Josh Andrews

International Olympics Committee to Host an Esports Forum

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Esports is getting closer and closer to going mainstream thanks to recent efforts and developments that are being driven by a number of interested and curious parties. One of the most notable developments so far are efforts by the Global Association of International Sports Federations (GAISF) and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) both of who have joined forces and recently announced that they will be hosting an Esports forum on July 21.

The forum whose key purposes is to act as a gauge of whether or not Esports can be part of Olympics will involve professional Esports players, Esports teams, games publishers, sponsors and event organizers as well as members of the International Sports Federations and National Olympic Committees. The forum’s primary objective will be to “explore synergies, build joint understanding, and set a platform for future engagement between Esports and gaming industries and the Olympic Movement.”

“Along with the IOC, the GAISF looks forward to welcoming the Esports and gaming community to Lausanne. We understand that sport never stands still and the phenomenal growth of Esports and gaming is part of its continuing evolution. The Esports Forum provides an important and extremely valuable opportunity for us to gain a deeper understanding of Esports, their impact and likely future development, so that we can jointly consider the ways in which we may collaborate to the mutual benefit of all of sport in the years ahead,” said Patrick Baumann, the president of GAISF.

From what we could gather the terms used in the details of the forum’s objectives, the IOC and GIASF are not only trying to promote inclusivity but also trying to find ways of making sure that Esports will make some money for the stakeholders. On offer during the July 21 forum will be a series of talks and panels with regards to how the Olympics and Esports can work together.

In addition to this, the forum will include discussions on Twitch’s success and mode, the push for gender equality and inclusivity, governance structures as far as Esports is concerned and the lives of the professional Esports players.

Esports has continued to grow at an insanely fast pace and is now even considered to be the next biggest frontier in influencer marketing. While it is undeniable that the Esports environment is brimming with potential, advertisers will certainly have to reshape their sponsorship strategies so as to match the unique nature and dynamism of the Esports space.

Even if the Esports forum is successful, Esports is not going to be part of the 2020 Olympics but in 2024 we might finally get to see the first Esports Olympics. This is somewhat a blessing in disguise as it creates room for the committee to lay out suitable guidelines for Esports at the Olympics while at the same time getting acquainted with the nature of the Esports space through existing competitions such as the Overwatch League.

Facebook Reverses Ban on Crypto Ads for Approved Vendors

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Barely six months after a somewhat successful attempt at banning the proliferation of deceptive cryptocurrency advertising on the popular social media platform, Facebook has decided to lift some of these restrictions. The ban on cryptocurrency adverts by Facebook come officially on January 30 as part of a customer protection initiative that was meant specifically to keep naïve users of the platform from falling victim to crypto-related scams that have been rife in the online space.

“We’ve created a new policy that prohibits ads that promote financial products and services that are frequently associated with misleading or deceptive promotional practices, such as binary options, initial coin offerings, and cryptocurrency,” Facebook’s Product Management Director, Rob Leathern said at the time.

In the wake of Facebook’s crypto ad ban, other leading tech companies and advertisers such as Twitter, Google and Snapchat also joined in and implemented their own bans on cryptocurrency ads while citing the same reasons that Facebook did.

Did It Work?

Unfortunately, the ban did not turn out to be as effective as Facebook had hoped – crafty cryptocurrency advertisers were still able to sneak their promotions onto the social media platform by modifying or changing the spellings of common crypto-related keywords. However, it is worth mentioning that the ban did indeed see to a significant reduction in the number of crypto ads.

Unfortunately, again, while the ban helped in barring con artists from advertising, it also barred legitimate cryptocurrency business like Gemini and Coinbase from advertising their products. This is perhaps the main reason why Facebook has moved to loosen their restriction on cryptocurrency adverts albeit with a few conditions.

The Terms

In an official blog post on Tuesday, June 19, Facebook’s Rob Leather once again made the announcement that the social media platform has loosened the restriction they laid out earlier this year in January but they have also included measures to ensure the allowed ads are from legitimate crypto businesses.

