Rivalry, a leading iGaming and online sports betting company, has secured a CAD 14 million (roughly $10.23 million) investment for an undisclosed existing institutional shareholder.

The agreement represents a non–brokered private placement offering of convertible debentures under which each convertible debenture will consist of CAD 1,000 principal amount of 10% senior secured convertible debentures of the Company, maturing on November 14, 2027.

The convertible debentures will bear interest from the date of issue at 10% a year and will be payable in cash quarterly arrears on March 30, June 30, September 30 and December 30 of each year.

Rivalry also noted that additional tranches of the non-brokered private placement offering may close for aggregate gross proceeds of up to CAD 27,500,000.

All securities connected to the offering will be subject to a hold period of four months. The securities have not been and will not be registered under the US Securities Act of 1933.

The Money Will Help Rivalry Strengthen Its Business

Rivalry announced that the net proceeds received through this arrangement will be used to fund general working capital and corporate purposes.

Stephen Salz, Rivalry’s co-founder & chief executive officer, commented on the investment, saying that his team is very pleased to have secured support from a long-standing institutional shareholder.

Salz noted that the company’s unique product mix and market position allowed it to reach its current “inflection point.” He is confident in Rivalry’s position and expects the company to further bolster its profitability in the first half of 2024.

Commenting on the new investment, Salz said:

The capital will enable Rivalry to accelerate the development and release of new products, expand marketing efforts, and extend into new geographies and verticals, setting us on a path where we can pursue growth and profitability at the same time.

Stephen Salz, co-founder & CEO, Rivalry

In other news, Rivalry just bolstered its product mix with the launch of Rivalry Ultimate Fan, a brand-new fantasy sports game focused on the National Basketball Association. The game allows fans to build their dream team while also collecting real-life NBA merchandise.

A month ago, Rivalry also added a branded slots category to its Casino.exe platform. The move sought to capitalize on the popularity of online slots to help the operator reinforce its business while still appealing to Millennial and Gen Z players.

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Steve Wynn, the former CEO of Wynn Resorts, has agreed to pay a fine of $10 million to settle his outstanding trouble in Nevada. In addition, the mogul will leave Nevada gaming for good.

Mr Wynn has been in hot water in the state after he was accused of sexual abuse and misconduct against female employees in 2019. At the time, Wynn served as chairman of the company.

As a result of the allegations, Wynn was deemed unsuitable to hold a gaming license in the state. In his new settlement, he agrees to never be involved in Nevada’s gaming industry. This means that he will never serve as an officer or executive with a Nevada gaming company. However, he will not be disallowed to have passive ownership of less than 5% of any licensed gaming company.

Wynn signed the agreement this Monday. If the Nevada Gaming Control Board signs off the settlement, this would mark the end of the four-year conflict. The authority is expected to make its decision next week.

Representatives of the two parties declined to comment on the matter before the commission makes its final decision. Despite that, Kirk Hendrick, chair of the Nevada Gaming Control Board signed the settlement.

Wynn’s Alleged Misconduct Caused His Company a Lot of Trouble

In 2018, Steve Wynn sold his Wynn Resorts stock, resigned from his position as CEO and gave up on his gambling license. Because of that, he claimed that gaming authorities should not have power over him. In addition, the real-estate developer continues to deny the allegations.

In 2020, a judge agreed that Wynn should be outside of the control board’s jurisdiction. However, the regulator succeeded in appealing the decision in 2022.

Now, despite his denial of the accusations, Wynn has agreed to forfeit his right to a public hearing and pay a $10 million settlement. However, even if the Gaming Control Board agrees to sign the settlement, he will still be subject to disciplinary action, should he breach the terms.

In addition to the action against Steve Wynn, the Nevada regulator previously reprimanded Wynn Resorts over its failure to report, investigate or prevent Wynn’s misconduct. As a result, the company was forced to pay a $20 million fine. The allegations also led to the company paying a $35 million fine in Massachusetts.

Following Wynn’s leave, the company introduced changes to its policies in the hope of weeding out harassment from its corporate culture.

In other news, the US government appealed a decision that exonerated Wynn from foreign agent allegations.

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The BetMGM Bracket Challenge has proven to be a formula for success. Its 2022 iteration generated substantial bettor interest, bolstering interest in professional basketball and allowing fans to engage with the sport on a new level. This year’s event features the same $10 million grand prize, among other promotions and awards. BetMGM will also use the opportunity to raise awareness of its responsible gaming campaign.

Savvy Bettors Can Win Big

The leading sports betting and iGaming operator continues to invest substantially in marketing for the USA, doing its best to stay one step ahead of the competition. BetMGM’s latest press release celebrated the return of its free-to-play Men’s Basketball Championship bracket challenge, which saw tremendous success in 2022.

The lucky fans who successfully predict a perfect bracket can win up to $10 million. If nobody makes the correct guess, the operator promises to distribute up to $100,000 in guaranteed prizes to the people who made the most successful picks. Participants are also in the running for odds boost tokens, bonus bets, and parlay tokens for select games.

BetMGM Has Special Offers for New Signups

Onboarding new players is a priority for any operator, so customers signing up with BetMGM will receive special offers. The operator’s First Bet Offer promises up to $1,000 paid back in bonus bets for new customers whose wager doesn’t win. BetMGM CEO Adam Greenblat was excited regarding the returning contest, promising fans engaging content during the coming season.

