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.

NHL investigating after wife says Evander Kane bet on his own games

The NHL said it is launching an investigation into San Jose Sharks player Evander Kane after his wife claimed that he bet on his own games.

Kane’s wife Anna alleged in a Saturday night social media post that her husband gambled on his own hockey games, writing on Instagram, “@nhl Can someone ask [NHL Commissioner] Gary Bettman how they can let a player gamble on his own games? Bet and win with bookies on his own games?”

She also wrote in a social media post, “How does the NHL let a compulsive gambling addict still play when he’s obviously throwing games to win money? Hmm maybe someone needs to address this,” according to The Associated Press.

In a separate Instagram post, Anna Kane, who is reportedly pregnant with the couple's second child, said her husband left for a vacation in Europe when “our house is being taken by the bank.” She also accused him of forcing her to sell her wedding ring while noting that she was unable to purchase formula for their 1-year-old daughter.

The NHL responded on Saturday night, writing in a tweet that it was “made aware” of the allegations and that it plans to “conduct a full investigation.”

“The integrity of our game is paramount and the League takes these allegations very seriously,” the league added.

Evander Kane reacted to the allegations on Sunday morning, posting two statements to social media that rejected the claims made by his wife.

“Unfortunately I would like to address the completely FALSE accusations that my estranged wife and soon to be ex wife has made against me,” Evander Kane wrote.

“I have NEVER gambled/bet on Hockey, NEVER gambled/bet on any of my games and NEVER thrown a hockey game,” he added.

Kane said he looks forward to “cooperating fully with the league’s investigation, having my name cleared and looking forward to this upcoming season.”

The Sharks player also addressed the allegations made against him regarding his daughter in a separate statement, accusing his wife of restricting his access.

“She has refused me to see her and has unfortunately tried to use my daughter as leverage. I will continue to always take care of my family that goes without question,” he wrote.

“I would encourage people to realize that someone who goes to this length to try and jeopardize someone's career with lies is mentally unwell. I hope this is the last time I will be publicly addressing any further misrepresentations of me as a father,” he added.

San Jose Sharks Media Relations Manager Kyle Stuetzel said the team supports a “full and transparent investigation” into the “serious allegations” made against Kane.


“The San Jose Sharks have been in contact today with the National Hockey League about the serious allegations made against Evander Kane. We support a full and transparent investigation into the situation to maintain the integrity of the game and consistency with our team values,” Stuetzel told The Hill in a statement.

“The Sharks will not be commenting further at this time,” he added.

In 2019, Kane was sued by a casino in Las Vegas that argued that the player did not pay a $500,000 gambling debt that was incurred during a playoff series against the Golden Knights, according to the AP.

Kane is three seasons into his seven-year, $49 million contract with the Sharks, the news service noted.

DraftKings Slumps as Hindenburg Research Alleges SBTech Ties to Illegal Gambling, Organized Crime

Shares of DraftKings are sliding Tuesday after noted short-selling activist Hindenburg Research published a lengthy report. The report alleges the gaming company’s SBTech unit operates in jurisdictions where sports betting is illegal, and may have connections to money laundering and organized crime.

Founded by Shalom Meckenzie, one of the richest men in Israel, SBTech was part of a 2020 three-way reverse merger involving DraftKings and special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) Diamond Eagle Acquisition Corp. That transaction paved the way for DraftKings to become a publicly traded entity.

At that time, SBTech, which is based in Bulgaria, contributed a quarter of the combined company’s revenue and “was the only positive contributor to operating income, providing both financial stability and technology to the deal,” according to Hindenburg. However, the research firm, which took a short position in the gaming stock, adds there’s a dark side to those benefits.

“Unbeknownst to investors, DraftKings’ merger with SBTech also brings exposure to extensive dealings in black-market gaming, money laundering, and organized crime,” said the research firm. “We estimate that roughly 50 percent of SBTech’s revenue continues to come from markets where gambling is banned, based on an analysis of DraftKings’ SEC filings, conversations with former employees, and supporting documents.”

Sports wagering industry observers and some professional bettors have pointed to a slow rollout of the SBTech platform in states in which DraftKings offers mobile sports betting. The Boston-based company primarily uses software provided by Sweden’s Kambi for back-end infrastructure. But that relationship is supposed to end later this year.

Prior to the aforementioned SPAC transaction, there were rumors that DraftKings was looking to acquire SBTech as part of its quest to become vertically integrated.

Leading up to the blank-check transaction, SBTech supposedly made efforts to distance itself from its black market business. Citing former employees, Hindenburg says SBTech executive Tom Light — described by one former staffer as Meckenzie’s “right-hand man” — left the company to head up an entity known as BTi.

That business, which would later be called CoreTech, acted as a front for SBTech to continue doing business in Asian markets where sports betting isn’t permitted.

“Before SBTech joined with DraftKings, they split the grey market/unregulated…they [Bti] are a separate company marketing their white label solution to the Middle East, South America, mostly China and Malaysia,” a former employee said in the Hindenburg report. “Their technology provider is SBTech. Because SBTech is now on NASDAQ, they don’t want Asia or the grey market to give it a bad influence. They want to be clean.”

