Author: OnlineGamblingDaily

While the effects of the pandemic on the gaming industry have been widely documented from the perspective of land-based operators, which were forced to close venues for extended periods of time and struggled to maintain their businesses afloat, the ongoing COVID crisis has also seen its fair share of impact on sector regulation. As companies look to expand offerings and strategies to stay operational, an increase in fines and regulatory settlements proves the way out of the crisis must also contemplate investments in compliance and consumer safeguarding. Dr. Jason Lane, President of the International Association of Gaming Regulators (IAGR), spoke…

Nearly a month and a half have gone by since Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont placed the inaugural commercial bet at the Sports Haven retail sportsbook, one of the 15 locations allowed to launch sports bets via Rush Street Interactive’s PlaySugarHouse. That followed tribal launch and statewide online rollout earlier in October. To have first-hand insights into this new market in the US, Yogonet spoke with Rob Simmelkjaer, Chair of Connecticut Lottery Corporation’s Board of Directors. How would you assess this new market so far? What’s the initial feedback and key performance indicators you are looking at today? What’s the situation…

The International Betting Integrity Association (IBIA) is a not-for-profit association whose members include many of the world’s largest regulated betting operators, active across six continents. It advocates for the integrity of the licensed betting industry, as its members share a common goal of combating betting corruption to protect the integrity of sport and of their businesses. While 2021 was meant to be the year of recovery, as the year-end nears Covid-19 infections continue to rise again. IBIA’s Director of Public Affairs, Silvia Paleari, tells Yogonet that “it’s too soon to say what the economic impact will be, but what we have seen for…

Even though the gambling industry still suffered the effects of the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic throughout 2021, in many ways, the year offered a slight return to normalcy in certain specific regards. In-person events, which were systematically canceled in 2020, came back in the now-closing year, although mostly in a hybrid manner, combining the opportunities only offered by face-to-face meetings with the convenience online activities present to international guests. Among the industry summits returning as in-person events in 2021 was the prestigious Global Gaming Expo (G2E). Held from Oct. 4-7, at the Venetian Expo and Convention Center in Las Vegas, the…

While the Covid-19 pandemic hit the gaming industry in a wide range of ways, especially land-based venues, which were forced to close for extended periods of time throughout the last two years, the situation has also allowed for companies to reinvent themselves. Many of them turned to iGaming and new markets, such as the LatAm one, in an effort to extend their portfolio reach and areas of influence. Naturally, this process brought along a series of new challenges to the sector, both in terms of compliance and customer protection. In this changing landscape, the role of gaming testing laboratories remained…

Rahul Sood is the co-founder of crypto-based esports betting platform Unikrn, sold to giant gambling operator Entain earlier this year. He started the first incubation fund for Startups at Microsoft, the Bing Fund, which became Microsoft Ventures, led by Sood until 2014, when he created Unikrn. He is also an investor in blockchain-based play-to-earn horse racing game ZED RUN. Sood has recently made the headlines again as he announced his return to gaming with a new startup called Irreverent Labs. The Seattle-based company, which has already raised $5 million, is working on a new play-to-earn game featuring AI characters living on the…

During an exclusive interview with Yogonet, Fast OffShore’s founding partner Ron Mendelson, expert consultant for the iGaming industry, shared an overall assessment of the industry’s recovery coming out of the pandemic and how it boosted iGaming as people embraced more digital habits. He offered a global panorama and further explained the various advances the industry has undergone in general as new markets become regulated. Lastly, he shared the company’s expectations for 2022 as well as the main issues driving the agenda for the upcoming year, and how the metaverse can revolutionize the online gambling industry. What would be your year-end…

The European Lotteries (EL), the name generally used by the industry to refer to The European State Lotteries and Toto Association, is the European umbrella organization of national lotteries operating games of chance, including sports betting, from over 40 European countries. It has around 50 Members in all EU Member States and a total of over 70 members, thus becoming the European lottery and gambling sector’s largest and most representative organisation. EL’s Secretary General, Arjan van’t Veer, spoke with Yogonet about the key developments achieved by the member lotteries throughout this year amid the ongoing pandemic, new uses of digital…

