iGaming World’s Gossips in Summer 2021
The iGaming world has had a buzz of activity in 2021. It made the perfect comeback after the deadly 2020, which was marred by challenges caused by the COVID 19 pandemic. Ironically, the online casino industry has experienced massive growth due to this. Many gamblers shifted to them because of the restrictions necessitated by the pandemic. Hence, it is no surprise that it has been quite busy this summer.
This growth is the reason behind the increase in the bonuses and promotions on offer. Some of the best offers include the free spins without deposit Australia that the residents of this country can take advantage of. Gamers will certainly enjoy the goodies that are currently in store in the iGaming world. So let us check what is going on in this vibrant world.
Scientific Games Lottery IPO
Scientific Games is reported to be in the process of listing its lottery business in Australia in an initial public offering. The IPO is expected to be valued at about $5 billion since the entire unit is expected to be valued at more than $10 billion. If it manages to hit these sums, it will break the record as the highest valued IPO after Medibank Private, a health insurer whose IPO was valued at $4.9 billion.
There has been speculation on the move that Scientific Games would take after announcing that it would be parting ways with its lottery wing. The options were a straightforward sale, a merger, or an IPO. Nevertheless, the IPO seems to have materialized and the company has been linked with talks with some investment banks regarding the above move.
Choosing Australia as its destination for this move seems to be quite strategic. Since the country has other businesses like Tabcorp, the investors are likely to be more confident about it, and its valuation could be higher. This explains why the company chose Australia despite earning most of its money from North America and Europe.
Whether the SG Lottery will proceed with the listing above or it will be acquired remains a mystery that only time can tell. However, this seems to be the most promising rumor about its eventual fate.
DraftKings Shares Sales
DraftKings, a major sportsbook operator, has lately been in the limelight following the sale of shares by its board member Shalom Meckenzie. He sold shares worth over $30 million over the past few months, where he sold 660,000 shares. This move reduced his stake in the company by 3%.
Shalom remains the biggest individual owner of this business and the 3rd biggest overall behind T. Rowe Price and Vanguard, which are fund issuers. So how did he come to have such a large stake in this company?
He is the owner of SBTech, which merged with DraftKings, thus enabling the company to go public. However, the move by Meckenzie has not been perceived positively by various quarters in the gambling world. It was alleged that his company SBTech has been running in some jurisdictions without a valid permit. He is also alleged to be involved in money laundering and other criminal activities. Hindenburg Research made all these allegations.
iGaming in the US May Go to the $40B Mark
Eilers & Krejcik have estimated that the gambling business could rise to the 40 billion US dollars mark if the current trend spreads to all the states. The states in the US are gradually legalizing sports betting and online casino gambling, which is the reason behind the expected boost. There has been a sharp increase in the sports betting revenue in the country. New Jersey was reported to have contributed $423 million to the total revenue of $2.12 billion, which was a rise of about 435%.
Since the football season has just returned, this revenue is expected to continue rising tremendously. The biggest operators in the US include BetMGM, FanDuel, and DraftKings. They are likely to rake in huge amounts of cash from gambling though more operators are embracing the online side of the business. So why is online gaming more preferable?
- Faster to develop
- Bigger margins
- Low operational costs
These three reasons rationalize the above forecasts.
- First, it is faster to start and maintain an online platform;
- Secondly, the margins are bigger due to the low operational costs.
- Finally, the brick-and-mortar casinos can only admit a certain number of people, especially with the existence of COVID 19, which emphasizes social distancing as a method of prevention.
They also have many employees, and their premises require costly maintenance. On the other hand, online ones can handle an unlimited number of gamblers at a time and require fewer people. The gamblers have also shifted to the online version, further accelerating this growth.
IGT Forms a Separate Sports Gambling and iGaming Unit
International Game Technology, IGT, one of the UK’s leading casino software developers, announced a dedicated iGaming and sports gambling unit. These were initially part of the larger company but will now be a separate unit under Enrico Drago, the new CEO. This was good news for the investors, and the rise in shares by over 3% after the announcement demonstrates this.
The company believes that this move will enhance its operations and offer it more flexibility in its solutions and products portfolios. In addition, it has been attempting to raise its cash flow and decrease its debt, and such moves will undoubtedly be helpful.
IGT is an ardent slots software developer as well as a provider of solutions and back-end services for sportsbooks and lotteries. It is likely to experience a major boost in revenue since slots are the biggest sources of revenue in the iGaming world, and this company has a firm grip on it. You should certainly try out some IGT slots if you are a true gambling enthusiast.
The iGaming world has been full of gossip, rumors, and actual news, but it is quite hard to distinguish them. These are some of the latest information in this vibrant world. Of course, you can always check here for more gambling information.