“In the last few months, we’ve looked at the best way to refine this policy — to allow some ads while also working to ensure that they’re safe. So starting June 26, we’ll be updating our policy to allow ads that promote cryptocurrency and related content from pre-approved advertisers. But we’ll continue to prohibit ads that promote binary options and initial coin offerings,” the blog post reads.

Even though Facebook argues that it has loosened the ban to allow legitimate cryptocurrency business to keep advertising their services, there has been speculation stemming from rumors that the social media behemoth has been developing its own blockchain and could eventually launch its own digital currency.

In a way, this was confirmed by an announcement from Mark Zuckerberg which followed shortly after and stated that the company was looking into digital assets and the decentralized technologies behind them as a potential fix for some of Facebook’s problems.

FanDuel Seals Sports Wagering Deal with The Greenbrier

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Renowned daily fantasy sports operator, FanDuel has recently inked the first sports betting deal in West Virginia and will, therefore, be offering sports wagering services to The Greenbrier, one of the state’s luxury resorts that also happens to be owned by Governor Jim Justice.

As per the terms of the agreement, FanDuel will be providing retail, online and mobile sports betting services to the casino which already has plans underway to launch an on-premises offering under the umbrella of The Greenbrier Casino Club brand. This deal marks FanDuel’s first sports wagering-related venture in the United States – the company is primarily recognized for its daily fantasy sports offerings and the move to sports betting is indeed a huge step for the company.

It is, however, not the company’s first stint at sports betting. Earlier this year, FanDuel merged with Paddy Power Betfair, a European bookmaker which has similar deals with Tioga Downs in New York and Meadowlands Racetrack in New Jersey.

“We are honored to be chosen to provide sports wagering services at the Greenbrier, an iconic resort in the US,” said FanDuel CEO, Matt King. “As we work towards building out a top sports betting product for the upcoming NFL season, we look forward to bringing West Virginia residents, sports fans, and visitors to the Greenbrier the best interactive sports experience on the market.”

The West Virginia-based Greenbrier plans to include an onsite wagering platform right inside the private casino that is being referred to as The Casino Club. It also has plans for a FanDuel-branded online site and mobile applications by fall. Unfortunately, no specific dates have been forwarded so far but they seem to be dependent on when the state finally decides to put its sports betting regulations in place.

“We’re excited to be able to offer this service to those guests who are interested,” said Dr. Jill Justice, President of The Greenbrier. “The Casino Club at The Greenbrier has been an attractive destination for our guests and members since its opening, and sports betting provides yet another element to the casino experience.”

Where Sports Betting Stands in West Virginia

The state had already made a move to legalize sports betting through an initial law that was passed shortly before the United States Supreme Court ruled to repeal PASPA. The law allows sports betting services to be offered at the state’s four racetrack casinos and The Greenbrier. The licenses also allow the participation of third parties who will be required to operate skins under the licensees – FanDuel is the first third-party operator to do so.

State officials have confirmed that all the casinos are in the process of working on their own sportsbooks. Each of the casinos is also allowed to pick whoever they want to run their sports betting services.

Chinese Bitcoin Miner Manufacturer Seeking to Go Public

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Bitcoin recently slumped below $6,000 reaching its lowest value in a little over eight months. This has sparked a number of reactions as investors and other members of the digital coin’s community debate over allegations of price manipulation.

Bitcoin’s woes do not stop there though. The Chinese government also recently issued a blanket ban on cryptocurrency trading followed by a restriction on bitcoin miners. Is this enough to stop bitcoin’s rise?

Well, amid all the talk of bitcoin’s price drops, the blanket ban, and theories of its ultimate downfall, Ebang Communication, one of China’s largest bitcoin mining chip makers, has opted to ignore all the buzz as it seeks to go public on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange (HKEX). According to a Reuters report, EBang Communications filed an application for an initial public offering (IPO) with the HKEX on June 25. However, the application is still a draft and thus the valuation of the Zheijang-based company is still definitively clear.

