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The online gaming sector around the world connects with MGA Games Day

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MGA Games, opened its doors again with the 3rd edition of MGA Games Day. The virtual meeting presented the company’s latest news and plans for the future. In 2023 the company will double the number of games and commit heavily to its 5-reel and Megaways products internationally. MGA Games will also present a new series of games developed from land-based machines and will be expanding strongly in Portugal, The Netherlands, Sweden, Denmark, and Italy with leading partners in the market.

All of this in keeping with the essence of the company and its localized product strategy.

“Being a leader is not easy. It requires maximum effort and perseverance, which is the DNA of MGA Games”, said its CEO and founder, Joan Sanahuja. This is how MGA Games has become a leading provider in the industry. It is the result of “our commitment to innovation and the creation of unique content” he said. Joan also highlighted MGA Games’ “unique positioning vision in the gambling industry” – a factor that adds to “the perfect execution of our strategic plan year after year to position ourselves as leaders”.

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The company, created in 2001, with a portfolio of more than 100 titles, has had a year-on-year growth of 35% over the last 5 years. MGA Games currently leads the Spanish market with a penetration of 99% and a 15% market share. “The incorporation of highly qualified personnel to provide the best service to our clients is key and one of our priorities,” said the CEO of MGA Games. And the fact that the company is considered a great place to work in the sector makes it easier to “count on top-level, expert, and qualified personnel.” The quality is in the company’s products, with excellent animation, graphics, and great download speed.

José Antonio Giacomelli, General Manager at MGA Games, explained the company’s news and plans for the coming year. In 2023, MGA Games will double the number of productions launched in 2022. It will also be heavily committed to its 3-reel product, with more than 24 games, and above all and following its international strategy: its 5-reel and Megaways products, with 28 new productions.

As in 2022, MGA Games will continue to bring successful land-based games to the online world, a product that has received great acclaim. In the Spanish market, the company will release R. Franco classics such as El Habanero, Reinas de Africa, Cavernícola, Jazz & Blues, and the star game: El Lejano Oeste.

But perhaps one of the most striking novelties within the localised product strategy is the addition of the best Spanish television games to the MGA Games online catalogue. For the Spanish market, this means prime-time productions such as La Voz, number one in audience viewings in its time slot; Pasapalabra, a Spanish TV classic and Mask Singer: adivina quién canta, the TV program currently featuring the most celebrities.

The Spanish Celebrities catalogue will, of course continue to grow and will feature famous faces such as Gemma Mengual, the important Spanish athlete with more than 24 Olympic medals; Sofía Cristo, the well-known DJ, and producer, and one of the most popular celebrities on television at the moment, Makoke.

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Internationally, MGA Games will continue its expansion plans, with important agreements for continued growth in Sweden, Denmark, Italy, Colombia, and Portugal. These countries already have more than 200 localised products to which MGA Games will add more mini-games, Free Spins, multipliers, and Wilds. And in 2023, 4 new Megaways slot games will also be available.

Localised product will be created for each of the international markets, focusing on famous people from each country but also on productions with local themes. For Portugal, Portuguese Celebrities joining the series include the famous actress Sofia Sousa; the renowned influencer Andreia Da Silva; Elisabete Moutinho, one of the country’s top models, and the star influencer Maria Nunes.

For the Dutch market, the Netherlands Celebrities will feature top celebrities such as the Dutch Instagram star Aylin Hayret and the TV personality Bobbi Eden. While in Italy, with 50 new operators thanks to agreements with Microgame, 2023 will see Italian Celebrities of the magnitude of actress and dancer Marina Evangelista, the revolutionary influencer Elena Rizzello, presenters Floriana Messina and Jolanda de Rienzo and the showgirl Elena Morali.

All these productions will undoubtedly be impressive and surprising. The company is determined to make 2023 mark ‘a before and after’. The company is also exploring the Markets in Asia and North America, and “There will be news on these developments very soon,” Giacomelli said.

The leitmotif for this year’s event was about connectivity. “We are all connected” and “in 2023, everything will be connected.” This connectivity was made evident by the participation of the company’s principal partners and clients in the MGA Games Day. These big players in the gaming sector who give paramount importance to the continued improvement of their results connected with the event to share their views. Javier Lanfranchi, Sales Director at MGA Games, presented the event and spoke with these important MGA Games partners to “know what the sector thinks from different places on the planet”.

