Tick, tock
Icahn has until today to upset Fertitta’s Caesars bid
A go-shop deadline puts pressure on any rival bids for Caesars.
In +More: ZEAL Network buys UK draw-based operator SevenCanyon.
Playtech surprises with an upbeat H1 trading update.
Susquehanna advertises $500m of World Cup hedging capability.
Hard Rock Bet is growing – we know you know! And we want to bring in some more maestros to make beautiful music in our Sportsbook. You need to be among the very best in the industry to be considered for these roles. Are you up to it?
Time’s up?
Running down the clock: Activist investor and long-term shareholder in Caesars Entertainment, Carl Icahn, has until today to lodge a bid to rival that of Fertitta Entertainment’s $31-a-share offer.
Caesars Entertainment accepted Fertitta’s bid but attached a go-shop period that expires today.
Bloomberg reported this week that Jefferies is sounding out investors for ~$5bn of debt to support a possible rival bid from Icahn, pitched at $33-a-share against the Fertitta all-cash offer.
Separately, the Icahn-supported board member Courtney Mather stepped down earlier this week with no reason given.
Believe it when I see it: The market is not convinced Icahn will manage it. Caesars stock rose 1.1% on Tuesday, to $30.35, on the initial Bloomberg report, before retreating to $29.82 at Wednesday’s close as a subsequent CNBC report judged an Icahn bid unlikely to beat the Fertitta deal.
The share price remains below the $31 bid level, suggesting investors are not convinced that a topping bid will emerge.
An acceptable offer: The deal on the table remains the proposal from Fertitta, which values the equity at about $5.7bn and the transaction at roughly $17.6bn once the assumption of $11.9bn of Caesars debt is included.
The board has approved it and the current management team of CEO Tom Reeg, CFO Bret Yunker and COO Anthony Carano are expected to remain in place.
Icahn helped force the original Eldorado-Caesars merger in 2020, then rebuilt his position, securing two board seats.
His view is that Caesars has been held back by the degree of leverage and investors’ impatience with Las Vegas cyclicality and its digital losses.
Jefferies is said to be approaching existing creditors, while Icahn’s possible structure could move assets into a subsidiary vehicle using available covenants.
It’s complicated: While Icahn is still sounding out lenders, representatives from Fertitta Entertainment spent Wednesday in front of the Nevada Gaming Control Board (NGCB) setting out a concrete path to completion.
Fertitta CFO Richard Liem called the deal “the biggest one that we’ve done.” He noted that financing was in place via a commitment letter from a syndicate of banks, but would prefer not to lean on it.
However, general counsel Steven Scheinthal admitted “there are complexities associated with the transaction.”
Asked by NGCB member George Assad whether Tilman Fertitta would shed his near-13% stake in Wynn Resorts, Scheinthal said Fertitta was a passive investor and intends to keep it.
At your disposal: There are other complications that would be attached to a successful Fertitta bid, including the likelihood that it would need to dispose of a number of regional properties due to competition concerns in local markets.
Then there is the future of Caesars Digital, with a spin or sale previously seen by analysts as one route to raise cash and cut leverage.
But the strategic logic for Fertitta is unchanged, folding Caesars’ 50-plus casinos into a group that already spans Golden Nugget, Landry’s and the Houston Rockets.
Behind closed doors: Timelines are now tight for Icahn, who needs committed financing rather than lender soundings, a superior proposal determination from the board, a structure that survives creditor scrutiny, and a route through the same regulatory maze Fertitta is already walking.
But whether it is Icahn or Fertitta, the deal will be a take-private and – as was noted earlier this week – while the company will report its earnings on May 28, it will not be accompanied by a call with the analysts.
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Burry me deep in love: ‘Big short’ investor Michael Burry has disclosed positions in Flutter Entertainment and DraftKings, arguing the selloff caused by prediction market fears is overdone. Burry sees prediction markets as the core risk because they can sidestep state gaming taxes, but expects political and regulatory pressure eventually to close the loophole and protect licensed operators.
DigiPlus: Under pressure from shareholders, the Juroszek family, the Philippines-listed DigiPlus has revived its $87m share buyback plans. In an open letter this week, entities controlled by the Juroszeks, which together hold approximately 1.4% of the company, urged directors to renew the authorization and launch a substantial buyback.
Deal talk
ZEAL Network will acquire the remaining 96.5% of UK-based prize draw operator SevenCanyon for an initial £33.8m plus up to £4.8m in earnouts over six months. ZEAL said SevenCanyon should make a meaningful revenue and EBITDA contribution after consolidation. It confirmed 2026 EBITDA guidance of €70m-€75m and expects a high-single-digit-million euro EBITDA uplift in the first full year following completion.
Splashing out: RubyPlay has agreed to acquire Splash Tech, adding jackpot and F2P casino and sports engagement tools to its existing suite of free spins, rewards, missions and tournaments. Tsachi Maimon, CEO of RubyPlay, said the deal means his company would move “beyond the traditional content silo to firmly establish RubyPlay as a premium content and engagement platform provider.” Financial terms were not disclosed.
Read across
FRA-ed knot: The UK Gambling Commission has confirmed it will introduce financial risk assessments for high-spending online customers, but has opted for a staged rollout beginning at higher thresholds than those planned for the final regime. See yesterday’s Compliance+More.
Will you still want me when I’m nothing new? The EU’s financial markets regulator has stated that prediction markets may fall squarely within the existing product proscription against binary options. From Tuesday’s C+M.
