Publishing its industry donation figure for April 1 to December 30, 2020, the independent charity revealed that William Hill donated £540,000 of its pledge with Flutter Entertainment second, donating £874,000.

All UK licence holders are obliged to donate 0.1 per cent of their annual Gross Gambling Yield directly to GambleAware. Those companies with an annual gross gambling revenue of less than £250,000 per annum are requested to donate a minimum of £250.

For the Q1-Q3 trading period as a whole, GambleAware received a total of £4.46m in voluntary donations from the gambling industry – a figure which does not include regulatory settlements or additional donations.

Other leading operators which have donated substantial sums include bet365 at £763,000, Gamesys at £450,000 and Petfre (Gibraltar) – the owner of Betfred – at £75,421, made in two separate donations.

Additional donations, in the form of unclaimed winnings and credit from dormant accounts, were also received, with the two largest donors named as LeoVegas at £94,328, and A&S Leisure Group, owner of Napoleons Casinos, at £10,000.

GambleAware further revealed that a total of £5.03m had been raised by 20 different operators, suppliers and media companies. 

Betting companies, such as Entain, Flutter, the Stars Group and William Hill, raised £3.94m, while £1.08m was raised by media firms, led by Sky, ITV and Facebook.

During the period from April to December, GambleAware also received £8.8m in regulatory settlements from William Hill and Betway.

William Hill’s Mr Green division was penalised as part of the Gambling Commission’s targeted investigation into online casinos, with the commission imposing a £3m penalty after the operator ‘failed to have effective procedures aimed at preventing harm and money laundering’.

Meanwhile, Betway was ordered to pay £5.8m ‘in lieu of a financial penalty which will be directed towards delivering the ‘National Strategy to Reduce Gambling Harms’.

For GambleAware’s full list of donors, click here.

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This will cover commercials for betting, bingo, poker, casino and all related forms of gambling, and will apply day and night on 140 channels where Sky controls advertising, including Sky 1 and 2, all Sky Sports channels and Channel 5.

Sky also intends to deploy AdSmart technology, which will enable viewers using Sky and Virgin Media TV platforms to block gambling commercials. The AdSmart function is scheduled to become available in June, 2020.

The broadcaster is estimated to have half the UK gambling advertising market, which is worth around £200m.

Quoted in the Telegraph, Steven van Rooyen, chief executive of Sky in the UK, said: “Our customers are worried about gambling ads on TV – and we understand their concerns.

“That’s why we’ve committed to limiting the amount of gambling ads on Sky and better protecting those vulnerable to problem gambling.”

Van Rooyen also called for action to kerb online gambling advertising on Google and Facebook. He said that while the regulators had made television a ‘safe space’, “there is still a real danger online – and there will be until online platforms are regulated as tightly as TV”.

The move is likely to cost Sky tens of millions of pounds but could be good news for affiliates, as operators see direct-marketing opportunities narrow and with the one-ad-per-break rule likely to see rates rise for the sought after TV slots.

Broadcaster BT, Sky’s main rival for Premier League football, said: “While we already limit the number of gambling adverts shown on our channels, we will continue to review our approach to bookmakers advertising and work closely with the Advertising Standards Authority and other appropriate stakeholders.

“In addition to this we are supporting GambleAware’s initiative to highlight responsible gambling via a campaign that will run on BT Sport and other broadcasters.”

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The Stars Group expects the deal to lead to the development of sports betting “as a second low-cost customer acquisition channel,” complementing the group’s core poker business and boosting cross-selling opportunities.

In partnership with leading sports broadcaster Sky, Sky Betting and Gaming has become home to leading online UK brands Sky Bet, Sky Vegas and Sky Casino.

The transaction is expected to close in the third quarter of 2018. The $4.7bn headline sum comprises $3.6bn in cash with the remainder payable in approximately 37.9 million newly issued common shares. The new shares will represent around 20 per cent of The Stars Group’s issued and outstanding common shares

“The acquisition of Sky Betting and Gaming is a landmark moment in The Stars Group’s history,” said Rafi Ashkenazi, The Stars Group CEO.

“SBG operates one of the world’s fastest growing sportsbooks and is one of the UK’s leading gaming providers. SBG’s premier sports betting product is the ideal complement to our industry-leading poker platform.

“The ability to offer two low-cost acquisition channels of this magnitude provides The Stars Group with great growth potential and will significantly increase our ability to create winning moments for our customers,” said Ashkenazi.

“Following this transaction, The Stars Group will have significantly enhanced scale and a highly-regarded global brand portfolio. As a result, we are well positioned to realise our vision of becoming the world’s favourite igaming destination.”

In a statement, The Stars Group identified cost synergies of “at least $70m per year”. SBG is currently home to the UK’s largest active online player base, with more than 80 per cent of revenues generated from mobile devices.

SBG’s unaudited annual revenue was £624m while unaudited adjusted EBITDA was £202m in the 12-month period to December 31, 2017.

“We are delighted to join forces with The Stars Group,” said Richard Flint, Sky Betting and Gaming CEO.

“We have had a fantastic last few years and would like to thank CVC and Sky for supporting us in becoming a leading online operator in the UK. This transaction allows us to offer our best-in-class products to a truly global audience. We’re excited about our future together.”

Pev Hooper, partner at CVC, added: “Richard and his team have done a fantastic job building SBG into one of the UK’s largest and fastest growing operators. We have thoroughly enjoyed working closely with the team and our partners at Sky. This combination with The Stars Group opens a new and exciting chapter for SBG to accelerate its international growth, and we look forward to continuing the journey as a shareholder in the combined group.”

