MGM hacker busted, Entain has a new CEO, DraftKings drops VSiN

The week has been as eventful as they get. First, we got news that a 17-year-old individual had been arrested in the United Kingdom as part of a joint operation between British local law enforcement and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

The person in question has been detained over their alleged involvement in the most recent hacking attack against MGM Resorts International, which stole away with the personal information of millions of customers, and also disrupted business, leading to a $100m loss for the company in the third quarter of 2023.

It also landed the company in hot water with the FTC, whose boss was staying at one of the company’s properties when the attack happened and had her data hijacked.

POGOs are no more, Entain has a new boss, DraftKings and VSiN

In the meantime, the Philippines has finally shut the book on a highly contentious issue – the shuttering of the legal offshore gambling market, or POGOs.

These businesses have been linked to crime, although the companies do have a license from the country’s regulator. No more, as PresidentFerdinand Marcos Jr has decided to bulldoze the industry with a squiggle of his pen, in what opponents see as acquiescing to Chinese demands to shutter the sector.

Entain has a new boss – its third one since the company rebranded from GVC Holdings. Enter Gavin Isaacs, a former Scientific Games veteran, and an industry-seasoned expert who has held multiple stints at companies such as DraftKings, BallyTechnologies, SB Tech, and numerous others.

Isaacs is joining the company at a rather turbulent time, when Entain is trying to appease activist investors who have not been satisfied with the company’s merger-and-acquisition splurge and the little shareholder value that it led to.

DraftKings joins the club of companies that had to make a slightly embarrassing reverse ferret. The company, which bought VSiN a sports radio and TV network several years back for $70m, has announced that it is selling it back to its original founders – Bill Adee and Brian Musburger. The sum of the deal was not disclosed, although DraftKings made a statement in which it assured that it is all part of the company’s long-term strategy.

The political race in the United States is intensifying, with the election date looming in 100 days. Kamala Harris, who is all but certain to be the Democratic Party’s presidential nominee, is now looking for a Vice President. Betting sites have obligingly offered several options, with Mark Kelly and Josh Shapiro somewhat expectedly topping the list of contenders.

Black market and financial results

In the meantime, Germany is caught in another episode of "them versus us" as industry bodies worry that the gambling industry is overwhelmed by the black market.

The black market in the county, says DOCV, a trade body, has been steadily limbering up, with regulated operators failing to channel players into the market – through no fault of theirs, but rather because of over-restrictive rules, the argument runs.

Evoke in the meantime has posted somewhat underwhelming Q2 and H1 performance. The company made a clean breast of what it saw as "behind plan" performance during the surveyed period, but argued that it is well-positioned to pursue its immediate goals in the second quarter and well into 2025.

The company has also just teamed up with the Department of Trust to prepare for monumental shifts in the market in the United Kingdom and ensure that players are safe, but also that the company can onboard new players in a compliant and frictionless fashion.

Speaking of financial performance, EveryMatrix is on track to hit its best year-to-date, after a record-setting Q2. As we wrote in our piece covering the original news, EveryMatrix’s finances are on an upright trajectory, and they are unlikely to slow down any time soon.

Casino and sports betting operations have been the main contributions, but EveryMatrix has shown a strong penchant for diversifying its operations, giving it resilience in the process.

Casino Guru and the industry

We have been able to conduct a very interesting Casino Guru poll that we can share the results of. In our latest question to the community, we asked how many of you tend to play online casino games on your own.

The responses were overwhelmingly in support of solo play – with some 84% of players saying they play alone. Yet, we have also found more interesting trends! You can check them out here.

BetBlocker and Casino Guru have announced a new strategic partnership that will help further enhance player safety globally. BetBlocker will now integrate its blocking software with Casino Guru’s Global Self-Exclusion initiatives. You may learn more about this exciting partnership here.

Not least, we caught up with Alexander Björkén, Product Growth Manager at Streamia.io, with whom we spoke about the future of streaming and how people interested in streaming can get the message out to potential audiences. One thing is certain, Björkén mused in our conversation - casino streaming is here to stay.

In a conversation with Timur Todua, we have caught up on GameBeat Studio's tenets of success. The studio has been building quality products, but this is hardly all necessary to release a successful slot game in today's market - timing and marketing matter just as much.

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