FSB

Gaming tech provider FSB has bolstered its senior management team with the addition of Glenn Elliott as chief operating officer, building on an over 13 year industry career.

Elliott has been tasked with working closely with the firm’s management team to further develop FSB to become a better growth partner for its clients in regulated markets around the world.

The role includes responsibility for the account management team as well as full oversight of the company’s five operational service divisions of sports, platform, marketing, retail and SaaS hosting.

Dave McDowell, CEO of FSB, said: “I am delighted to welcome Glenn to the team. Having someone of Glenn’s calibre is hugely valuable for the business, especially at a time when we are expanding into new markets, adding additional products and signing new partners.”

All-in Diversity Project

The All-in Diversity Project has strengthened its global advisory by confirming the addition of Birgitte Sand and Esu Ma’at as board members.

Ma’at is AIDP’s first appointment which the organisation stated is ‘reflective of educational and institutional and organisational change management’.

Sand, who currently serves as the CEO of Birgitte Sand & Associates ApS, has amassed over 25 years of experience in the gaming industry.

The appointment of both Birgitte and Esu is a critical step in the All-in Diversity Project journey as we start to move out of gaming and take a more sector agnostic position with the forthcoming launch of the first ever formal international standard for workplace diversity, equality and inclusion, in partnership with the BSI,” commented Christina Thakor-Rankin, AIDP co-founder.

“Birgitte and Esu bring with them a different set of perspectives, experiences and insights which will complement and enhance those of the existing Board allowing us to explore and address every challenge from policy right through to practice across every type of organisation right across the world. These are incredibly exciting times for us.”

Mohegan Gaming and Entertainment

Casino resort developer and operator Mohegan Gaming and Entertainment has appointed David Martinelli as chief marketing officer and Judy Newman-Locke as vice president of human resources management.

Both are lauded as bringing extensive knowledge and expertise to their new roles and will help guide MGE through a period of strategic growth and development.

“It will take a strong and effective leadership team to steer our organisation through this next chapter of growth and innovation. Accordingly, I am very pleased to have Dave and Judy join our team to further support our efforts throughout the US and abroad,” noted Mario Kontomerkos, CEO and president of Mohegan Gaming and Entertainment.

“Dave and Judy’s considerable experience will be instrumental in promoting MGE as a worldwide industry leader in integrated resort entertainment and in retaining the best talent for our MGE family.”

1account

Player ID and verification specialist 1account has recruited Caroline Steele as senior client director, gaining responsibility for driving brand awareness for the firm and showcasing the company’s products and services.

This includes educating the industry about ever-changing player ID and verification requirements and what 1account can do to help operators, suppliers and affiliates to verify customers with confidence.

Marc Wood, sales and marketing director at 1account, explained: “I am delighted to welcome Caroline to the team and for 1account to benefit from her unrivalled experience and knowledge of the industry.

“We have already established ourselves as a leading player ID and verification provider, but we have ambitious growth plans and Caroline will play a central role in enabling us to deploy it.

“Caroline has already put forward interesting and impactful ways of increasing exposure for 1account and our products and services and I look forward to seeing them come to life in the coming months.”

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It is said that the collaboration is to bring valuable information, webinars and training on diversity, equality and inclusion to NOGA members and the Netherlands gambling market.

“Industry associations are extremely important in shaping the values, attitudes and overall direction of the market, and collaboration on key issues which affect all,” stated Christina Thakor-Rankin, co-founder of the All-In Diversity Project

“Having the support of NOGA for the All-in Diversity Project is another leap forward in ensuring that the community includes both established and emerging markets, and every aspect of the sector has a voice and place at the table.

“Working in collaboration with associations such as NOGA means we can accelerate progress, share more information and offer better tools to the businesses located in the Netherlands. It’s an exciting partnership for sure.”

Ahead of the official commencement of the Dutch online marketplace on October 1, a long-awaited licensing window opened on April 1, following which it was revealed that 28 individual operator applications had been received.