The sports betting and gaming industry, as a whole, is on its way to full recovery, and over the last 12 months, in particular, the online segment across Latin America has been thriving. Entain is contributing to this growth, after becoming the first global sports betting and gaming operator to gain a license in Colombia on December 9, 2020. In an exclusive interview with Yogonet, Martin Lycka, Entain’s SVP for American Regulatory Affairs & Responsible Gambling said that the company was committed to ensuring that said growth be sustainable and responsible, and in line with the company’s strategy to only…

These two years of pandemic, especially due to all the sanitary restrictions, have driven up the growth of online gaming —casino, sports betting, virtuals sports, esports and lotteries— and online payment methods too. Unlike other regions, these sectors were not very mature in Latin America. In an exclusive interview with Georges Didier, Gaming Laboratories International (GLI)’s Latin America Government Relations and Business Development Representative, Yogonet asked if this was reflected in the type of inquiries that GLI has received during this period of time, and what kind of changes GLI has implemented in its services and products in order to…

Acres Manufacturing Company (AMC) introduced PayAction Sports Bonus as part of its Global Gaming Expo lineup this year, explaining it uses a live sports data feed to trigger a bonus round on any slot machine connected to AMC’s Foundation casino management system. “The feedback has been pure excitement,” Noah Acres, COO of the company and son of the founder and inventor of casino systems technology, John Acres, tells Yogonet in an interview. “We expect our first deployments of this bonus in Q1 2022 and we can’t wait to see it in action. The PayAction Sports Bonus demonstrates the advanced capabilities of…

In an interview with Yogonet, two members of NOVOMATIC’s Board of Directors,  Johannes Gratzl and Ryszard Presch shared an overall year-end assessment of the gambling industry’s recovery. They shared insights regarding the company’s market expansion plans and hopes for the upcoming year. What would be your year-end assessment for Novomatic, especially regarding the gambling industry’s recovery, and key developments in the different markets and verticals you operate? Johannes Gratzl: The first half of 2021 was still significantly impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, as many countries continued to employ measures such as lockdowns or temporary closures of business premises to contain…

It is no secret the American public is in love with sports betting. With wagering now live and legal in 30 states + DC, more than 111 million adults in the US are now able to wager safely with regulated sportsbooks in their home states. But what’s more importantly, sports fans are turning this potential into effective betting, wagering record-setting figures in a wide variety of sporting events and teams. Earlier this year, a study by the American Gaming Association predicted a record 45.2 million Americans would bet in the NFL 2021 season. Monthly figures presented throughout the year by…

2021 marked a special year for iGaming tech company SOFTSWISS. Throughout the last 12 months, the business achieved a series of key milestones, including rebranding, reaching 1000 employees, expanding to new markets and securing local licenses in a number of countries. Ivan Montik, Founder of SOFTSWISS, spoke with Yogonet on these achievements, while also reflecting on industry trends and challenges anticipated for 2022. The executive expects the new year to be a key one for crypto -a trend Montik already talked about with Yogonet in an exclusive interview in October- and mobile gaming. Moreover, Montik talks about challenges imposed by…

BtoBet’s Chief Operating Officer, Dima Reiderman, shares in an interview with Yogonet an overall year-end assessment of the gambling industry recovery as well as advances made in the last year, such as the regularization of the Dutch market, as well as the advancements regarding gambling legalization in Brazil. He further explains that they anticipate operators will continue to face mounting regulatory challenges in 2022, as many national parliaments are proposing regulations that would further limit the way the industry markets itself. He calls on the industry to work with regulators to ensure that over-regulation does not stifle investment. What would…

While this ongoing pandemic continues to be a major problem for the world overall, the gaming industry has navigated a rough road and emerged in relatively good shape especially compared to other global industries, according to the Executive Director of the Association of Gaming Equipment Manufacturers (AGEM), Marcus Prater. “The suppliers have continued to innovate, and we saw that at the Global Gaming Expo in Las Vegas in October,” he tells Yogonet in an exclusive interview. He said that the organization, following the rebound of the global supplier sector, is in a “much better position” now than in 2020 or…