commenting on the key development for the company, Rootz’s chief executive officer Lasse Rantala outlined that expanding the company’s footprint into new regulated markets is part of the “dynamic strategy that seeks to provide innovative gaming solutions to players around the world.”

Ontario is an important market for us, and we welcome the opportunity provided by AGCO to become a licensed operator and to enter into an operational agreement with iGO.

Lasse Rantala, CEO, Rootz

Rantala added that he is thankful to the company’s team for the efforts to make this licensing achievement possible.

Offering a vast range of online games ranging from slots to live casino games and featuring a selection of old favorite titles and brand new releases developed in collaboration with some of the world’s top games developers, Rootz casinos strive to offer its players a safe and secure gaming environment.

… as an operator, we prioritize the need for safe, secure and fair play; the strict compliance requirements within regulated markets such as Ontario and Germany will provide peace of mind to our customers that they are enjoying play experiences with a licensed provider.

Lasse Rantala, CEO, Rootz

Ontario became the second regulated gaming jurisdiction Rootz has obtained market access for, following in the footsteps of Germany. In September last year, Rootz received a license to offer online slot games via its wildz, wheelzgames and spinz German websites, signaling the operator’s compliance with Germany’s new State Treaty on Gambling.

Immersive Slot Play

Players in Ontario will be able to taste firsthand slots such as Big Bass Bonanza, Game of Thrones and Immortal Romance, while Rootz will be releasing new titles on a continuous basis, alongside promotions and featured games.

Most of the games offered at Rootz casino brands include demo play mode to allow players to figure out the mechanics of gameplay, including bonuses, rewards and even jackpots, while the lobby will surprise them with themes and styles not seen before.

The new license ensures that Rootz’ brands are compliant with the guidelines of the Alcohol and Gaming Commission (AGCO) and iGaming Ontario (iGO), including prevention of access to casinos for underage people and support for responsible gambling initiatives. Tools such as personal limits, timeouts, self-exclusion and reality checks are utilized by Rootz to make the online casino experience a pleasant and responsible one.

A third-sector push to see the charity lottery limits in the UK removed may bear fruit after the government agreed to consider a review of the limit.

No Cost to Treasury or Taxpayer

An open letter signed by 103 charity leaders at third-sector organizations swayed the government’s view and the minister for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS), Paul Scully, agreed to meet with charity lottery operations to discuss changes to the cap on annual lottery fundraising.

Leaders at British Red Cross, Barnardo’s, The Royal Voluntary Service, Maggie’s, Cats Protection, WWF, The Wildlife Trusts, Lord’s Taverners, Breast Cancer Now, Magic Breakfast and Crisis, share the opinion that the £50 million ($60.4 million) annual cap on fundraising imposed on charity lotteries is “excessive red tape.”

The letter sent to culture secretary Michelle Donelan argued that charity lottery fundraising is the only type of fundraising, including any other gambling product, to have an annual cap and that the removal of the limit would bear no cost to the Treasury or the taxpayer but would strongly benefit charities and the communities supported by them around the country.

The letter also noted that, while charity lotteries have raised £2.7 billion ($3.3 billion) over the past decade, the cap on their fundraising has been “blunting” their ability to deliver the greatest impact, and while charity lottery reform has been delayed due to concerns of the possible impact on the fundraising of the National Lottery, evidence suggests otherwise.

Complementing the National Lottery

Third-sector organization leaders outlined that considerable scrutiny of these concerns by regulators, the DCMS and the Parliament’s DCMS Select Committee consistently showed that charity lotteries are not in competition with the National Lottery but rather complement its fundraising.

“Gambling Commission statistics also consistently back up this finding,” the leaders claimed in the letter while presenting their case that the annual cap should be removed.

The current annual sales limit on charity lotteries was imposed in July 2020 when new legislation came into effect to increase the limit from £10 million, alongside an increase of the sales per draw limit from £4 million ($4.9 million) to £5 million ($6.1 million), and the maximum draw prize limit from £400,000 ($483,000) to £500,000 ($603,000).

