Everything you need to know this week

One big story

Evoke Plc suffers widening H1 2024 losses but CEO remains upbeat for future prospects

Evoke Plc’s latest trading update reveals widening post-tax losses from £32.5m to £143m in H1 2024. The firm disclosed a 2% year-on-year fall in revenue for the same period, driven largely by an 8% fall in retail revenue from William Hill betting shops.

The firm blamed the unsuccessful implementation of new in-house gaming machines, adding that a new third-party alternative would be installed across its retail estate in Q4 2024.

Adjusted core earnings for Evoke on a reported basis was down 67% year-on-year to £44m. However, much of this can be attributed to the firm’s costs incurred from its swift withdrawal from the US iGaming market.

Nevertheless, CEO Per Widerstrom remains positive about the underlying health of the company, intimating that the current figures are down to the corrective actions deemed necessary to restore the firm to a sustainable path.

Click here to read more from Widerstrom and Evoke’s wider H1 2024 performance.

What you need to know

Commercial

• Flutter Entertainment increased its profit guidance for 2024, buoyed by better-than-expected results from Euro 2024 and its continued expansion in the U.S. sports betting market. Group revenue for Q2 2024 hit £2.8bn, with adjusted core earnings up 17% year-on-year. It’s also in talks with Playtech over the acquisition of its Italian arm, Snaitech, in a £2bn deal. More  
• DraftKings has completed a U-turn on its plans to introduce a new Gaming Tax Surcharge in four high-tax U.S. states. Within minutes of Flutter CEO, Peter Jackson, ruling out FanDuel adopting such an approach, DraftKings canned their proposal in a statement. More  
• Sportradar posted 29% year-on-year revenue gains in Q2 2024 to £238m. However, soaring sports rights costs continue to affect its bottom line. Despite an adjusted EBITDA of £41.79m, the firm still announced a £1.28m loss caused largely by an 83% rise in media rights fees. More  
• A string of trade unions in New York have thrown their weight behind the construction of a new land-based casino in the Big Apple’s iconic Times Square. With three downstate casino licences due to be awarded next year, a Times Square casino is one of 11 bids already placed. More

Regulation

• Dutch Gaming Authority, Kansspelautoriteit (KSA) has contacted up to 13 licensed operators regarding growing concerns over delays to player payouts. Despite submitting an update on its guidelines regarding player credit payouts, KSA continues to receive complaints of compliance failure by brands. More

Technology

• PA Betting Services has retained its official distributor agreement with the Greyhound Board of Great Britain (GBGB). The data and content supplier has penned an extension to its deal, with the firm committed to ensuring the highest standards of accuracy and timeliness for everything from off-times and starting prices to going allowances. More

People news

Manu Stan takes charge of Catena Media and its new operating model

Catena Media’s new leadership team, consisting of CEO Manu Stan and CFO Michael Gerrow, has overseen progress in its transition to a new business model.

In its interim H1 2024 accounts published this week, it includes the first insights from Stan and Gerrow, who are prioritising U.S. growth this year and beyond.

Stan said that Catena Media boasts a strong portfolio of products and is refocusing its efforts on not spreading itself too thin, which has led to the under-optimisation of its core services in recent years.

Click here to hear more from Stan’s first statement as Group CEO of Catena Media.

This week’s talking point

Has the Betfair Exchange lost its magic touch?

Racing Post reporter Jonathan Harding has explored the state of the horseracing betting markets on the Betfair Exchange, which was once a game-changing betting product. However, having ushered in a betting revolution on horseracing – and other major sports – there are indications that the product has lost its sparkle.

The Betfair Exchange was the place to get competitive odds on horseracing in the mid-to-late 2000s and even in the early 2010s. However, liquidity in the horseracing markets appears to have dried up fast.

The number of races with over £500,000 traded pre-race has declined from 91.2% in 2016 to just 9.2% in 2024. In fact, just 1.8% of all races have more than £1 million traded pre-off.

Harding notes that some sports like cricket and football have held up well on the platform liquidity-wise, but the issue of affordability checks is increasingly deterring big-hitting horseracing players from getting involved.

Click here to understand more about the changing dynamics of the horseracing betting markets on the Betfair Exchange.

This week’s insight

Exploring OpenBet’s new BetBuilder for bespoke in-play betting

OpenBet has launched a new in-play BetBuilder product, designed to allow bettors to build their own bespoke in-play bets as games unfold in real-time.

The in-play BetBuilder will incorporate all the best features of OpenBet’s successful pre-match BetBuilder, while incorporating greater flexibility on in-play selections. Luke Sanders, vice president for commercial at OpenBet, believes this product will enable bettors to create their own betting narratives based on what they see with their own eyes live.

OpenBet’s pre-match BetBuilder was also hugely successful at Euro 2024, experiencing a 470% increase in bet slips compared with Euro 2021.

The new in-play BetBuilder has already been launched across some of the major summer leagues and will be available to operators for the likes of the English Premier League from August.

Click here to learn more about OpenBet’s in-play BetBuilder, its target audience and its particular appeal for the new Brazilian market.