Launches and sign-ups 3 January 2018
The key launches and sign-ups from the egaming industry in the last fortnight (20 December 2017 to 3 January 2018)
Smarkets to sponsor 240 Jockey Club races
London-based betting exchange inks first horseracing sponsorship
Smarkets has signed its first ever horseracing sponsorship deal, agreeing to sponsor 35 Jockey Club horseracing fixtures in 2018, covering 240 separate races.
The first sponsored event is this weekend’s fixture at Wincanton on 6 January, while the betting exchange will also sponsor meetings at Aintree, Haydock Park, Epsom Downs, Sandown Park, Huntingdon, Exeter, Carlisle, Market Rasen, Warwick and Nottingham.
Five of the racedays will be shown live on ITV and all 35 will be broadcast by Racing UK, with the highlight arguably being the prestigious Rose of Lancaster Stakes at Haydock Park in August.
The deal means Smarkets is sponsoring more than one tenth of the 348 fixtures Jockey Club Racecourses is scheduled to stage this year.
Mr Green launches casino in Denmark
Mr Green has launched its casino brand in Denmark as part of its strategy to expand its geographic reach.
The firm received a licence from the Danish regulator in Q2 2017 through the acquisition of Dansk Underholdnings and officially went live last week.
Group CEO Per Norman said the move was a key step in the firm’s strategic expansion.
“Denmark is a locally regulated market which is an important criterion for us when expanding to new geographies,” Norman added.
Playtech BGT Sports launches Lottoland portfolio
Playtech BGT Sports (PBS) has become the first retail supplier to launch Lottoland’s lotto betting products on self-service betting terminals (SSBTs) in licenced bookmakers.
The newly-signed agreement will enable UK high street customers to place bets on the outcomes of international lotteries in store on PBS machines.
Lottoland currently has a retail portfolio of more than 15 lottery betting products that will be supplied to PBS through its B2B arm, Lottoland Solutions.
John Pettit of Playtech BGT Sports said: “This exclusive distribution agreement with Lottoland allows us to add a wider range of lotto betting products with bigger jackpot pay-outs to our existing numbers portfolio, giving our customers further choice.”
Cherry targets Swedish market with no-registration casino launch
Cherry subsidiary ComeOn has unveiled its latest Sweden-facing casino brand which pledges to offer quicker withdrawals and faster game play.
The Snabbare.com brand, which translates to Faster.com, operates a pay and play instant withdrawal feature that enables users to withdraw winnings within 15 minutes.
The site also aims to cut down the lengthy registration process by instead requiring customers to sign in using a bank ID, similar to the system used by competing Swedish-brand Ninja Casino.
Interim group CEO for ComeOn, Tomas Johansson, said the industry was seeing an increasing demand among players to have a faster, more seamless gaming experience.