Sports betting operator Betfred has entered Virginia, further expanding its US footprint. The operator’s sports betting products are now available in several states, with the company now preparing to launch retail operations in Nevada.

Betfred Enters Virginia

The Virginia entry is a major development for the company, which has been steadily expanding its US reach. The launch of the sportsbook in Virginia was welcomed by the company’s chief operating officer, Bryan Bennett.

Bennett said that his team cannot wait to begin operating online sports wagering in the Commonwealth and is looking forward to activating its partnership with Loudoun United.

The agreement in question was announced in December 2022, when Betfred USA Sports was designated as the official sports betting partner of the American soccer franchise. Under the deal with the team, Betfred’s branding will be promoted on the back of Loudoun United players’ jerseys throughout the 2023 season.

Betfred’s Bennett concluded that this is a perfect time to launch sports betting because of the many upcoming sporting events.

This is the ideal time to launch sports betting with several major sporting events happening over the coming weeks and months, and of course, with the USL Championship season kicking off soon.

Bryan Bennett, COO, Betfred

The agreement with a notable sports team will help Betfred’s content gain traction in the Old Dominion. It echoes a recent development involving bet365, which employed a similar tactic during its own launch in the state. The competitor brand made its foray into Virginia yesterday and was named the official betting partner of the Washington Commanders.

Elsewhere, Betfred just penned an agreement with the Vegas Golden Knights, a National Hockey League franchise based in Nevada. Betfred will sponsor the club, which will, in turn, promote the sports betting operator across its stadium.

The agreement celebrates Betfred’s entry to the state as the company prepares to launch a sportsbook in collaboration with Mohegan Casino Las Vegas. The new venue will be located at Mohegan’s Sun Casino at Virgin Hotels Las Vegas and is expected to be equipped with 80-inch screens, broadcasting sports in high-quality. The sportsbook will have a total area of 1,269 square feet and will be able to accommodate as many as a hundred fans of sports.

The company’s foray into the Silver State came just as the brand was recommended for a sports betting license. The Nevada Gaming Control Board thoroughly questioned the company about its intentions and vision for operations in the state.

Platform provider Hub88 unveiled HubWallet, a proprietary payment solution that leverages the company’s robust back office. The new product is expected to make payments easier, safer and more intuitive.

Hub88 Launches In-House Payment Solution

Hub88 is best known for aggregating iGaming content, which makes the launch of HubWallet an unprecedented one. The unique solution will make payments simpler for clients, allowing them to leverage a multi-faceted platform to pay directly.

The online wallet is built upon Hub88’s significant experience in both business-to-business and business-to-customer operations. The company’s dedication to quality is reflected in the new solution, which improves payment options for operators within the gambling industry.

The platform provider built its new online wallet solution in a way that makes payments faster, eliminating unnecessary steps such as manual invoicing and fee processing. Furthermore, the new solution has a built-in low-cost currency exchange, which makes it easier to be used by operators in various jurisdictions.

HubWallet is a highly-automated solution that also provides Hub88’s clients with complete banking support, ensuring safe and reliable international and domestic payments. As part of the launch, Hub88 will also provide its clients with access to the HubWallet Marketplace.

Hub88 noted that in order to support its new online wallet, the company has augmented its back-office with legal addendums, social logins and game certificates. This will reinforce the system’s capabilities while boosting its famous lightweight aggregation platform at the same time.

Castleman Is Happy about the Launch

Hub88’s head, Ollie Castleman, commented on the launch of HubWallet. He noted that he is happy to expand the company’s offering with what he called a “ground-breaking product.” Castelman noted that HubWallet seeks to reinvent payment options in gaming, allowing the company’s partners to make payments quickly and safely.

Castleman added that the new launch evolves Hub88 as a company.

With the new launch, we’ve evolved the Hub88 brand, as its brilliant integration services are now supported by a state-of-the-art payment system, making Hub88 a more comprehensive and expansive platform provider.

Ollie Castleman, Head of Hub88

Hub88 used the announcement as an opportunity to remind industry enthusiasts that it will be present at ICE London. The company will exhibit at the Bombay Group stand under the number N8-219.

In December 2022, Hub88 penned a major content distribution agreement with Livespins, adding the latter company’s socially-charged casino content to its aggregation platform. A month earlier, Hub88 also teamed up with Nexiux Solutions, an innovative, agile and dynamic iGaming tech company.

