The Lion Roars Back: MGM Resorts FY21 Revenue Rockets
MGM Resorts International came roaring back to life in 2021 with an operating profit of US$2.28 billion (£1.68bn/€2bn), compared to a loss…
André Dubronski
The Super Bowl’s Great Play Fake, Punters Warned About Off-the-Books Betting
If you can bury your disappointment at not seeing ace quarterbacks Patrick Mahomes and Tom Brady—and pop diva Janet Jackson–in action at…
Hits and Misses in Q4 for Penn National
In a mixed bag of financial results, Penn National Gaming Inc., one of North America’s biggest gambling Omni-channels, has posted revenue of…
Bringing his Épée to a Monkey Knife Fight, Kim Offers US$2bn to Buy-up Bally’s
Soo Kim, the charismatic American billionaire leader of hedge fund Standard General, which owns 38 per cent of Bally’s, the casino and…
The Voice of God: Genesis Global Fined £3.8m
The UK Gambling Commission (UKGC), the body that oversees the country’s professional betting industry, has issued a stern compliance warning that it…
Looking for a Slice of Canadian Pie
With the welcome news that Ontario, Canada’s most populous province, is finally moving into regulated online betting, after years of grey market…
iGF Shorts 2.0
Yes, We Pay Our Taxes. In an age when some of the country’s richest people pay little or no tax, Stoke-on-Trent’s finest,…
GambleAware Reach Out: Safer Gaming for Women
Responsible gambling charity GambleAware has launched its first-ever exclusively female-focused campaign to warn women of the risks associated with excessive betting. The…
Breakin’ Up is So Hard to Do – D-Day for £2.7bn Playtech Merger
From bidding war to butcher’s block, the fate of gaming technology firm Playtech is looking increasingly problematic as shareholders prepare to meet…
iGF Shorts
Streaming: Hedge fund billionaire Bill Ackman, of Pershing Square investments, has grabbed a US$1.1 billion stake in streaming pioneers Netflix. Netflix’s stock…
It’s Ras Vegas for Wynn Resorts
Amid all the hype and uncertainty swirling around the fate of WynnBet, the interactive arm of retail gaming giant Wynn Resorts, one…
Jordan’s JKO Outta Gas, Drops Playtech Pursuit
And so, as previously intimated on these pages, it appears that former Formula One top-gun Eddie Jordan, currently helming venture capitalists JKO,…
A Warm Welcome to Readers Old and New
Good day to all gambling industry leaders, thinkers and operators. Welcome aboard the iGF express and the brand new refit of our…
Up, Up and Away with Entain
Powered by what can only be described as the spectacular success of its online BetMGM joint venture in the United States, and…
iGamingFuture Exclusive – Pay Back Better – MPs Demand Return of Furlough Cash
Militant anti-gambling MPs have called for UK betting firms to pay back millions of pounds they received in emergency furlough cash from the government….
Go East, Young Gamer, Go East
With 100,000 Russian troops massed for possible invasion on its eastern border, now might not be the time to invest in Ukraine….
Spain Tightens the Responsible Gambling Garrotte
By reputation Spain has one of the lowest problem gambling rates in Europe. And the CNMC—La Comisión Nacional de Los Mercados y…
Bang a Gong, Bring it On – 888 Claims 14 Point FY21 Revenue Surge
Total group revenue for the FY ending December 31, 2021 should be a record US$972 million (£715.5m/€854.6m) – compared to 2020’s take…
(Don’t) Burn After Reading, PlayUp Takes Legal Beating
A US District Court in Nevada has just denied PlayUp’s emergency motion for a continuation of its preliminary injunction against Mintas, who,…
Pedal to the Metal, Jordan’s JKO Ups Pursuit of Playtech
His merger and acquisitions vehicle, JKO, has just taken aboard the additional firepower of billionaire investor Vikrant Bhargava as he attempts to…
High-Flying Flutter Finalizes Tombola
“Flutter is pleased to announce that it has received all necessary regulatory confirmations with respect to the acquisition of Tombola. The group…
Touch Down, Nevada – State’s Sportsbooks Rake-in US$1 Billion, Again
According to latest figures, punters in the US state staked US$1.09 billion on sports bets in November (£803,544/€963,310). This followed Nevada’s US$1.10…
Giant Steps: Legal Online Sports Gaming Hits New York
It’s all a far cry from 2015 when online fantasy sports companies threatened to sue the New York State Attorney General for…
Bring Out the Safety Car, Playtech Restarts £2.7bn Takeover
Playtech, founded by Israeli billionaire Teddy Sagi in 1999 and now the world’s biggest gaming software group, have decided to send out…
New Year, New Broom: Sweden Mulls Sweeping New Online Gaming Controls
First comes a scatter-gun salvo to bring “all” offshore operators within reach of the Swedish market under the control of the nation’s…
