Still got that swing
The future of Las Vegas looks bright, Flutter completes NY switch, CFO doesn’t, Product Panel – Sky Bet’s AccaFreeze +More
The Las Vegas bandwagon isn’t done yet, say analysts.
In +More: Flutter completes New York switch, CFO departs.
In analyst takes, Wynn Resorts is oversold on Macau fears.
Introducing the Product Panel, which looks at Sky Bet’s Acca Freeze.
Shares watch looks at the reaction to Rivalry’s token news.
There's something else that makes this tune complete.
Vegas has still got it
Keep the faith: The earnings potential of Las Vegas is still far from peaking despite investor concerns about near-term headwinds and the evidence of moderating growth since the turn of the year.
Boom town: The analysts at Jefferies noted that currently Las Vegas is “booming,” driven by the sequential increases in revenues that saw the casinos generate over $13.5bn in 2023. Conference attendance is now back to pre-pandemic levels, while the addition of the Raiders and Golden Knights major league sports teams is driving leisure attendance.
“The Las Vegas market demonstrates strength that most regional markets are not experiencing, and we remain confident that gaming will continue to grow,” the team added.
Icing on the cake: The addition of NFL and NHL franchises adds a further leg-up to an “already prosperous market,” Jefferies said, noting that the value of the Raiders franchise, in particular, has more than doubled to $6.2bn.
The winning team: “Bringing a team to Las Vegas is beneficial for both the franchise and the local economy as it drives increased tourism from individuals with the capability of higher-than-average spending,” said the analysts.
Looking ahead, MLB is likely to be the next addition, with the A’s looking to build a stadium on the site of the soon-to-be-demolished Tropicana.
Jefferies suggested the likely rise in average attendance and ticket price increases “could be material for the franchise value.”
Hoop dreams: The team also pointed out Oak View Group has shown interest in developing a $10bn hotel and entertainment complex, which will include a 20k seat arena with the sole purpose of attracting an NBA franchise to Vegas.
Drain on resources: There are some long-term issues that cloud the view. Among them are the pressure on water resources caused by declining levels at the Lake Mead reservoir, capacity issues at the airport and a cost environment that has become a “greater challenge.”
A different type of sustainability is also an issue, namely whether the current level of spend can be sustained.
Spend per visit remains at elevated levels and Jefferies said the key question is whether this can be sustained.
“If the consumer weakens, economic growth and average spend per visitor could be challenged,” the team cautioned.
Nevada in April
The number of the least: The latest data pointed to short-term pressures for the Strip, where revenue rose 7% YoY but the $666m garnered was the lowest monthly total of the YTD. However, Macquarie said the data still pointed to Q2 showing continued growth, albeit with the previously noted “consumer fatigue” at the lower end.
Closing time: Recall, earlier this week JMP wrote about the upcoming closure of the Mirage (see +More ‘Lava flows’ below) and the already shuttered Tropicana, saying it represented a 3% decline in rooms on the Strip.
The team suggested the largest percentage and absolute decline in room count in the “history of Las Vegas” should bring EBITDA benefits to both MGM and Caesars.
What we’re reading: Can an improved WSOP website revive online poker in Nevada? Howard Stutz in The Nevada Independent.
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+More
Flutter Entertainment CEO Peter Jackson hailed the company’s “milestone” move to a primary listing in New York, with its UK listing downgraded from premium to standard. He added that the move “closely follows” the company’s recent relocation of its operational headquarters to New York.
Not on the plane: Not following the company in its transatlantic migration is CFO Paul Edgecliffe-Johnson, who has resigned with immediate effect. He has been replaced by current Flutter International CFO Rob Coldrake.
Home alone: The company said the board concluded that Edgecliffe-Johnson’s family commitments in the UK precluded him from spending the time needed in New York, saying it was “in the company's best interests” that he step down.
Coldrake has been with Flutter since 2020 and was previously at travel group TUI.
Sweep it up: The backend supply side of Gaming Innovation Group has launched a new social sweepstakes casino platform solution designed for the US market. Simultaneously, GiG announced its debut strategic partnership with Georgia land-based sweepstakes operator Primero Games, which currently operates 50k skill-games machines across the US.
Citing data from the analysts at EKG, GiG estimates the online sweepstakes market will be worth $6.9bn in 2025.
Lava flows: The transformation of the Mirage to the Hard Rock will begin in the coming weeks with the demolition of the volcano in front of the property, reported the Las Vegas Review-Journal. Recall, Hard Rock plans to construct a 660-foot tall, all-suite hotel tower shaped like glass back-to-back guitars.
Allwyn has announced the successful syndication of a new seven-year $450m term loan B facility, with the proceeds used to redeem the €400m senior secured floating rate notes due 2028 and for other corporate purposes.
Multiplayer online crypto-casino MyPrize has launched a social gaming platform in the US. The platform allows users to stream to and play with other users in an online social casino environment.
Fanatics Betting & Gaming has launched the Fanatics Sportsbook in Wyoming. LiveScore Bet has gone live in the UK & Ireland on the Kambi platform. Tipico has signed a two-year deal with the German FA to sponsor the DFB-Pokal Cup. Lottomatrix’s online lottery ticket platform Jackpot.com has launched in New Jersey. Scout Gaming has signed a partnership with Africa-based iGaming operator SunBet.
Read across
Il behavior: Compliance+More on the news from Illinois this week, here and here. Plus, still on the issue of rising taxes, the Dutch far-right government’s plans to hike rates could be counter-productive, warn the analysts at Regulus.
