This Week's Sports Betting Update

One big story 

Smarkets slams on the brakes over US expansion plans after a challenging 2022

Sports betting exchange Smarkets published its full accounts for the 2022 fiscal year to Companies House, with CEO Jason Trost acknowledging a testing financial climate.

The company saw a 10% year-on-year decline in revenue across its exchange and SBK sportsbook. This led to a 29% year-on-year fall in gross profit, declining from £12.7 million to £9m. Although its pre-tax loss increased only slightly from £17m to £17.7m year-on-year.

Trost cited increased living costs driven by inflation as one of the main drivers of declining revenues but praised the company’s resilience in the face of a changing economic climate.

In the UK market, the firm invested significantly in an aggressive acquisition strategy prior to the Cheltenham Festival. However, a decision has been taken to hit the pause button on further expansion stateside.

Trost confirmed Smarkets’ narrow approach for the 2023 fiscal year, with a renewed focus on product development.

Click here to get more data on Smarkets’ 2022 fiscal year, including its efforts in cost reduction.

Our latest webinar

Actionable sports betting content: Why bettors need it more now than ever before

This webinar, presented by Spotlight Sports Group, will give you a thorough view into how actionable sports betting content on bookmaker and affiliate platforms has been proved to successfully engage with sports bettors in recent years.

The experts that participated in this webinar are Rob Black, B2B Sales Director of SSG, Owen Duffy, Head of Sport Product for 888 William Hill, and Andrew Mook, Head of Marketing Strategy and Planning at Sky Bet.

Keeping the conversation interesting was the former Racing Post editor, Bruce Millington, who served as the moderator. You don't want to miss this conversation.

Watch the webinar on-demand here.

What you need to know

Commercial

• Spotlight Sports Group’s Racing Post has launched a new betting show, The Morning Post. William Hill is the title sponsor of the production, which has been launched for horseracing fans. The show will be streamed each Saturday from 10am GMT, hosted by Racing Post’s Dave Orton. More
• BetMGM has secured a deal with Sportradar to utilise optical tracking data from the NBA. The information will help to add an extra dimension to its in-play, prop and parlay betting markets. The deal commences from the beginning of the 2023-24 NBA season. More
• PointsBet has reported a 3% decline in turnover during its first operating quarter since the sale of its US operations. Turnover fell to AU$611m, despite a 111% rise in turnover from its Canadian operations. That’s due largely to a 7% drop off in turnover from its operations down under, which is worth almost 13 times that of its Canada-based output. More
• Buzz Group believes the restructuring of its bingo and casino brands towards its online operations should soon yield dividends. The group’s online revenues were up 8% year-on-year for the year to September 2023. The firm expects this to grow by a further 30% year-on-year in the year to September 2024. More

Regulation

A string of MPs have spoken out against the proposed affordability checks on gamblers across the UK as part of a debate in Westminster Hall. The highest profile of all being former Health Secretary Matt Hancock, whose West Suffolk constituency includes the horseracing town of Newmarket. Hancock believes the proposals are a serious policy error, requiring immediate review from Gambling Minister Stuart Andrew. More

Technology

Sportradar is taking charge of Tennis Channel’s new direct-to-consumer tennis streaming platform. Its marquee 24/7 channel will cover thousands of hours of live and on-demand tennis matches, as well as original programming. The channel is expected to launch in the US in Q1 2024, giving tennis fans and bettors access to best-in-class coverage of tournaments worldwide. More

People news

Flutter’s Sisal appoints Sian Carson as new chief people officer

Sian Carson has been named as the new chief people officer at Italian sportsbook Sisal. Carson, who previously worked as chief people officer at Flutter Entertainment, moves to the Flutter-owned platform which is on a mission to expand across Italy and abroad.

Carson has spent time working several HR roles across Flutter’s subsidiaries, beginning with Australian sportsbook, Sportsbet, in 2015. A move to Paddy Power followed in July 2019. Carson spoke of her pride in accepting the new role.

Read more from Carson and get the lowdown on Flutter’s bid for Italian expansion.

This week's talking point

The prospect of a new statutory levy is worrying independent bookmakers

As one batch of consultations on the UK’s gambling policy closes, another opens. The prospect of a new statutory levy is posing fresh concerns for independent bookmakers.

The government is mooting the prospect of imposing a statutory levy on bookmakers to pay for problem gambling treatments, preventions and research.

This would overhaul the present system where operators can contribute voluntarily. Ministers believe this levy would yield £100m a year, with online operators required to pay a 1% levy on gross gambling yield (GGY). Retail bookmakers and casinos would also pay a proposed 0.4% levy on GGY of over £500,000.

Independent betting shops view this as a bitter pill to swallow, according to Brigid Simmonds, chair of the Betting and Gaming Council (BGC). That’s because land-based arcades would only pay 0.1% levies on GGY over £500,000.

Read more from Greg Knight, managing director of Jenningsbet, on fears that such a levy could threaten the long-term viability of independent shops.

This week's insight

Exploring the rise of LiveScore Group and its masterplan

LiveScore Group has visions of evolving into the leading sports media operator on the planet, with its move into sports betting only the beginning.

That’s according to chief executive Sam Sadi, who says the firm has a 10-20-year plan to become the number-one sports media operator worldwide. The launch of the LiveScore Bet sportsbook in 2020 was the next phase in this roadmap and this year it’s celebrating 25 years in the sports media industry.

Sadi says convergence is the key to LiveScore Group’s long-term sustainability. The LiveScore Bet sportsbook is a step forward, but Sadi acknowledges the importance of doing things differently given the saturated market. Delivering a sportsbook which can best serve existing LiveScore users is at the heart of everything they do.

Learn how LiveScore Group aims to provide sports betting and media value in one unique package.

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