NOGA, which earlier this year rolled-out a memorandum of understanding with its Portuguese counterpart Associação Portuguesa de Apostas e Jogos Online, asserts that it’s “committed to a well-regulated, attractive and safe online gambling market in the Netherlands with a level playing field”.

”We are delighted to be part of the international network of the All-in Diversity Project, representing the Netherlands and also furthering the important issues of inclusion and diversity in the gambling industry in the Netherlands,” added Peter-Paul de Goeij, managing director of NOGA.

“NOGA and its members are fully committed to All-in Diversity Project’s values and goals and we will actively propagate them with our colleagues, gambling companies, employees, stakeholders and Dutch government bodies.”

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The All-in Diversity Project is a non-profit dedicated to helping businesses and industry improve diversity, equality and inclusion, in addition to a central resource for data and tools that help businesses make DEI a successful business strategy. 

“Over the past year, diversity, equality and inclusion has taken a much bigger stage within our businesses and across our industry,” noted Christina Thakor-Rankin, co-founder of All-in Diversity Project. 

“It has become imperative that we work together across all products, departments, jurisdictions and roles to improve how we do business and how we value our people. 

“Lottery is a significant sector of the industry and having this perspective as we drive forward will benefit all businesses involved. Having Lottoland supporting the Project is incredibly important as it means that we now have a Steering Group that is representative of absolutely every aspect of the industry, including lottery – not only the most popular and widely acceptable face of the gaming industry across the world but also a product which embodies diversity, equality and inclusion like no other. We are very proud to welcome them aboard.”

Fellow founding members of the industry driven initiative, which provide guidance and support sharing best practices and resources, include Entain, Microgaming, IGT, SiS, Caesars, Betsson, Scientific Games, Flutter, Gaming Innovation Group, and Kindred Group. 

Nigel Birrell CEO of Lottoland, explained: “Lottoland is really pleased to join the All-in Diversity project as a founding member. As a global employer – employing people from 29 nationalities and speaking between us 30 different languages, Lottoland is committed to providing a fun, safe and fully inclusive culture where our people feel like they are truly part of the Lottoland family. 

“We are a multicultural business that celebrates, values and respects individual differences, no matter what your sexuality, gender, gender identity, age, ability, race, religion or beliefs are, all of our employees have a voice, and we provide an environment to ensure everyone can do their best work. 

“We are committed to continuously evaluating and improving our ways of working and we look forward to working with our partners to make our industry a more inclusive environment.”

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Spanning both Black History Month and International Women’s Day, the campaign is designed to raise awareness of how others affect our professional development, and recognise the fact that people do not progress in their careers without the help of someone along the way.

“The idea behind #OpenDoors is simple,” commented Kelly Kehn, co-founder of All-in Diversity Project. “If we really want to progress and be a more diverse and inclusive industry, we need to recognise that we did not get to where we are in our career without the help of someone along the way. 

“By celebrating someone who supported your career, you are also pledging that you are willing to hold the door open for someone else who might need it. Donations to the scholarship fund are a true action where we can hold the door open for the future leaders of our industry.”

Furthermore, the #OpenDoors social media effort will also coincide with the launch of scholarship fund supporting UNLV’s International Gaming Institute’s executive development programme.

With a goal set to be to fund at least two scholarships, thus far the campaign has commitments from corporate sponsors including Penn National Gaming, Hero Gaming, Interactive Gaming Group, Insight Global, Playtech, Pronet Gaming, and Facebook Gaming.

Individuals as well as businesses are invited to contribute to the fund, and any committing over $1000 will be listed as a corporate sponsor.

“The executive development programme is such a wonderful fit and beneficiary for the #OpenDoors campaign,” added Holly Gagnon, distinguished fellow, executive development at UNLV International Gaming Institute and co-moderator of the 2020 EDP Programme. “This is about creating opportunities and better leadership through industry collaboration.”

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The group, which is to be renamed Entain, is currently two years into its D&I strategy, ‘Everyone’s in the Game’, which set out a three-year roadmap towards building a more inclusive business. Under that strategy initiatives have focused on the four key areas of recruitment; process and policy; people development and; awareness and education. 

