Flutter debuts on NYSE, Evolution and Entain in the news

Several high-profile events mark the entire week, with Flutter Entertainment delisting from Euronext Dublin and assuming dual listing at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) instead. The ceremony went through with the traditional fanfare, bell ringing, and "good job" pats on the back as is customary, but it also revealed more about the company’s plans for the future.

Tempted by access to fresh capital, Flutter may consider making NYSE its primary base of operations and possibly pull from the London Stock Exchange, making a big shift, and also banking on the future expansion of both sports betting and iGaming in the United States. It doesn’t hurt that Flutter Entertainment also owns PokerStars and FanDuel, which are dominant forces in the US market.

The other high-profile cases of the week involve Evolution and Entain. For the part of Entain, the company is now seeking an undisclosed amount of damages against BetCity.nl’s former owners, as the latter concealed enforcement proceedings undertaken by the Kansspelautoriteit, the Dutch regulatory authority, at a time of a negotiated sale of the business to the FTSE100 company.

Although BetCity.nl and its ex-bosses agreed to pay the regulator fines ensuing from a pair of investigations in the Netherlands, the gaming giant has not been placated, seeking punitive measures against members Singels family and former high management within BetCity.nl. Entain finalized the acquisition of the business in early 2023, but it only lodged its case against the defendants last December.

Litigation marks the week as a new high-profile case has been lodged against Evolution AB by Federman & Sherwood, and what is essentially the first securities class action lawsuit filed against the gaming company. The plaintiffs alleged that the company, and specifically Evolution's CEO, Martin Carlesund, and the company's Chief Financial Officer, Jacob Kaplan, have misled or provided false statements regarding the business’s compliance.

The case names a period between February 14, 2019, and October 25, 2023, when the company’s share price suffered as a result of these actions. The case was lodged with the US District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.

Casino Guru in the News

Casino Guru also made its mark on the industry this week. Starting with the Casino Guru Awards, we were able to catch up with two more of our shortlisted candidates for the 2024 event due in several weeks.

We spoke with RocketPlay Casino, nominated in four categories, who outlined how Responsible Gambling ought to be a core requirement and ethical obligation for any company hoping to make its presence felt in iGaming and establish a sustainable long-term business.

A similar sentiment was echoed by Megaslot, another shortlisted company that spoke about how fairness ought to be a cornerstone of any business that is pursuing growth. Both conversations are worth reading in their entirety as they provide a unique perspective on the changing attitudes among operators towards creating a product that is transparent, reliable, and player-focused.

Not least, Casino Guru was able to hit a 100,000 subscriber milestone on its Newsletter, which launched in 2020 and has been growing at a steady pace ever since. The exponential growth of the newsletter is a testament to the unique effort that went into curating and creating email content that is reliable, looked forward to and ultimately creates value for subscribers.

The Industry Speaks – Hear Them Out

Not least, we had the opportunity to catch up with a number of prominent figures from the industry this week again. We spoke with Leon Allen, Cybersecurity Director at Continent 8 Technologies who walked us through the changing and challenging landscape for data and cybersecurity in the iGaming industry.

Although there has been a growing incidence of attacks against gambling businesses, Allen has outlined a path that businesses may follow to ensure that they remain resilient in the face of emerging threats. Among those are better training for employees and continuous learning of the risks to stay ahead of the curve, with some 88% of data breaches ascribed to employee mistakes.

We also had the opportunity to speak with Evoplay CEO Ivan Kravchuk with whom we discussed what the past year was for Evoplay and how changing consumer tastes have sent the company on an odyssey to create more compelling products that draw inspiration from other industries and deliver a product that pushes the envelope of what game creation in iGaming means.

Not least, we spoke with Koin Payments CCO Scott Carcillo who walked us through the "foundational shift" towards cashless payments in the gambling industry. Such payments have become essential and preferred options and are adopted faster than businesses note in his insightful account of what changes are happening on payment level in the industry.

We took a closer look at the changes in the Italian market and proposed alterations to the existing law in an in-depth analysis of the market. The online gambling sector in Italy is faced with major changes. A new Reorganization Decree proposes increasing of license fees, the application of a 3% tax on the provision of gambling services, and the implementation of measures that fight against problems and youth gambling. Find out more in our in-depth review.

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