Announced Thursday, the company joins a growing roster of organizations around the globe that have already shown support for the initiative. Per the new collaboration, Betsson will embed ten principles from the Global Compact into its operations. The changes are going to affect the company’s policies related to anti-corruption, labor, environment, HR, as well as other strategic operations.

Some of the principles that are a part of the UN Global Compact initiative were already implemented by Betsson within its Code of Conduct. However, now, the company is further strengthening its operations by showing formal approval and joining the global initiative that is already supported by thousands of companies around the world.

Ultimately, the implementation of the ten principles will help Betsson uphold “its basic responsibilities to people and planet, but also setting the stage for long-term success,” a statement released by the company reveals. The collaboration will also see the company continuously improve its strategies, keep a proactive position and take practical actions.

Under the terms of the collaboration, Betsson will have to annually release a Communication on Progress report. This whitepaper will include details regarding improvement processes implemented by the company and their impact on society.

The Company Strengthens Sustainability Efforts

Jesper Svensson, Betsson Group’s CEO, said that the company is excited to support the initiative and give a boost to its sustainability efforts. Moreover, he added: “We believe in the power of business to drive positive change and are committed to using our resources to contribute to the global effort to create a more inclusive and sustainable world for all.”

“We are proud to be joining the Global Compact and taking this next step towards strengthening our sustainability efforts,“

Jesper Svensson, CEO of Betsson Group

Currently, more than 15,000 companies from 160 countries around the globe have vouched support for the UN Global Compact initiative. Additionally, 69 local networks have also backed the initiative, which is famous as the biggest corporate sustainability effort on a global scale. The implementation of the initiative’s ten principles seeks to help global companies benefit from a unified strategy that ensures the protection of the environment, human rights and at the same time combats corruption.

Without any doubt, Betsson’s participation in the initiative will have a positive impact, considering that the company is among the largest gaming groups in the world, consisting of more than 20 brands.

After announcing it would expand its presence in Europe by signing a partnership deal with Play North last year, the provider that is leading the way in innovation in casino game development has returned with fresh updates. 

Wazdan Celebrates “Successful Partnership” with Play North

The multi-brand agreement signed with the iGaming company on a mission to offer safer and more entertaining online gaming experiences has helped Wazdan strengthen its foothold in Europe.

As a result of the deal, a rich selection of Wazdan games has gone live with the operator. The list features iconic releases that have already gathered a massive database of players, including 9 Coins, which has received a Game of the Year nomination during the Global Gaming Awards and International Gaming Awards. 

Another hot game part of the deal was Sizzling Kingdom: Bison, the slot that has made it on the shortlist of nominees for the WOW Slot Award organized by SlotsWise. 9 Lions is another popular game that went live with Play North. The game has won the prestigious G2E Asia Award.

All of Wazdan’s games are now live across the Pikakasino and Kiirkasiino brands. Both online casino platforms are known for providing quick and safe gaming experiences that always place user interface and top gaming experience at the core. Plus, Wazdan’s slots have also gone live in the Netherlands with the help of the Kansino brand. 

Wazdan’s chief commercial officer Andrzej Hyla expressed their thrill regarding the collaboration between the two companies which has helped them take some of their most beloved games live across several successful brands. Hyla added Wazdan was content for being given the chance to provide their “proven, engaging games” that resonate well with registered players of the three aforementioned casino brands. 

Play North Excited to Roll Out Wazdan’s Superb Games 

Play North, whose motto is “putting the player at the core,” has used the voice of its director of product and customer experience Daphne Xerri to express their own views on the so far successful partnership. 

Accordingly, the director of product expressed delight regarding the “exciting partnership” while expressing their joy in introducing Wazdan’s games to players across three of their top casinos in a large number of European gaming markets. 

Xerri explained Play North was interested in having their brands further provide the best casino games possible while describing Wazdan’s portfolio as one with “some superb titles.”

Last November, Wazdan announced it would expand its foothold in Spanin via a Luckia agreement, just a few days before it bolstered its presence in Latvia with FeniBet. 

The leading game developer that provides state-of-the-art content in over 18 regulated jurisdictions has released the new 3×5 cat-themed game with an added Free Spins Gamble feature. The latter enables players to gamble up to five upgrades by selecting one of three coins. 

