StatGPT
The sector’s data is beyond the reach of the LLMs
AI discussions surfaced across many Q4 earnings calls.
In +More: William Hill set to close 200 shops in May.
VICI deepens its Canadian footprint via the Pure–Gamehost deal.
Venture playground: Prediction market insiders launch first dedicated VC fund,
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Artificial energy
We’re charging our battery: Across a clutch of key analyst calls during the reporting season just gone, a clear sense emerged of how AI is set to have as much impact within the sector as it is in the wider economy, with data as a competitive moat being one of the key themes.
A key battleground is the proprietary data sets that companies have accumulated over, in some cases, decades. That is, data sets that no LLM has at its disposal.
We’re functioning automatic: Playtech’s Mor Weizer made the point just last week that his company sits on more than 25 years of player behavioral data gathered across some of the world’s largest regulated operators.
That data covers platform, product and jurisdiction at a level of granularity that no third party can crawl or synthesize.
“Our models are only as good as the data stack they are trained on,” he told investors.
The company’s goal, he added, is to use AI to double game output with the same headcount, not to trim it.
And we are dancing mechanic: Light & Wonder made essentially the same argument from the land-based perspective. When analysts asked whether AI represented a disruption risk to slot manufacturers, CEO Matt Wilson and CTO Victor Blanco pushed back.
Their moat, they said, rests on proprietary game math, certified across 500 gaming licenses in multiple jurisdictions and combined with granular player session data from SciPlay.
As Macquarie summarized, proprietary data provides a significant advantage and it is not accessible to external models.
Truist described Light & Wonder as “an AI beneficiary, at lower risk” reinforced by its scale, IP and customer relationships, which no software-first challenger can bypass.
We are programmed just to do: The practical evidence for the development efficiency argument arrived in the form of Carbon, Light & Wonder’s new game development platform.
Blanco said this was restarted in September 2025 as a fully AI-led initiative using Claude as its primary development methodology.
In just over four months, the team delivered a new game engine and authoring experience that surpassed years of prior development progress.
Anything you want us to: Trading and risk is an area where AI is already delivering commercial returns. During DraftKings’ investor day in early March, CTO Zachary Maybury said recently implemented machine learning enhancements are tracking toward approximately $45m in annualized gross revenue uplift from pricing improvements alone.
He added that engineering productivity is up 40% YoY, with 100% of code reviews now AI-assisted.
The company has also automated and personalized more than $400m of promotional spend through AI, reducing waste significantly.
Citizens said that 70% of promotional spending is now determined algorithmically, with management expecting that proportion to increase further.
Macquarie noted that 95% of DraftKings’ sports content is now priced internally, up from 72% in 2022.
We are the robots: Sportradar CEO Carsten Koerl explained that his company’s new basketball model uses billions of player movement data points to predict player movements and game-state changes seven seconds ahead.
It believes this capability gives market makers a meaningfully superior product.
50% of Sportradar’s content is now produced by its own AI agents using computer vision and 100% of its code is AI-supported.
Computer love: Gambling.com CEO Charles Gillespie, meanwhile, offered up the prospect of AI as simultaneously a threat and an enabler in the affiliate space. The disruption to search-driven traffic models, he argued, is not the simple story of AI replacing Google.
Google Search, he noted, is working better than it ever has. The problem is that AI has dramatically lowered the cost of producing high-quality spam, while Google’s own attention has drifted toward its AI-first future.
The practical result is a degradation of organic search quality that has hit affiliate businesses disproportionately.
Gillespie’s response is a new product, due in spring 2026, described as an AI-enabled transformation of the company’s marketing business.
Details were withheld for competitive reasons but, whatever the product is, it is expected to change the narrative on that segment from 2027 onwards.
The model: Entain CEO Stella David framed AI most directly as a cost offset to the UK’s gambling tax increases, citing AI-assisted marketing production, faster development cycles and improved customer care automation.
Those are among the levers that underpin the company’s upgraded estimate that more than 50% of the UK tax hit can be neutralized from 2027.
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+More
William Hill confirmed to the Racing Post that it is set to close a rumored 200 shops next month due to “increased cost pressures on the regulated sector.” A spokesperson added that the company believed it “must take action to ensure we can continue to invest in our core retail estate, with the right shops, in the right locations.” E+M wrote last week how the upcoming RGD tax hike might prove to be fatal for a storied betting name.
Alberta has confirmed July 13 as the launch date for its regulated OSB and iCasino gambling market. The provincial minister responsible for iGaming, Dale Nally, informed stakeholders of the official go-live date in a letter dated March 30 that was seen by Canadian Gaming Business.
Superbet has launched in Greece with a “sports-first” strategy, prioritizing sportsbook over casino and focusing on local engagement. The operator has built an Athens-based team and will emphasize Greek competitions, sponsorships and community initiatives. The company described the market as “mature and thriving,” with strong growth potential despite lower digital penetration.
LiveScore’s Virgin Bet brand has launched in South Africa, marking its first expansion beyond the UK and signaling a push into African growth markets. The platform will leverage the group’s existing Nigerian infrastructure and focus on localization and responsible-gambling tools.
Kambi has signed a long-term turnkey sportsbook partnership with PMU. Kambi will power PMU’s online fixed-odds sportsbook, providing AI-driven pricing, trading and risk management alongside a customized front end. The deal is positioned as a strategic step for PMU to strengthen its digital offering.
Star Entertainment said it has executed a binding refinancing commitment with WhiteHawk Capital Partners, securing a three-year facility that will refinance existing debt and provide additional liquidity.The facility is expected to support ongoing operations and the group’s turnaround, although completion remains subject to conditions and is targeted by mid-May 2026.
