Industry News

Lottery must act to protect its market share, or risk losing it

Published

5 years ago

April 16, 2020

Reading Time: 2 minutes

The lottery sector must stick together to protect its market share and fight off the existential threat caused by global lockdown, according to Spinola Gaming CEO Ade Repcenko.

A small number of retail and online providers currently drive the industry from a technology aspect. In most cases, a lottery will only utilise one provider and they are locked into long term agreements which prohibit the use of external or additional technologies. These restrictive agreements make it harder for state-run operators to get online and continue to generate revenue, as their existing providers don’t have the appropriate technologies or capabilities to get clients online quickly.

Repcenko explains how this has to change for the industry to survive the existential challenge of Covid-19 lockdown. “In a time when people are keeping their distance, it’s important that we stick together to make sure lottery survives, not dies,” he explained. “It’s time for the lottery sector to unite and join forces, to help each other and our clients for the greater good by working together on utilizing technologies that enable all of us to add value to our existing relationships, which helps our clients continue to raise funds and generate revenues for good causes. Most importantly, we cannot let alternate options become more attractive to players than the games they are used to playing every week.”

Prague Gaming & TECH Summit 2025 (25-26 March)

As the global lottery sector faces its biggest ever challenge, the solutions provider CEO believes the industry is being forced to make the shift online earlier than planned. For many, it would have been an inevitability over the next 3-5 years, but with retail now unable to sell tickets, that process has to be accelerated. Most operators are backed into a corner through long term retail relationships, with such relationships being the cornerstone to sales for the past decades, but now that model has to adapt.

“Operators could take a leaf out of the online casino business model that treats affiliates in the same way that retailers are to lotteries. The affiliate model is easily implemented, requires no new forms of technology or advanced development and allows both operator and retailer to take advantage of the current situations,” suggested Repcenko. “At the same time, operators need to appeal to their existing software providers to look at ways in which they can remain active during these troubled times and will require a level of compromise from both sides. Operators need to look at new forms of revenue sharing to allow for the affiliate model to work and software providers need to open up to working with new and modern forms of technology to be able to provide the level of service that these state run operators very desperately need right now.”

The online sector has proven to be much more resistant to the current climate than retail, as is shown by the growth of third-party operators. However, to compete with these companies, there are many innovative digital lottery solutions on the market to help national operators and their software providers get online quickly. As lottery players begin to adapt to the global lockdown by moving online, the traditional lottery sector must do the same to keep their market share, or else it could be gone by the time retail reopens.

Industry News

Evoke Announces the Establishment of a New Technology Committee

Published

1 month ago

May 29, 2025

Niji Narayan

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Evoke, one of the world’s leading betting and gaming companies with internationally renowned brands including William Hill, 888 and Mr Green, announced the establishment of a new Technology Committee of the Board effective immediately.

The Committee will be chaired by Independent Non-Executive Director Susan Standiford. Non-executive Directors Limor Ganot and Ori Shaked will also be members of the Committee.

The Committee will provide Board-level oversight of evoke’s major technology investments and initiatives, ensuring alignment with business strategy, risk management and operational effectiveness.

Jon Mendelsohn, Chairman of evoke, said: “In a world where technology is evolving at break-neck speed and in an industry where technology leadership is a core driver of sustainable success, our Technology Committee will play an important role in strengthening the Board’s governance and long-term strategy development. The Committee will focus on providing transparency and insight across our product, technology, data and operational initiatives as well as informing the Board and executive leadership on technology trends with the potential to shape the Group’s long-term competitive advantages.”

The post Evoke Announces the Establishment of a New Technology Committee appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.

Gambling in the USA

Gaming Americas Weekly Roundup – May 19-25

Published

1 month ago

May 27, 2025

Niji Narayan

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Reading Time: 2 minutes

Welcome to our weekly roundup of American gambling news again! Here, we are going through the weekly highlights of the American gambling industry which include the latest news and new partnerships. Read on and get updated.

Latest News

Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Tampa has been named the luckiest casino in the US according to a recent study conducted by Casinos.com. The resort claimed the top spot based on an in-depth analysis of Tripadvisor reviews, measuring the frequency of luck-related keyword mentions. With a 25.49% luck rate, Seminole Hard Rock Tampa topped the list thanks to glowing guest feedback, including frequent mentions of jackpots, hand pays and bonus wins. 50 reviews mentioned the word “jackpot,” and 19 even referenced a “hand pay.” Casinos.com tracked keywords such as lucky, luck, won, winning, success, jackpot, hand pay, winner, bonus, profit to determine which U.S. casinos inspired the most winning moments among visitors.

