bet365 makes its US play through Empire New York alliance
Leading European online bookmaker bet365 has forged its first US-centric sports betting partnership with Nasdaq-listed gambling group Empire Resorts Inc.
Issuing a market update, bet365 enters a 20-year agreement with Empire, which will see the online betting group become lead digital and land-based sports betting services provider for the ‘Resorts World Catskills’ casino in upstate New York.
At present, Resorts World Catskills is one of only four commercial casinos properties operating within New York State, with the premises holding the closest proximity to Manhattan.
The Empire alliance sees bet365 gain a significant strategic foothold within New York, a jurisdiction predicted to become one of the state’s largest betting markets (dependent on pending regulation).
“Joining forces with bet365 positions Empire and our flagship Resorts World Catskills to lead a potentially enormous new market,” said Manny Pearlman, Executive Chairman of Empire Resorts, Inc.
“bet365’s global expertise in effectively developing and executing world-class sportsbooks strongly complements Empire’s leadership in commercial casino operations in New York. This collaboration, which will enable Resorts World Catskills to be a leading destination for sports wagering in New York State, highlights our commitment to the continued growth of Resorts World Catskills, as well as our dedication to working with the best, most innovative pioneers in the industry to provide world-class gaming options.”
Developing its US profile, bet365 has set-up an affiliate subsidiary ‘Hillside NY LLC’ which will acquire up $50 million of Empire’s common stock in two tranches becoming the Nasdaq firm’s second largest investor.
Seeking to develop, New York’s leading gambling destination, Empire’s lead investor Kien Huat has committed to a purchasing $126 million of Empire convertible preferred stock, significantly boosting the enterprises working capital for future initiatives.
“This landmark agreement, which combines Empire’s gaming operating skill with our expertise in providing best-in-class online sports betting, allows bet365 to tap into what we believe will be one of the most significant online and sportsbook markets in the United States,” said Simon Betteley, President of Hillside NY LLC, a bet365 affiliate.
Leading online bookmaker bet365 has confirmed significant growth in its full-year accounts (12-month period to March 2018), recording a 26% increase in betting and gaming revenue to £2.719m.
The operator continued to benefit from its high-level sportsbook offering, specifically in-play betting which accounted for 77 per cent of its sports betting revenue, as well as this, mobile betting revenue rose 29% during the year
Operating profits for the firm elevated 33 per cent to £682.2m, whilst the firm reinforced its strong financial stature with £1.8 billion in cash on its balance sheet and a further £500 million of investments, with no debt.
EBITDA rose by 30% to £722 million (post software development), staff costs increased by 27% to £745 million (with 4236 employees, +10%) and software development rose 26% to £34 million.
Putting these results into context, Regulus Partners described how “bet365 has added roughly the equivalent of William Hill’s digital business in one year’s growth and is more than double the size of PPB’s digital business (including Australia) in revenue terms.
“Further, bet365’s reporting period is an ‘off-year’, with no Euros or World Cup, suggesting a return to strong growth in actives post period end, in our view.”
Additionally, the Empire partnership will allow bet365 to expand into the New York sports betting market, as the venue seeks to utilise the operator’s renowned sportsbook offering to thrive as the market potentially opens up in 2019.
According to market estimates by Eilers & Krejcik Gaming LLC, the New York State sports wagering market is expected to be the single largest market jurisdiction for sports betting in the United States other than California, with projections for more than $1 billion in annual revenues from sports betting within five years of legalisation.
The firm’s position as a leading UK operator has since been affirmed with the announcement of a recent deal with Empire Resorts to secure a New York sports betting licence, including an equity investment of up to $50 million.
Bet365 obtained details of punter’s account via Skrill in McCann case
* Skrill complied with order to reveal details of McCann’s account
• Megan McCann suing bookie for nearly £1m in unpaid winnings
A legal case from January 2017 which relates to Megan McCann’s long-running attempt to sue Bet365 for £1m appears to suggest co-operation between Britain’s biggest online bookmaker and the leading money-transfer company, Skrill.