Twelve months after limit changes had been implemented, the DCMS conducted a review of the new sales limits and concluded that the increase of the limits produced the desired effect, allowing society lotteries to grow and return more to good causes without impeding on the unique position of the National Lottery.

WagerWire, an innovative marketplace where bettors can buy and sell previously placed sports bets, has researched how bettors feel about secondary marketplaces in wagering. It turns out many people favor the idea.

People Favor Secondary Markets

According to the results of the survey, which was conducted by Leger, a secondary marketplace for bets would make people more daring and confident with their wagers. Many people confirmed they would be inclined to bet more and more frequently if the sportsbook they play with offered such a service.

A total of 90% of bettors said that they would play with a sportsbook that offers a secondary betting marketplace. Almost half of the non-bettors questioned by the survey said that such an idea may inspire them to play as well.

In addition, a whopping 92% of grey market bettors said that they would play with a licensed sportsbook if it offers a secondary marketplace. The same number of people aged 18-34 said that they would be likely to play with such an operator.

72% of all US bettors questioned by Leger said that the secondary market is an appealing product. It is also something that may appeal to younger bettors and improve traffic from the next generation of punters.

Many Say They Would Bet More and More Often

The research’s major findings show that 76% of bettors would be more likely to place more bets and the same number would be also more likely to spend more time on the sportsbook managing their wagers.

Overall, 73% of bettors would be more inclined to place riskier bets with a sportsbook that has a secondary marketplace and 72% would be more likely to place larger bets.

Interestingly, 72% of bettors say they would place bets with the intention of selling them before they are settled.

According to the research, a secondary marketplace would inspire bettors to increase their betting volume. 84% of respondents told Leger they’d increase their parlays and the same number of punters would increase their straight bets. At the same time, 80% would increase their future bets and 78% would increase their prop bets.

Secondary Markets Are a Natural Evolution for Sports Betting

WagerWire’s chief executive officer, Zach Doctor, commented on the results. He called the US sports betting industry an intensive “arms race” where companies are always striving to gain an edge over their competitors.

Doctor noted that the current survey proves there would be a high interest in secondary markets, just as WagerWire expected. He noted that operators can tap into this concept by using his company’s products.

“It is now clear in the data that a thriving marketplace for active sports bets makes for a more robust and efficient ecosystem, and unlocks value for both the users and sportsbooks.

Doctor added that the idea of a secondary marketplace represents the natural evolution of the sports betting industry. He pointed out that such markets exist in almost every vertical because they provide customers with optionality and access to competitive and transparent prices. His company aims to bring this very same concept to sports betting.

The WagerWire mobile app is expected to soft-launch in the next few months, allowing players to gain a first-hand understanding of the benefits of a secondary market.

As society becomes more intertwined with the Internet, concerns about cybercrime grow stronger. The sports betting industry handles huge volumes of data on a daily basis and some fear it might be a prime target of cybercriminals. Sumsub, a universal verification platform, is aware of the danger.

Operators Should Be Wary When High-Traffic Events Approach

Sumsub published an article about the dangers of cybercrime ahead of the Big Game, which might be targeted by cybercriminals. As a major event, it would attract many bettors, thus increasing data volumes and threats alike. With many operators concerned about the event, Sumsub published some tips on what to expect and how to avoid danger.

Sports betting is becoming more popular in the United States by the year. Sumsub believes that around 83% of sportsbooks would experience a traffic increase during the last game of the football season.

The increase in volume will inevitably attract more cybercriminals and scammers, which is why operators should remain vigilant, Andrew Sever, CEO of Sumsub, warned. He noted that manual verification is not an optimal solution as it increases onboarding times. According to Sever, sportsbooks would do best to find a trusted verification provider.

Sumsub warned against the temptation of cutting corners to avoid long verification times as this way operators would risk fines for AML failures.

