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BGC Calls on UK Government to Put Child Protection “Front and Centre” of Gambling White Paper

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The Betting and Gaming Council (BGC) has called on the UK Government to make child protection a priority in its forthcoming Gambling White Paper.

Chief executive Michael Dugher made the call as the BGC highlighted the work already done by the regulated industry to keep young people safe.

He said the measures were in “stark contrast” to the unsafe unregulated black market online, which has none of the safer gambling measures offered by BGC members, like strict age verification checks.

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In all, 15 child protection measures have been introduced since 2019, when the BGC was established, with further measures planned in the months ahead.

They include the £10m Young People’s Gambling Harm Prevention Programme, which is delivered to children, teachers and youth workers across the UK by leading safer gambling charities YGAM and GamCare.

Earlier this year, BGC members introduced new rules aimed at ensuring that children cannot view gambling ads on football clubs’ official social media accounts.

BGC members also introduced new age gating rules on advertising on social platforms, restricting the ads to those aged 25 and over for most sites.

Early results from one operator showed a 96% drop in views of social media advertisements by those aged 18–24 in the final three months of 2020, compared to the same period the year before.

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The whistle to whistle ban on TV betting commercials during live sport before the watershed has led to a 97% reduction in the number of young people viewing such ads at that time.

As a further example of our members’ commitment to child protection, figures released by independent analysts Serve Legal revealed that betting shops’ record on age verification checks are better than those of supermarkets, convenience stores and petrol forecourts.

Ninety per cent of betting shops have passed “secret shopper” checks in 2021 so far, compared to 83% of convenience stores, 77% of supermarkets and 76% of petrol forecourts.

The BGC is also working with social media platforms and search companies to look at ways of allowing individuals to unsubscribe from betting ads.

The BGC is also calling on others in the regulated betting and gaming industry, and those selling products such as scratch cards in convenience stores and fruit machines in pubs, to follow the lead of betting shops in their success with independent age verification checks

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In a sign that the work the BGC has done is having an impact a recent report by the Gambling Commission showed that the rate of problem gambling for 16 to 24-year-olds had fallen from 0.8% to 0.4%.

According to separate Gambling Commission data, the proportion of young people saying they had gambled in the previous seven days fell from 23% in 2011 to 11% in 2019. The regulator also found that the main forms of gambling by 11 to 16-year-olds are playing cards, private bets with friends, scratchcards and fruit machines, not with BGC members.

BGC Chief Executive Michael Dugher said: “We strongly support the Government’s Gambling Review, which highlighted the protection of children and vulnerable people in a fair and open gambling economy as one of the Government’s main priorities. We therefore hope that child protection will be front and centre of the forthcoming white paper.

“It is clear that the steps BGC members have taken over the previous two years are now providing results.

“Nevertheless, we are not complacent, and protecting young people remains our top priority as we continue raising standards across the regulated industry.

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“The BGC and our members will continue drive further changes to prevent under-18s and other vulnerable groups from being exposed to gambling advertising online.

“The regulated betting and gaming industry is determined to promote safer gambling, which is in stark contrast to the unsafe and growing online black market, which has none of the safeguards which are commonplace among BGC members.”

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Gambling in the USA

Kambi Group plc extends Mohegan partnership with on-property sports betting agreement in Pennsylvania

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Kambi Group plc (“Kambi”), the world’s trusted sports betting partner, has agreed a long-term on-property sportsbook partnership with Mohegan to provide its award-winning sportsbook at two retail locations in the state of Pennsylvania.

The partnership will see Mohegan utilise Kambi’s cutting-edge retail sportsbook offering across more than 20 kiosks in sportsbook locations at Mohegan Pennsylvania and Mohegan Pennsylvania at Lehigh Valley Race and Sportsbook.

The deal further strengthens Kambi’s relationship with Mohegan, which already utilises Kambi’s suite of sports betting products at ilani in Washington, as well as online and on-property in the Canadian province of Ontario at Fallsview Casino Resort and Casino Niagara.

Kristian Nylén, Kambi CEO and Co-founder, said: “With several successful partnerships with Mohegan already in place, we are pleased to agree this new partnership as we continue to build on our strong relationship.

“This latest deal further reinforces Kambi’s position as the sportsbook provider of choice for tribes across North America, and we look forward to our ongoing collaboration with Mohegan.”

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Tony Carlucci, President & GM of Mohegan Pennsylvania, said: “Mohegan Pennsylvania is excited to continue utilising the same Kambi technology platform that existed under our Kindred partnership, which will help to create a seamless process as the Sportsbook at Mohegan Pennsylvania fully rebrands later this Spring.”

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Blockchain

JuicyBet Launches Its Innovative GambleFi Platform

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 JuicyBet, a Web3 startup, announced the launch of its GambleFi platform. This platform combines finance technology and gambling via blockchain to create unique opportunities and experiences for users. The company strives to revolutionize the principles of the online betting industry and the interaction between platforms and users in this market.

What is GambleFi?

GambleFi uses blockchain technology to ensure the fairness and transparency of games and betting outcomes and for players to get their share of the platform’s earnings and participate in its governance and day-to-day by holding its tokens.

How JuicyBet works

JuicyBet fully utilizes blockchain technology to establish a new ecosystem that has never been seen in the gambling industry. It is centered around user participation and transparency while providing gambling thrills and quality entertainment.

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All game records on the platform are kept in a public blockchain, while a set of smart contracts automates gaming outcomes and payouts and provides for the platform governance via the DAO model. This reduces fraud risks and operational costs, making JuicyBet a more efficient platform.