McCann is suing Bet365 over a £25,000 bet on four races in Britain and Ireland which was placed and accepted via the firm’s website in June 2016. The winnings due on the bet amount to just over £975,000 but Bet365 has refused to pay out, or return the initial £25,000 stake, because it claims that the stake was provided by a “third party” in contravention of its Terms and Conditions (T&Cs).
A procedural hearing in the case is scheduled to take place at the high court in Belfast on Friday, with a full hearing expected later in the year. However, the Guardian has learned that in January 2017, Bet365 successfully applied for a ‘Norwich Pharmacol’ order against Skrill at the chancery division of the high court in London, requiring Skrill to reveal details of McCann’s account with the firm.
Skrill, an “e-wallet”, has millions of customers globally and is a popular way for punters to deposit money with online gambling sites. What is concerning, though, is that Skrill did not contest the application. As a result, the witness statement by a Bet365 lawyer which supported the application was not subjected to scrutiny and the application was rubber-stamped in chambers.
All online businesses which hold or transfer funds have extensive T&Cs to which customers must agree – usually via a tick-box – before they can open an account. The Data Protection Act also requires businesses to have a robust regime in place to protect clients’ private data.
Skrill said in a statement on Wednesday that “we take our data protection obligations very seriously and are satisfied we’ve met our obligations in this matter.” The statement continued: “We were entitled to comply with the order. Under the Skrill privacy policy which all customers agree to, we can disclose customer personal information to third parties in certain limited circumstances, including ‘in response to a subpoena, warrant, court order, or as otherwise required to by law’.
“We took legal advice at the time we were served with the order which affirmed our position. At the time we were served the order we were prevented from disclosing the content of the order to anyone else.”
The wording of Skrill’s privacy policy is certainly broad enough to cover their acquiescence with Bet365’s application.
Bet365 is involved in a civil action with McCann and the bookmaker applied for the order several months before the details of McCann’s winning bet became public, in July 2017. The fairness and legal status of Bet365’s T&Cs will be central to the proceedings when McCann’s case finally reaches a full hearing.
Sky Bet and bet365 launch Perform’s new Opta Fast Player Statistics Feed
Sky Bet and bet365 have been confirmed as the launch partners for the new real-time Fast Player Statistics Feed from Perform – a service powered by live sports data from Opta.
The two leading operators are the first to develop in-play products powered by the new feed, which supplies highly detailed in-play statistics for automated live trading and fast settlement of player and team prop markets.
Fast Player Statistics Feed also enables events such as shots, passes and tackles to be incorporated into bet-builders and request-a-bets for the world’s biggest football competitions and players, with detailed statistics updating live.
Sky Bet and bet365 are the first operators to offer their customers in-play products powered by the new fast player data. Both operators are ingesting the data and trading themselves. The choice is there, however, for customers to either trade themselves or use pricing providers accredited to use Opta data such as Sportcast and Banach.
Sky Bet recently launched an accompanying promotional campaign describing the service as ‘In-play, as you’ve never seen it before’.
John Harlow, SVP Betting Perform, said: ‘If you’re a bettor following in-play events like shots, tackles and passes, it’s like you’re watching an entirely new game.
“Goals are still the most important thing of course, but shots happen ten times as frequently as goals, and from a wider spread of players, so the new Opta feed has given a way for operators to create compelling new player-focused experiences that occur throughout the 90 minutes. It’s a new level of entertainment for their customers, even throughout a 0-0 draw.’
Andrew Ashenden, Perform Chief Commercial Officer, added: “Perform’s expertise in both fast data for in-play trading (via RunningBall) and deep data (via Opta) means we’re uniquely placed to create a fast player statistics service that operators, fans and bettors can trust. Fans and bettors the world over are accustomed to seeing data like shots, passes and tackles collected in line with Opta definitions across media and broadcast.
“A lot of work goes into the collection and preparing this detailed data for betting use and we’re delighted with how partners and now bettors have reacted. I’m proud of what our teams have built and the reaffirms Perform’s commitment to providing the sports industry with innovative, engaging and quality products that power exceptional fan and bettor experiences.”
bet365 backs Kubernetes to deliver optimal deployment environment
Continuing its principal stance on developing its in-house proprietary platform and operating systems, bet365 has chosen to back opensource architectural and containment programming language Kubernetes.