FanDuel is reported to have begun a phased shutdown of FanDuel TV, with the linear network set to close by the end of 2027 following a strategic review that found traditional TV no longer aligned with its long-term priorities. The wind-down will occur over roughly 20 months, with more than 100 jobs eliminated.
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Stock watch
Below the waterline: Despite managing a 4% uplift yesterday in New York, Genius Sports ended the day with a market cap of $1.14bn, below the $1.2bn total value of the deal to acquire affiliate group Legend.
The stock is now down 60% since the turn of the year and has shed 80% from its float price of $21 back in 2021.
VICI/Pure deal
Pure and simple every time: VICI Properties has moved to expand its Canadian real-estate holdings in a deal that simultaneously hands Pure Casino Entertainment a new foothold in Alberta’s gaming market.
Pure Casino Entertainment has agreed to acquire Gamehost at C$13.65 ($9.81) per share in cash, a premium of ~16% to Gamehost’s prevailing share price.
Pure, the operating arm of Indigenous Gaming Partners (IGP), a partnership of five Nova Scotia-based First Nations and Sonco Gaming, already operates four casinos in Alberta and is privately held.
Footprint: Alongside the take-private, VICI Properties is acquiring the real-estate assets of Deerfoot Inn & Casino, Great Northern Casino and two adjacent limited-service hotels in Alberta for $144m.
The properties will be folded into VICI’s existing triple-net master lease with Pure, adding $11.6m in annual rent at an 8% acquisition cap rate.
This is VICI’s second transaction with Pure/IGP and upon closing it will own eight assets within the Pure master lease.
VICI had previously acquired four casinos from Pure in early 2023 in a transaction totaling $201m.
VICI plans to fund the acquisition through cash on hand and its existing multicurrency revolving credit facility, with a mid-2026 close expected.
Soft2Bet Evaluates Alberta Market Entry to Strengthen Canadian Footprint
Soft2Bet has announced its intention to enter the Alberta iGaming market, pending regulatory approval. Leveraging success from its Ontario brand, ToonieBet, the company eyes a market projected to exceed $700 million at maturity. Soft2Bet is currently preparing for technical requirements under the iGaming Alberta Act, overseen by the AiGC and AGLC.
“We are committed to delivering localized, engaging experiences that reflect the unique preferences of each market,” said David Yatom Hay, General Counsel, Soft2Bet.
Venture playground
Funding news
5c(c) Capital: The prediction market industry now has its own dedicated venture capital fund. 5c(c) Capital, named for the section of the Commodity Exchange Act that governs prediction markets, is targeting up to $35m across around 20 portfolio companies over the next two years, according to an investment document viewed by Bloomberg.
The fund’s founders, Adhi Rajaprabhakaran and Noah Zingler-Sternig, are both Kalshi alumni.
Rajaprabhakaran was the second trader to join Kalshi’s market-making arm and writes the prediction market infrastructure blog 50 Cent Dollars.
Zingler-Sternig was head of operations at Kalshi and led its integration with Robinhood.
A who’s who: The most eye-catching aspect of the launch is the LP list. Kalshi CEO Tarek Mansour and Polymarket CEO Shayne Coplan are both backing the fund, a rare show of alignment across the industry’s two dominant platforms.
Marc Andreessen has invested through his vehicle Moneta Luna, alongside Andreessen Horowitz colleagues Elena Silenok and Chris Dixon.
A portfolio manager at Millennium Management is also listed among more than 20 early supporters.
The launch follows Kalshi’s recent approval for margin trading (see Monday’s E+M).
In focus – Toucan International
Who are you? Toucan International is a specialist SEO, digital PR and AI search visibility agency founded in 2025 by James Dixon and George Webb, following their time building and leading the organic search team at Checkd Group.
What’s the big idea? “Through both our own experience and numerous client testimonials, we’ve seen a recurring problem in the performance marketing industry,” says Dixon. That problem is that too many digital PR and SEO agencies “focus on vanity metrics rather than the commercial outcomes businesses actually care about.”
“The result is campaigns that look good in reports but fail to deliver the impact that was originally promised,” he adds.
“Because of our background working as the client and the agency, what we offer is a truly commercially focused approach with our strategy and an overarching digital support service, tapping into our successful background overseeing a number of websites.”
“We get excited about working with challenger brands and love working with businesses that mirror our ambition.”
KPIs: Across Toucan’s campaigns, clients typically achieve 50-100+% growth in organic traffic and 60-150+% improvements in conversion rates, supported by hundreds of high-authority media placements and backlinks that drive commercial search visibility.
“In many cases this has led to 100% growth in partner registrations or conversions from organic search and the regaining of #1 rankings for highly competitive keywords within six months,” says Dixon.
These results are delivered through integrated SEO, digital PR and CRO strategies rather than increased paid acquisition or promotional spend.
Funding backgrounder: Toucan International was launched with backing from a small group of private investors with deep experience in the iGaming and affiliate industries.
Growth company news
Let’s do the show right now: Megan Latham, CEO and co-founder at Rithmm, has posted on LinkedIn how she and her team, using an AI agent, “spun up another company, it took us less than 3 days.” The new business is called LineScout. Latham said the company was using AI for several reasons. “One is to test agent use cases and try to run ‘human-free’ from ground up. Of course, there are some human hours but super limited and it’s been a great teaching tool for us to deploy to Rithmm and already in a few days of existence seeing crossover.”
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