Diversification through acquisition

The Stars Group’s announced acquisitions since the beginning of 2018 are set to significantly diversify the company’s revenue base.

Following the completed acquisitions of SBG, CrownBet and William Hill Australia, the company’s 2017 revenue mix by product would have been 37 per cent poker, 34 per cent sportsbook and 26 per cent casino, while 75 per cent of The Stars Group’s 2017 revenues would have been generated within locally regulated or taxed markets.

Completion of the SBG transaction is conditional upon obtaining customary approvals from the Toronto Stock Exchange, Nasdaq and certain gaming and other regulatory authorities, as well as the completion of other closing conditions although approval from The Stars Group shareholders is not required.

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SNAI is the first Italian operator to go live with Inspired’s Interactive content, which includes three exclusive Mike Tyson games that are only available to SNAI customers.  In celebration of the Tyson product portfolio launch, SNAI is running a number of casino and sports promotions, and the games are already amongst SNAI’s top performing online games.

In addition to its virtual sports, Inspired is a leading supplier of SBG VLT systems and content in Italy with Sisal, SNAI, Lottomatica, HBG and other Italian operators.

“I’m delighted to announce this important milestone for Inspired’s interactive business,” said Lucy Buckley, Inspired’s Vice President of Interactive.

“We are leading the UK and .com Interactive markets with operators such as William Hill, GVC, Ladbrokes Coral and Sky, and we look forward to replicating this success in Italy. New markets are key to our growth and we plan to expand our reach to other key European and North American markets during 2018.”

Paolo Scipioni, General Manager of Italy for Inspired, added: “Inspired is proud to be one of the largest suppliers of omni-channel content in Italy, and the addition of mobile and online players to our customer base is an exciting development.  

“Inspired’s broad portfolio of retail VLT games and Virtual Sports has already proven popular with retail customers in Italy, and I’m confident that the availability of these new games online will be welcomed by customers and players alike.”

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What could motivate you to start a new slot based site though? How would a young company compete? And what steps could be taken to ensure you thrive in a bustling environment?

Scott Manford, CEO of UK based slots site Wizard Slots, which launched in 2016, discusses all these points and more with Casino Beats:

Casino Beats: What was behind the decision to start a slot based site?

SM: The venture into the slots market felt like quite a natural progression for both myself and other members of my team. I have around 10 years of experience in the gambling industry – mainly online casino and bingo, but also land based and sportsbook betting.

My other business partners come from a range of industries but with a shared pool of experience in digital marketing and online start-ups.

With the online gaming industry being in a constant state of growth and evolution, we really felt that it was a good idea to get involved and try and change the game a bit. What we wanted to do was take all the great aspects of the industry we’ve picked up throughout our careers, and filter them into one platform to create the perfect slot site. And that’s how Wizard Slots came around.  

CB: With the launch only being last year, how are you growing the site in a busy market, has it been a tricky road?

SM: Obviously, the slots market is an extremely competitive industry to be in, but we’ve always stuck to the original game plan that was to put all our efforts into developing the brand of Wizard Slots, and instilling that into the minds of the customers, while also working heavily on the SEO side of things to create a natural, organic and cemented brand authority.

At the same time, we’ve attempted to create a holistic approach to the marketing strategy and used social, pay-per-click and affiliate marketing as part of the overall growth plan. There’s always going to be the big names of the industry that you’ve got to try and compete with. The likes of Bet365, William Hill, Ladbrokes, Sky etc, who find their way to the top of the rankings by the power of their brand alone so it’s enjoyable to give them a run for their money.

People outside the industry would be surprised at the way the deposits and profits are distributed among the different sites. The majority of traffic for ‘online slots’ and other similar keywords naturally runs through the first page of Google, and more so the top 5 rankings of Google, which is where we intend to be.

The brand names drive lots of this traffic with their “above the line” marketing activities, so part of our strategy is to ride on the back of that increased awareness. We can’t compete with the huge budgets of the big names, but since our advent it’s been a case of using trial and error to hone our PPC, affiliate, SEO, content, and marketing strategies to provide the best results based on the things we learn along the way.

Thankfully, we’re starting to see some nice returns from these strategies and are building up a good bank of customers and players, and we are also seeing above industry average levels of retention, so we must be doing something right

CB: Are there any significant expansion plans?

SM: At the moment, all our time is focussed on the expansion of Wizard Slots and trying to cement that market position while constantly growing the brand in the minds of our valued customers and global audience. It’s still early days and the next year is going to be quite a learning curve in terms of further developing the brand.

The goalposts on how to achieve success in the industry are constantly moving which means no day is like another. Once we’ve established Wizard Slots I would foresee expansion into other markets, or the launch of other slots platforms to rival our own. In the meantime, you should also keep a look out for Wizard Slots on your television screens.

CB: Why should consumers choose Wizard Slots over other competitors?

SM: Customer experience is paramount to the success of Wizard Slots and our members are of the greatest importance to us. Joining Wizard Slots will not only give them access to over 300 slot and traditional table games from some of the best liked and enjoyed developers, but it also gives them access to a community of like-minded gamers who enjoy the same things they do.

We constantly update the suite of games we offer, which means the site is kept fresh both in terms of its gameplay and its appearance, to ensure [customers] will have access to the newest and freshest games available.

We also think our promotions are some of the best in the industry, and give new players the chance to receive 100% deposit bonuses across their first 3 deposits. The promotions and offers also continue deep into their membership, with some special bonuses and VIP offers that are only attained with regular playing, all of which encourages our customers to continue playing with us and become part of the Wizard Slots community.

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