888 sells US B2C assets, new RG body formed in the United States

This week 888 Holdings made news several times, and surprisingly, it was mostly positive developments. The company confirmed that it is selling its US B2C assets to Hard Rock Digital in a deal that is expected to lead to significant savings for the company, notwithstanding a one-off payment that will have to be made to absorb certain costs related to brand termination and market exit.

Regardless, the news has been mostly welcomed, as 888 expects to continue creating value and return towards more robust financial performance starting in 2025, and thanks to this decision.

In the meantime, the company has announced that it will be rebranding to evoke plc and commence the execution of a new value creation plan that will seek to drive commercial success for the company.

Although facing a difficult spell, 888 has been able to double down, rebuff a buyout offer, and survive executive restructuring that has left it with its highly motivated Chief Executive Officer, Per Widerström. The rebranding move is supposed to help the company see its revenue inch by 5-9% annually, as 888 takes small steps towards recovery.

Meanwhile, 888 can let out a sigh of relief as a license review initiated by the UK Gambling Commission cleared the company of any wrongdoing, allowing it to focus on executing restructuring, rebranding, and reorganization of its operations without a threat of additional costs brought on by regulatory oversight.

Meanwhile, seven industry companies in the United States have formed a new Responsible Gambling body. United States, FanDuel, DraftKings, BetMGM, Penn Entertainment, Fanatics Betting & Gaming, bet365 and Hard Rock Digital have banded together to create the Responsible Online Gaming Association (ROGA), funding the new body with $20m as part of their collaborative effort.

Elsewhere, Spelinspektionen has fined Svenska Spel with SEK100m, roughly €8.7m, citing several breaches that had to do with responsible gambling that allegedly exposed ten players to harm. The penalty cited the cases of players who were not helped or assisted by the company in what the watchdog claims is a timely manner.

Svenska Spel has responded that it has significantly strengthened its RG practices and mechanisms since 2021 when the cases date back to, and that it may seek to challenge the fine in court.

The regulator has been looking carefully over the regulated gambling market, as Spelinspektionen also blocked three gambling websites, stating that they had been targeting Swedish players without the necessary license.

The name of the regulator has been mentioned on two more occasions this year as Yggdrasil became the first supplier in Sweden to have been sanctioned under a new law and licensing regime that wants from studios to ensure that their products are not used by offshore websites that also target the Swedish market.

The Spelinspektionen will now also have to take a harder look at how gambling accounts may be used for money laundering and report back to the government.

Meanwhile, Tipico US has managed to achieve the Internet Compliance Assessment Program (iCAP) accreditation, which is the highest responsible gambling standard that an operator may secure, the company said in a press release. iCAP is supported and developed by the National Council on Problem Gambling (NCPG) and Tipico US has achieved this accreditation for both New Jersey and Ohio.

Events to look forward to

Several events should be put down on your calendar, as they will bring a ton of expertise, reunite thousands of industry specialists, and feature hundreds of top-level insiders who will be imparting their knowledge on pretty much anything that concerns the gambling industry.

Among these events are the CasinoBeats Summit which this week detailed its Affiliate & Marketing track that will do a lot to help affiliates understand the changing dynamic of the industry. The CasinoBeats Summit is held on May 21-22, 2024, at the Intercontinental Malta.

Another event that will pay closer attention to the affiliate industry is the SBC Summit North America which has similarly outlined its Affiliate & Marketing track, due to take place on the second day of the event on May 8, 2024.

The event will discuss big data, brand building, the role of customization and content, the role of influencers in all of this, and more. You may also take a look at the shortlist for the SBC Awards North America which are taking place at the Summit.

Hear them out – the industry talks

In this week’s roundup of industry interviews and closer looks, we had the opportunity to catch up with another host of excellent insiders. We spoke with Shane Cotter, CPO at Real Dealer Studios, who discussed how his company is constantly motivated to explore new opportunities for product creation and avoid a "traditional" development process to bring even greater value to players.

Speaking of value to players, you ought to also take a look at our interview with BGaming Kate Puteiko, CMO and Casinolytics Sebastian Khalighy, Co-founder & CEO who discussed how Aztec Clusters was created, leveraging game development expertise and streaming data to ensure that the resulting product is something that appeals to evolving consumer tastes.

Not least, we had a great conversation with L&L Europe, the winner of the Operator Category in The Best Implementation of Responsible Gambling Tools. L&L Europe stressed on the importance that regulatory guidance has had on ensuring that the operator achieves a stronger overall Responsible Gambling Standard.

To wrap up, we also took a harder look at spending checks in the United Kingdom and how the debate has evolved.

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