Even so, the application itself confirms a May report that claimed the company was working with advisors on Hong Kong float and aimed at raising as much as $1 billion to fund its growth. The filing also includes a financial statement that state that Ebang Communications earned 925 million yuan ($45 million) in revenue last year – 2017 was indeed a great year for the company as the revenue was nearly eighteen times as much as what they got in 2016.

In addition to the revenue statistics, the filing further suggested that the proportion of the bitcoin miner manufacturer’s revenue was generated solely from the sale of the bitcoin miners has also gone up significantly year-on-year. To put this into perspective, the revenue generated from the sale of bitcoin miners rose from 31 percent in 2015 to 42 percent in 2016 and then to a staggering 94.6 percent in 2017.

Founded in 2010, Ebang Communications kicked off its operations as a manufacturer of hardware products for the telecommunication industry. The company opted to enter the cryptocurrency mining in 2016 when they launched the Ebit miners, a product that was intended to compete directly with two other Chinese bitcoin mining market leaders, Cannan Creative and Bitmain.

The company’s IPO application also came with some exciting news for bitcoin miners. As it turns out, Ebang is on the verge of releasing its next generation of bitcoin miners that will be equipped with the latest 7nm semiconductor chips. These next-generation 7nm chip have been in development since 2017 and were just recently launched by GMO, a Japanese tech conglomerate.

32Red Caught Red-Handed In a Problem Gambler Scandal

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British online casino brand 32Red had been slapped with a £2 million penalty for having failed to uphold the industry’s problem gambling practices. After a meticulous investigation conducted by the controlling body, the UK Gambling Commission (UKGC), have revealed that there’s still more to be desired when it comes to integrity from the industry’s best-known names.

The UKGC had been forced to pursue this course of action as a result of identifying 22 cases where the casino had failed to conduct basic money laundering checks or advise a customer exhibiting reckless gambling habits against playing, even though they had been reaching out with their qualms about their habits.

The investigation examined a period spanning the time between November 2014 and April 2017. During the said period, there had been multiple indicators that the customer exhibited symptoms of reckless gambling, which should have been looked into earlier.

In fact, 32Red only looked into the proceedings of the customer in January 2017 when the customer managed to win £1 million. The provenance of the customer’s money was also unknown, which indicated serious breaches in 32Red’s anti-money laundering practices.

All the Signs of a Problem Gambler

What’s unnerving on this particular occasion is that the customer may have been aware of his condition. On one occasion, he even shared with 32Red staff that he had wagered too much, which in turn failed to elicit an action from the operator.

When the operator finally began to examine its customer’s finances, it took it nearly five weeks and the produced written proof was disconcerting insofar as it showed volatile finances, but also glaringly indicated that the customer neither has the means to support his gambling habits and that he has far exceeded his net salary of £2,150.

His income in the submitted document was shown as £13,000 and at the same time, the average monthly deposits exceeded £45,000. Of course, some of this amount was won at the casino, but the UKGC has refused to accept the furnished proof as credible.

The UKGC was even tougher on 32Red, arguing that “The source of the customer’s wealth was not known to 32Red because they failed to fulfill their anti-money laundering obligations. We cannot comment on any other proceedings that may be active”.

UKGC Executive Director Richard Watson has been vociferous about the case arguing that what 32Red did was exactly the opposite of what they were supposed to be doing. A failure to help a customer and to check the origin of the money wagered indicated grave lack of accountability within the structure of the operator.

Furthermore, it showed that 32Red would only care to help its customers if they seem to be winning and willing to withdraw. Why was a check not initiated earlier but only after the customer managed to score £1 million is anyone’s guess, but if the answer is obvious, that doesn’t bode well for the operator’s reputation.

Meanwhile, the proceedings from the fine constitute £709,046 divestment of the financial gain, £1.3 million allocated to the National Responsible Gambling Strategy, and £15,000 covering legal expenses.