However, the platform’s main feature is the unprecedented level of user engagement via the platform’s native tokens.

  • First, the tokens provide access to betting.
  • Second, token holders get their share of the platform’s profit.
  • Third, token holders can vote on key decisions on the platform’s development in JuicyBet DAO.
  • And finally, DAO participants can also perform the role of oracles for bets and earn rewards.

In other words, JuicyBet doesn’t try to be just another gambling platform. It establishes a new ecosystem where users are in control of the platform and bets and are the beneficiaries of the platform.

In addition, JuicyBet offers additional earning opportunities, such as Double Farming and staking for token holders.

JuicyBet has already been noticed by users and investors – the platform’s 3-month turnover has exceeded $1,5 million, according to on-chain data available via Dune, and multiple centralized exchanges and launchpads have listed it.

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Rivalry Announces 2023 Annual Letter to Shareholders and Filing of 2023 Annual Financial Statements

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Rivalry Corp. (the “Company” or “Rivalry”) (TSXV: RVLY) (OTCQX: RVLCF) (FSE: 9VK), the leading sportsbook and iGaming operator for Gen Z, is pleased to announce its 2023 annual letter to shareholders and the filing of its financial results for the three (3) and 12-month period ended December 31, 2023. All dollar figures are quoted in Canadian dollars.

2023 Annual Letter to Shareholders

To our Shareholders,

This time last year I spoke about Rivalry’s evolution from a market leader in esports to a diversified Company setting the standard for Gen Z betting entertainment broadly.

Today, we have a business with revenue distribution across casino, sports, and esports betting, growing market share in new geographies, with increased velocity in core regions, and the strongest customer KPIs in Rivalry’s history.

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In 2023, Rivalry recorded $423.2 million in betting handle1, up 82% from the previous year. Similarly, gross gaming revenue2 and net revenue both saw 34% and 66% respective increases, while the introduction of higher margin products released in H2 such as Same Game Combos and Quick Combos are continuing to improve overall sportsbook hold and guide Rivalry closer to profitability.

Our deepened product suite now includes fantasy, additional sports coverage, and new proprietary casino games. All of which are uniquely driving growth among a targeted customer segment and widening our opportunity set in 2024 and beyond – from a 60% increase in traditional sports betting to a burgeoning B2B game vertical. The potential for how far our brand can go is just beginning to unfold.

The year ahead is rife with new, innovative product releases arriving in Q2 and continuing throughout 2024. We are doubling down on core growth opportunities in sports that resonate with our audience, such as basketball and soccer. Further, we are building on a successful casino segment which already represents 50% of our business, enhancing variety, depth, and accessibility, as well as developing new original games which blur the lines between betting and entertainment. We are in the process of additional geographic expansion, and pursuing new licenses to broaden our total addressable market, positioning Rivalry to own the Gen Z gambling opportunity globally.

While Rivalry’s operations have expanded into new high-growth verticals, our north star has remained the same: to define the future of online gambling for a generation born on the internet.

Online gambling in 2024 is radically different than it was just six years ago when Rivalry launched. In that time we’ve seen gaming and internet culture reshape how consumers engage with technology. That shift is broadening the definition of gambling, where product design is influenced by video games, or it exists fully embedded within social apps like Telegram, where content creators are the new affiliates, and much more.

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Over the same period, the rise of cryptocurrency and blockchain technology has introduced a new level of speed, access, and security to web-based consumer experiences. Industry estimates now put crypto wagers at up to one quarter of global betting handle3, with 30% year-over-year growth in 20244, and showing no signs of slowing down.

The development of this ecosystem has commercially unlocked online gambling unlike anything since its first transition from land to online many years ago. It has brought in a new global audience, and enriched the customer experience from end-to-end.

Alongside the growth of this technology has emerged new methods of gambling, taking wallet share from more traditional forms at an accelerated rate. The shift in consumer behavior and the signal from our users is clear – interactive, volatile, and crypto-infused product experiences will set the precedent for how the next generation gambles online.

Rivalry, with a brand steeped in internet culture and living at the intersection of this digital economic renaissance, is well-positioned to access this growth opportunity. There is high overlap between Gen Z, gamers, gamblers, and a fast-growing audience of over 420 million crypto users worldwide5 organically aligned with our audience and brand. And we believe that more than half of this audience globally is already wagering with crypto.

It will be Rivalry’s ability to understand, implement, and adapt to this shift more rapidly than our peers that we expect to create first-mover advantages for us. It is for that reason that our vision is now bolder than ever for what’s possible in the online gambling category.

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Soon, we will reveal plans for a crypto-enabled product set to enhance alignment between Rivalry and its users, increase network effects, and generally deliver a consumer experience that lives on the internet of 2024.

To that effect, the success of our first-party games and their ability to acquire and engage a captive audience of Gen Z bettors online has validated our original game development strategy amongst industry peers. This has unlocked a new commercial opportunity for Rivalry to license its IP, opening up another line of revenue for the business that has great potential for global scale.

The year ahead is poised to be one of our most ground-breaking, with a myriad of innovative product releases across all of Rivalry’s verticals, adding more dimension to our business, operations, and addressable audience, and building on our competitive moat as the market leader in Gen Z betting entertainment.

We look forward to sharing more details about these upcoming initiatives, the opportunities they will unlock for our Company, and delivering on our promise to create long-term shareholder value and reach profitability. Thank you all for your continued support.

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