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Paul Guyton, Marketing Coordinator at Finnplay, from Finland talked about MGA Games’ great product and table games. Finnplay has been in the business as a platform provider for 15 years, mainly in regulated European markets such as the Netherlands, Romania, and Lithuania. “When I first came across MGA and their team I was very taken aback by their diverse portfolio with the likes of their table games, their 3-reel slots, their 5-reel slots, their online Bingo and my personal favourite, the premium Celebrity games as well as the Megaways slots,” reflected Guyton.

From Poland, Nikita Keino, Partner Managers Team Lead Game Aggregator at Softswiss, talked about opening up to new international markets. SoftSwiss is an international igaming company founded in 2009 supplying certified software solutions for managing gambling operations. “MGA Games develops first rate games that are a perfect fit for Spanish and LATAM markets,” he said, adding that “this co-operation can be called a win-win.”

From Malta was Callum Harris, Director of Partnerships at Pariplay, who spoke about the value of having localised content. PariPlay is the number one aggregator in the business, with a market reach focused predominantly on regulated markets, “which is why MGA Games is so exciting to us,” he said. Pariplay, which is expanding in Latin America and North America, highly appreciates “how specialised MGAs’ content is for certain regulated markets. It is the localised content that MGA produces and develops that sets them aside from other suppliers in the market,” said Harris.

Finally, also from Malta, Luis Alberto López Acuña, Country Manager of Platin Casino, spoke. For him, customer service is paramount. “We have a natural passion for top-notch casino games and a vision, focus on player satisfaction,” he said, noting the excellent relationship between the two companies. Furthermore, he said “localised content is always a priority within our roadmap”.

MGA Games Day 2022 ended with an invitation to casino operators around the world to come and meet MGA Games in Barcelona. To live the MGA Games Experience. To get to know the passion, innovation, growth, hard work and aspiration and core values of the company. But also to get closer to the history, culture, creativity, gastronomy and leisure of the city of Barcelona. “We are waiting for you in Barcelona! We look forward to seeing you at the MGA Games Experience!” With this invitation, which is more of a ‘see you soon’ than a ‘goodbye’, Javier Lanfranchi bid farewell to those attending the event.

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56 suspicious betting alerts reported by IBIA in Q1 2024

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Football (soccer) and tennis accounted for 68% of cases

The International Betting Integrity Association (IBIA) reported 56 alerts of suspicious betting to the relevant authorities in the first quarter (Q1) of 2024.

The Q1 2024 total is an increase of 65% when compared to 34 alerts in Q4 2023 and an increase of 12% when compared to the revised Q1 2023 total of 50 alerts. All of IBIA’s alerts are identified using customer account data from IBIA members, which number over 50 companies and 125 sports betting brands, making IBIA the largest integrity monitor of its type in the world.

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The 56 incidents of suspicious betting in Q1 concerned six sports, across 21 countries and five continents. Other key data for Q1 2024 includes:

  • Football (soccer) had the highest number of alerts by sport with 24, representing a 50% increase on the 16 reported in Q4 2023 and a 60% increase on the 15 reported in Q1 2022.
  • Turkey had the highest number of country alerts with 8 (five in football, two in tennis and one in basketball).
    41% of all alerts in Q1 were identified on sporting events taking place in Asia, with North and South America joint second with 18% each.
  • There were only 4 alerts identified on sporting events in Europe, which represents a decrease of 76% compared to 17 alerts in Q4 2023.

Khalid Ali, IBIA CEO, said: “The first quarter saw an increase in reported alerts highlighting the ongoing challenge our members, sports and regulatory authorities face from corrupt activity, with football and Asia dominating our Q1 report. IBIA’s alerts are supported by detailed global customer account data only available to IBIA and its membership, which continues to grow, widening our world leading market coverage. That account data provides evidentiary information that is vital for advancing investigations and imposing sanctions. IBIA is committed to continuing to work closely with stakeholders and to providing this important evidence base.”

The Q1 report includes a focus on the availability of sports betting in Canada and a comparison between the licensing approach in Ontario and the monopoly approach in the rest of the country. IBIA recently released a report on the Availability of Sports Betting Products which highlighted Ontario as a leading regulated gambling jurisdiction, with an expected onshore channelisation for sports betting of 92% in 2024 forecast to rise to 97% in 2028. Whereas the rest of Canada combined is forecast to have an onshore rate of around 11% in 2024 becoming 13% by 2028.

