Gaming sector is not immune as investors take fright over Trump’s tariffs.
In +More: Penn’s MLB Players deal.
PointsBet slams “unfunded” BlueBet/Betr offer, reiterates Mixi recommendation.
Light & Wonder seeks to reassure over further game claims.
Hard Rock Bet is gearing up for 2025 with a focus on amplifying brand and product engagement. With a powerful, custom-built bonusing system and an ambition to redefine traditional CRM, we’re seeking leaders who are driven to challenge the status quo:
And other amazing positions here
Chaos theory
Tariffying: The gaming sector took a bath along with the rest of the world’s stock markets on investor fears that the Trump ‘Liberation day’ tariffs announced on Wednesday could tip the US into an economic downturn or recession. One macro analyst termed it ‘Obliteration day.’
🚨Caesars Entertainment and MGM Resorts were among the big losers after a frantic day’s trading in New York, down over 9.5% and 9% respectively.
🚧 The Las Vegas-exposed Wynn Resorts (-11%), Golden Entertainment (-9%) and Red Rock Resorts (-9.5%) all had shockers.
😱 Regional operators fared no better: Penn Entertainment was down by 10%,v while Boyd Gaming fell by 6% and Full House Resorts was down 14%.
Crash test dummies: Only marginally better off were the online gaming-exposed stocks, with Flutter Entertainment – the biggest gaming stock by market cap – falling over 5%, while rival DraftKings was down 6% and Rush Street Interactive was also off by 5%.
Suppliers joined them in the doghouse: Light & Wonder and Aristocrat (still locked in Dragon litigation – see below) were each off by over 6%.
Inspired Entertainment fell by 10.5%, Genius Sports dropped 7%, Gambling.com by 5.5% and Sportradar by 4.5%.
Global gaming stocks weren’t immune, with Entain down over 5% and Evoke, hammered in recent weeks, off by 5.5% to leave it 30% down since its late-March earnings.
Orange crush: It is a far cry from as recently as mid-February when the sector was buoyed by the initial enthusiasm of the early weeks of Trump 2.
From those peaks the leading players have lost billions in market cap valuations.
The hits came on a day when the S&P 500 fell 4.8% and the Nasdaq tanked by 6%.
Scream if you wanna go faster: Talking about the across-the-board falls, encompassing B&M and online gaming, Jordan Bender, analyst at Citizens, said it reflected nervousness on the part of investors about “how this is going to play out and affect the consumer as of right now.”
He noted that in previous downturns regional casinos have “shown resilience” whereas with Las Vegas “if people are uncertain, they might not have the wallet to get on a plane.”
“But at this point it is just sell everything and figure it out later,” he added. “There's no clarity and no certainty. And that hurts stocks.”
Good for one thing at least: According to the Kalshi odds, expectations for a recession occurring this year have shot up to 54%.
About those buybacks: One immediate effect of the current uncertainty is that it is likely to put a temporary halt on the sector’s buyback activity. As per Bloomberg, US companies announced the fewest buybacks in dollar terms since the pandemic.
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Penn Entertainment has announced a new partnership with MLB Players, which designates ESPN Bet and theScore Bet as officially licensed sportsbooks. The pair can now incorporate player names and likenesses into their platforms. The deal also extends into Penn’s 32 retail sportsbook operations, which includes 19 under the ESPN Bet name.
UK-listed gaming affiliate XLMedia will officially be wound up in May following the sales of its North American and European businesses and will delist from the London Stock Exchange. Recall, it sold its North American business to Sportradar earlier this year and previously sold its European-facing sites to Gambling.com.
Read across
This means war: In extraordinary developments over the course of last weekend, the prediction market operator Kalshi threatened to upend years of gaming regulations and throw the post-PASPA landscape into chaos. From Compliance+More on Monday. Subsequently, the regulators in Ohio and Illinois have both also sent letters.
Indisputable: Sportradar CEO Carsten Koerl proclaimed the sports rights to betting data and tech provider the “undisputed leader,” as the company presented its case to analysts during its Capital Markets Day in New York on Tuesday. From E+M’s Earnings Extra (paywall).
+More careers
Better Collective has nominated Thomas Plenborg to its board of directors. Plenborg was previously the chair of publicly listed logistics and transport company DSV. He will replace Petra von Rohr, who has decided to not seek re-election. Elsewhere in affiliates, Dan Castillo is stepping down from his NED role on the Catena Media board.