Shay Segev GVC CEO, said of the ranking: “We are hugely honoured to be recognised as number one for D&I by the All-In Diversity Project. As a multicultural business, valuing and celebrating individual differences is at the heart of our operations.

“Whatever your sexuality, gender, gender identity, ability, age, race, religion or belief, you will have a voice here, and the space to do your best work at GVC”.

GVC is a founding member of the AIDP, an industry-driven initiative to benchmark diversity, equality and inclusion for the global betting and gaming sector, through which it is accelerating its leadership role on D&I issues within the sector. 

The initiative provides tools to businesses looking to progress in the area of diversity and inclusion, with its founding members providing guidance and support, as well as sharing best practices and resources. Other leaders in the project include Microgaming, IGT, SiS, Caesars, Betsson, Scientific Games, Flutter, Gaming Innovation Group, and Kindred Group.

Kelly Kehn, co-founder of All-in Diversity Project, added: “Congratulations to GVC for topping this year’s All-Index. They have demonstrated a commitment and passion to D&I which clearly runs throughout their global business.

“Their drive to continuously improve is a great example to the whole sector of what is needed to make further progress and help us become a more inclusive industry.”

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The IBIA, which tackles match-fixing and betting corruption in global sports, sees the partnership as an opportunity to expand its network to meet the challenges of a changing world of customers and products and the increasing spotlight on equality issues within the world of sport.

It is said that the partnership will bring together the world of sports integrity and diversity, equality and inclusion to help foster a forward thinking, more sustainable approach to the industry. 

Khalid Ali, CEO of IBIA, stated: “The demographics of sports betting is changing and, as an industry, we need to be aware of the opportunities and challenges this presents. 

“The collaboration with the All-in Diversity Project has two main objectives; the first is to promote diversity within the betting industry; the second is to understand how the wealth inequality in women’s sports could lead to integrity concerns. 

“By working together, we hope to tackle these issues through a series of events and studies that we have planned for the next few years”.

The All-in Diversity Project, an industry-driven initiative that aims to benchmark diversity, equality and inclusion in the global betting and gaming sector, welcomes the association as a strategic partner.

“Having the IBIA support the All-in Diversity Project is a huge leap forward for us,” added Kelly Kehn, Co-Founder of All-In Diversity Project. 

“Collaborating with standard setting global organisations such as IBIA means we can accelerate progress and engage with a wider audience to address some of the challenges faced by sports and sports betting – from the hidden impact of inequality on integrity, to the more obvious issues related to gender and race within the entire sports and betting ecosystem by sharing data, resources and experience and developing tools that work. We are thrilled to have them as a partner.”

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26

The All-In Diversity Project has reported a boost in female executives and a drop in board representation, as the not-for-profit initiative publishes its second annual study of the sector’s workforce.

The All-Index Annual Report 2019 features data supplied by 26 organisations, which represent over 100 global brands, and indicates a near 50:50 employee split overall, with 46.7 per cent of the 125,697 staff members identified as women.

Detailing the findings of the study, the firm says that the discoveries support some, but debunk other, assumptions about industry stereotypes, and highlight initiatives that help support and promote workplace diversity and inclusion.

This year’s report indicated that, of those organisations that participated, females makes up 41 per cent of executive teams, however, if you ascend to board level that representation has dropped 5.5 per cent from 28 per cent to 22.5 per cent.

13

The Spelinspektionen has debuted a new campaign that is designed to drive further awareness of the Spelpaus self-exclusion scheme.

Initially running until mid-January, the initiative will consist of 13 different messages which will predominantly be shown via banners across a range of online platforms.

This follows on from a government-commissioned campaign that was rolled out during the summer across television, websites and social media, which aimed to ‘significantly increase the public’s knowledge about the possibility of being banned from gambling’.

According to the regulator, the first campaign was considered to be successful in raising awareness of the Spelpaus.se initiative, which it says sees approximately 58,000 currently suspended from gambling.

100,000

The Betting and Gaming Council has marked the beginning of Safer Gambling Week by asserting that the industry is committed to safer gambling “not for one week but for all year round”.