A second ex-staffer told the research firm that “well over 90 percent” of CoreTech’s revenue is derived from black or gray markets. DraftKings regulatory documents indicate an unidentified customer focusing on Asia generated 46 percent of SBTech’s 2019 revenue, with that percentage climbing to 52 percent last year.

Adding to the drama, the CEO of CoreTech is Amir Vankin. He previously led SpotOption, an Israeli binary option that was raided by the FBI in 2017 and later charged by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) with duping US investors out of $100 million.

“As alleged, investors were not told that the defendants’ white label partners were the counter-parties on all investor trades, and thus profited when the investors lost money,” according to an April statement issued by the SEC. “To ensure sufficient investor losses and make the scheme profitable, Spot Option allegedly, among other tactics, instructed its partners to permit investors to withdraw only a portion of the monies the investors deposited, devised a manipulative payout structure for binary options trades, and designed its trading platform to increase the probability that investors’ trades would expire worthless.”

In the Asia-Pacific region, there are some countries where sports wagering is regulated. For example, Australia is one of the largest sports betting markets in the world. In Macau, the world’s largest casino hub, Macau Slot Co Ltd. has an instant lottery business and is allowed to accept wagers on basketball and soccer, while Japan permits betting on cycling, horse racing, and motorboat and motorcycle racing.

Hindenburg claims BTi/CoreTech operates on the fringes, including running a Mandarin and Thai language sports betting website out of Thailand that was recently raided by authorities. Both China and Thailand forbid sports wagering. The research firm adds SBTech has ties to Vietnamese betting operations allegedly controlled by a triad kingpin — Paul Phua.

“In addition to apparent black-market bookmaking, 12Bet is, or was, owned by Paul Phua, according to an investigation commissioned by the Swiss IHAG Bank,” said the research firm. “The US Department of Justice has alleged that Phua is a senior member of the 14K Triads, one of the most dangerous criminal syndicates in the world, known for heroin smuggling and contract murder, among other activities.”

Hindenburg also alleges that SBTech, in its quest to land a contract with the Oregon lottery in 2019, obfuscated ties to 10bet China — an illegal gambling operation in that country. A former SBTech employee told Hindenburg that operation is “massive,” and that Meckenzie continues to profit from it.

Matthew Benham: Brentford FC & Matchbook Owner, A.K.A. Moneyball in Football

Although Matthew Benham states that he dislikes the comparison between himself and the movie ‘Moneyball’, let’s be honest, he’s about as close as it gets!

Benham is the owner of current English Premier League side, Brentford FC, and Danish club FC Midtjylland.

It is during his time at both these clubs that the Moneyball man has established himself as a unique character in the football world.

Benham’s footballing beliefs revolve around KPI’s, statistics and algorithmic philosophy.

For example, instead of looking at how many goals a striker scores, he bases his judgements on the number and quality of the chances created by the striker, and how the team perform collectively within the context of the individual’s performance.

His mathematical approach to football was most evident when he sacked former Brentford manager Mark Warburton, along with his assistant manager and sporting director after being promoted to the Championship in 2015.

He believed that competition tables are hugely inaccurate due to the amount of randomness in a competition.

When Borussia Dortmund famously fell into the Bundesliga relegation zone halfway through the 2014/15 season, Benham still had them as the second best team in the league statistically, they were just terribly unlucky.

‘Moneyball’ had been supporting Brentford since 11 years of age, and in 2012 he took over Brentford after bailing them out of a £500k financial hole.

Since then he has invested almost £100m into the club, creating everything from academies, and facilities, to a new stadium which is currently being built.

Brentford finished mid-table in the 2018/19 Championship season, but Benham was always aware that all the money spent on the club will pay dividends in the future. Which it did! Brentford lost the playoff final to Fulham in 2019/20 but avenged that loss the next season, earning promotion to the Premier League after a 2-0 win over Swansea in the playoff final.

Over time, the supporters have fallen in love with Benham after many years of success, you’ll often hear a few songs of praise for Benham from the stands.

Benham’s journey to football club owner was not the traditional one, after earning a Bachelor of Arts degree in Physics from the world-renowned Oxford University.

Funny enough, he started his working life in the Finance industry, eventually becoming the Vice President of the Bank of America in the late 90’s.

But by the 21st century, and yes you guessed it, he moved in the betting world!

Ever heard of Brighton FC Owner and professional sports bettor Tony Bloom? Well, Benham worked for him in 2001!

After his time in the world of Finance, Benham started working as trader for Bloom’s Premier Bet, which is a sports betting bookmaker.

Years down the line and the two had a falling out, leading to Benham’s departure and the start of something more prosperous - SmartOdds.

SmartOdds is the same concept as Tony Bloom’s Starlizard, a statistically-based model providing betting advice for customers and professional bettors.

Although they don’t bring in the same numbers as Starlizard, it was reported in 2017 that Smart Odds’ revenue for the financial year hit £12m from clients in the UK and overseas.