IBIA currently represents over 60% of the private sports betting operators licensed in Ontario, with Glitnor recently announced as the latest operator to join the association in that province. IBIA is a not-for-profit body that has no competing conflicts with the delivery of commercial services to other sectors and is run by operators for operators to protect regulated sports betting markets from match-fixing. IBIA’s global monitoring network is a highly effective anti-corruption tool, detecting and reporting suspicious activity in regulated betting markets.

Through the IBIA global monitoring network it is possible to track transactional activities linked to individual customer accounts. IBIA members have over $300bn per annum in betting turnover (handle), accounting for approximately 50% of the global commercial regulated land-based and online sports betting sector, and in excess of 50% for online alone.

The post 56 suspicious betting alerts reported by IBIA in Q1 2024 appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.

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Compliance Updates

Brazil’s Ministry of Finance Appoints Régis Dudena as Secretary of Prizes and Betting

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Regis Dudena, a seasoned lawyer with expertise in Public and Regulatory Law, has been appointed as the new Secretary of Prizes and Betting at the Ministry of Finance in Brazil. Dudena’s appointment ordinance is signed by Rui Costa, Minister of the Civil House.

The new secretary had already been visiting the Ministry of Finance and getting closer to the entire group at the Secretariat of Prizes and Betting, until then led by Simone Vicentini, deputy secretary.

The appointment of the lawyer is attributed to the Executive Secretary of Finance, Dario Durigan. Dario and Dudena worked together at Palácio do Planalto during Dilma Rousseff’s government.

Both worked in the Legal Affairs secretariat of the Civil House. Dudena’s name is linked to other names on the left. He has good relations with Edinho Silva (PT), mayor of Araraquara (SP).

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The SPA started operating two months ago. Since then, it had been without a permanent boss. Lawyer José Francisco Manssur, special advisor to the Ministry of Finance who coordinated the regulation of sports betting from the beginning, was the most likely to take on the position. But he was exonerated under pressure from Centrão politicians.

Bets representatives welcomed the name Régis Dudena.

From the beginning, the SPA was under the responsibility of Simone Vicentini, appointed as deputy secretary. Since then, it has edited the ordinances that defined requirements for laboratory accreditation and the sector’s regulatory policy.

Under her supervision, three laboratories have already been approved, GLI, eCogra, and BMM. Last week, the ordinance establishing the rules for payment transactions to be complied with by sports betting and online gaming operators was also published.

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Debra Martin Chase

Gaming and Leisure Properties Appoints Debra Martin Chase to Board of Directors

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Gaming and Leisure Properties Inc. announced that Debra Martin Chase has been appointed to the Board of Directors as a new independent director, effective immediately, to fill the vacancy created by the previously disclosed passing of JoAnne A. Epps.

The appointment of Ms. Chase to the Board of Directors brings the total number of directors to eight, seven of whom are considered independent according to the listing standards of the Nasdaq Stock Exchange. Ms. Chase has also been appointed as a member of the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee of the Board of Directors, effective immediately. Ms. Chase will hold her directorship until the Company’s next annual meeting of shareholders or until her successor is duly elected and qualified or until her earlier death, disqualification, resignation, or removal.

Ms. Chase is the founder and Chief Executive Officer of an entertainment production company doing business as Martin Chase Productions. She is a two-time Tony Award winning, a Peabody Award winning, and three-time Emmy nominated television, motion picture, and Broadway producer. Ms. Chase is an entertainment industry trailblazer, being the first female African American producer to have a deal with a major motion picture studio. Her films have grossed over $500 million at the box office. She brings to the Company over 30 years of experience in motion picture and television production as well as a corporate legal background.

Peter Carlino, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of GLPI, said: “I am delighted to welcome Debra to our Board as we believe her extensive entertainment industry experience, impressive legal background and broad board experience across public companies and the arts will serve GLPI well as we continue to drive growth in shareholder value. She brings a wealth of knowledge to GLPI, which we believe is a perfect complement to the existing strengths of the Board. I am confident that she will help expand the diverse set of viewpoints that ultimately shape our mission.”

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