SBC CIS Editorial Team is happy to present a quick recap of the gambling industry events, news, regulations and partnerships that happened last week.
The Malta Gaming Authority (MGA) continues to suspend the licenses of a number of operators. It has decided to cancel the license issued to Super7plus with effect from 17 January 2024. In addition, the MGA has set a number of demands, including the immediate suspension of gaming operations and a ban on new players registering under this license.
In the same time, Betby has received approval from MGA to provide its esports betting solution to MGA-licensed operators. Leonid Pertsovsky, CEO of Betby, also mentioned plans for 2024, intends to maintain growth in revenue, and entry into new markets.
This week, a number of companies announced their entry into the Romanian market. Among them was TotoGaming, while 1X2 Network strengthened its presence in Romania through partnership with Skywind Group. Imagine Live has announced plans to expand its production studio in Romania to improve its live casino experience, and RubyPlay has expanded its partnership with PokerStars. This expansion includes the launch of RubyPlay games in the regulated markets of Spain and Romania.
Ukraine’s Gambling Commission starts to recognize certification from the widely recognized testing laboratories. “Allowing recognized testing labs to operate in Ukraine — a move anticipated by the global gambling community —would greatly boost the country’s attractiveness to legitimate gambling enterprises by streamlining and demystifying the certification process. This change will be seen as a positive step toward addressing a major issue and enhancing Ukraine’s reputation as a destination for legal gambling activities.” said Dmitry Hotsyn, Head of CIS Desk and Senior Consultant at 4H Agency.
Parimatch has announced the expansion of its role as the official betting partner of the European Cricket Network (ECN). With the start of 2024, the company has partnered with all ECN men’s and women’s tournaments.
Gaming Corps has expanded its online casino presence in Georgia by entering into an agreement with local operator Ambassadoribet. With an expanding audience in the Caucasus country, Gaming Corps’ variety of slots and live casino content will now be available to Georgian players on the newly launched operator’s platform.
Digitain has announced a distribution partnership with aggregation platform REEVO. This agreement provides access to REEVO’s portfolio of games. While PopOK Gaming has signed a partnership agreement with cryptocurrency casino BC.Game.
During the last three months of 2023, the Bulgarian National Revenue Agency (NRA) decided to block more than 600 gaming websites due to the lack of an appropriate license. The latest list of violations posted includes domains such as 22bet, Luckyhit, Leon Casino and others.
Betway has announced a strategic partnership with Fans United, an engagement platform based in Bulgaria. In the context of a rapidly changing digital environment, both companies highlighted that this partnership confirms their commitment to increasing user engagement and improving product interactions.
BLAST Premier, which runs a series of Counter-Strike tournaments, has announced a large-scale partnership with GG.BET. While Yggdrasil and operator Campeón Gaming have joined forces in a strategic partnership. The goal of this collaboration is to expand Yggdrasil’s regional influence and provide YG Masters’ portfolio of games and content powered by technology (GATI) to various brands across the Campeón Gaming network.
LIV Golf and US Integrity have teamed up in efforts to combat illegal betting in golf. DAZN has partnered with the Professional Fighters League (PFL) to broadcast four PFL Europe events this year.
Groupe FDJ has signaled its ambitions to create a “new European gaming champion” by submitting a €2.6 bn tender offer to acquire Kindred Group Plc outright. At the same time, SOFTSWISS has entered the South African market by completing the acquisition of a majority stake in Turfsport, a leading provider of multi-channel betting software for sports, horse racing and lottery.
Amusnet has confirmed its readiness to release its first series of slot machines, highlighting its commitment to “technology and innovation”.
Ecuabet has partnered with the Ecuadorian Football Federation in gaining the naming rights to the country’s top football division, LigaPro. Over the next five years, the league will be managed by LigaPro Ecuabet, with a high probability of extending this cooperation.
In 2022, European Lottery (EL) players contributed more than €22 billion to society, recording annual growth of just over 11%. Described as the most significant, this figure stands out in EL’s 17th consecutive report on the lottery sector in Europe. The data presented in the report was collected from 68 EL members through 2022.
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