Sale process for fantasy operator valued at ~$2bn nears a conclusion.
In +More: FanDuel launches P2P fantasy sports product.
Former Entain CEO among 11 being prosecuted by UK’s CPS.
Earnings extra: Star Entertainment, PointsBet and Betr report.
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Take your Pick
Shine on, shine the lights on me: Allwyn has emerged as the front runner to buy PrizePicks with a bid that could value the DFS+ operator at ~$2bn, with multiple sources telling E+M that the privately held European lottery and gaming giant is now the likeliest buyer.
Czech, mate: Talks are thought to be nearing – or have potentially already reached – a conclusion.
When contacted by E+M, neither PrizePicks nor Allwyn offered any comment.
New gold dream: Speculation has mounted over the future of PrizePicks, with the news this week that it has switched all its operations from its previous pick’em DFS+ offering to its P2P Arena-style fantasy games.
The move was widely seen as an effort to clear the regulatory pathway ahead of a sale.
Notably, FanDuel launched a P2P offering just this week (see +More below).
Promised you a miracle: Last year, PrizePicks hired boutique corporate advisor Moelis to advise on its M&A options. It is believed the company was seeking a valuation of as much as 10x its trailing EBITDA of $250m but sources suggested the eventual valuation will fall short of this target.
Moelis has been shopping the company around to various possible buyers, with industry gossip putting various names in the frame.
It’s not us: Persistent rumors surrounding an interest on the part of Fanatics Betting & Gaming were staunchly denied by a spokesperson.
“Fanatics Betting & Gaming is not involved in any transaction regarding PrizePicks, despite any speculation in the press,” the spokesperson said.
Midnight train to Georgia: PrizePicks last significant fundraise came in 2021 in a funding round led by Phoenix Capital Ventures and bringing in Astralis Capital along with a number of names from the worlds of sports and gaming, including Atlanta Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan.
The Atlanta-based company was co-founded in 2017 by former CEO Adam Wexler, who moved to the role of chair of the company last August. He was replaced as CEO by Mike Ybarra.
A Hapsburg empire: Allwyn would be a surprise buyer for the business. It operates lottery and gaming across various jurisdictions, including its home territory of the Czech Republic, Austria (where it owns Casinos Austria) and Greece (where it owns Opap and Stoximan).
Since February 2024 it has been running the UK National Lottery.
Allwyn has already been involved in corporate activity this week, with owner KKCG selling a 4.2% stake in the business for €500m to another Czech Republic investment firm, J&T Arch Investments.
KKCG, founded by the Czech billionaire Karel Komárek who also chairs Allwyn, will retain a 95% ownership of the business.
The deal valued Allwyn at €11.2bn as of December 2024.
Keeping busy: In terms of corporate news, Allwyn itself has had a busy year. In July, it announced it had wrapped up the purchase of the remaining 15.5% stake in Greek betting operator Stoximan from its founder owners (who also own Betano) for €192m.
At the same time it sold its German and Australian casino interests for combined proceeds of €105m.
In August, it closed on a €600m offering of senior secured notes.
In the past month Alwyn has made some significant hires in terms of its digital operation. First, it announced the appointment of Kresimir Spajic as CEO for Allwyn Digital to head up its efforts to “evolve in a more digitally led and connected way.”
Just this week the former managing director for Evoke in the UK, Alexis Zamboglou, has joined Allwyn as chief strategy and transformation officer.
By the numbers: In Allwyn’s FY24 earnings, revenue rose 12% to €8.79bn, which it said was driven in part by continued momentum in digital channel. Adj. EBITDA rose 4% to €1.55bn.
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+More
FanDuel has launched a new P2P fantasy sports product called FanDuel Picks, a similar product to the PrizePicks offering as mentioned above and another P2P offering from Underdog.
Getting there: Mixi Australia’s all-cash offer for PointsBet has now passed the 50% mark of shareholder acceptances, meaning its offer has now been extended for a further fortnight. Shareholders who have already accepted will start receiving the A$1.25 cash offer as of today. PointsBet CEO Sam Swannell warned during his company’s FY25 earnings call that Betr would be left as a minority shareholder in the business if it did not accept the Mixi offer.
Read across
Ball of confusion: The UK government’s consultation on merging the country’s main gambling duties may be framed as a simplification exercise, but in reality it risks creating greater complexity while undermining the sector’s already fragile economics. In Compliance+More.
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Kenny Alexander charged
List of offenses: The UK’s Crown Prosecution Service has charged former Entain CEO Kenny Alexander and 10 others with offenses relating to bribery, conspiracy to defraud, fraudulent trading, cheating the public revenue, evasion of income tax, acting as a director of a company when undischarged bankrupt and perverting the course of justice.