Widely considered as the world’s biggest volume sportsbook, bet365 is set to back its development and deployment teams with a new Kubernetes built ‘containerised production application’.
Engaging with Kubernetes, bet365 details that it will be able to engineer better-proofed production and deployment environments helping the betting firm’s product inventory prepare to match peak scale.
To date, bet365’s product development and deployment have been maintained by utilising standard cluster and operating authentication modules.
The Infrastructure and Development teams identified Kubernetes as the right set of technologies for the business following a detailed analysis and exploration of a range of different modern orchestration approaches and automation platforms.
Updating the market, James Nightingale, Principle Infrastructure Architect at bet365, stated that Kubernetes could be a game-changer for the firm’s future development processes.
“It promises to increase the speed at which we can spin up production environments, while at the same time, delivering a highly malleable deployment mechanism that will enable Sports Development to rapidly release code.”
“As bet365’s architecture has become more complex; we’ve noticed a growing grey area around responsibility for configuring the platform. There are elements of configuration and tuning that are deployed across the stack, which would traditionally be the remit of the Infrastructure team but need to be undertaken by product teams. The result is two teams touching the configuration items and this added complexity increases the potential for error.”
bet365 to launch US prepaid cards programme with EML Payments
Australia ASX-listed omni-channel payment solutions provider EML Payments, continues to expand its sports betting profile, confirming that it has been appointed as lead ‘prepaid cards’ provider for bet365’s upcoming New Jersey sportsbook properties.
Securing a multi-year arrangement, EML has been tasked with delivering a tailored ‘reloadable payment cards programme’, for bet365’s opening US ventures.
Announcing a key corporate initiative, in July 2018 bet365 confirmed that it would make its US debut launching an online sportsbook and igaming platform in partnership with Hard Rock Atlantic City.
Recognised as the world’s leading online bookmaker, bet365 has further secured a key US strategic alliance with Empire Resorts’ ‘Resorts World Catskills’ property, which could see the betting group service the first licensed sportsbook for the state of New York if and when permitted by applicable law.
The update, sees EML secure its second US betting partnership, having launched a prepaid cards programme for PointsBet USA last January.
bet365 will become EML Payments’ thirteenth ‘branded reloadable’ partner, with the ASX enterprise servicing card payment programmes for the likes of GVC Holdings, Fortuna Entertainment and Betsson AB.
The EML portfolio offers innovative payment technology solutions for payouts, gifts, incentives and rewards, and supplier payments. The firm manages more than 1100 programs across 19 countries in North America, Europe and Australia.
Brexit concerns see bet365 migrate Gibraltar operations to Malta
Leading online bookmaker bet365, one of the biggest employers in Gibraltar, is reported to have sanctioned a multi-million relocation project to migrate its staff to Malta.
Issuing a statement, bet365 management has confirmed that it has undertaken relocating ‘certain functionalities’ to Malta as part of its ‘strategic and contingency plans to ensure EU market access’.
bet365 maintains its operations unit within the British Overseas Territory, employing a reported 500 Gibraltar staff members. The bookmaker has confirmed to the Gibraltar Broadcasting Corporation (GBC) that all staff have been offered the opportunity to relocate to Malta in their current roles.
In its update, bet365 management underlines that its decision was ‘driven primarily by the continuing Brexit landscape’, and that it will maintain a presence within Gibraltar.
For its European market operations, bet365 holds both Gibraltar (GGC) and Malta (MGA) licences. To date, bet365 has maintained a small marketing-led unit in Malta.
In May 2018, bet365 was forced to confirm that it was expanding its Malta operations, however company management blasted Malta news reports as ‘wholly inaccurate’.
The government of Gibraltar has stated that it aware of bet365 developments and has worked ‘constructively with the company’ to mitigate the effects on Gibraltar.
“It is clear that the decisions announced by bet365 are directly related to Brexit, and not to any matter otherwise related to Gibraltar,” the government said in a statement.
Low corporate taxes (1% cap) and Gibraltar’s full membership to the EU have seen the UK independent territory become the operational home to more than 30 online betting operators including GVC, BetVictor, 888 Holdings and 32Red. With over 5000 sector employees, the online gambling industry remains Gibraltar’s largest employer (population 32,000).