+More careers
Bragg is cutting one-fifth of its workforce in its latest round of redundancies, following a bloodletting in January. The company said the cuts would save up to €6m annually on top of the €4.5m savings from earlier in the year. CEO Matevž Mazij, who last month offered his resignation after failing to win election to the board, said the moves were “designed to deliver focus, discipline, execution and cash generation.”
VGW has confirmed the removal of Laurence Escalante as CEO following a temporary leave of absence. Escalante took leave earlier this year after being charged with various offenses, including alleged aggravated assault, drug charges and criminal damage. VGW president Mats Johnson will serve as interim CEO while the sweepstakes casino operator searches for a permanent appointment.
Betr has promoted three early employees as it prepares to enter prediction markets later this year. Alex Ursa becomes COO, Alex Kuwada is the new CMO and Mike Denevi becomes chief content officer.
Jackpocket founder Peter Sullivan is stepping back from his day-to-day role as DraftKings’ SVP of lottery after two years integrating the business following its $750m acquisition. Soft2Bet has appointed Ryan Collinge as EVP, group business development and strategic partnerships. XST Capital has appointed Andrei Scrivens as a senior advisor. Scrivens was most recently the CEO of Affinity Interactive. Aristocrat has appointed Annie Chan as VP of sales and operations for Asia.
Senior Paid Social Executive – London
Chief Product Officer – Remote in Europe
Earnings – Playtech
Brrmm brrmm: Playtech delivered an upside surprise with its H126 trading update, saying adj. EBITDA is predicted to be above €155m, comfortably ahead of expectations and up nearly 70% on the €91.6m posted a year earlier.
The supplier now expects FY adj. EBITDA of at least €270m, well clear of the €205m-€225m consensus range.
CEO Mor Weizer pointed to “exceptionally strong” US trading via the Hard Rock Digital (HRD) tie-up, alongside continued momentum in Mexico and Colombia.
The standout was the Past Motor Racing product, where first-mover advantage with Hard Rock drove an outsized revenue-share contribution.
Obstacles ahead: However, Playtech is guiding H2 lower: the Hard Rock run-rate should settle at a “lower but more sustainable level” into 2027, while H2 absorbs the full UK remote gaming duty increase and upfront investment in an as-yet-unsigned Brazil partnership.
Peel Hunt said that implies H2 EBITDA of roughly €115m, up just 9% and down HoH.
Second, the adjusted figure folds in associate income from the 31% Caliente stake and dividends from equity holdings, including Hard Rock.
Still, Peel Hunt lifted their FY26 forecast 20% to €270m, judging the HRD stake as “increasing and underappreciated,” while Investec termed the update a “substantial beat.”
Playtech will publish its interim results on September 10.
Susquehanna hedging
Cup size: Susquehanna said it is prepared to facilitate World Cup-related hedging transactions with aggregate capacity of up to $500m. The facility is aimed at qualified institutional counterparties with commercial exposure to tournament outcomes.
The trades would be executed on CFTC-registered DCMs and remain subject to applicable legal, regulatory, credit, market and risk-management requirements.
For the best: Ric Best, head of prediction markets at Susquehanna, said the offer was aimed at sponsors, media, hospitality providers, consumer brands and businesses with exposure tied to tournament outcomes.
“Prediction markets can help manage measurable economic risks associated with teams advancing, winning, or otherwise triggering event-driven obligations,” he added.
“This commitment demonstrates Susquehanna’s belief in prediction markets as an innovative tool for price discovery, hedging and risk management.”
Theory into practice: The potential for prediction markets to provide an economic function outside of trading or gambling has until now been more of a theoretical talking point rather than an actual fact on the ground.
The $500m headline figure signals that large event-linked exposure can be intermediated in a more institutionalized way than the retail-facing contracts that have dominated to date.
It offers the industry a live example of the ‘hedging not gambling’ argument just as sports contracts face scrutiny from state gaming regulators, tribes and lawmakers.
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Connections
Kambi has signed a multi-year agreement to provide its turnkey sportsbook to Alberta-based Pure Casino Entertainment. The deal covers retail betting across casinos in Calgary, Edmonton and Lethbridge, alongside an online launch through PureCasino.ca when Alberta’s regulated market opens on July 13. EveryMatrix will replace Betcenter’s legacy in-house platform in Belgium with its full omnichannel technology stack.
FIrst.bet will supply its sportsbook technology to Ana Gaming’s Cassino Bet brand in Brazil. The package includes configurable betting products, trading tools and scalable infrastructure. Betmakers has agreed to distribute live racing and betting data from Swedish state-owned horse-betting operator ATG to operators in Australia and New Zealand.
PrizePicks has become an official partner of the NBA’s Atlanta Hawks and State Farm Arena. The agreement includes broadcast and in-arena branding, digital exposure and a dedicated PrizePicks Party Deck hospitality area. PrizePicks will also present Hawks AF, the team’s podcast hosted by D.C. Young Fly.
Superbet has extended its sports sponsorship portfolio through an agreement with Greek basketball club Olympiacos BC running until 2032. The operator said the long-term partnership will support its efforts to build brand recognition in Greece. IGT’s PlayDigital content is live with Hollywoodbets in South Africa with an initial portfolio of 20 games. Octoplay’s online games will become accessible on Entain’s platform in Alberta, Canada.
In B&M gaming, Boyd Gaming unveiled its updated, state-of-the-art exterior marquee at its Suncoast Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas as part of the wider property refresh that began in 2024. Caesars Entertainment opened its newly renovated Caesars Republic Lake Tahoe Hotel & Casino in Nevada.
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Upcoming earnings
Jul 17: Evolution, Betsson
Jul 21: Hacksaw Gaming
Jul 22: Kambi
Jul 29: Churchill Downs (earnings)
Jul 30: Churchill Downs (call)
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