Launches and sign-ups 1 July 2015
Launches and sign-ups from the egaming industry in the last seven days (25 June 2015 to 1 July 2015)
William Hill kicks-off major website revamp
Operator begins roll-out of Project Trafalgar with golf, tennis and rugby union first to be upgraded
William Hill has begun the roll-out of a new responsive front-end which the firm claims will transform its future flexibility by handing it full autonomy over its customer-facing website.
In recent weeks William Hill has released a new interface for all tennis and golf pages while it has also included rugby union for a selected customer base. The operator said it planned to transition further sports in the coming months.
The major project, which has been three years in the making and required the input of 80 in-house developers, has seen the operator build a brand new platform to sit on top of the OpenBet back-end.
The development of the new site, referred to internally as Project Trafalgar, was the brain child of director of innovation and customer experience Jamie Hart, while the project has been overseen by director of product development Stuart Weston.
William Hill launches start-up investment programme
William Hill has launched a £350,000 start-up accelerator programme at its London and Tel Aviv tech hubs aimed at keeping the operator at the “cutting edge of omni-channel change”.
The operator has partnered with technology entrepreneur Stuart Marks’ investment fund L Marks on the WHLabs Accelerator project, which is accepting applications until 26 July, with Hills pledging to invest up to £350,000 into eight new businesses.
Hills has outlined six different categories for applications, encouraging start-ups which can enhance the betting experience, provide omni-channel innovation, improve technical efficiency, create new marketing solutions, new products or “surprise” the adjudicators.
Seven days in launches and sign-ups:
Betsson acquires Georgia-facing Europe-Bet in £54m deal
Betsson AB has acquired Georgia-facing operator Europe-Bet in a deal worth up to US$85m (£54m), the firm announced this week.
The agreement, which is expected to complete next month, will see Betsson pay Europe-Bet’s private owners $50m (£32m) up front with a further $35m (£22m) due after one year should the current regulatory framework in Georgia remain unchanged during that period.
Europe-Bet operates both online and land-based businesses, however, from total turnover of $52.4m in 2014, more than three quarters ($40.8m) was derived via its digital operation, of which 44% was sportsbook driven.
Mansion Group seals Premier League sponsorship deal
Mansion Group has signed a two-year deal with AFC Bournemouth to become the newly promoted Premier League football club’s official shirt sponsor from the start of next season.
The agreement was initiated by sports marketing agency SportQuake and will see the Gibraltar-based operator sponsor the team’s home, away, third kit, and training wear, in addition to new marketing activities between the two brands.
“We have been impressed by the recent performance and promotion of AFC Bournemouth, and look forward to partnering with them for their first season within the English Premier League,” Sagi Lahav, CEO of Mansion Group, said.
Kambi enters Mexico with multi-channel deal
Kambi is set to enter the Mexican market for the first time after striking a deal to provide the PlayCity Casino group with an in-house sportsbook.
Under terms of the deal with Grupo Televisa, which owns the PlayCity Casino brand, Kambi will also look to develop an online sportsbook offering for the casino in the near future.
Kambi said it would initially deploy its fixed-odds betting terminals at two PlayCity casinos, and would explore “the multi-channel potential” following the proof of concept launch.
Sporting Index simplifies cash-out in website overhaul
Sporting Index has simplified the option for users to close out open bets while also introducing a raft of new features as part of a major website redesign aimed at speeding up customer navigation.
The new site, which is currently in beta ahead of a full launch next month, has re-packaged its cash-out functionality, which was an integral feature of spread betting long before it was adopted by the fixed-odds industry.
In response to how cash-out is presented by sportsbooks, Sporting Index customers are now offered an on-screen sliding scale of cash-out options, ranging from partial close trades to full cash-out, which the firm said should make the process more accessible and intuitive.
Paddy Power renews PMU B2B partnership
Paddy Power has renewed its B2B partnership with Pari Mutuel Urbain (PMU) to provide sports betting services to the French operator for a further five years.
The partnership was originally signed in late 2009 and sees Paddy Power’s B2B division provide risk management, event management and fixed-odds pricing services to PMU.
“When PMU decided to jump into the sports betting adventure, it had no experience in this new business,” Alain Resplandy-Bernard, PMU deputy CEO, said.
PokerStars debuts slots in Italy
PokerStars has bolstered its Italy-facing online casino offering with the launch of a wide range of slots titles.
The content has been developed by PokerStars’ parent company Amaya Gaming as well as Leander Games and Quickspin, and includes titles such as Supernova, Ali Baba, Dragon Slot, Mandarin Fortune, and Treasure Island.
PokerStars president of Southern Europe, Gino Appiotti, said the addition of slots means the operator now offers “an increasingly comprehensive product offering” for its players.
Betfred completes first phase of Totepool upgrade
Betfred has completed the first phase roll-out of its Sportech-powered multi-channel tote betting platform ahead of a wider digital integration set to take place in Q3.
The firm announced in June last year it would outsource its entire UK Tote technology platform to Sportech in a 10-year £9m deal, with plans to “co-mingle pools” with international jurisdictions as the operator looks to grow its Totepool business in the US and Asia.
The overhaul will also include the integration of Sportech’s G4 framework for online betting, plus its Digital Link mobile, which Betfred said it plans to have ready to test by Q3.
Featurespace has this week struck a deal with William Hill to become the UK operator’s new analytics partner, providing machine learning analytics and technical expertise to interpret data.
“We’ve been working with the William Hill team for some time and we’re impressed by their commitment to improving customer experience,” David Excell, founder and CTO of Featurespace, said.
“This is the first in a number of exciting announcements planned as we roll out Featurespace’s analytics,” he added.