WEBMASTER NEWS
BETGAME WINS INAUGURAL WHLABS
ACCELERATOR PROGRAMME
WILLIAM HILL HAS announced e-sports
betting platform BetGame as the winner
of its inaugural WHLabs Accelerator
Programme.
BetGame was awarded a prize of
£150,000 (€197,000/$214,600) and will
now work in partnership with William Hill
on commercial opportunities for the startup brand moving forward.
William Hill said BetGame attracted
positive feedback during the beta testing
phase, with the bookmaker also stating that
is was impressed with the product’s crossplatform capabilities.
BetGame, based in Manchester, UK, saw
off competition from the likes of Asylum
Labs, Streetlike and Winapp in the final.
“Our product is looking to heighten
gaming’s competitive element but with
a fun and simple way to prove yourself
against your friends,” BetGame co-founder
Doug Ward said.
“It was fantastic that the William Hill
team fully embraced this vision and helped
develop our ideas over the course of the
accelerator programme.”
Crispin Nieboer, interim managing
director of William Hill Online, added:
“The programme has been very rewarding
and provided a great opportunity to work
with engaged, enthusiastic and innovative
start-ups.
“With such initiatives we really wanted
to actively seek out innovation and help
bring those ideas to commercial fruition,
rather than waiting for this technology to
appear a few years down the line.
“BetGame is a worthy winner of our first
accelerator programme, providing a unique
opportunity to disrupt the booming e-sports
market, and we are looking forward to
working together.”
LEOVEGAS TO MOVE INTO SPORTS BETTING
THROUGH KAMBI DEAL
LEOVEGAS IS TO enter the sports betting
market after signing a deal to use Kambi
Group’s fully-managed online sportsbook
solution.
The agreement will see Kambi’s
sportsbook integrated into the online casino
operator’s proprietary platform in the first
half of 2016.
Gustaf Hagman, group chief executive
and co-founder of LeoVegas, said:
“Following an extensive selection process
we identified Kambi as the partner that
can match our high ambition and provide
enabling technology and capability for us
to innovate and drive the sports betting
experience in the mobile era.”
Kambi, formerly part of Unibet, is
already the betting platform supplier to
bookmakers 32Red Sports, Unibet and
888Sport.
Kristian Nylén, chief executive of
Kambi, said: “LeoVegas is a very exciting
and fast-growing brand in mobile gaming.
“We are excited to work with LeoVegas
as our services will complement their
existing casino offering with a premium
sports betting service that will accelerate
growth.”
SYNOT TIP ENDS CZECH LIGA SPONSORSHIP
CZECH GAMBLING OPERATOR Synot
Tip has cancelled its four-year deal as the
title sponsor of the Czech Liga top-tier
football competition after just 18 months
and has also curtailed several other
sporting partnerships.
The company said that the increase in
taxes announced by Czech authorities last
year meant that it was having to slash its
marketing budget.
As well as the end of the league
partnership, Synot is also cancelling its
deals with football clubs Sparta Prague
and FK Jablonec, as well as basketball side
CEZ Basketball Nymburk.
Synot director Neofytos Neofytou said:
"Legislative changes have had a major
impact. The sudden increase in taxes in
the lottery industry have meant the loss of
hundreds of millions of crowns, with these
funds being taken out of our marketing
and promotion budget.
“The state has taken such a large
amount of money that our activities
cannot support sponsorship spending in
the market.”
GOLDENPARK.ES RELAUNCHES
AFFILIATE PROGRAMME WITH
INCOME ACCESS
The affiliate programme for Spanish
online sp ortsbook and casino has
migrated to the Income Access
affiliate management platform
Operated by Spanish gaming
company MGA, GoldenPark.es
was launched in 2012 as the first
portal of its kind available in Spain
on web and mobile. GoldenPark.
es is regulated domestically by the
Directorate General for the
Regulation of Gambling and
operates in Spanish and English. It
offers players a number of sportsbetting options including football,
tennis, ice hockey, American
football and golf.
GoldenPark.es also features an
online casino boasting a wide
range of real-money table games
and slots, ranging from American
Roulette and Classic Blackjack to
Cashville slots and Candy Bingo.
The brand is offering a newdepositing welcome bonus of up to
€10 for the sportsbook, and a €50
bonus for the brand’s online casino.
New affiliates will have access to
a revenue share commission
structure of up to 35% as well as
GoldenPark.es’s open wallet
system, which means that players
referred to the brand’s sportsbook,
casino, and video poker games all
count toward this commission.
"We are confident that the
Income Access software more than
meets our acquisition needs via
the affiliate channel," said Xavier
Coma, Marketing Director of
GoldenPark.es.
The GoldenPark.es affiliate
programme will continue to be
managed by the brand’s in-house
team of experienced affiliate
managers. The team has many
years’ experience managing
affiliate programmes for leading
European iGaming brands.
“I’m excited that Income Access
has partnered with GoldenPark.es
for the re-launch of their affiliate
programme,” said Nicky Senyard,
founder and CEO of Income
Access. “Spain is becoming a
major market for iGaming and, as
such, leading domestic brand
GoldenPark.es represents an
important revenue opportunity for
Europe-focused affiliates.”
MGA began operations 40 years
ago with the manufacture,
distribution and use of all types of
recreational and entertainment
machines.
iGB Affiliate Issue 55 FEB/MAR 2016
7