Penn National Gaming announced on Wednesday five major partnerships that will help the casino operator claim a larger share of the rapidly growing US regulated sports betting market.

Through its wholly owned subsidiary Penn Interactive Ventures, Penn National will manage the newly penned multi-year, multi-state agreements that all involve the provision of online sports betting and online gaming services.

In a press release issued Wednesday, Penn National announced that it has entered into agreements with sports betting operators DraftKings, PointsBet, theScore, and The Stars Group. Penn Interactive Ventures will manage the newly established relationships.

In addition to joining forces with the major operators, Penn National also announced that it has inked an agreement with sports betting technology provider Kambi Group, under the terms of which the latter would power the company’s primary sports gambling and online gaming ventures.

Under the terms of the agreements with the four sports betting and online gambling operators, they will all be able to provide their products as “skin” partners of Penn National. They will have the option to “own, operate, and brand real-money online sports betting, poker, and casino offerings” in select states, subject to license availability, laws and regulations in each of the states the partnerships have been signed for, as well as regulatory approvals. The operators will be able to operate as a first, second, or a third skin.

Penn National’s Four New Online Gambling Partners

Of their partnerships with top-tier operators, Jon Kaplowitz, Senior Vice President of Penn National’s interactive gaming division, said that they are “pleased to be providing the top names in sports betting, iGaming and poker access to our company’s non-primary licenses” in exchange for “upfront cash and equity, one-time market access fees and ongoing revenue sharing.”

Under the terms of the agreement with DraftKings, the sports betting and DFS operator will be able to provide its services as a Penn National skin in Florida, Indiana, Missouri, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas, and West Virginia. The partnership has a 10-year term with the option for a ten-year extension. DraftKings will be sharing a portion of its net gaming revenue with Penn National.

Penn National signed a 20-year agreement with PointsBet for the provision of services in Indiana, Louisiana, Missouri, Ohio, and West Virginia. The Pennsylvania-based casino operator will receive a portion of PointsBet’s revenue. Penn National will also acquire a 5.28% equity stake and will be paid a $2.5 million access fee for Ohio. The company will also have the option to purchase additional shares of PointsBet.

Under the terms of a 20-year partnership with theScore, the latter would be able to operate in Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Ohio, and Texas, while Penn National will receive a share of its revenue from those states. The casino operator will also acquire a 4.7% equity stake in theScore.

Last but not least, the 20-year deal with The Stars Group will see the online gambling giant gain access to the gambling markets of Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, New Mexico, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Ohio, and Texas.

Penn National will receive a $12.5 million upfront payment from The Stars, with an additional access fee of $5 million for Texas. The casino operator will also receive a share of its partner’s revenue in the above-mentioned states, with a one-time bonus based on net gaming revenue in 2023.

The agreement with Penn National will provide The Stars with the chance to penetrate multiple US states, and returning to the United States after the Black Friday nightmare a few years ago has been an essential part of The Stars’ growth strategy.

The Kambi Deal

Aside from reaching agreements with four major digital betting and gaming operators, Penn National also announced today that it has signed a deal with Kambi Group, making the European sports betting technology provider its exclusive sportsbook partner across multiple states.

Under the terms of the deal, Kambi’s platform will power Penn National’s retail and online sports betting operations in the states where the casino company owns properties.

The first sports betting launches are set to take place in the third quarter of the year. The initial focus will be on Penn National’s brick-and-mortar casinos in Iowa and Indiana, where sports betting was legalized earlier this year. The launch of online betting operations will follow in 2020.

Mr. Kaplowitz said that sports betting represents an “exciting growth opportunity” for Penn National and that utilizing Kambi’s betting technology and related services will allow them to “effectively capitalize on this strategy.”

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William Hill US, the American division of the major British bookmaker, has partnered Income Access, the marketing arm of payment solutions giant Paysafe Group, for the launch of a revamped affiliate program.

By partnering Income Access, William Hill US and its US-facing affiliates will be able to benefit from a fast tracking software, comprehensive reporting, flexible commission schemes, and an exhaustive ad serving tool.

William Hill’s partnership with Income Access in the US comes as another major step in the operator’s American expansion strategy. After a landmark ruling of the US Supreme Court that lifted a long-standing ban on sports gambling, William Hill and multiple other overseas companies have been looking to tap into what is believed to be a market worth hundreds of billions of dollars.

Prior last year’s strikedown of the sports betting ban, William Hill operated sportsbooks across Nevada, which was the only state where full-scale wagering was permitted. Currently, the company runs more than 100 betting locations across multiple states.

