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Gambling in the USA

MGM Resorts International And GVC Holdings Commit To Second Round Of Investment In US Sports Betting And Online Gaming Platform BetMGM

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ROAR Digital, LLC – the US sports betting and online gaming company operating as BetMGM and owned jointly by MGM Resorts International and GVC Holdings – announced that its shareholders have committed to a second round of investment, bringing the total to $450 million. This increase follows MGM Resorts’ and GVC’s total initial commitment of $200 million and underpins their commitment to BetMGM becoming a leading player in the rapidly growing US sports betting and iGaming markets. These two rounds of investment provide the Company with over $370 million of investable capital at present.

Since its launch in 2018, the Company has made significant progress and is on track to operate in 11 states by the end of 2020. In addition to the financial strength of both its shareholders, the Company benefits from MGM Resorts’ leading brand, iconic physical properties, and loyal customer base, along with GVC’s proprietary, globally-proven technology.

“We launched this business to combine the best of MGM Resorts and GVC, and establish BetMGM as a leading brand in the US sports betting and iGaming markets,” said Adam Greenblatt, CEO of ROAR Digital, LLC. “With broad market access secured, our long-term technology foundations now firmly established, and a high performing team in place, this further unequivocal support from our two shareholders will ensure we can achieve leading market positions in this exciting industry that is growing even faster than our initial expectations.”

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Greenblatt concluded, “BetMGM is on track to generate over $130 million of net revenues this year predominantly from iGaming in New Jersey given the impact of COVID-19. With the return of sports and our growing operations across the US, we anticipate rapid growth in the coming year.”

The Company’s success will be built on its four core strategic tenets, each of which provide distinct competitive advantages:

1.  Market access:

The Company has already secured market access to 19 states1 which together reach approximately 50% of the US population. It has active operations in seven states with four more expected to launch by year end 2020.

With a best-in-class web, mobile, and desktop sportsbook platform as well as supporting MGM Resorts’ brick and mortar sportsbook destinations, BetMGM’s exclusive betting engine allows sports fans to place bets quickly, safely and easily in every channel. This superior experience, together with the Company’s demonstrated strength in player onboarding and management as well as GVC’s global sportsbook expertise, places BetMGM in a very strong position to achieve a leading share in the US sports betting market, estimated to achieve revenues of approximately $8.5 billion2 by 2025.

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In iGaming, the Company has already achieved a leading market position in New Jersey with approximately 18% market share3 and gross gaming revenue growth of 210% in the second quarter of 2020 compared to the prior year quarter. The US iGaming market is estimated to achieve revenues of approximately $6.9 billion2 by 2025, and the Company believes that it can replicate this leading market position in other jurisdictions, as additional states legalize iGaming in the future.

2.  Customer reach:

The Company is uniquely positioned to access a wide range of customers through its partners, affiliates and its omni-channel approach.

MGM Resorts has an established portfolio of market-leading properties across the US, giving BetMGM access to market to millions of engaged and brand loyal customers. M life Rewards, MGM Resorts’ loyalty program, has over 34 million members, of which approximately 18% are located in states planned to be live on the BetMGM platform by the end of 2020.

The Company is integrating M life Rewards in support of an omni-channel strategy such that BetMGM customers will become M life Members to earn and enjoy Tier status, recognition and rewards based on their sports and iGaming wagers. Likewise, existing M life Rewards members will now have a new way to earn Tier Credits and status based on sports and iGaming wagers placed with BetMGM. This integration is expected to drive new customer acquisition, omni-channel activity, as well as ongoing customer loyalty and engagement for BetMGM.

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In addition, the Company has exclusive partnerships with Yahoo Sports and Buffalo Wild Wings. Upon the imminent return of sports, the Company is looking forward to launching BetMGM to Yahoo’s 64 million monthly active users, including one of the largest fantasy sports player bases in the US.

3.  Product and technology:

BetMGM has exclusive access to GVC’s proven, highly flexible, and highly scalable in-house technology platform, which gives it world-class infrastructure, tools and content in both iGaming and sports betting.

