Disney’s Aggressive Move Into Sports Betting

The famed children’s brand Walt Disney is getting into the sports betting business according to chief executive Bob Chapek. In a conference call with investors this week the boss of Disney said the company plans to get “aggressive” in regard to expanding the business in sports betting.

Disney is looking at working with a recognised sports betting company in a licensing agreement possibly using its ESPN broadcasting arm, indeed ESPN and ABC broadcast sports betting during their live broadcasts already for other companies so why not get involved directly.

With Disney holding the rights to broadcast NFL, MLB, NBA, NHL, Wimbledon, PGA Tour, and LaLiga with its ESPN and ABC channels it would make a whole lot of sense to maximise their business with sports betting.

Chapek said in the conference call to investors on the subject: “There’s a long way between embedded into the ESPN business model and licensing out,” he said. “Let’s just say that our fans are really interested in sports betting. Let’s say that our partners — with the leagues — are interested in sports betting. So we’re interested in sports betting.”

For a long time Disney fought against gambling indeed it still does in states like Florida but it seems you can’t beat sports betting and so if you cannot beat them join them. With its ready to go TV sports coverage and some 174 million global subscribers of which ESPN has nearly 15 million the only question is who will be the lucky partner.

It’s rumoured that Disney would look at a multiyear deal ranging in the return of $3 billion from any partner they take on, only recently Sports Illustrated formed a partnership with 888 Holdings US arm that sees the gambling firm use the branding of Sports Illustrated to promote sports betting. That deal saw Authentic Branding the parent company of Sports Illustrated take a 4.9% stake in the US gambling Company.

Playtech signs multi-state agreement in U.S. with Unibet

Playtech, the gambling technology company, today announces the signing of a multi-state agreement with Unibet Interactive, a part of Kindred Group. Under the agreement, Playtech will provide its RNG Casino software to Unibet in New Jersey, with further states to follow in the coming months.

The partnership with Unibet Interactive is the next step in Playtech’s strategic expansion in the U.S. market. Unibet has established a market-leading product offering to its customers in New Jersey, which will be further bolstered by a range of Playtech’s best-performing RNG Casino software.

Shimon Akad, Playtech Chief Operating Officer, said: “We are delighted to announce this exciting step in Playtech’s U.S. growth. Unibet deliver a fantastic entertainment experience to their U.S. customers, and we are proud to partner with them to deliver Playtech’s Casino software as part of their market leading offering – starting in New Jersey. Playtech continues to partner with the leading operators in New Jersey to bring its industry leading Casino software to the U.S. market and we look forward to continuing to expand into new States’.

Manuel Stan, SVP Kindred Group US, commented: “To add Playtech Casino software to our portfolio in New Jersey is very exciting. Partnering with Playtech enables us to offer our online casino customers a selection of some of the best quality content, and we look forward to further collaboration with Playtech across more U.S. states in the future.”

Betsson’s Chairman to Leave Amid Wave of Distrust

The Swedish iGaming giant Betsson Group has seen its chairman, Patrick Svensk, step down from his position and leave the company following a wave of distrust by Betsson shareholders. The reason behind Svensk’s decision is the critique of his handling of the recent departure of Pontus Lindwall, the company’s former CEO.

Lindwall’s leave from the company was announced a few days ago, with him feeling fulfilled with his achievements during his time as chief executive officer. Unlike Svensk, Lindwall will not immediately leave the company and will remain as a leader until a successor has been found.

Lindwall had first served as a CEO between 1998 and 2011 and was later re-elected in 2017. Lindwall’s mission during his second term as a chief executive was to operate the “Back on Track” recovery program and guide Betsson to success. In 2021 Betsson marked record-breaking progress, especially in the second quarter of the year, leading the company to announce that Lindwall has fulfilled his task.

“That task has now been completed,” Svensk said in the announcement of Lindwall’s leave, “We are grateful for all the good work Pontus Lindwall has done during these years and the strong foundation he has created for the future.”

Provided the above facts, Lindwall’s removal from the company sparked distrust in Svensk among many shareholders and led to the current events.

Because of the distrust, Svensk has resigned with immediate effect. He believes this is a very unfortunate turn of events and addressed the shareholders, apologizing for having disappointed them. He explained his past decisions as something he thought was the best for the company.

“I am proud of what we have achieved during these years and wish everyone at Betsson great luck in the future,” Svensk concluded.

Svensk became a chairman in 2017 after being a board of directors member for more than a decade beforehand. He will now be replaced as chairman by Johan Lundberg.

Lundberg is the founder of NFT Ventures as well as a board member of Ölands Bank, Loomis and Svolder. He became a Betsson board member in 2018. Lundberg spoke on the matter of Svensk’s resignation and “extended a warm thank you” because of the latter’s valuable contributions in the last 17 years.

As for the future of the company, Lundberg is looking forward to working with the rest of the board and recruiting Betsson’s next leader. The directors will seek someone who has the experience and talent to continue pushing the company forward.