In today’s digest: Flutter Entertainment and 888 Holdings reported earnings from gambling activities for the first half of 2023; Catena Media signs a media agreement with NJ.com Advance Local, their first major media project after joining the USA casino market; The date and venue of the iGaming SiGMA Balkans & CIS conference has been announced there will be the main representatives of online casino and sport betting world. Let’s start our news digest about gambling in Peru:
Peru signs law regulating online gambling
Peruvian President Pedro Castillo has signed a law regulating online gambling. The Ministry of Foreign Trade and Tourism (Mincetur) will act as the body that will control online gambling and betting. “Peru is imposing a 12% tax on net income from online gambling and betting, which will result in an annual government collection of $40 million,” the president said. At the same time, 40% of this amount will be allocated for the development of tourism, 20% – for strengthening mental health and caring for the affected population, another 20% will go to the state. treasury. Earlier on the topic, it became known that Vietnam also proposed to legalize sports betting, but the relevant law has not yet been adopted.
Catena Media signs first major US media deal with NJ.com Advance Local 
Catena Media has announced its first major deal in North America with media company Advance Local (NJ.com). The multi-year partnership will allow Catena Media to provide content for online casinos and sports betting. Catena Media content will inform NJ.com readers about betting and online casino trends and opportunities, and will actively promote the culture of safe betting in North America (in the New Jersey market). The income will be divided between the parties. Catena Media expects profit from the deal to increase by the end of the third quarter. The deal confirms the iGaming giant’s long-term strategy to scale its business in North America. Earlier, Catena announced an audit of its assets in Europe in order to reallocate resources to more “interesting markets”.
Flutter Entertainment’s first-half revenue was up 9%
Flutter Entertainment’s half-year (to June 30, 2022) revenue was £3.38 billion ($4.12 billion), up 9% year-over-year. As Flutter notes, adjusted EBITDA for the period fell 19% to £476m, in line with the company’s expectations. “We are also particularly pleased with the performance in the United States, where we strengthened our leadership position in online sports betting, with FanDuel capturing 51% of the market and leading in 13 out of 15 states, contributing to a positive profit in the second quarter,” said Flutter Entertainment CEO Peter Jackson. However, the company also reported an after-tax loss of £113m, compared to £86m in 2021, while year-on-year net debt hit £3bn.
888 Holdings revenue was down 13% in the first half
888 Holdings reported revenue of $404.3 million for the first fiscal half (to June 30, 2022), down 13% from the prior year. The company noted that most of the businesses showed relatively stable earnings. However, the decrease in profits were affected by the introduction of a stricter and safer gambling policy in the UK, as well as the closure of business in the Netherlands. Excluding these two regions, revenue grew by 2% compared to 2021.
Winline and Epic Sports Events will host a Dota 2 Champions League tournament
BC Winline and esports operator Epic Esports Events announced the 14th season of the Dota 2 Champions League (D2CL) tournament. The start of the open qualification for the tournament is scheduled for August 13, and the main stage – is August 15. The prize fund for the tournament will be 50 thousand dollars. Winline kicked off 2022 with a string of esports partnerships, one of which was a collaboration with Epic Esports Events. The contract includes sponsorship of betting operators for live broadcasts of Dota Pro Circuit and D2CL tournaments.
iGaming conference SiGMA Balkans & CIS to be held in Belgrade
From August 22 to August 25, Belgrade (Belexpocentre) will host the SiGMA Balkans & CIS conference dedicated to the online gaming industry. Thanks to the 2020 Gambling Law, a well-regulated land-based and online gaming sector has emerged in Serbia. Now leading industry experts, operators, affiliates, and many others will discuss the future of the industry and showcase their products at the summit. The conference partners are leading companies – 1Win, SoftGamings, Betconstruct, BetWinner, Parimatch affiliates, Smartsoft gamings and many others.
Entain buys SuperSport, Croatia’s biggest betting brand
The largest betting company Entain will buy a 75% stake in the Croatian betting brand SuperSport for 690 million euros. Before that, Entain will partner with Czech investment company EMMA Capital to create a new venture called Entain CEE. The agreement with the Croatian company is expected to be the first in a series of major Entain acquisitions in Central and Eastern Europe.
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