Florida set to get sports betting, Flutter takes a hit, GiG enters affiliate space

This week we saw a handful of major developments, including the highly anticipated confirmation of a launch of sports betting in Florida. The Seminole Tribe of Florida is pushing ahead with its plans for in-person and possible mobile sports gambling as parimutuel businesses are preparing to fight this in the Supreme Court of Florida, after losing in the Supreme Court of the United States earlier this month.

Regardless of this pothole, the Seminole Tribe has confirmed that the Hard Rock Bet platform is coming back, which is already boldly stating on its website that "legalized sports gambling is coming to Florida."

Will this be the second time the app is shut down after it was initially supposed to go live in 2021, or will Florida embrace sports betting as part of the compact deal negotiated between the Native American tribe and Gov. De Santis several years back? This remains to be seen, but for the time being, it’s all systems go for regulated sports wagering in the state of Florida.

Moving on, Gaming Innovation Group (GiG) has been expanding rapidly across the gambling landscape, with the company embracing a new jackpot management technology by Jooba Tech earlier this week.

Finance, Merges, and Future Growth

Yet, the highlight of the company’s week comes from its decision to pursue expansion into the affiliate gaming space with the acquisition of KaFe Rocks, which holds some of the biggest affiliate brands in the North American market. GiG Media will now benefit immensely from these assets, steering its own growth in the region.

Flutter Entertainment has reported revised full-year adjusted EBITDA results, which are now bound to hit the lower end of the range at £1.44bn. The company interestingly cited "customer friendly results" from events such as the FIFA World Cup as the reason why, but analysts justly pointed out that this is usually an anticipated outcome and easily hedged against.

Regardless of the drop in EBITDA, though, Flutter is not doing bad at all. The company is in fact preparing to step firmly into the fourth quarter as the NFL season in the United States has been helping with customer acquisition.

In fact, Flutter saw growth in both the third quarter of the year when it comes to revenue and average monthly players, and the company is confident that its expanding market share in the United States will underpin its future results.

Another huge development this week also comes from Stake’s end, with the prominent iGaming and sports betting brand acquiring Betfair Colombia, and the subsidiary’s license to operate in the country until 2025. This is an important step forward for the company as it is determined to pursue further growth in the Latin American region, using Betfair Colombia and the country as a springboard for realizing these ambitions.

Another major development this week was the announcement made by Sumsub which launched its first Full Cycle platform dedicated to verification, anti-fraud and compliance solutions. The new platform is built upon four founding pillars that will allow Sumsub to deliver a robust solution that is designed to ensure that partner operators continue to ensure that they meet regulatory requirements to the fullest.

Heed the Industry’s Call

The industry’s roundup has been an exciting one this week as well. We start with Peter Matúška, Casino Guru’s Casino Data Team Lead and Complaint Specialist, who is in charge of ensuring that the company’s casino data is both accurate and complete.

It’s a demanding process that requires robust mechanisms set in place, especially when you have 4,300 active online casinos to take care of. Find out how Matúška and his team keep players and readers apprised about the latest developments in the gambling industry in our interview with him.

On the eve of Safer Gambling Week, we feel that gambling literacy has never been a more important topic than before, and this is where Robert Mabbett, Engagement Director at Better Change, steps in to talk about his personal story with gambling, how he wants to help people, and why empowering individuals matters in helping them overcome impulsive and compulsive gambling.

We also spoke with Mihael Mladenov, RiskCherry’s Chief Operating Officer, who walked us through how the company makes it possible for content suppliers to have their content certified and deployed to market quickly and efficiently. RiskCherry has focused on helping companies launch their products quickly and efficiently, while remaining compliant with local market specificities.

ClearStake Chief Marketing Officer Tom Farrell also joined the conversation, and spoke about the importance of financial checks and the impact they have on businesses. ClearStake, for its part, focuses on ensuring that the churn associated with these financial checks is reduced, and that companies have a firm foothold as they step into the new realities of the gambling industry.

Not least, we caught up with U.S. Integrity President Matthew Holt who walked us through the company’s mission to promote transparency and collaboration in gambling at a time of rapidly changing regulatory landscape.

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