Volume 46 | June 24, 2021
WEEKLY EDITION
June 24, 2021
Client Partner Spotlight: Kinectify and Netacea
We would like to highlight two of our exceptional client partners, each of whom provide sophisticated solutions to mitigate risks that pose significant threats to the gambling industry. Netacea has a comprehensive solution to defend our websites against bot fraud. Kinectify has a new and powerful solution to addressing KYC and AML requirements in highly usable ways and tailored specifically to the gaming industry.
If a picture is worth a thousand words, the two short videos following the spotlights on Netacea and Kinectify represent five million words worth of a shortcut to understanding the importance and value of these solutions.
If you are as interested as we are, in ensuring that our clients and partners are protected against bot fraud and KYC / AML risks, please contact us for more information.
Spotlight on Netacea
Web scraping and arbitrage betting are real threats to the gaming industry. Because attackers can easily automate exploits like these, they can come after us inexpensively and at scale. We understand that the iGaming, online, and mobile sports wagering industry is just beginning to build a presence across the United States. Now is the time to look at our defensive strategies against digital attackers seeking to take advantage of our relatively new infrastructures and operators. We can put Netacea’s fast and accurate website, mobile app, and API data in our partner’s hands to intelligently mitigate unwanted traffic and prioritize legitimate users, right now, where it is most needed.
To watch a short video explaining why Netacea and its bot management solution, please click the button below.
Spotlight on Kinectify
Kinectify has ushered in a new era of risk management software for the gaming industry. Designed by AML practitioners, Kinectify enables organizations to know each and every customer and vendor, seamlessly streamline workflows, and centralize information. Addressing the impact Kinectify has on compliance programs, Ben Floyd, former SVP of AML, Caesars Entertainment said, “Kinectify is a game-changer for AML compliance. Designed by industry professionals with efficiency and the end-user in mind, this is a no-brainer for gaming companies.”
To watch a short video explaining Kinectify, and it’s value to our industry, please click the button below.
SCCG Client Partners
On June 22, 2021, the Senate of Canada passed the third reading of Bill C-218, the Safe and Regulated Sports Betting Act, a private member’s bill that amends the Canadian Criminal Code provisions around betting on single sports games. As it stands currently in Canada, it is illegal to place bets on single game sporting events except for horse racing.
This move by the Canadian government is a logical one as it looks to how its southern counterpart in the United States has handled the legalization of sports betting. The bill was approved by a vote of 57-20 and now awaits royal assent to become law (a formal process which is effectively a rubber stamp to put the bill into law).
The bill has been well received by the likes of the National Hockey League, the Canadian Football League and other professional sports leagues as well.
Certain companies like theScore (Score Media and Gaming Inc.), which operates a popular North American betting app, pegs the market for online gaming in Canada between US$4.3 billion and US$5.4 billion in annual revenue. theScore has been preparing for the legalization of single game betting for some time, and as a result, are primed to capture a significant share of the Canadian market. theScore’s CEO, John Levy, was quoted saying “gamblers will be much more eager to lay down money on individual games rather than just Proline-style betting — “parlays” where they wager on fixed odds around two or more games. When you think about people betting on sports … it basically is, `Well who do you like tonight? Are you gonna bet the Jays or you gonna bet the Yankees?”
theScore’s app competes with casinos and online sports betting giants such as FanDuel and DraftKings, companies that are likely building out their Canadian road maps as well (along with other major industry players). Like ongoing growth and expansion of the sports betting market in the United States, it will be a mad dash from global brands to capture a piece of the soon-to-be booming Canadian market.
Social Betting App ‘Wagr’ Set to Disrupt Traditional Sports Betting Industry
SCCG Contributing Writer
Alexis Ohanian, co-founder of popular website reddit.com, and husband of the legendary Serena Williams, recently invested $4 million in a new sportsbook platform called Wagr, which seeks to bring a social and more casual approach to sports betting. With sports betting becoming increasingly mainstream, it looks as though Ohanian is looking to capitalize on the trend by shaking up the traditional model of wagering.
The differentiating factor of the Wagr platform is without a doubt its social aspect. Using the mobile app, friends can take either side of a game or match, and talk smack to each other as the event goes on. Communities built by members on Wagr can choose whatever side they wish to gamble on, and can interact with each other as the event goes on. The social betting platform also wants to bring a simplified, bare-bones style approach to sports betting, to try and limit any barriers to entry for non-sports fans. Because of this, spread betting is the only available market on the app, although there are plans to include moneylines and even prop bets down the line. There will be a set $500 limit for single wagers on the app, which can be a good or bad thing depending on what type of gambler you are. There is a fee users must pay to use Wagr, which would act as a substitute for the “juice” or “vig” that traditional bookmakers take.