Bet365 becomes the latest to implement GiG Comply software
Bet365 is set to be the latest operator to implement the marketing compliance screening tool, GiG Comply after inking a new deal with Gaming Innovation Group Inc (GiG).
The compliance tool software is able to scan up to 30,000 web pages daily and will offer Bet365 a thorough list of locations where any of its brands are mentioned is compiled on a daily basis.
Richard Brown, chief operations officer at GiG, commented on the new partnership: “We are very pleased to have signed bet365, one of the leaders in the gambling industry, to GiG’s compliance screening tool and to support them in their marketing compliance.
“It’s great to know that we share the same aspirations for a safe and trusted environment. GiG Comply will support bet365 to keep compliance oversight and to be in control of affiliate activities, ensuring fair and fun iGaming for all.”
By using the software, bet365 can check for the presence or lack of notable terms, images and promotional links and whether age-gated games or code red words are present next to a promotion.
The new technology has been created to primarily ensure compliance in addition to offer a reduction in manual checking for operator sites. This will significantly support bet365’s strategy in maintaining marketing compliance in an ever-changing regulatory landscape.
Punter’s case against Bet365 for £1m unpaid winnings discontinued
• Megan McCann placed a £25,000 stake on 12 horses in 2016
• Bet365 claimed student’s bet breached its terms and conditions
The long-running legal case in which Megan McCann, a student from Northern Ireland, was using the bookmaker Bet365 for £1m in unpaid winnings has been discontinued shortly before it was due to return to court in Belfast, prompting speculation Bet365 has agreed to a settlement over the disputed bets almost three years after they were placed in June 2016.
A Bet365 account in the name of McCann, who was a 19-year-old student at the time, placed a stake of almost £25,000 on 12 horses running in races at Bath, Kempton Park, and Naas on 22 June 2016. Bet365 accepted the bets – a combined total of 960 £13 each-way Lucky 15s – which were mostly successful and returned a total payout of £984,833.
However, Bet365 refused to pay the winnings, claiming the original stake for the bets had been provided by a third party in contravention of the firm’s terms and conditions. It also refused to refund the £25,000 stake.
McCann launched legal action against Bet365 two years ago and the latest in a series of court dates working towards a full hearing of the case was scheduled for Friday morning.
However, the listing was removed earlier this week and an administrator at Belfast’s high court confirmed on Wednesday that McCann’s legal team had lodged an official “notice of discontinuance” in the case.
While punters who have followed the case will be pleased if it transpires that some or all of the £1m winnings have been paid, the news it will not reach a full hearing could also leave a lingering sense of frustration that significant questions about the robustness of a major bookmaker’s T&Cs will not be tested in court.
McCann’s statement of claim alleged Bet365 and other leading online bookmakers habitually engage in “unconscionable practices” when dealing with their customers, and that they actively discriminate against shrewd punters who are able to make their betting pay. Many successful punters find it almost impossible to get their bets accepted and their accounts are either closed or, more usually, restricted to stakes of £1 or less. As a result, some are known to resort to using “clean” accounts opened by family members, friends and acquaintances to place stakes on their behalf.
Bet365 did not respond to a request for comment on Wednesday.
Bet365 refuse to take multiple bets on Frankie Dettori after Royal Ascot four-timer
Frankie Dettori had the bookmakers running scared at Royal Ascot on Friday as one leading firm took the highly unusual step of turning down multiple bets on his rides after taking a pummeling from his 449-1 four-timer on Thursday.
The 48-year-old failed to get close to repeating his fantastic four in consecutive days, riding just one winner, but Bet365, the online gambling firm, had taken no chances earlier in the day by making the decision to refuse all multiple bets on his rides overnight.
The bookmaker initially told Telegraph Sport the block on any double or bigger multiple wagers was down to its automated computer system, but a website exchange between staff and one customer, seen by Telegraph Sport, clearly showed the company’s trading department had made the decision to block bets. The betting firm were contacted again for their reaction to this, but declined to comment.
Bookmakers reportedly suffered their worst day in recent years at Royal Ascot on Thursday after Dettori landed his fourth straight win of the afternoon on Stradivarius in the Gold Cup, the meeting’s showpiece event.