The Italian Job: Flutter Scoops Up Sisal
Global heavy-hitters Flutter, owners of Paddy Power, Betfair, PokerStars and FanDuel, among many other top gaming brands, has long eyed opportunities in…
“Buzzcut” – UK Bingo Leader Gets a Close Back and Sides
But–while accepting the sanction with good grace–the Nottingham-based company, founded in 1964, has mounted a spirited defence of its business practices going…
“Burn Baby, Burn” – PlayUp Plays Tough, Appoints Drazin
Drazin, as Chair and CEO of Darby Development, played a key role in the fight to legalise sports betting in America, greenlighted…
“Too Big To Fail” – Crown, Oz Casino Giant Thrown Lifeline
The company, investigated for money laundering, exploitation of problem gamblers and underpayment of taxes at its three principal casino resorts in Melbourne,…
“Catch Us If You Can” – Flutter Boosts Its Safe(r) Gambling Matrix
“We remain committed to driving meaningful change across the industry,” said Conor Grant, Chief Executive of Flutter UK and Ireland. “We will…
UKGC’s Christmas List of Shame
The report covers the 2020-21 Financial Year, during which time the oft-criticised commission flexed its regulatory muscle and among a raft of…
Medina Spirit in the Sky – Kentucky Derby Winner Dies in Training
The colt was owned by Saudi Arabian Amr Zedan Racing Stables and trained by the legendary, but controversial, Bob Baffert, who has…
With Cordish, GLPI Do The REIT Thing
The deal for the Live! Casino Maryland and two Live! Casinos in Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, which together welcome over 55 million punters…
Florida’s Online Sports Betting: Between a Rock and a Hard Place
Online sports betting in Florida, forgive the pun, has been caught between a rock and a hard place — for the moment…
(Almost) Over the Hill – 888 Remains Perfect Number for WHI
It’s full-steam ahead for the proposed £2.2 billion (US$2.9bn/€2.6bn), debt-laden, acquisition, 888’s CEO Itai Pazner has confirmed. “[We] are excited about the…
Sisal Reports 23 Point Revenue Sweetener
Sisal’s revenue thus surged 23.2 per cent over the period, compared to the same three-quarters of Covid pandemic-hammered 2020. “[Last year was]…
Don’t Flog the Dead Donkey: BGO Sells Database
Founded by Richard Skelhorn and Alexander Hold in 2012, BGO—an acronym, it’s believed, for Bingo Gaming Online—had its licence suspended on October…
iGF Wins Top Gaming Media Award
The awards gala, organised and held at the Hilton Convention Centre in St. Julian’s by SiGMA, the leading international gaming events organisers…
LeoVegas Tames Q3 Turbulence
Take Germany out of the fiscal equation and growth would have been an even more impressive 31 per cent — underlined by…
Portnoy’s Complaint – PNG Hoping to Weather Sex Storm and Poor Q3
Overall, PNG shares are now down by over 20 per cent – wiping out all the company’s post peak Covid-19 gains of…
Covid Mirage Over for MGM, Reports Strong Q3
The US gaming giant recorded net income of US$1.35 billion (£1bn/€1.17bn) for the quarter, compared to a loss of US$535 million (£396.4m/€462.7m)…
Here Today, Heir Tomorrow, We’ll Always Have Camelot
Call it what you will, déjà vu; Groundhog Day; same old, same old; it seems there will always be a Camelot. As…
For Oz’s Tabcorp Doubling Down, Less is More
The move comes despite the Ozzie giant returning to a net profit after tax of AUD$269 million (£146.25m/US$202.1m/€173.55m)–on revenue of AUD$5.68 billion…
Top of the Hill, 888 Reports Sweet Q3
And the good news is underlined with an assertion by the online gaming giant that it is now on stream to hit…
Born to Rule – Aristocrat and Playtech Make a Move, Big Time
In a perfect synergy of hardware and software, Australian slot machine manufacturer Aristocrat today (October 18) confirmed it has bought gaming software…
Vive La France: FDJ Revenue Up, Again, in Q3
FDJ, also reputedly the fourth largest lotto operator in the world—its name in English translates as “The French Company of Games”—has experienced…
Penn National Knows theScore
Following its January 2020 acquisition of a 36 per cent stake in sports media publisher Barstool Sports for US$163 million (£119m/€140.6m), the…
Get Me To The Entain Online – Positive Q3 for UK Gaming Giant
The FTSE100 gambling Omni-channel has just posted its 23rd consecutive quarter of online growth, is well on target to hit its projected…
Connecting Connecticut – State Launches iGaming
The softly-softly launch has strict riders. Initially, only 750 punters will be able to bet on the new Internet platforms. And, for…
MGM Entertain Full BetMGM Buy-out
“We’d have to come to some resolve,” said MGM Resorts CEO Bill Hornbuckle, referring to DraftKings’ bid for Entain. “We have 50…