Among the others that have been charged are former Entain chair Lee Feldman, former CFO at Entain’s predecessor GVC Richard Cooper and Entain’s former head of legal and compliance Robert Hoskin.
Entain issued a press release pointing out that it has not been charged and that none of the individuals are currently employed by the company.
The company noted it had entered into a deferred prosecution agreement (DPA) with the CPS in December 2023.
Back to the DPA: In the summary of the DPA, presiding judge Dame Victoria Sharp said Entain was guilty of breaching section 7 of the Bribery Act 2010. Specifically, the judgment went on to say the “alleged bribery offenses occurred primarily in Turkey”.
Wholesale change: The judgment made a distinction between the current Entain and the old GVC. “There has been a wholesale change of senior management and approach and an acknowledgment by Entain that it was necessary to overhaul its culture and practices,” it said.
The names of the charged: Alongside Alexander, who has been charged with conspiracy to defraud and conspiracy to bribe, are ex-Entain chair Lee Feldman and former GVC CFO Richard Cooper, both charged with the same.
Among those also charged are Robert Hoskin, the former chief of legal and compliance at Entain, who has been charged with perverting the course of justice in February 2024.
Among the non-GVC names to have been charged is Robert Dowling, a director of Conexus.
Inspired sale
Static caravan of love: As was promised on its recent earnings call, Inspired Entertainment has completed the sale of its holiday parks business to Japanese leisure park operator GENDA for £18.6m ($25.1m) in cash.
The divested business manages over 11,000 amusement and gaming machines across 170 UK-based holiday park venues. Inspired will continue to supply gaming content and platform services to the business.
The transaction is expected to close in Q4 and the proceeds from the deal would go towards paying down debt.
Macquarie estimated the business was likely worth ~$50m in revenue and ~$8m in EBITDA, suggesting a multiple of ~3x.
Puts+takes: Citizens said the well-telegraphed move was in line with Inspired’s aim to move away from low-margin business towards more asset-light, particularly online, opportunities. The team added that after speaking to management they “get the sense” there are more restructuring actions to come.
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Earnings extra
Star Entertainment
Struggling to see the light: The troubled casino operator reported a FY25 net loss of A$471.5m ($308m) as revenue fell 29% to A$1.19bn, driven by regulatory reforms, remediation costs and market share losses. Gaming revenue dropped 37%, while non-gaming was stable. Sydney was the main drag, with EBITDA swinging to a A$47.7m loss. Liquidity remains tight, reliant on the remaining A$67m Bally’s investment, covenant waivers and exiting the Brisbane JV.
PointsBet
Against the grain: The company claimed a minor success in growing its Australian bookmaking revenues by 3% to A$218.5m ($142.7m), against a backdrop of what CEO Sam Swanell said was "material negative growth” in the wider waging market. Total revenue including the Canadian business rose 6% to A$261m. Taking a swipe at rival Betr, Swanell said its business was “very inferior’ to that of PointsBet.
Betr
Provable model: CEO Andrew Menz said Betr had enjoyed a “transformational” year, with the company emerging as a “larger, stronger, profitable” business as net win climbed 133% to A$148m ($96.7m). Even as the votes continued to accumulate for the rival Mixi bid for PointsBet, Menz maintained that Betr continued to see “significant value and further potential” in PointsBet and highlighted its “repeatable and proven” consolidation model.
See today’s Earnings Catchup edition (PRO subscribers only) for more on the earnings from Star Entertainment, PointsBet and Betr.
Earnings in brief
SJM: The Macau operator reported a below consensus 6.1% increase in total net revenue to HK$14.6bn ($1.87bn). However, adj. EBITDA declined by 5.1% to HK$1.65bn, and the loss attributable to owners widened to HK$182m. The company enhanced its strategic positioning through recent acquisitions, including land near Hengqin Port, aimed at strengthening its Macau Peninsula base and enabling further expansion on Cotai.
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Connections
Betsson has launched football team-branded online slot game Rey de Copas via its partnership with Colombian team Atlético Nacional. Developer 10Bet has joined a new B2B alliance led by Light & Wonder, merging its content portfolio and aggregation capabilities with FIRST’s sportsbook solution and OpenTag’s platform solution to form a new gaming framework. Content aggregation platform SlotMatrix has made its Wild Extravaganza slot available in West Virginia. Alea has boosted its content offering through a new partnership with Platipus.
SPRIBE has continued the evolution of its UFC collaboration, agreeing a new deal with social media content creator and UFC interviewer, Nina Drama. Bellot has agreed to a new content partnership with Slotegrator, boosting the global reach of its titles.
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