There Are Many Dangers

Sadly, fraud seems to be on the rise in the gaming sector, Sumsub noted. In Q1 2022, fraud increased by more than 50% year-on-year while fake account registrations skyrocketed by 85% quarter-on-quarter. The Big Game will likely attract more wrongdoers, which is why Sumsub advised companies to be wary of arbitrage betting, people with multiple accounts, identity thefts, account takeovers, money laundering, affiliate fraud and cybersecurity issues.

Sever said:

Big sporting events and hacking go hand in hand and the bigger the event, the more threats there are. Attackers can be individual hacker groups looking to make a quick buck or politically oriented groups wanting to steal sensitive information.

Andrew Sever, CEO, Sumsub

Not doing enough to prevent cyberattacks would endanger the safety of sports fans, athletes and organizers. Because of that, Sumsub believes that sportsbooks should create an automated verification flow that allows users to easily onboard and go through extra checks only when it really matters.

Sumsub’s Advice

Sumsub advised operators to follow these simple advice:

First of all, sportsbooks should request a minimum number of checks at the time of registration. Complicated registration processes might discourage customers from playing. When dealing with low-risk players bookmakers should use simplified checks, Sumsub believes.

When players make their first deposit, additional checks should be added. This can prevent people from making fake accounts or multiple accounts. During the onboarding stage, operators can also include biometric verification and facial recognition. These are even more important to introduce when players withdraw money.

Sever concluded that the aforementioned checks should help sportsbooks optimize verification time while still ensuring a high degree of security. He also promoted Sumsub’s automated solutions, which further reduce onboarding time and are proven to increase risk-free performance.

The company’s revenue for the quarter reached $1.59 billion, a modest 0.8% year-on-year increase. However, several notable metrics, like earnings per share, fell short of Wall Street’s estimates, while rising interest rates negatively impacted expenses. Despite the stagnating results, Penn Entertainment’s management remained optimistic for 2023, relying on its expansion efforts and strong momentum.

Management Remained Confident despite Mixed Metrics

Penn Entertainment’s overall results can be summed up as stable but unimpressive. The quarter’s $20.8 million net income was significantly lower than 2021’s $44.8 million for the same period. Adjusted EBITDA, on the other hand, scored substantially better, rising by 19% year-over-year to $438.3 million. Profits of 13 cents per share fell short of Wall Street’s forecasted $0.33 per share for an overall mixed result.

While the $1.59 billion in revenue is in line with projections, the Federal Reserve’s aggressive interest rate hikes added $60 million to Penn Entertainment’s quarterly interest expense, offsetting much of the company’s profits. The stagnation sharply contrasts Q3’s 8% revenue growth, but company officials insisted that matters were still well in hand.

2022 was a solid year for Penn despite ongoing macroeconomic headwinds.

Jay Snowden, Penn Entertainment CEO, and President

According to CEO Snowden, the company’s overall strategy remained sound and would lead to future dividends thanks to database growth and improved customer engagement. Penn’s interactive segment performed surprisingly well, recording a $5.2 million profit despite unfavorable factors. Such solid results can be just the bump in momentum the company needs heading into 2023.

The Company Has Gathered Significant Momentum

The quarter’s mixed results did not douse Penn’s optimism for the coming year. The operator had successful launches in several new markets, which are already paying dividends. According to Snowden, the company’s successes in Kansas and Maryland laid the groundwork for its stellar entry into Ohio.

Our deep customer database, retail footprint, and powerful Barstool Sports marketing engine contributed to a record number of first-time depositors at launch.

Jay Snowden, Penn Entertainment CEO, and President

The newly opened Ohio market is quickly proving to be a goldmine for operators, surpassing established markets like New York. As the initial rush to market settles down, Penn should be in a perfect position to leverage its Barstool brand and cement its substantial market share in the state. The company’s full-year revenue for 2022 should fall between $6.15 billion to $6.58 billion, providing a powerful launching-off point for future growth.