Launches and sign-ups 21 January 2015
Launches and sign-ups from the egaming industry in the last seven days (15 January to 21 January 2015)
PokerStars readies Q1 sportsbook launch
Parent company Amaya Gaming says sports betting will be ready “ahead of schedule”
PokerStars is on track to launch its hotly anticipated sportsbook “ahead of schedule” in the first quarter of the year, parent company Amaya Gaming has revealed.
Amaya said sportsbook would launch within the PokerStars client “in certain markets”, with a wider roll-out and the launch of web and mobile versions taking place throughout the year.
The platform has been built predominantly in-house with some “non-differentiating” components farmed out to third party providers.
In November, PokerStars revealed it had begun building its in-house sportsbook trading team, which is being led by former bet365 VIP trading manager Ian Marmion.
PoC tax prompts William Hill to end Lincoln sponsorship
William Hill is to end its sponsorship of the Doncaster Lincoln Handicap race as part of the bookmaker’s strategy to cut costs following the introduction of the UK Point of Consumption (PoC) tax.
The new tax regime came into force on 1 December and has forced operators to explore ways in which they can offset the 15% profit levy. William Hill set itself a target of £15m-£20m of cost savings with the tax predicted to cost the firm £60-£70m a year.
“The PoC tax has meant that we have had to make marketing savings against what we would otherwise have spent, and this seemed an obvious saving not to renew,” a spokesperson for William Hill told eGaming Review.
Seven days in launches and sign-ups:
Ladbrokes makes Mexican market entry
Ladbrokes has made its long-awaited entry into the Mexican online gaming market as part of its Sportium joint-venture with Spanish operator Cirsa.
Sportium’s sportsbook and gaming products were launched last week on the Casinolife.com.mx site operating under the licence of local brand Casino Life.
Mexico-based Casino Life is Cirsa’s land-based casino business and is licensed in the Mexican market, and Ladbrokes expects Cirsa’s offline presence in Latin America to help the joint-venture expand across the region.
Betfred targets international growth with new tote platform
Betfred says it remains on track to launch the first phase of its new multi-channel tote betting platform in May, as part of plans to grow its Totepool business in Asia and the US.
The operator first announced it would outsource its entire UK Tote technology platform to Sportech in a 10-year deal worth around £9m in June last year.
And speaking to eGaming Review this morning, Betfred Totepool MD Phil Siers said the deal would ensure “better connectivity across the world” and improve its ability to “co-mingle pools” with “Asia and the US of particular interest”.
Sportech to launch US online casino next month
Sportech is on track to soft-launch its online casino platform in New Jersey with land-based partner Resorts Casino next month.
The London-headquartered horserace wagering and pools operator, which has a base in Connecticut, first announced plans to enter the real-money US egaming market in June 2014 through its SNG Interactive joint-venture with NYX Gaming.
The JV platform will offer a full suite of online casino games under the Resorts Casino brand, however the land-based operator has inked a deal with the as-yet-unlicensed PokerStars and Full Tilt for its poker platform.
Betclic re-launches Monte-Carlo Casino brand
Betclic Everest Group (BEG) has re-launched its Monte-Carlo Casino brand in partnership with the land-based casino’s owner The Société des Bains de Mer (SBM).
Montecarlocasino.com, which spent a year in development, went live earlier this month under BEG’s UK and Malta licences as the operator targets an improved performance from the casino vertical.
The online casino was launched on Betclic’s proprietary gaming platform and features games from Net Entertainment and Quickfire, with additional titles from IGT, WMS and Amaya to be unveiled soon.
Paddy Power backs David Ginola FIFA presidency push
Paddy Power has hit the headlines last week with an ambitious campaign to have former footballer David Ginola replace Sepp Blatter as the president of football world governing body FIFA.
The ‘Team Ginola – Rebooting Football’ campaign was launched at a press conference in London on Friday morning, along with a teamginola.com website and #TeamGinola Twitter handle.
The campaign has been created by creative agency M&C Saatchi, which is also among the candidates to take over Paddy’s creative advertising account from Crispin Porter & Bogusky later this year.
City A.M. launches mobile casino with Nektan
London business newspaper City A.M. has partnered with mobile casino supplier Nektan to become the latest media brand to launch an online gaming product.
City A.M. Casino is available through HTML5-developed apps for both smartphones and tablets, and follows a soft-launch of the product late last year.
Blackjack, roulette and slots games have been launched and Nektan is to add a number of new mobile and tablet-optimised games over the coming year.