Charles Cohen has joined the board of Finnish monopoly operator Veikkaus. P2P operator Betmate has hired former Flutter executive Luke Lockwood as head of B2B, while Paul Turner, previously at Green Man Gaming, will lead the company’s growth strategy. Midnite has appointed former head of Sky Bet trading Zach Amin as the company’s new VP of sportsbook.
Björn Sjöberg has been appointed CCO of SlotMatrix, part of EveryMatrix. Sjöberg joins from Evolution Gaming where he spent more than eight years across several senior roles. Racecourse Media has appointed Russell Ferris as MD. Stats Perform sees Charles Kaplan join as CMO. Tom Dyson is the new CCO at WA.Technology.
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PointsBet bid
Circus Miximus: PointsBet has said in a letter to shareholders that BlueBet/Betr’s bid for the company “could not reasonably be characterised as ‘fully funded,’” as it reiterated the board’s “unanimous” recommendation to accept the rival bid from Japanese tech firm Mixi.
Pulling apart the BlueBet/Betr offer, the PointsBet letter said the A$340m-A$360m ($212m-$225m) bid was “unfunded.”
PointsBet added that it was “subject to an explicit financing condition” that would require BlueBet/Betr to both raise A$100m of new debt as well as undertake a A$160m equity raise.
Nothing personal: Earlier this week, BlueBet/Betr CEO Andrew Menz said in its announcement of the completion of the acquisition of TopSport that it was now focused on its “compelling and fully funded proposal” to acquire PointsBet.
But PointsBet said that as per BlueBet/Betr’s accounts as of the end of December, it only had A$15m of cash balances and in the six months to December it had negative cash flows of A$14m.
Despite Menz’s comment, the PointsBet letter said the “core issues… have not been adequately addressed by BlueBet and thus PointsBet does not intend to further pursue the BlueBet proposal.”
MMMbop: The Mixi bid of A$353m was lodged in February. PointsBet noted Mixi already has a presence in the Australian bookmaking market with a Northern Territory-licensed betM. That bid represents a 27% premium to the prevailing share price before the offer became known.
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.
Light & blunder
Jewel in the frown: Light & Wonder’s attempt on Wednesday to shut down any fears about further contagion from the dispute with Aristocrat that now encompasses another game was broadly welcomed by the analysts at Truist.
The call with analysts this week came after it emerged late last week that the Jewel of the Dragon game was also subject to the previous Dragon Train litigation.
That revelation had seen the share price fall over 10% last Friday,
Let me tell you a secret: As was detailed on Wednesday’s call (paywall), Aristocrat filed an amended complaint on March 14 with the District Court of Nevada, adding a claim for trade secret misappropriation related to Light & Wonder’s Jewel of the Dragon slot. This claim was not part of the initial 2024 complaints.
In response, Light & Wonder has decided to “voluntarily stop commercializing” Jewel of the Dragon and offered to replace it “to minimize any confusion and potential disruption to our customers,” said CEO Matt Wilson.
Imagine dragons: The installed base of Jewel of the Dragon is relatively small, with approximately 150 premium leased units, representing less than 1% of Light & Wonder’s total premium installed base units in North America.
Connections
The big deal: Caesars has launched its first live Caesars-branded dealer studio inside Tropicana Atlantic City in partnership with Evolution. The studio features five blackjack tables, including a VIP-exclusive table, one baccarat table and one roulette table. This is Caesars’ second custom studio for live dealer, following a similar launch in Pennsylvania earlier this year.
Hard Rock Bet has launched Hard Rock Megaways, an exclusive slot developed via a collab with Evolution in New Jersey. Separately, Hard Rock has also gone live with Games Global’s Free Spins promo tool. ComeOn has launched an iCasino brand called Casinostuen in Denmark. Playtika’s Slotomania has launched Regal Riches, an online slot collab with IGT. Spotlight Sports has announced a multi-year partnership with BetMakers for the distribution of Spotlight’s Smart View product.
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Positioned as a dynamic leader in the sector, Gambling.com Group is an engine of growth and profitability, backed by a proven track record of driving revenue for operators in sports betting, iGaming, and beyond.
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Upcoming earnings
Apr 23: Churchill Downs (earnings)
Apr 24: Churchill Downs (call), Boyd Gaming
April 25: Gaming & Leisure Properties
Apr 29: Caesars Entertainment
Apr 30: MGM Resorts
May 1: VICI Properties
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