Personally, I do think that the Wagr platform will find success in the market, especially amongst the 21-40 age group, and amongst the most casual of bettors. For better or worse, our society is going increasingly digital, and sports betting patterns reflect this, with the large majority of money being wagered online. Furthermore, human interaction is also taking place less in person, and more over an internet connection. Ohanian, being an internet mogul himself, certainly realizes this, and can use his expertise, as well as his capital, to have a significant impact on this venture. I think it’s clever how Wagr seeks to streamline the entire process of the “wager between friends”. They’re dumbing down sports betting to its most basic form, and while this may be a turn-off for the more experienced bettor, it opens the door to a whole new market of consumers, especially those who are unfamiliar with sports & sports betting. One feature I particularly like is if you have no friends to wager against, you can still feel like a part of a greater community, with sports being a common ground. The $500 limit per wager is something I have mixed feelings about, but overall I see it as a healthy way to gamble, and a way for Wagr to market themselves as the “responsible” company when it comes to problem gambling. With the floodgates now open for sports betting in this country, I would not be surprised if newly created sports betting services try to alter their product to give a fresh spin on traditional gambling. The Wagr sportsbook already has licensing applications pending in Tennessee and Virginia, it looks as though they are positioning themselves to be a big player in the sports betting market by combining simplified sports betting & online social communities.
WELCOME TO YOUR ROUNDUP OF EUROPEAN IGAMING NEWS
Our weekly US-UK focused iGaming feature article summarizes the thoughts of Jake Pollard, an experienced journalist and editor who has covered the online gaming and betting industry for many years. He has written for the leading media outlets as well as operators and suppliers in the igaming space. His areas of focus are wide-ranging and include regulatory developments in the US, emerging markets in South America and how European countries are adapting to a decade of igaming regulation.
Canada high: The passing of Bill C-218 enabling single event sports betting is a momentous occasion for Canada’s sports betting industry. Toronto-based media and gaming group theScore is expected to be one of the main beneficiaries of the new regulation. CEO John Levy said Canada could generate between US$3.8bn-$5.4bn in annual GGR. The market will of course be highly competitive, in fact it already is since it is already one the largest grey markets in the world. Bearing that in mind it will also be interesting to see how many of the currently unlicensed brands with strong dot ca market shares will apply for licences.
iCasino priority: It was interesting listening to Lee Fenton, CEO of Gamesys-Bally’s Interactive, during the recent Macquarie Technology Summit. Fenton seldom speaks in public, so when he described online casino as “absolutely critical for driving the profitability of your business” because of its predictability and the funds it provides for investment and product development, investors and analysts will have listened intently. However, there is also no guarantee iCasino regulation will spread to more states in the near future.
Marketing overload: Speaking on a subsequent panel, Lloyd Danzig, CEO of Sharp Alpha Advisors, said the proliferation of sponsorship deals between U.S. operators and sports teams could cause similar problems to those experienced in Europe. “We have seen this in other markets where the inundation of gambling-related advertising ended up leading to consumer protection concerns and friction between regulators and operators. Now in places like Italy we are seeing marketing bans and sports teams walking away from gambling deals.”
Promo enhancements: The importance of promotional spend for sports betting operators was once again illustrated by the Pennsylvania figures for the month of May. The state’s numbers showed combined market share for leading brands DraftKings and FanDuel had reached 64%, but Barstool Sportsbook had dropped from 13% in April to 10.7% in May. The reason for this according to analysts at Deutsche Bank was that April had been “promo-enhanced”. The trend is also visible when looking at January-April promotional activity: it represented 4.7% of Barstool handle for the period, but for FanDuel the figure was 2.3% and for DraftKings 1.4%.
Capital failings: The poor performance of the D.C. Lottery’s betting app GambetDC in the country’s capital, where it enjoys exclusivity for mobile betting, as opposed to a two-block radius limited to the Capital One Arena in downtown Washington, D.C. for the likes of William Hill; shows that it is dangerous to take punters for granted. As players opt to queue (round the block) to wager with Hill’s retail sportsbook at the stadium, rather than log on to GambetDC to bet from the convenience of their mobiles, Lottery executives are under pressure to turn things around.
SCCG Management: New and Upcoming Events
SCCG Management Announces Partnership with Beverly Zeliger for Strategic Digital Marketing Consulting
Las Vegas, NV – June 23, 2021 – / sccgmanagement.com / – Stephen Crystal, Founder, SCCG Management, announced a partnership with Beverly Zeliger and her firm, LA Spirit Marketing, to provide strategic digital marketing consulting to its clients and partners, inside and outside the US.
SCCG Management and Kinectify bring Simplified KYC/AML Solution to US Gaming Industry
Las Vegas, NV – June 22, 2012 – / EINPRESSWIRE.COM / – Today, Stephen Crystal announced that Kinectify and SCCG Management have entered into an agreement to bring Kinectify’s new KYC and AML tools to the gaming industry.
Stephen Crystal, Founder, SCCG Management, said of the event, “We are excited to bring this set of business essential products to the casino and iGaming industry. This product, so well regarded by many in the casino gaming space, will bring a competitive solution to our high-risk industry.”
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