GRIT Act sends waves, 888 takes financial hit, suppliers expand

The idea of introducing a federal levy on gambling results that would allow the funding and research into problem gambling, and a sa result offer better protection to consumers in the United States has sent waves across the industry last and this week.

The National Council on Problem Gambling has welcomed the arrival of the Gambling Addiction Recovery, Investment, and Treatment Act (GRIT) as an opportunity to save lives.

This opinion was shared by the Campaign for Fairer Gambling in the United States, which hailed the efforts by US Senator Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut and US Representative Andrea Salinas of Oregon to introduce a comprehensive legislation that helps advance the country’s understanding of what is a growing social ill.

Yet, the American Gaming Association (AGA), a trade group otherwise promoting responsible gambling and launching dedicated campaigns of its own, has objected to the idea of funding the GRIT Act in the manner proposed in the draft, arguing it would make regulated sportsbooks and gaming operators less competitive in the face of growing pressure from illegal and offshore websites.

888 Holdings continues to struggle with its financial performance, but this has not cowered the company’s top management, as CEO Per Widerström feels confident in the business’s long-term prospects and its opportunity to deliver strong results across the board.

Although the company experienced a decline in its latest financial summary, the group believes that most of the challenging short-term hurdles are overcome and that moving forward, it will be building a sustainable business model that sets it up for international growth. The dotcom domain took a strong hit, but 888 is stepping confidently into 2024.

A rumor started by a former OnAir Entertainment employee alleges that at least one of the company’s employees had access to Playtech's, a competitor, internal development & marketing materials for an extended period of time. The allegations are serious enough and they have triggered an internal check as confirmed by Playtech in a statement to another iGaming publication.

Suppliers on the Move

Suppliers have been looking to make their mark on the industry this week and they definitely have. Octoplay, one of the fastest-growing companies in the sector, has hired Gavin Hamilton, a Red Tiger veteran and a seasoned expert in the creation of casino games who will now help strengthen the supplier’s overall process as Chairman.

Push Gaming expanded into Greece with Novibet and Betsson, as the supplier is determined to continue growing across Europe and with some of the leading brands in the sector. Across the pond, Pariplay continued to grow as well, with the company teaming up with PlayStar and doubling down on the market in New Jersey as well.

EveryMatrix has appointed Nikolina Gabelica as its Head of Lottery this week as well, as the company has been enjoying a very strong start of the year, bolstered by record-setting results from 2023.

Speaking of appointments, Stakelogic brought on Edgars Isajevs as its Head of Live Casino, and the company also entered the market in Ontario through a tie-up with Rootz. Gaming Corps, another company, pursued a similar move, by expanding its reach with Alea, an aggregation platform.

Not least, Pragmatic Play teamed up with Betcris in Latin America, with the two companies pursuing steady growth in the region.

The Industry Talks

This week we had the opportunity to catch up with many industry insiders once again and discuss a variety of topics. We spoke with one of the shortlisted companies for the Casino Guru Awards, BetBeast, who spoke about the importance of customer complaints and how the business leverages this feedback to build a more robust product.

Our team similarly caught up with BetGames Head of Marketing Yanina Kaplya with whom we discussed the company’s first and already successful crash game, Skyward. Kaplya spoke about the insight that went into building the title and its implications for the company and partner operators.

Not least, we finally had the opportunity to share our conversation with Vladimir Malakchi who spoke about how the industry has evolved in terms of engaging with customers and how suppliers have had a crucial role to play in building simple products that hit their intended marks and manage to retain players, particularly through the use of clever additional tools.

Image credit: Casino Guru News