The Missouri Gaming Commission has announced that it has officially begun accepting applications for sports betting license. The Commission made the announcement following the unanimous approval of a resolution drafted Tuesday that approved the licensing process. The resolution passed after Gov. Mike Kehoe’s office reviewed it. The licensing period opens roughly six months after Missouri voters narrowly approved a constitutional amendment legalising sports betting. The measure passed by less than half a percentage point, with a margin of less than 7500 votes.

Underdog Fantasy has relaunched its draft-style daily fantasy sports (DFS) games in New York, nearly two months after it withdrew all of its DFS competitions from the Empire State. The decision to withdraw all DFS contests from New York in March came after a ruling from the New York State Gaming Commission in which the commission determined Underdog was not in line with the state’s current DFS law. An Underdog Fantasy spokesperson confirmed the company is still working under a temporary license. The New York State Gaming Commission agreed to allow the company to offer its draft DFS games with the temporary license. Most DFS companies in New York operate with a temporary license.

New Partnerships

Pollard Banknote Limited has congratulated the West Virginia Lottery on the successful launch of Royal Court Riches, its first eInstant game from the Pollard Digital Games Studio. Royal Court Riches has already demonstrated strong performance in multiple markets—in its first international launch, it achieved that jurisdiction’s highest tickets sold, total sales and gross gaming revenue within its first 30 days of release. Royal Court Riches is the first in a series of games from the Pollard Digital Games Studio slated to launch in West Virginia this year.

SYNOT Games has announced a new partnership with Caliente, one of Mexico’s top gaming platforms. This collaboration marks an exciting expansion for SYNOT Games, as it brings its acclaimed portfolio of gaming content to the Mexican market. It enhances Caliente’s offerings with an extensive array of high-quality slot games such as Respin Joker, Book of Secrets, Realm of Lions and Forest Maiden, designed to captivate players and boost engagement. Caliente with its strong presence in Latin America, is the perfect partner for SYNOT Games’ expansion into the region. The partnership aims to deliver an exceptional gaming experience, combining SYNOT’s visually rich, innovative games with Caliente’s extensive reach and reputation.

The post Gaming Americas Weekly Roundup – May 19-25 appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.

Industry Awards

Betsson Group Nominated in 14 Categories at the Women in Gaming Diversity Awards 2025

Published

1 month ago

May 27, 2025

Niji Narayan

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Betsson Group has been nominated in 14 categories at the Women in Gaming Diversity & Employee Wellbeing Awards 2025, hosted by Clever Duck Media. These include five company-wide nominations and nine individual nominations for eight of its employees.

These annual awards celebrate excellence in equality, diversity, inclusion and employee wellbeing across the global gaming industry. Since its launch in 2010, the event has solidified its position as one of the global gaming industry’s most respected diversity accolades.

The categories in which Betsson Group and its employees have been shortlisted include:

Company Category Nominations:

Best Diverse Place to Work

Community Engagement

Company of the Year (Operator)

Diversity & Inclusion

Great Place to Work Award

Individual Category Nominations:

Affiliate Leader – Shakyra Jonsson

Employee of the Year (Operator) – Lisa Mifsud

Excellence in Customer Service – Gabriella Larsson

HR Champion (Operator) – Tamara Klibadze

Innovator – Lena Nordin

Inspiration of the Year (Operator) – Lena Nordin

Positive Role Model of the Year (Operator) – Lara Lombardi

Star of the Future (Operator) – Jessica Carrillo Miranda

Young Leader of the Year (Operator) – Chellyanne Cassar

These nominations reflect the company’s ongoing dedication to creating a workplace where employees feel valued, respected and empowered to succeed. At Betsson Group, diversity, equity and inclusion are more than buzzwords; they are embedded in the company’s culture, values and daily actions. In previous years, Betsson has been recognised at the WiG Diversity Awards for Best Diverse Place to Work (2022 and 2024), Company of the Year (2019 and 2022) and for Diversity & Inclusion (2021). For the individual categories, Betsson employees have previously won Excellence in Customer Service, Star of the Future and Young Leader of the Year.

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