Access to proprietary and vertically integrated technology is a key strategic advantage in delivering a leading sports and gaming proposition to customers. Core benefits include speed of development, reducing time to market on innovative new features, platform stability and flexibility, and ease of use.  The technology platform has been fully optimized ahead of the return of US sports, with the Company enjoying support from a team of over 2,000 IT specialists, including a dedicated team servicing the BetMGM product.

The Company also benefits from the maturity and rich features of GVC’s sports product, including an immersive in-play betting experience across an exhaustive range of sports as well as a range of industry leading bet management features such as Bet Rewards, Odds Boosts, Build-A-Bet, Edit-My-Bet and Auto Cash Out features. Combined with state-of-the-art engagement capabilities, best-in-class frictionless customer experience, as well as powerful omni-channel journeys and cross sell capabilities this gives BetMGM significant technological and experiential advantages. Internally developed, exclusive iGaming content has been key to BetMGM’s success in New Jersey. The current strength of product and technology, combined with the pace of improvement and innovation, strongly supports the Company’s leadership ambitions.

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4.  People: 

In addition to being able to draw on the outstanding talent within both MGM Resorts and GVC, the Company has built an industry-leading team across a range of functions, including marketing, technology, product development, and customer engagement and retention.

The team has been hand-picked and combines deep industry experience from around the globe with US specialists in areas where local expertise is vital such as VIP, product UI/UX and customer research.

The US-based trading leadership team has a track-record of building trading operations and winning market share from incumbent players in the sports betting market. The approach and techniques further support the Company’s growth agenda.

“Sports betting and iGaming are fundamental to what MGM Resorts does best,” said Bill Hornbuckle, Acting CEO & President of MGM Resorts. “Our investment in ROAR is a demonstration of our continued excitement about the unique benefit of offering unforgettable, premier entertainment experiences to millions of our loyal guests directly through BetMGM. We believe this competitive advantage places BetMGM at the forefront of the most dynamic growth opportunity in all of US gaming and will ultimately deliver meaningful long-term value for our shareholders.”

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“These are exciting times for BetMGM, as it continues to expand its iGaming business while also offering customers an outstanding sports betting experience as live sports returns to the US,” said Kenny Alexander, CEO of GVC. “We see enormous potential for the US market and are delighted to have such a strong foothold in it through our partnership with MGM Resorts. Our stake in BetMGM is, by some distance, the most important and exciting investment that GVC has ever made. We are absolutely committed to ensuring that the Company has the funding and technical resources needed to achieve long-term market leadership, whilst delivering significant value for shareholders.”

 

SOURCE MGM Resorts International

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Dr. Jennifer Shatley

New Trade Association Launches Unprecedented Effort to Strengthen Responsible Online Gaming, Promote Best Practices

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The Responsible Online Gaming Association (ROGA), an independent trade association launched by seven of the largest U.S. legal mobile gaming companies, will actively promote a new industry-wide best practices charter, overseen by one of the world’s foremost experts in the field of responsible gaming (RG).

This unprecedented effort will be led by Dr. Jennifer Shatley, a deeply respected responsible gaming executive with more than 25 years of experience in the industry. She will serve as ROGA’s full-time Executive Director, and her role will be to facilitate widespread education to all relevant parties on the subject of responsible gaming.

ROGA will embark on a series of initiatives under Dr. Shatley’s direction. These include research, consumer and industry responsible gaming education and awareness, promoting responsible gaming best practices, an independent data clearinghouse, and an independent certification program.

Demonstrating their commitment to this endeavor, initial member companies – who together represent more than 85% of the legalized online sports betting and iGaming industry – have pledged more than $20 million in support of ROGA’s mission in year one. ROGA’s member companies include BetMGM, bet365, DraftKings, Fanatics Betting and Gaming, FanDuel, Hard Rock Digital, and PENN Entertainment.

