Earnings+More - Preparing to fail
Preparing to failPenn making ‘same mistake’ with ESPN as it did with Barstool, claim departing employees
And in the middle of the celebrations, I break down. Hard Rock Bet is all about fun and innovation. With a top ranked sportsbook & casino product, unique access to US states, and a globally recognized brand, join our team to help shape the online experiences that millions love. We’re currently seeking:
Carry that weightJust a little bit of history repeating: Penn Interactive employees let go as part of last week’s layoffs have suggested management is pinning its hopes for ESPN Bet on the strength of the name attached to it much as it did previously with Barstool.
Ain’t helping: The insiders’ comments are unlikely to assuage the fears expressed by Penn’s activist investor critics that it could end up “fumbling the ball” with ESPN Bet, having previously squandered over $500m on Barstool. Speaking on condition of anonymity, multiple ex-Penn employees suggested that internally there is a lack of faith in the quality of the product with key personnel of the customer acquisition side not having been replaced.
Falling flat: The scale of the redundancies became evident last week after reports from LegalSportsReport and CNBC suggested up to 100 staff had been let go. A letter from CEO Jay Snowden cited by LSR said Penn had “hit the ground running” after buying theScore, which “led us to temporarily set aside any potential organizational changes that would typically follow a major acquisition.”
A house divided: They also claimed the scale of the layoffs at PI would have exacerbated tensions between the two arms of Penn’s online empire. Multiple sources confirmed a “hostile us vs. them environment” exists between Penn Interactive and theScore, which dates back to the immediate aftermath of the $2bn acquisition of theScore in 2021.
On hold: The sources also suggested tech hires had largely been put on hold until the arrival of new online CTO Aaron LaBerge, who officially started in his post on July 1. “There was a huge pause on hiring,” said one ex-PI source, who added that there is internal “frustration” with the lack of UI/UX capability. Outlook cloudy: The ex-employees also suggested there was widespread fear internally at PI that either ESPN/Disney would “take back ESPN Bet” or that the business would be sold. Recall, recent reports suggested Flutter might team up with Boyd Gaming in a joint bid that would split Penn’s B&M business from the interactive arm. Purple plane: Meanwhile, one source claimed Penn splashed $100k on having one of its corporate jets repainted after Penn CEO Snowden took a dislike to its particular shade. Recall, E+M reported in May on what some investors termed as “excessive” usage of corporate jets.
Breaking: Entain CEOIt’s Isaacs! Gaming veteran Gavin Isaacs has been appointed as CEO at Entain, ending months of speculation. Isaacs was last in an executive role at Scientific Games, where he was CEO until 2016. Since then he has taken on a number of non-executive director roles including at DraftKings and most recently at Games Global.
As E+M wrote just last week, Isaacs will have his work cut out turning Entain around. Join hundreds of operators using OpticOdds for trading, risk management and Same Game Parlay analysis. Real-time data and trading tools for sports betting + fantasy operators. Built by those who have done it before. Looking to join the fastest growing data provider in the sports betting industry? Join the team now. +MoreNothing to see here: The global gaming sector appeared to come through Friday’s Microsoft outage relatively unscathed, with scattered reports of slot machines going down at some Las Vegas locals venues and Entain’s various sites being out of action at points during the day. PA Betting Services is to provide horse racing and greyhound racing along with Timeform’s tipping content to Kaizen’s Betano brand in the UK. Career pathsThe trading director at Superbet, Terry Pattinson, has confirmed via LinkedIn that he has left the post. Prior to joining SuperBet in 2020, Pattinson served as trading director for William Hill. Hard Rock has appointed Stephanie Piimauna as senior VP of people and inclusion and Meaghan Ryan as head of human resources. SkyCity Entertainment has confirmed that recently appointed CEO Jason Walbridge has officially begun his role. QTech Games has appointed Crystal Nadal to the position of sales director. Evolution earnings reactionLosing streak: Evolution saw its shares slump by 8% following the release of its earnings on Friday, leaving its market cap some $2bn lighter at the end of the day. The slippage follows somewhat innocuous figures that showed revenues rose 15% to €508m while EBITDA rose 11% to €346m.