Mobile Betting Drives Growth in Australian Online Wagering

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According to Roy Morgan, an Australian market research company, the country’s mobile gaming industry is currently thriving. More and more Australians are using mobile devices to place bets at a steadily increasing pace year-by-year. However, the report also reveals that despite the tremendous rise in the number of bets placed using mobile devices, the overall number of punters has seen a not so slight decline in the last few years.

The Specifics

Roy Morgan reveals that a total of 3.4 million Australian punters wagered on sporting events, horse racing, greyhound racing, harness racing and many other events in the past year. In comparison, between March 2011 and March 2012, over 3.7 million Australian citizens placed wagers on the same or similar events. Interestingly, the report reveals that more of these punters seem to be shifting to the online space for their gambling needs as mentioned earlier – the number of people who placed bets on the internet increased by over 50 percent which sums up to about 34.1 percent of the total number of Australian gamblers.

The massive increase in online gambling, as reported by Roy Morgan, is all thanks to the increasing popularity of mobile devices especially mobile phones, or to be more precise, smartphones. To be more specific, more than one-fifth of Australians use their mobile phones to place bets. On the hand, the number of people who still prefer to place bets online on their computers has remained unchanged when compared to the figures that the research firm reported in 2012, that is, 15.1 percent.

“What is clear from these figures though is that a majority of Australians who bet still don’t bet via the Internet. Over two-fifths of Australians who bet have not used the Internet to place a bet and these are the key market companies offering online betting need to target to grow their revenue,” the Roy Morgan chief executive officer, Michele Levine said in an official statement.

Consolidation in the Australian Gambling Market

As it stands, the Australian gambling industry is undergoing a period of elongated consolidation and therefore, the numbers presented by the Roy Morgan report are encouraging to say the least. In fact, there is a lot of great things ahead including more technologically up-to-date options and products.

Roy Morgan reports that the Australian betting market is being dominated by two operators. The two market leaders include Tabcorp Holdings whose online betting site boasts of nearly 18 percent local customers. Tabcorp Holdings runs a decent number of betting websites each offering various kinds of betting services to the market.

The other operator dominating the Australian gambling market is Sportsbet.com.au that is used by close to 13 percent of the Australian gambling markets. Coming in third is Crownbet which caters to about 6.5 percent of the Australian gambling population.

Immortals Acquires Brazilian Esports Brand and New Sponsors

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Following several months of rumors and speculation, North American organization Immortals has finally revealed that it has acquired a popular Brazilian Esports brand known as MIBR (an acronym for Made in Brazil) which had been previously defunct for a little over six years. MIBR’s mysterious return on June 7 hinted at the June 23 acquisition announcement. Immortals further announced that they have hired the team roster for the Brazilian SK Gaming Counter-Strike: Global Offensive team.

Among the players that will be competing under the MIBR brand are a number of legendary CS:GO players and champions including Ricardo “boltz” Prass, Marcelo “coldzera” David, Gabriel “FalleN” Toledo, Fernando “fer” Alvarenga, Jacky “Stewie2K” Yip, and their coach, Ricardo “dead” Sinigaglia.

As previously announced, the general manager is Tomi “lurppis” Kovanen and he will oversee the activities of the team as they relocate to the Los Angeles-based Immortal campus to train and practice ahead of their first competitive appearance on July 3 to July 8 in the ESL One Cologne event at the Lanxess Arena in Germany.

“Brazil is incredibly passionate about Esports, and this acquisition allows us to foster further Esports growth in what we believe is still a relatively untapped market in Brazil and throughout South America,” said Noah Whinston, the chief executive of Immortals and now MIBR. “The MIBR brand creates a direct link to Brazil’s national pride and sports and entertainment culture. We are eager to invest in the Brazilian Esports scene and to create a platform for the region’s amazing professional Esports talent to continue to excel and dominate.”