William Hill’s expansion across the US has turned into an instrumental part of the company’s growth strategy, as strengthening its foothold in America is hoped to blunt the negative effect of a recent crackdown on the so-called fixed-odds betting terminals in the UK.

William Hill is among the largest operators of the controversial gambling machines and the UK Government’s recent actions against those will have a major impact on the company’s profitability.

The New William Hill US Affiliate Program

The revamped William Hill US affiliate program will first go live in New Jersey and will then be rolled out across other states where the operator provides its services. The affiliate program deploys Income Access’ leading tracking and reporting solution that will help both the operator and its affiliate partners optimize their performance in New Jersey.

Commenting on their partnership with Income Access, William Hill Chief Marketing Officer Sharon Otterman said that choosing Income access to power their affiliate program would “open William Hill’s doors for a brand-new affiliate program in the US” that will help the operator establish “strong and lasting” relationships with affiliates.

Income Access SVP and General Manager Tara Wilson added that the launch of the affiliate program in New Jersey will offer affiliates a way to expand “in an exciting market.”

In New Jersey, William Hill operates both retail and digital sportsbooks in partnership with Monmouth Park Racetrack, Ocean Casino Resort, and Tropicana Atlantic City.

The partnership with William Hill US was the latest of a series of major affiliate program collaborations for Income Access. Last month, it announced that Kindred Group has selected it to power its US-focused affiliate program as the gambling operator is looking to expand its American presence.

Income Access has also been selected by The Stars Group, the operator of the PokerStars and BetStars brands, among many others, to power its revamped affiliate program, Stars Affiliate Club. The program was relaunched this past May.

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Online gaming provider SoftSwiss has debuted new logo and has revealed plans to enlarge its range of products in a bid to further cement itself as a household name in the iGaming industry.

The company said that its new logo, while bearing the same color scheme as the old one, is in line with its multi-vertical product offering.

The new logo aims to reflect on the company’s own identity in the context of the contemporary online gambling landscape. Being a multi-brand and multi-solution provider, SoftSwiss said that it was only so long before its casino-related logo became a bit irrelevant as it focused only on one aspect of the provider’s multi-vertical approach, undermining the rest.

Founded in 2008 as a developer of online auction software, SoftSwiss has grown into a popular provider of content for the international online gambling industry. The company runs white label and online casino platform services and provides gaming content aggregator, provably fair games, and crypto-based gameplay.

SoftSwiss decided to break away from its old bitcoin and casino chip logo in favor of a simpler yet modern look. The new logo represents a counter-clockwise turned ‘s’ that alludes to the infinity symbol. The company said that the logo reiterates its statement that it is here to stay.

As mentioned above, despite its logo’s new look, SoftSwiss has decided to keep the red and yellow, with the red burning “bright as ever” and the yellow signaling “an auspicious and bright future” that lies ahead.

New Products

SoftSwiss also revealed plans to further expand its product offering, delving in more product verticals. The provider is thus gearing up preparations to launch its own sports betting platform in order to be able to tap into the lucrative sector.

SoftSwiss has enlarged its product portfolio significantly over the past several years. The changes culminated last year with the removal of its legacy affiliate management module and the official launch of a new proprietary platform for affiliate marketing management.

It was announced earlier this month that SoftSwiss has signed a multi-product content distribution deal with Pragmatic Play, under the terms of which SoftSwiss would gain access to Pragmatic Play’s new Live Casino solutions as well as recently launched Bingo product. The offering will thus become available to SoftSwiss’ network of clients, which includes some of the world’s largest online gambling operators.

Commenting on its new logo and its plans for the future, SoftSwiss said in a statement that for its existing clients and employees, it will remain ingrained in their memory as the bitcoin gambling pioneer. And for its new clients and employees, it will not rest on its laurels and will instead keep moving onwards and upwards.

SoftSwiss’ new logo has already appeared on the company’s official website and will soon appear on affiliated media resources as well as on branded merchandise that will be distributed at upcoming iGaming conferences and exhibitions.

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The Massachusetts Gaming Commission said Thursday that a preliminary investigation found that Encore Boston Harbor’s casino operations were compliant with state gambling laws after a class-action from earlier this week claimed that the gaming facility was cheating patrons at its blackjack tables and slot machines.

The suit represented A. Richard Schuster from New York who played at the Boston area casino last week.

MassGaming’s Investigation and Enforcement Bureau conducted a preliminary investigation of the issues raised by the lawsuit. Bruce Band of the commission’s investigation arm told the regulator’s five-member board on Thursday that they have “preliminary found Encore to be in compliance with the commission’s rules and regulations for paying out blackjack wins.”