Dettori had earlier steered A’Ali, Sangarius and Star Catcher to victory in the first three races.
Those still taking bets on Dettori breathed a sigh of relief after he finished the last of 25 on Last Surprise in the first race. His next mount ran home fourth before he got 8/1 shot Advertise past the post first in the Commonwealth Cup. Dettori’s next mount, Twist ‘n’ Shake could only finish fourth in the Coronation Stakes but he went really close in the final race of the day when Ryan Moore pipped him and Ben Vrackie in a photograph.
Rival betting firm Paddy Power, meanwhile, had poked fun at Bet365 on Friday morning, tweeting: “Unlike other bookies you can still bet on multiples with Paddy.”
Despite Dettori’s crowd-pleasing exploits, crowds at the track this week have been down on last year by up to 3,500 a day. On Ladies Day – one of the most popular in the racing calendar – the attendance was 66,375, compared to 70,046 last year.
The wet weather and a strike on South Western Railway were offered as an explanation by some officials, but organisers will be concerned that the event is failing to keep pace with the likes of Cheltenham Festival, which has clocked up record attendances in consecutive years.
One ticket tout outside Ascot station described the weather and smaller crowds as “absolutely shocking for business”. “I’m not sure why the crowds are like this, but this has been one of my worst weeks of the year,” he said.
Better attendance is expected on Saturday amid heightened security at the course. Thames Valley Police will confirm arrest numbers on Monday, but early reports suggest there has been little sign of trouble. Extra sniffer dogs have been patrolling amid fears that drug use has increased amongst some racegoers.
bet365 launches MX property in partnership with TV Azteca
bet365 has launched its Mexican market domain – bet365.mx – in partnership with ‘Ganador Azteca’, the gambling subsidiary of Mexican national broadcaster TV Azteca.
The UK’s leading online bookmaker undertakes its Mexican market launch having secured a ‘partnership licence’ granted by Mexican Ministry of the Interior department ‘Dirección General de Juegos y Sorteos -DGJS’.
The announcement sees bet365 partner with Mexico’s ‘second largest multimedia group’ TV Azteca, who in 2018 established its Ganador Azteca division seeking to develop Mexican gambling/entertainment verticals.
Last September, DGJS granted Ganador Azteca the right to establish a casino property in the Yanga province in the state of Veracruz, a license that would be expanded to allow for online gambling provisions.
The Mexican launch sees bet365 continue to expand its LATAM and South American market profiles.
This June, it was revealed that bet365 was amongst the ten international operators competing to secure one-of-seven Buenos Aires online gambling licences, partnering with local bingo operator Pasteko SA.
bet365 undertakes its Mexican debut as ministers of the governing PT Labour and MORENA coalition government propose mandates seeking to revamp Mexican gambling’s regulatory framework which has governed the industry since 1945.
A revamp of gambling laws will likely see the federal government clash with Mexican regional executives, who at present hold ‘provincial autonomy’ on regulating gambling services and tax collections.
In previous statements, MORENA party officials have outlined that the coalition party will seek to transfer the regulatory agenda of gambling back to the federal government.
bet365 secures deep integration with Racing Post mobile
The Racing Post has announced that it will integrate bet365 wagering markets across its free iOS mobile app and mobile website.
The integration will allow readers to place bets on horseracing and greyhounds with bet365 without leaving the Racing Post app.
bet365 becomes the latest bookmaker to integrate into Racing Post mobile inventory, joining William Hill, Ladbrokes, Coral and Paddy Power.
Racing Post details the bet365 partnership as a significant enhancement for its mobile app which delivers daily racecards, fast results, expert tips, the latest breaking news and live race streaming.
Speaking about the launch, Racing Post chief executive and editor-in-chief, Alan Byrne commented. “We have had a long and successful association with bet365 in print and online and have always enjoyed working with them. Our customers on desktop have been able to bet directly with bet365 for many years and we are delighted to be able to extend that option to our ever-growing mobile audience.
“We are constantly trying to improve the betting experience for our customers and to offer them even more choice. We are therefore very pleased to see bet365 join our other highly valued partners.”
bet365 customers can already place bets via the Racing Post desktop site and the introduction of bet365 to another Racing Post product further builds on the strong partnership between the two brands. bet365 boasts over 45 million customers worldwide and covers over 500,000 sports events annually.