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“I am humbled, honored, and excited to be selected to lead ROGA during this important period of growth in legalized mobile gaming. Many of America’s largest legal mobile gaming operators will be establishing a framework that helps to aid in responsible gaming education and awareness. Together, our members will work alongside researchers, experts, regulators and stakeholders to promote responsible online gaming and maximize our efforts to support additional responsible gaming education and awareness. By coming together with a clear set of objectives, ROGA and our members will work to enhance consumer protections and help provide easier and more efficient access to responsible gaming tools for consumers to enjoy the entertainment of online gaming,” said Dr. Shatley.

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Compliance Updates

Play’n GO awarded Pennsylvania license 

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Play’n GO has continued on its upward trajectory in North America by landing its latest US iGaming licenses and will soon supply its award-winning content portfolio to operators and players in Pennsylvania and Delaware

These licenses are the fifth and sixth obtained by the Swedish gaming giants in the USA, following New Jersey, Michigan, West Virginia, and Connecticut.

Play’n GO have taken a dual-pronged approach to its strategy in North America, with these US licenses being complimented by the company’s success north of the border in Canada, where Play’n GO was one of the first suppliers to be licensed to supply slot games in the province of Ontario.

Although early in its American journey, Play’n GO games such as Piggy Blitz, make regular appearances in the top 15 most popular titles in all of North America*.

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Magnus Olsson, Chief Commercial Officer for Play’n GO, said: “Play’n GO content is the most conducive to player retention across the industry. With player acquisition costs sky high in the US, we’re pleased to be able to offer operators in Pennsylvania access to our content which will keep players coming back for more.

“We are determined to be the number one casino gaming supplier in every regulated market in the world, and given that we are thriving in more than 25 jurisdictions around the world where we have a license, we fully expect a similar success story in Pennsylvania in the coming years.”

Play’n GO is set to release more than 50 online slot titles in 2024 and is active in more than 25 regulated jurisdictions worldwide, including Ontario, New Jersey, Michigan and West Virginia in North America.

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Experi-MENTAL

Lightning Box concocts scientific experiment with new release Experi-MENTAL

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 Light & Wonder, Inc. (NASDAQ and ASX: LNW) (together with its subsidiaries, “Light & Wonder” or “L&W”) announced the launch of its new game, Experi-MENTAL, stacked with features, modifiers and a clash with the mad scientist.

Experi-MENTAL has two in-game features to enhance the overall player experience.

This 3×5 title, exhibits the distinctive Expanding Wild Feature, which can award huge prizes for players should the Wild Brain symbol expand and replicate by five times during the Free Games round.

When players enter the mad scientist’s lab, they will stumble across the Upgrading Feature, which zaps the 9, 10, J, Q, K or A symbols into high-paying icons, including Test Tubes, Power Switch, Cat, Pug or Man. The wins are then accumulated and paid out once the reels have stopped spinning.

The Barrel Pick Feature can radio-activate the feature by awarding an extra 15 Free Games, as players are presented with highly dangerous barrels with an unknown material.

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A meter appears when players select a barrel, with a red area and a green area in view. Landing on the meter’s green area ensures the Free Games round is triggered and additional games are awarded but landing in the red zone activates only the round itself.

The classic Free Games mode is unlocked when Scatter symbols appear, with five Scatters granting the maximum of 10 Free Games and the Barrel Pick Feature. During the round, Free Games can be retriggered at any time.

Experi-MENTAL is set to go live with Caesars in New Jersey, Michigan and Ontario initially, and will be available at a later date to customers of Light & Wonder’s industry-leading OPENGAMING platform.

 Michael Maokhamphiou, Studio Director at Lightning Box, said: “Experi-MENTAL is one Wacky slot game, and we believe it can propel our slots onto the next level.

 “During this game, players can unlock some new features, which add a dramatic element to this slot and classic round that are a cornerstone of Lightning Box’s portfolio. We are in no doubt will love taking on the mad scientist in this epic title.”

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 Rob Procter, VP of Game Development at Light & Wonder, said: “2024 is going to be a big year for Lightning Box and the launch of Experi-MENTAL gives players the opportunity to showcase this thrilling game.

 “With a variety of different features exhibited on this captivating title, it sets Lightning Box apart from its competitors, ensuring the player experience is unrivalled.”

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