BetMGM has a lot to offer sports fans during the year’s most exciting month of basketball.

Adam Greenblat, BetMGM CEO

Fans can enter the bracket challenge online from their computers or via the BetMGM mobile sports betting app. To participate, they must complete and submit their bracket in the challenge section and hope for the best. BetMGM is now available in 21 states after Massachusetts officially launched online sports betting on 10 March.

Safe Gaming Remains a Priority

BetMGM’s latest promotion coincides with its gambling harm prevention campaign. The operator announced that starting 1 March, its marketing and advertising materials will feature responsible gaming messages. BetMGM hopes to reach the largest possible audience with messages at brick-and-mortar venues, on physical billboards, television, radio, and on BetMGM’s digital and social platforms.

The collaboration with GameSense should significantly bolster the operator’s digital platforms. Users can now utilize spending limit tools, easily access basic gambling information and contact highly trained GameSense Advisors if they require help with their gambling habits. BetMGM’s commitment to safe gambling and its relentless expansion efforts have helped the operator remain among the market leaders in the USA.

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The Bermuda government has given its Gaming Commission a guarantee of nearly $10 million, which will keep it afloat amid delays to the launch of Bermuda’s casino market.

The 2023-24 budget of $9.3 million is almost 20 times larger than the first amount allocated to the Bermuda Gaming Commission in 2018, which was around $500,000. The sum is also more than three times the $2.7 million given to the BGC a year earlier.

The Gaming Commission was initially intended to be self-funding through the use of casino fees and taxes; however, the delay of the gambling industry put a wrench in that plan.

The recent guarantee was made over seven years after the regulator, which has become twice its size, was launched. The commission began operations in 2015 with only five employees but currently has 11 out of the 14 available positions. No gaming venue has been opened since its launch, and the betting shop industry that existed in the British overseas territory is no longer functioning.

The recent report shows the full budget breakdown of the Bermuda government for the 2023-24 fiscal year. Hotel Bermuda Holdings Ltd (HBH) would reportedly receive a guarantee of $25 million, while the Bermuda Tourism Authority would be given $5 million.

According to government records, the HBH was among the development groups responsible for the St. George-based St. Regis Luxury Hotel, Casino, Spa, and Golf Resort. Attempts to discover the reason for the increased funding were evaded because the Ministry of Finance and BGC were too busy to issue responses to the inquiry.

When the commission was launched, the territory planned to create a gaming industry and use the funds provided to fund it. The BGC has continued to have delays, and the gaming property is yet to be launched.

In February 2019, the RG revealed that the Gaming Commission had been permitted to seek funding via a government letter of guarantee. The BGC was previously funded via grants and loans, which amounted to millions of dollars from the public purse.

The arrangement changed on February 15, 2019, when the Parliament released its annual report spanning September 2015 to March 2017. They revealed that the commission would seek commercial funding in the future. The Ministry of Finance released the first letter of guarantee on March 29, 2018, which allowed the commission to access a loan of up to $500,000.

Century Casinos was meant to be one of the two casinos to be built in Bermuda, but the persistent delays by the island’s gaming legislation led the company officials to back out of their decision. In January, the company officials revealed they were no longer interested in building a gaming venue at the Hamilton Princess & Beach Club resort.

The St. Regis Bermuda Resort was the second casino planned for the territory, but after Century Casinos’ announcement, the gambling operator seemed to have doubts about its gaming project. St. Regis was given approval for the first Bermuda gaming venue in October; however, it has yet to launch the casino due to some regulatory uncertainty.

The post Bermuda Gaming Commission Receives $10m To Launch Market appeared first on Keno Wizard.

A California-based lawyer has been accused of stealing up to $10.3 million in order to fund an extravagant gambling lifestyle.

In a lawsuit filed with the US District Court of California on February 11, Sarah Jacqueline King was said to have set up a fraud scheme involving her money-lending company that enabled her get cash from the clients which was then channeled into fake accounts.

According to the lawsuit, King Lending got loans for 97 supposed third-party borrowers from LDR International, a British Virgin Islands-based company. However, the loans were to fake accounts she set up to send to her personal accounts.

A significant amount of that money was then spent at Wynn Las Vegas – one of Nevada’s premier casino resorts. The lawsuit stated King lived there for six months, gambling every day.

The plaintiff for the lawsuit pointed out that King falsified information concerning collateral backing her loans. It stated that she provided records on loans to third-party borrowers that had collateral such as luxury cars, jewellery, antique coins, handbags, yachts, and so on. 

In the words of the lawsuit: “The purported loans from King Lending to the third-party borrowers were purportedly secured by various forms of collateral, including but not limited to luxury automobiles, boats, yachts, jewelry, watches, precious metal coins, and the earnings from guaranteed professional sports contracts.”

The plaintiff added King went as far as forging documents stating some of her loans were backed up by contracts with sports organizations. King supposedly backed this up by making sure to be seen with famous sports personalities such as NFL stars Tom Brady, Josh Allen and Patrick Mahomes. 

The defendant is yet to respond to the lawsuit.

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