Launches and sign-ups 23 September 2015
Launches and sign-ups from the egaming industry in the last seven days (17 September 2015 to 23 September 2015)
William Hill in midst of bingo overhaul
New team members being recruited as operator aims to revitalise product suffering from recent “lack of investment”
William Hill has kicked-off plans to overhaul its bingo offering starting with the appointment of a brand new team, including a new senior operations manager to lead the product.
The team, which is expected to be in place before the end of the year, will be tasked with overseeing a complete website redesign as well as the introduction of new bespoke and branded bingo content.
A primary aim of the new site will be to better leverage the operator’s proprietary slots content and increase the amount of revenues generated via side games.
The operator also plans to be more active in promoting its recently launched scratchcards product, which is seen as being able to provide bingo players with a more natural steppingstone into ‘harder’ gaming products.
DraftKings poised for Q4 UK launch
Daily fantasy sports operator DraftKings says it expects to launch in the UK by the end of the year.
The Boston-based firm, which plans to open a London HQ, will pool liquidity between its players in the UK and the US to allow it to offer the same multi-million pound prize funds.
Jeffrey Haas, who joined DraftKings as chief international officer in August, told eGR that he was “confident” of meeting the Q4 launch deadline.
Seven days in launches and sign-ups:
William Hill Aus backs In-Play product with new ad
William Hill Australia has taken the bold step of launching a new advertising campaign to promote its live betting feature, despite ongoing scrutiny into the legality of the controversial product.
The operator’s ‘Click to Call’ feature has now been rebranded to ‘In-Play’, on both WilliamHill.com.au and TomWaterhouse.com.au, to coincide with the release of a new online video advert.
William Hill uses the 30-second ad to take a swipe at one of its competitors, believed to be Tabcorp, for publically questioning the legality of the product and said it aimed to take on Australia’s “monopolistic retail operators”.
NetPlay TV plots live sports betting show
NetPlay TV is planning to expand its television-based gambling portfolio with a live sports betting show using its Vernons brand.
The operator, which last week posted net revenues of £12.7m for H1 2015, acquired the UK-facing Vernons gaming and betting brand in late 2013 and has invested little resource into growing the sportsbook since then.
But following the long-awaited launch of a new Geneity-powered mobile product last month, NetPlay will begin to market more aggressively through affiliate networks and TV spots on Channel 5, in a move similar to its SuperCasino broadcasts.
Unibet completes iGame Group acquisition
Unibet has finalised its 59m (£43m) acquisition of iGame Group in a boost to the Stockholm-listed operator’s position in the Scandinavian egaming market.
Completion of the deal was confirmed by Unibet last week and marks the operator’s second major acquisition of the year following its £19m purchase of Stan James’ digital business in July.
Unibet has paid the 59m in cash up front after securing a new 120m credit facility, while iGame Group may also receive additional earn-out payments up to a cap of 20m based on the firm’s financial performance for the period up to 30 June 2016.
BetConstruct to share bet liabilities among partners
Sportsbook supplier BetConstruct is attempting to tackle the problem of operators rejecting large bets with a new product that enables partners to share the risk of bets struck by other member firms.
BetCloud is a system which allows operators accept bets above and beyond set limits, with the additional stake divided among other BetCloud users, meaning operators no longer need to reject or turn away custom.
Instead of a punter’s large bet being rejected or reduced in size, the bet will be accepted with the layer only assuming the risk associated with its max bet size and the excess sent to BetCloud to be distributed between other BetCloud customers.
William Hill Priority Access card gets wider rollout
William Hill is rolling its recently launched Priority Access card out to its wider customer base after early signs showed punters using the payment card were maintaining higher balances and placing more bets.
The Access card, which was developed and soft launched in conjunction with Mastercard late last year, is linked directly to customers’ William Hill balances and enables holders to pay for items anywhere card payments are accepted.
Speaking to eGaming Review, Jamie Hart, William Hill director of innovation and customer experience, said the card had proven to be a hit with customers while it had also boosted business for the operator itself.
Gamesys to launch re-branded affiliate programme
Gamesys will launch a rebranded affiliate programme next month as the operator looks to capitalise on new technological advancements within the performance marketing space.
The London-based operator will rebrand its Market Ace programme to Gamesys Affiliates on 1 October with the launch set to feature a range of new tech capabilities.
Speaking with eGR, Gamesys’ head of affiliates Aliz Radek said the strength of the Gamesys brand internationally played a key role in the decision.
NetBet makes UK push with new ad campaign
NetBet has appointed online gaming marketing agency Dice London to launch an “experiential” campaign as the sportsbook and casino operator looks to gain a foothold in the competitive UK market.
The campaign is centred on encouraging football fans to make more noise in support of their team, and includes TV slots, in-stadium ads and stunts, and taxi branding.
Dice recently launched two TV slots for NetBet, which the agency said were inspired by the iconic restaurant scene from the film ‘When Harry Met Sally’ and show a “spontaneous outpouring of vocal excitement” triggered by playing NetBet.