Bozo Cats Metrics Overview 

• Reels: 5
• Rows: 3
• Paylines: 20
• RTP: 96.31%
• Hit Freq: 24.8%
• Max Win: 10,047x 
• Volatility: High
• Min/Max Bet: 0.20-100
• Release date: January 30, 2023

Explore the Streets in Search of Golden Scatters and Wilds 

Players are invited to join the lovely furry friends in the game and start scouring the streets by their side, in search of Golden Scatters and Wilds. The 20-payline slot is highly volatile and could pay more than 10,000x the stake at an RTP of 96.31% in the long term. The graphics and overall theme are inspired by the furry animals and their neighborhood, cans of cat food, balls of yarn, and basic Royal symbols. 

The game has three feature symbols. The wild replaces all symbols and can randomly add 2x or 3x multipliers. The slot also counts two scatter symbols that can trigger between nine and 15 free spins or further upgrade them, along with sticky wilds, even more generous multipliers, and the upgrade alternative.

The Free Spins Gamble Feature

With the help of this special feature, players get a chance to gamble up to five upgrades as they are asked to pick one of the three existing coins. Two of the available coins offer upgrades, including three more Free Spins, two guaranteed Sticky Wilds, and 2x multipliers applied on Wilds. Nonetheless, the third coin sends players to the start of the base game.

Upgrades are also engaged with the help of the Golden Scatter symbol. While playing the base game, players can catch three blue or gold Scatters to trigger Free Spins. Every Golden Scatter symbol has one upgrade attached to it, which means they add a greater big win potential to the slot. 

Playson’s chief commercial officer Tamas Kusztos called Bozo Cats “a thrilling addition” to their current portfolio that consists of more than 85 omnichannel casino games fully tested and certified for the greatest regulated markets in Europe. Last September, Playson entered the Ontario gaming market.

Kusztos also spoke about the already popular Free Spins mechanic that continues to be an all-time favorite for many of their players. He mentioned the added interactive gamble twist which he called “a dramatic inclusion within this mode.”

Last week, Playson launched the first slot of the year to its portfolio. Pirate Chest: Hold and Win is a slot with instant cash prizes and a massive 3000x Grand Jackpot. 

iGaming content developer and aggregation specialist Relax Gaming has penned a content-oriented agreement with AboutSlots.com, an online resource for slot games. As agreed, the iGaming brands will co-produce a new player-led slot game.

Relax Taps into AboutSlots’ Knowledge

According to the announcement, the new title is supposed to go live in July 2023. The partnership will see Relax Gaming’s highly experienced team tap into AboutSlots’ profound knowledge of the sector to produce an unprecedented slot. The companies will leverage their industry experience to make sure that the new game is in line with players’ demands.

CasinoDaddy, a popular slots stream owned by the AboutSlots brand, will be crucial to developing the game the two developers envision. The stream has been around since 2016 and has 181,000 followers on Twitch and 86,000 subscribers on YouTube. Because of this, CasinoDaddy will be an important resource for determining what style of games players like the most.

The current agreement is the latest in a series of deals Relax Gaming has penned with other iGaming companies. The aggregator recently enhanced its portfolio with content from many notable brands, including Galaxsys, SmartSoft and Lady Luck Games.

AboutSlots is a site that seeks to make gambling simple for players by providing them with all the relevant information they might need. The resource tells people everything about which are the trending slots, what bonuses casinos currently offer, etc.

What Can Fans Expect?

Anton Joelsson, co-founder of Joelsson Media Group, which operates AboutSlots, teased more details about the game. He said that the new title is sure to be very pleasing for slots aficionados.

Players can expect a lot of action from our upcoming release in the form of an attractive base game, lovely music & design, feature buys that suit all playing styles and a max win that is in the top segment of all games from Relax.

Anton Joelsson, co-founder, Joelsson Media Group

Joelsson also said that he is certain players will appreciate all the little details that have gone into the making of this exciting game. As for the agreement with Relax Gaming, Joelsson noted that he is thrilled to join forces with the aggregator, which has “always been the obvious choice” of a partner for such collaboration.

Simon Hammon, Relax Gaming’s chief executive officer, echoed Joelsson’s sentiments, saying that his team is very excited about the partnership with AboutSlots and the upcoming release of the new title. He said that listening to players and the streamer community has been truly illuminating and is something that Relax Gaming has previously done and will continue to do.

When the new title is released, it will join Relax Gaming’s portfolio of over 4,000 online casino games.