😱 An evolving picture for Evolution’s shares YTD Behind the curve: Investor skittishness was likely not helped by comments on the call from CEO Martin Carlesund, who admitted Evolution was not growing in line with the US iCasino sector. “We are losing market shares in slots as the number of actors are increasing quite significantly,” he said.
North American revenues rose 8% to €60.2m but were down slightly sequentially and have been essentially static for the past three quarters. The big driver of revenue remains Asia, which rose 22% YoY to €201m.
Betsson earnings reactionBulging pockets: With cash on the balance sheet totaling €264m and with a track record of M&A – the most recent deal being the buyout of Holland Gaming Technology in February – management was asked on the call with analysts whether more deals would be forthcoming or whether the company would be looking at share buybacks.
888’s horror showPutting the boot in: Patience with 888 is running very low, according to the team at 888 who noted that following Thursday’s profit warning “finding marginal buyers of the shares is now further off.”
El Güero Vega, Sea Ice and a Ferrari The story of how we built and launched the world's most sophisticated sportsbook platform in just 31 months, as told by Metric Gaming CEO, Keith Hayes. Read in full here (<6min read) The week aheadBoyd of summer: The Q2 earnings season truly kicks into gear this week, with Las Vegas Sands, Red Rock Resorts and Boyd Gaming heading the list. Of most interest, certainly with regard to potential future M&A, is Boyd, which reports on Thursday AMC. The team at Truist noted in their Q2 preview that expectations for trading are “reasonable” after “multiple” soft quarters.
Crisis, what crisis? At Las Vegas Sands, Deutsche Bank analysts have previously suggested there may be some investor disquiet over recent market share slippage in Macau. But Jefferies said their biggest concern remains the China macro situation.
Startup focus – SoundwaveWho are you? HQ’d in Richmond, Virginia, Soundwave was founded in 2022 by Jon Kim, Holland Rhoads, Neil Kuchins and Richard Rhoads, who have a combined 40 years of experience in the industry. What’s the big idea? The technology-focused, managed-service programmatic media partner boasts large-scale access to DSPs, proprietary bidding systems and custom audiences.
What they say: “Soundwave is entering the online gaming and casino vertical because of the overall growth and continued new entries to the marketplace,” says Rhoads. “The need for effective strategies, profitable engagement models for advertisers and differentiation creates an ideal ecosystem for the Soundwave model to provide significant value for its partners.” Funding backgrounder: Soundwave is independently owned. Growth company newsMetaBet and FTN have teamed up to pre-integrate FTN's player and team projections into MetaBet's market-leading sports and gambling data API. MetaBet was one of E+M’s Top Startups to Watch in 2024. 7bet, a subsidiary of Anakatech Interactive, has launched an iCasino and sportsbook offering in the UK. The company has been exclusively operating in the Lithuanian market for the last three years. XGENIA has launched 'Ignite', an AI-driven tool that enables rapid slot game prototyping and iteration, significantly reducing time to market for operators and studios. 916 Gaming has launched its latest iLottery game, ‘Team USA’, exclusively on the Virginia Lottery online platform through a partnership with EQL Games. Kambi Group is the leading provider of premium sports betting technology and services, empowering operators with all the tools required to deliver world-class sports betting and entertainment experiences. The Group’s services not only include its award-winning turnkey sportsbook but also an increasingly open platform and a range of standalone sports betting services from frontend specialists Shape Games, esports data and odds provider Abios, and AI-powered trading division Tzeract. Together, we are limitless. For more info, go to www.kambi.com Calendar
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Older messages
Definition of madness
Friday, July 19, 2024
Evoke tries to reinvigorate UK biz with marketing blitz. Fails. ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏
Situation vacant
Tuesday, July 16, 2024
The lack of a new CEO at Entain reflects the size of the task ahead ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏
💰The billion-dollar mortgage
Monday, July 15, 2024
GLP stumps up nearly $1bn to fund Bally's Chicago casino build ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏
The way out
Friday, July 12, 2024
Betway owner the 18th operator to conclude OSB is not worth the candle ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏
Turn on, tune in… drop out?
Tuesday, July 9, 2024
DraftKings' rumored sale of VSiN highlights another convergence failure ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏
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