Seal of approval: In The Token Word, the debate over whether the SEC has actually approved the launch of Ether ETFs or merely cleared the pathway towards approval sparked something of an epistemological debate among those who had bet on the outcome via a Polymarket prediction market.
Hold the front page
You look good in orange: The Daily Star.
Head of HR – Cyprus
Head of iGaming Retention Sales – Dubai
Head of Product – London
Analyst takes – Wynn Resorts
Oversold and over there: The team at Seaport Research Partners noted that since they initiated on the sector last month, Wynn in particular is down 9% vs. a 3% rise in the S&P. The team said the decline is “unwarranted.”
“At its current valuation level, Wynn is a compelling buy over the next few quarters as Macau continues to ramp up,” the team pointed out.
Roll with it: While they acknowledge Wynn might lose market share in 2025 as other newer properties come on stream, the team argued that Wynn has “historically” been able to “morph with changes in the market” and that it will now refocus on strengthening its premium mass offering, which should enable it to maintain its positioning.
The shares week
Tokenomics: Toronto-listed esports and Gen Z-focused sports-betting operator Rivalry’s shares endured a classic buy on the rumor, sell on the news week ahead of yesterday’s Q1 earnings. The shares were down 10% on Wednesday in the wake of the news of the company launching a $RVLRY token.
As CEO Steven Salz told E+M sister publication The Token Word this week, the token is an acknowledgement that there is a “division in online gambling and the gap is getting wider” between the formative crypto-gambling space and the fiat-only sector.
The company said the token brought increased functionality, economics and user experiences to the product suite.
By the numbers: The shares managed a 5% recovery following the Q1s, which showed GGR up 20% sequentially to C$7.7m ($5.6m) while net revenue rose 51% to $4.5m. Net losses narrowed to C$5.2m. The company said it had C$9.4m of cash as of the end of March.
💥 Rivalry suffers a post-token news share price drop
Earnings in brief
OPAP: The Greek betting and gaming operator said it remained on track to deliver its FY guidance after Q1 GGR rose 4.2% YoY to €550m and despite EBITDA being 3.1% lower at €190m.
On the lottery side, CEO Jan Karas said it had completed the revamp of its draw-based games during the period and launched EuroMillions. Online was “further improved” with iCasino GGR up 20% to €70.9m
Venture capital firm Yolo Investments manages in excess of €500m in capital across 100 exciting fintech, gaming and blockchain companies. The Yolo Investments' Gaming fund, regulated by the Guernsey Financial Services Commission, has taken positions in fast-growth suppliers and operators, including Dabble and Enteractive. Yolo Investments (yolo.io) wants to hear from readers of this newsletter. Get in touch with your pitch, or for a chat about innovative products which can plug into our investment ecosystem.
Product Panel – Sky Bet’s AccaFreeze
Cold as ice: This week we introduce Earnings+More’s new Product Panel, which every month asks a revolving cast of experts their views on recent product launches within the betting and gaming space. For the debut edition, the panel chaired by Adam Wilson from Splash Tech, looks at Sky Bet’s AccaFreeze.
I.O.U: As sold by Sky Bet, AccaFreeze gives punters the ability to freeze a winning score, in-play, on a match result acca of 5 legs or more. “Margin has become the darling of the industry of late with the overwhelming focus on bet builders,” says Wilson.
Just an illusion: AccaFreeze feeds into this strategy, he adds, “but has an additional element that I particularly like: the allusion of outsmarting the bookies.”
“Sharing a high-odds winnings bet builder bet slip online is great, but sharing a frozen bet slip demonstrating how you bested the bookies presents a whole new level of opportunity for bravado.”
Stick it on: “It is well designed from the Sky Bet perspective as it increases stickiness in a similar way to cashout,” points out panel member Clyde Harris, a partner at betting and gaming consultancy Circle Squared.
He adds that it also encourages the bets that operators “love to see,” namely small stake accumulators.
“This is also a gamified offer in a way that similar offers are not,” Harris adds.
Similar offers don’t require the customer to make any decision after having placed the bet. “AccaFreeze makes the customer actively participate in an ongoing way as they have to choose which leg they want to use the freeze on.”
Simon Trim, strategy consultant with 10star, agrees, suggesting it gives punters a greater level of engagement and encourages them to interact with the ‘my bets’ section of the site, increasing the dwell time of a customer.
“This has benefits for potentially increasing that customer's betting activity on other events,” he adds.
Keep it sweet: “Anything that looks like it incentivises customers to feel they are more likely to win playing at large odds – and potentially also generate increased activity via more bets placed – is likely to be popular,” says Trim.
“For the operator it is really a bet to nothing – if it doesn't generate more business it hasn’t cost them anything,” he adds.
Coming to a market near you: Bearing in mind the industry’s tendency to follow the leader on product, the true test for the AccaFreeze concept will come if others copy it. “I’m pretty sure that some others are already working on copying it,” says Harris.
Moreover, he thinks parent Flutter will likely roll out the concept across its other brands and territories.
“The fact that they have chosen to only offer on Sky Bet for now is interesting,” he says.
Chair’s verdict: “While it is still just a further iteration of the acca product, AccaFreeze ticks all the good-product boxes: it’s easy to use, pushes users into making high margin bets and is inherently shareable,” says Wilson.
“I suspect we will start to see this rolled out across the industry, which Sky Bet might not like, but as someone wiser than me once said, ‘Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery that mediocrity can pay to greatness’.”
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