The week in launches and sponsorships (March 26, 2021)
All the latest news in US betting sponsorships and state launches, including PointsBet moving into Pennsylvania and Golden Nugget launching its latest sportsbook iteration
PointsBet to enter Pennsylvania and Mississippi
PointsBet has secured betting and igaming market access in Pennsylvania and Mississippi by extending its 20-year deal with Penn National Gaming.
Mississippi currently only offers in-person sports betting in licensed sportsbook venues, while Pennsylvania has legalized state-wide online sports wagering and igaming.
The agreement extends PointsBet’s US footprint to 14 states, including New Jersey and the recently launched Michigan where the operator is preparing to introduce its in-house igaming offering.
PointsBet group CEO Sam Swanell said of the deal: “We are very excited about adding another two guaranteed online market access points to our portfolio in Pennsylvania and Mississippi.
“A mature, total addressable sports betting and igaming market in Pennsylvania is estimated to be over $1.75bn per annum.
“Further, Pennsylvania is home to Philadelphia, the fourth largest media market in the United States, inclusive of southern New Jersey and a regional pillar of the Comcast-NBC Universal asset portfolio,” Swanell added.
“NBC Sports Philadelphia owns the in-game broadcast rights to the Phillies, 76ers, and Flyers covering over 290 live events per year across 4.1 million households.”
Golden Nugget goes live in NJ with Scientific Games-powered sportsbook app
Golden Nugget Online Gaming (GNOG) has launched the latest iteration of its mobile sports betting product, powered by Scientific Games, in New Jersey.
The operator has produced a native iOS betting app enabling users to navigate through GNOG’s full betting offering via a separate app to its online casino.
GNOG migrated is sportsbook from DraftKings’ SBTech betting engine to Sci Games’ OpenSports platform last year.
The operator launched the new sportsbook in Michigan back in January, alongside its online casino product.
GNOG president Thomas Winter said: “Scientific Games’ OpenSports platform has a well-deserved reputation for being robust and scalable and our initial experience in Michigan, amid a very busy sporting period, has been positive.
“As we expand together across the US, we are delighted to enter the next phase of our partnership in New Jersey, where players will be able to enjoy an upgraded betting experience,” Winter added.
CRM personalization specialists launch new feature for March Madness
UK-based real-time personalization engine Graphyte has launched a new ‘tournament mode’ feature, enabling operators to deploy a turnkey messaging solution specifically designed to stimulate event-to-event betting during the NCAA’s March Madness tournament.
Tournament mode offers personalized markets, selections, teams, and players that are targeted and prioritized as each tournament unfolds.
Graphyte CEO Damien Evans said: “Major tournaments like March Madness and the Euros coming up in the summer present a unique challenge to sports betting marketers, as they are a far cry from regular-season CRM and messaging.
“We wanted to create a solution that enables operators to build complete sets of audiences to generate initial interest in the tournament, and also crucially to optimize message content to generate player excitement and engagement as these events enter the latter stages, and March Madness is the perfect high-density event to tip off with,” Evans added.
Graphyte’s platform applies advanced machine learning to bet, gameplay, and browsing activity in real-time to ensure every interaction with a customer is relevant.