The significance of the event, which gets underway today and runs until Wednesday 25 November, will not be undiminished by the latest lockdowns, says the group.

Hundreds of betting shops in England, Scotland and Northern Ireland will be forced to keep their doors closed during the week, however, over 100,000 staff at more than 9,000 gambling venues and online sites are said to be participating.

SGW’s ‘Let’s Talk About Safer Gambling’ is to feature prominently online and in venues which have escaped COVID restrictions, with betting shops, casinos and online operators, arcades and bingo companies also getting involved to promote the many tools available to help promote safer gambling.

81

Commercial gaming revenue across the US finished up at $9.04bn during 2020’s third quarter, a figure which represents 81 per cent of the industry’s pre-COVID levels recorded in the same period a year earlier, according to the American Gaming Association’s Commercial Gaming Revenue Tracker.

Despite Q3 revenue being up 294 per cent from the second quarter lows, driven by pandemic-driven, mandatory closures, health and safety measures currently in place, including social distancing and capacity restrictions, have contributed to the recovery lagging behind the country’s broader economic recovery.

Gaming revenue is down 36.5 per cent year-over-year during the first nine months of 2020, compared to the US GDP’s three per cent decline across the same period.

During the July – September reporting period more than 100 casinos reopened, with 902 (90.8 per cent of the total) commercial and tribal venues operational by the end of the period, compared to 800 (80.8 per cent) at the start of July.

149.1

Game Account Network has unveiled a €149.1m definitive purchase agreement to acquire Coolbet, which has been approved by its board of directors and is expected to close in the first quarter of 2021.

Subject to customary closing conditions, including regulatory approvals, the deal will leverage the latter’s proprietary sports betting technology, which is anticipated to be integrated into GAN’s turnkey technology solutions for launch in the US real money igaming market by the second half of 2021.

The acquisition, which is expected to be immediately accretive, will see GAN welcome over 175 global employees and more than 84,000 active customers.

5

The Competition and Markets Authority in the United Kingdom has cleared Evolution’s impending acquisition of NetEnt, almost two months after launching an investigation to analyse if the transaction would lessen the competition in the region’s igaming market.

The competition regulator officially announced the launch of its merger inquiry by notice to those concerned in September, before inviting comments on the purchase by any interested party.

Those comments needed to be provided before the invitation closed on October 5, following which the CMA would proceed to the analysis stage of phase one before reaching a decision on whether to enter phase two or close the inquiry by November 16.

20

Philadelphia’s Rivers Casino is to close its doors until at least the first day of next year, after the Pennsylvanian city published its ‘Safer at Home’ restrictions.

In response to rising COVID-19 cases in Philadelphia, the city and Department of Public Health have announced changes to restrictions on businesses, events and gatherings, and other activities to help flatten the epidemic curve, prevent hospitals from becoming overwhelmed, and reduce the number of COVID-19 deaths.

The ‘Safer at Home’ restrictions come into effect on November 20, 2020 until January 1, 2021. It is warned that an extension of these and/or the implementation of additional restrictions is possible, depending on trends in the spread of coronavirus across the region.

As a result of the mandated order, Rivers Casino Philadelphia, the sole land-based gaming entity currently within city limits, will be forced to shut down its operation once more.

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The All-Index Annual Report 2019 features data supplied by 26 organisations, which represent over 100 global brands, and indicates a near 50:50 employee split overall, with 46.7 per cent of the 125,697 staff members identified as women.

Detailing the findings of the study, the firm says that the discoveries support some, but debunk other, assumptions about industry stereotypes, and highlight initiatives that help support and promote workplace diversity and inclusion. 

“All-in Diversity Project is the industry’s central resource for businesses requiring data and tools in order to progress their business to a more diverse and inclusive workforce,” stated Kelly Kehn, co-founder of All-in Diversity Project. 

“We believe that surveying the industry annually is one of the most significant ways we can continue real progress globally. We are grateful to all participants who are both committed to their own progress but also to the industry’s overall improvement.”