One of the claims listed in the lawsuit stated that Encore was adopting practices that significantly increased the house’s edge against patrons.

Schuster said that while playing blackjack at the recently opened casino, he expected to be paid out at 3-2 odds, but was eventually paid out at 6-5 odds. Traditional blackjack pays players out at 3-2, but under Massachusetts’ gaming laws local casinos are allowed to pay players at 6-5 odds as long as they fulfill certain other regulatory requirements.

According to the class-action lawsuit, the change of odds can reduce payouts by more than $85,000 a day, which translates to around $30 million in annual profits for the casino.

MassGaming’s investigation team said Thursday that the majority of Encore’s blackjack tables – 64.5% – are with 3-2 payout odds, while the rest are with 6-5 payout odds.

Completely Without Merit

Bob DeSalvio, President of Encore Boston Harbor, told reporters after Thursday’s meeting that he felt the lawsuit was “completely without merit.” The casino official took particular interest in another portion of the lawsuit that claimed that the slot machines at the casino paid out in whole dollars, withholding the change.

DeSalvio said Thursday that the allegations that Encore was rounding to its favor were “completely, utterly false” and that “every customer gets every penny that they deserve.”

Schuster’s lawyer, Joshua Garick, attended Thursday’s meeting, but did not speak before regulators. He told reporters that he was disappointed that the commission’s investigation team decided to “expedite its presentation to the commission with less than twenty-four hours notice.” Garick added that investigators never contacted his firm or his client to discuss the serious allegations leveled against the casino.

The lawyer went on to say that they would pursue their claims in a court of law because their reading of Massachusetts’ gambling regulations was very different from what Encore has stated.

Encore Boston Harbor opened doors on June 23 as Massachusetts’ second commercial casino resort. According to June revenue data released by the Gaming Commission, the property took in $16.8 million in gaming revenue during its first week of operation. Encore is projected to generate $800 million in annual slot machine and table game revenue, a quarter of which it is required to contribute to the state in tax revenue.

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In May, the casino games provider declared that its brand-new Live Casino offering would go live with Austrian online gambling group Interwetten. Pragmatic Play also announced a similar deal for its recently launched Live Casino merchandise with 1xBet.
Online casino content provider Pragmatic Play today debuted its newest promotional tool Pragmatic Play Enhance, which comprises a package of advertising and gamification features that aim to boost user experience.

The product offering of pragmatic Play consists of live casino slots that are online, and bingo. The provider’s library of in-house content comprises more than 100 mobile-friendly titles, with those being available in several of currencies, 26 languages, and across multiple controlled markets. All Pragmatic Play’s games are available via a single API.
News about the launch of Enhance launch as Pragmatic Play was occupied to expand its footprint in a number of markets through strategic deals with operators and fellow software providers.
Play also promised to provide interested parties with info about its Enhance tool. The provider’s Chief Commercial Officer, Melissa Summerfield, has stated in a recent press release that they have “every confidence that [Enhance] will likely be a significant talking point at this year’s series.”

Boost’s key functionalities comprise in-game tournaments, free round bonus variants, an advanced random prize drop tool, along with a free card enhancer, among others.

Now live and accessible to internet gambling operators, Improve focuses on five key areas, together with those being increasing a game’s functionality , for example, optimisation of player engagement and retention, boosting earnings, adding value, and optimizing achievement for both operators and their clients.

According to today’s statement, Pragmatic Play’s Chief Business Development Officer, Yossi Barzely, stated that they’re delighted to launch their gamification promotional tool and “marketing tools play a vital role in the slot adventure of the market.” Mr. Barzely added that with the release of Enhance, they believe they are firmly placed to “play a key role as leaders in this field of innovation.”
The business releases approximately three slots that are new each month and says its own growth plans include increasing the amount of monthly releases in future.

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Key Functionalities

Pragmatic Play clarified that its recently launched tool acts as an add-on to the provider’s existing casino material portfolio, meaning that operators opting for Pragmatic Play Enhance will not have to invest any development efforts into deploying it.
Earlier this month, the provider stated that its Live Casino and Bingo offering would become available to clients of iGaming computer software firm SoftSwiss. Play’s Bingo merchandise has, also, been established recently.
Show appeared on Casino News Daily.

Exhibit and conference series in Amsterdam. The business will be showcasing its own multi-product offering, such as its brand new Live Casino and Bingo products, at stand M10 at RAI Amsterdam.