Not only was he now the owner of SmartOdds, but he was also a professional bettor.

Of course his strategies as a bettor are a secret, but his triumphs in the industry are through heavy use of statistical data and modelling. No shock there!

In 2011, he also became the owner of the betting exchange website Matchbook.

Matchbook is one of the best betting exchange websites in the world, giving Benham further industry knowledge and an understanding of the ‘other side of the fence’.

Benham’s overall career earnings form sports betting are completely unknown, but in terms of the betting industry, he’s had just as big of an impact as anyone!

Florida Approves Online Sports Betting

As Tuesday drew to a close the Florida Senate voted to pass the new deal with the state and the Seminole Tribe that will see the tribe pay $2.5 billion to state coffers over 5 years.

However the new gaming expansion deal (known as the compact) will see the tribe allowed to build three new casinos and best of all in the deal be the sole exclusive operator of sports betting in Florida.

Indeed only one Senator voted against the new compact and now the House is expected to rubber stamp the deal which is the biggest ever gambling expansion in Florida which is the third largest state by population in the US and the largest state to join the online sports betting industry in the US.

The House is expected to sign off on the deal Wednesday 19th May which has been agreed by governor Ron DeSantis and Seminole Tribe of Florida Chairman Marcellus Osceola Jr.

Senate President Wilton Simpson who is a supporter of the compact said to reporters: “A compact is very, very tough,” he went on to say, “state and tribal leaders have worked on reaching a deal for several years. “It is extremely difficult, because there are so many different competing interests. And if there are 50 competing interests, there are at least then probably a million ways to put those pieces of the puzzle together. So we’re very pleased that we were able to get it passed today.”

The only part of the original deal that has been removed is the possibility for the tribe to discuss with state leaders within five years to expand the online offering to casino games, this caused a major sticking point and so it was agreed by all parties this will now not happen.

Although the deal is approved and expected to be rubber stamped by the House it is expected their will be multiple legal challenges to the new compact.

Fox Corporation To Sue Flutter Entertainment

Rupert Murdoch’s Fox Corporation have filed a lawsuit again Betfair Paddy Power owner Flutter regarding a dispute over the share value of US sport betting firm FanDuel.

In a statement by the media corporation it said that it has an option to acquire 18.5% of the shares in FanDuel and at the same price as Flutter Entertainment in December 2019 when both FanDuel and Flutter merged.

It is claimed that Fox is allowed to acquire the shares at the same value as Flutter did as Fox assisted with the merger of the UK and US companies which was valued at $11.2 billion.

Now with Flutter considering listing part of their business on the US stock Exchange Fox wants the shares at the same price not at the offered special price Flutter gave them in July last year.

Flutter is the largest gambling company in the World and the company sees the US in helping it grown bigger, but the possibility of alienating Fox could be dangerous and create what was an assistant into a competitor.

New York Includes Sports Betting & New Casinos In Budget

New York lawmakers working on the 2022 budget for the state have included in it revenues from sports gambling and also three new casinos to be built in downtown New York.

It took all parties late into the night to come to agreement on the fiscal policy for the state that has been ravaged by COVID-19 last year and is still recovering from the pandemic now.

However Governor Andrew Cuomo said on the deal: “we worked with the leaders of the Senate and Assembly to finalize the details of the fiscal year 2022 budget yesterday. It took a lot of effort on everyone’s part, and it was known that finding common ground would not be an easy task.”

In the budget which is not 100% completed or clear, but revenues from what it seems is to be two sports betting operators allowed would have to stump up 50% of revenues to the state coffers. That seems incredibly high but the rewards from working in New York sports betting could still attract major companies to apply for a license.

Also in the budget is the provision to allow three new casino licenses for the state in downtown New York which it believes can generate $500 million a year from each licensed operator.

Football Index Falls Into Administration

BetIndex Limited the operators of Football Index have entered administration following the previous weekend uproar by investors on the restructuring of players values to try and save the company.

The entire platform is now suspended and there is no indication if it will ever re-emerge after administrators Begbies Traynor took over the business.

In an announcement by the company on Thursday evening Football Index said, “after discussions with ‘external’ legal and financial advisors, the decision was made to help find an ‘agreeable way forward.”

The company went on to say, “Until such time as the administrators are in office, the platform will remain suspended and no trading or payment transactions, such as deposits and withdrawals, will be possible,”

‘Once in office, the administrators will be in contact with customers, creditors, and other stakeholders. This interim step of suspending the platform is merely to ensure that everyone’s rights are preserved in relation to funds held by BetIndex Limited.’

The platform that is licensed by the UK Gambling Commission and had extensive advertising budget are also sponsors of Queens Park Rangers Football Club, there is no update on whether the football club will continue to advertise them at present.

Over last weekend Football Index completely changed their terms and conditions resulting in players on the platform value dive to be worth just pennies when before were worth several pounds.

At the time of the terms change the company said it was to, “protect the long-term sustainability of the platform.”

It has been reported that many of the investors have lost thousands in the fall of Football Index when the platform restructured the value of its football traded players.