This year’s report indicated that, of those organisations that participated, females makes up 41 per cent of executive teams, however, if you ascend to board level that representation has dropped 5.5 per cent from 28 per cent to 22.5 per cent.

Furthermore, it was found that every salary band shows males earning more than females, a shift from 2018 which highlighted that there was something close to pay parity for those in earnings groups up to 25,000 and 50,000, respectively.

A drop in the number of organisations offering training and learning to help support the active implementation of equality/anti-discrimination policies was also documented to around 70 per cent (2018: 90 per cent).

However, the number of organizations now offering conscious and unconscious bias training has increased from 50 per cent in 2018 to over 72 per cent in 2019.

The All-Index 2019 Report was produced in partnership with Rokker and Random Colour Animal, and any business or organisation that would like to participate can register their interest HERE.

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Aligning with the industry-driven initiative to benchmark diversity, equality and inclusion for the global betting and gaming sector follows a number of key initiatives rolled-out by the firm. 

Lena Nordin, chief HR officer at Betsson Group, explained: “We are an inclusive company and with 1,800 staff members across nine offices, we have the track record to prove it. With 57 nationalities from 5 different continents, 40 per cent women and 60 per cent men, spread across four generations, Betsson Group is indeed a melting pot of different experiences, backgrounds and ideas.

“Partnerships with like-minded partners, such as the All-in Diversity Project, allows us to achieve greater diversity and inclusion not only within our company, but also within the wider industry.”

Earlier this year Betsson unveiled its internal initiative DIB, which stands for Diversity, Inclusion and Belonging, consisting of activities aimed at putting additional attention on this important area.

Furthermore, as part of its effort in putting the spotlight on diversity both within and outside of the organisation, earlier this year Betsson also established the Women in Betsson network.  

The aim is to create a platform to promote equality and the empowerment of women within the igaming industry, and where women at Betsson can network and inspire each other.

 “At Betsson we cherish the fact that every individual is unique. A focus on Diversity allows us to recognise those individual traits, whilst Inclusion is all about embracing the differences between us. We practice inclusion by ensuring that everyone feels welcomed and respected and this creates a sense of Belonging to the Betsson family,” added Lena.

“We do not want to rest on our laurels, and we will continue to look for further ways to be more inclusive and celebrate our differences. Joining forces with the All-In Diversity project is one way how to do this. We believe that together we can make a difference.”

Kelly Kehn, co-founder of All-in Diversity Project, added:“Betsson is the kind of company who leads by example and we are pleased to welcome them as Founding Members. They are leaders in so many areas and their approach to Diversity & Inclusion is no different. 

“Industry collaboration and support is so important when working towards change and this point is made especially significant during COVID-19. We are happy to be partnered with and supported by Betsson.”

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The industry-driven initiative that aims to benchmark diversity, equality and inclusion in the gaming and betting industry is to showcase the campaign Monday 27 January, the week before ICE 2020. 

“Aside of the opportunity to celebrate those who champion others, we’re hoping that the association of a visual tag linked to some of the most successful individuals and companies in the industry says it all – diversity works,” states Christina Thakor-Rankin, co-founder of the All-in Diversity Project.

It is hoped that the new campaign can highlight the fact that everyone can make a difference, and how doing so helps increase levels of diversity, leading to innovation, internationalisation and an increase on the bottom line.  

“The idea behind #opendoors is simple,” added Kelly Kehn, co-founder of All-in Diversity Project. “If we really want to progress and be a more diverse and inclusive industry, we need to recognise that we did not get to where we are in our career without the help of someone along the way. 

“By thanking someone who helped you, you are also pledging that you are willing to hold the door open for someone else who might need it. When we recognise that we didn’t get here alone, we are also recognising some people do not benefit from that support because of assumptions, bias, etc and immediately become more conscious of our differences.”

The campaign will be accompanied by an All-in pin badge at ICE 2020 that individuals and companies can wear/display to show their support. 

This follows the All-in Diversity Project entering into a new partnership with Seventh Wave Corporate Training to offer practical education and training on diversity and inclusion across the sector.

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