Immortals owns a number of teams that participate in some of the most popular Esports events like the Overwatch League and Rainbow Six: Siege. Still, the acquisition of MIBR is expected to take the company to even greater heights – MIBR is, by far, the most popular and the most competitively successful team to play Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO). Their return is, therefore, certainly going to be a game changer.

Partnering with Tinder and Betway

As part of the new developments following the acquisition, the MIBR Esports brand will be working with Tinder to bring together CS:GO fans from all around the world together through several digital and live campaigns and activations that will be exclusively for Tinder’s premium subscription customers.

“We know that gaming is a passion among many of our users all over the world, and we are excited to be the first dating app to enter the Esports space with Immortals as our partner,” said Levi Nitzberg, Director of Global Business Development for Tinder. “Tinder’s global presence and highly engaged user base provides us with a unique platform which, just like Esports, brings millions of people together to connect over shared interests.”

Also in the mix as one of MIBR’s partners is Betway, an online sports betting operator, which also happens to be a founding sponsor of Immortals. The online betting service provider will receive among many other things prominent placement in all the MIBR jerseys.

“Betway is delighted to support the revival of MIBR and we couldn’t be more excited to be working with them in bringing CS:GO fans closer to the team through exclusive content,” said Anthony Werkman, the Betway chief executive officer.

Ocean Resorts Gets Casino License, Confirms June 28 Launch

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Following an emotional two-day hearing, the New Jersey Casino Control Commission finally granted Ocean Resort Casino, formerly known as Revel Casino, a casino license on June 21 thus putting the new establishment’s June 28 launch back in track.

Just a little over a year ago the Revel hotel and casino was sitting empty on Atlantic city’s boardwalk, a bleak reminder of Atlantic City’s misfortunes rather than the glittering hotel and casino that many thought it would be. This was, however, only until Bruce Deifik, a Denver-based property investor decide to take control of the property towards the end of last year. By January 2018, he was already a majority owner of the property that has now been refurbished and renamed Ocean Resort Casino and is expected to go live on June 28.

Among Deifik’s intentions in regards to this venture is overcoming the history of the $2.6 billion property that was conceived over a decade ago. Revel casino was intended to offer somewhat of an antidote to the rather old-school casinos further down the boardwalk but, unfortunately, it eventually went bankrupt twice owing to a high debt loads design mishaps, and, of course, lots of competition. At the hearing, Deifik and his Ocean Resort Casino team addressed how they would handle these issues and how the business would benefit the city as a whole.

The Terms

As expected, the license came with a number of conditions – 26 to be precise – that was laid out by the state regulators at the Division of Gaming Enforcement. Among these conditions is one that addresses Ocean Resort Casino’s financial resources as well as its relationship with JPMorgan Chase, one its lenders. This was particularly meant to ensure that the refurbished property does not fall victim to the same financial struggles that plagued its predecessor leading up to the time of its closure.

According to the Press of Atlantic City, the commissioner also had a number of “very serious concerns” that were shared by the Division of Gaming Enhancement that had given several recommendations on the pressing issues. However, as stated by Commissioner Alisa Cooper, “After listening to the very extensive, and personal, testimony of the past two days, my concerns have been eased.”

Deifik’s and the chief financial officer, Alan Greenstein’s, testimonies came on the first day of the hearing – they expounded on their vision for the casino hotel, the changes they had to the property as well as the group’s finances. On the second day of the hearing, Ocean Resort’s chief executive officer, Frank Leone gave a testimony in regards to the property’s marketing strategies.

“I can assure you that we’re going to speak loudly and clearly to the core casino audience,” Leone said. “Our promise is to have an unwavering commitment to exceeding guests’ expectations.”

NY Legislative Session Ends with Online Poker Still in Limbo

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The state and future of online poker in New York was subject to a whole lot of speculation even though 2018 seemed like the best bet for the activity after two years of cautious optimism. However, it turns out that this year was not the safe bet that New Yorkers were hoping for after all.