Backing the partnership, Simon Betteley from bet365 added: “Racing Post has long been the home of horseracing and greyhounds in the UK and Ireland and we are delighted to be an integral part of that. Partnering with Racing Post’s mobile products broadens the options for both bet365 and Racing Post customers.
“We know that our customers continue to use mobile more and more and the Racing Post app provides a superb experience for those wishing to bet on horseracing and greyhounds.”
IBIA & bet365 advise Dutch government to drop in-play limitations
A diverse range of betting stakeholders have advised the Dutch government not to restrict betting markets and instead implement sensible in-play wagering policies, as the Netherlands prepares to launch its regulated online gambling marketplace in 2021.
Industry submissions have been made public as the Dutch government concludes its consultation on draft laws intended to govern remote gambling services.
Seventeen industry submissions have been published, in which the majority of stakeholders underline concerns on prohibited bet types enforced on licensed online sportsbook operators.
This February, the Dutch government published the draft framework of it’s ‘Remote Gambling Bill’ aiming to modernise the Netherlands regulatory frameworks for online gambling services.
In relation to sports betting, Dutch policymakers have undertaken a number of in-play wagering restrictions on the basis of protecting sports and athlete integrity.
These restrictions include prohibiting licensed bookmakers from offering head-to-head bets and a significant reduction ‘in-play event ’ bet-types for football and tennis markets such as next throw-in, foul, corner or points betting offered on a tennis match.
European industry trade body, the International Betting Integrity Association (IBIA), submitted a challenge of the wagering restrictions, detailing that Dutch government restrictions were baseless as they would not serve to protect sports integrity concerns.
With regards to tennis, the IBIA details that the market is dominated by ‘80% of bets placed through in-play wagering’, a dynamic which should be recognised by Dutch authorities as they seek to implement an effective framework by 2021.
The IBIA warns policymakers, that restrictions to football and tennis markets will simply add the strain of monitoring national consumers who may choose to wager with unlicensed bookmakers operating complete live betting functionalities.
“The importance of meeting the needs of modern-day consumers in a globally competitive marketplace should not be underestimated” The IBIA states “It is important to recognise that these markets are very popular, especially in the growing in-play product range,”
The IBIA’s concerns are shared by bet365, which advises the Dutch government to offer the ‘widest possible product range on sports betting’, which in-turn will allow integrity stakeholders to develop the most comprehensive collaboration framework for catching bad actors.
“Unless the authorities allow operators to offer the widest possible product range, it will become increasingly difficult to capture and report on suspicious betting activity throughout the regulated market,” warns bet365.
As leading European online bookmaker, bet365 underlines that the Dutch government will be better served by developing cooperative reporting frameworks and procedures between sportbooks and national agencies.
Colossus Bets confirms cash-out collaboration with bet365
Pool betting markets supplier Colossus Bets has confirmed a new long-term licensing agreement that will allow bet365 to utilise its extensive cash-out patent portfolio in the US market.
The linkup follows Colossus’ considerable expansion in the country, with the firm being granted 12 patents in the US, adding to a host it has been granted globally. These include cash-out on several gaming verticals including poker, casino, lottery and, most notably, bet365’s renowned sportsbook offering.
Colossus’ CEO Bernard Marantelli commented: “bet365 are known not just for their size but also their commitment towards user experience and we are pleased that licensing Colossus’ IP
fits their commercial objectives in the US.”
The significant of the cash-out feature is undoubted, with industry estimates suggesting that if it was a sport, it would qualify as the third biggest by betting volume for most sportsbooks, right behind football (soccer) and racing, which is especially telling given the feature is still evolving.
The partnership also marks the consistent growth of bet365 in the region. The operator confirmed its expansion into Mexico by announcing a partnership with TV Azteca’s gambling subsidiary, Ganador Azteca.
The new market domain, bet365.mx, will complement the UK’s operator to expand its profile across the LATAM region. The news follows on from bet365 securing its ‘partnership licence’ from the Mexican Ministry of the Interior department ‘Dirección General de Juegos y Sorteos -DGJS’.
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