The New York Assembly ended the legislative session on Wednesday at 11 p.m. thus pulling the plug on the possibility of any online poker or sports betting legislation getting passed this year. This is starting to become a norm and, therefore, in retrospective, this outcome is more of a variation of the same story that the Assembly tells every year – regardless of the fact that a number of changes have been introduced to the process, the end result is always the same.

Was 2018 All About Sports Betting?

Naturally, following the US Supreme Court ruling that repealed the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA), there was a lot of buzz and hype around the sports betting. As a result, online poker was once again relegated to the sidelines just like it was in 2016 when it was daily fantasy sports that were a big deal – it still is.

Unfortunately, despite the fact that the sports betting proposals stole the show at the state legislature and seemed to have support from both sides, unlike daily fantasy sports lawmakers were not able to reach an eleventh-hour consensus when it came to online poker. Sports betting joins a pile of other unfinished business – including online poker – which will hopefully be finished during the 2019 legislative session.

Still, there is no absolute certainty that the legislation will go as expected in 2019. This year, it was quite evident that the chaos in the legislature, especially the Senate, was starting to get out of hand – it was even worse as the session neared its end. This is probably one of the reasons why the online poker and sports betting bills were not passed even though New York was a favorite to pass at least one of these legislations this year.

What Now?

There is almost absolute certainty that the New York legislature will revisit the sports betting bill come next year. This is mainly because passing on sports betting will undoubtedly put the state at a competitive disadvantage to other states such as Delaware and New Jersey who have already legalized sports betting. Reportedly, the Assembly was just a little less than ten votes shy of a majority and the idea of adding online poker into the mix had been floated around earlier this year.

For the most part, until the 2019 legislative session begins, the leaders have plenty of time to carefully craft legislation that majority of the lawmakers can agree on. For now, we will just have to wait and see the developments that await.

Akon Launches Cryptocurrency to Power Youth Entrepreneurship

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Senegal-born platinum-selling singer and philanthropist Akon has recently announced plans to build his own city in Senegal with his recently launched digital currency, Akoin, being the main form of exchange. Cryptocurrencies have had their fair share of celebrity backers but most of the support has been at face value, that is, most of them are just ambassadors for digital currency outfits. As such, the move by Akon to venture into the crypto space is not only bold but also game-changing.

Speaking at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity on June 18 on a panel titled “Branding Africa: Blockchain, Entrepreneurship and Empowering the Future,” the Grammy-nominated performer said blockchain technology and cryptocurrency could be “the savior for Africa in many ways” especially because of its high-security factor.

“I think that blockchain and crypto could be the savior for Africa in many ways because it brings the power back to the people and brings the security back into the currency system and also allows the people to utilize it in ways where they can advance themselves and not allow government to do those things that are keeping them down,” Akon said during the panel event, according to Page Six.

A Crypto City?

According to an initial blurb posted by ICO Impact Group, Akon and his team have a more ambitious plan in the works and it involves a 100 percent crypto-based city. As mentioned earlier at the beginning of this post, Akoin will be the center of the transactional life of the city that has been dubbed “Akon Crypto City.”

As it turns out, the development of the Akon Crypto City is already underway and it began with the 2,000 acres of land that the singer was gifted by the President of Senegal. The city is located within 5 minutes on Senegal’s new international airport, and a short drive from Dakar, Senegal’s capital city. It is also close to the coast, which in addition to all the factors make it a strategic location for such a venture.

At the moment, there are so many reasons to be skeptical about the plan especially because of the blithe overuse of “blockchain” as a buzzword and panacea to existing financial problems. To make it worse, Akon’s responses to the technical questions during the panel were not exactly heartening either – PageSix reports him saying, “I come with the concepts and let the geeks figure it out.” This is not exactly reassuring especially considering how shaky the crypto space is.

However, if we consider Akon’s Akon Lighting Africa charity project and how it effectively helped 17 countries in Africa to arrange for financing for solar panels and small-scale lighting projects, then this ambitious endeavor might just pay off, eventually.