Tag Archives: sports gaming

Entain Foundation U.S., Epic Risk Management Team For Gaming Education Initiative

The Entain Foundation US and EPIC Risk Management today announced the launch of a player education initiative with colleges around the nation to deliver a series of gaming awareness educational sessions.  The Entain Foundation US is funded by Entain plc, the global sports betting and gaming entertainment operator which jointly owns and provides the technology to BetMGM in the United States.

The joint initiative will be focused on education and awareness and the need to keep betting safe as sports betting and gaming continues to expand across more states, with New York most recently expressing interest.  More than 40 colleges in the U.S. will initially take part in the nationwide educational initiative, including the Mid-American Conference, Fordham University in New York City and Monmouth University in New Jersey. 

Entain Foundation US and EPIC plan to work together to add new colleges to the program throughout 2021.  Those colleges already participating include the University of Akron, Eastern Illinois University, Harvard University, Northern Illinois University, University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV), University of Ohio, University of Oregon, Seton Hall University and the University of Utah.  

EPIC and Entain Foundation US launched the partnership and program in March 2020.  Overall, the program is fully funded by the Entain Foundation US and is part of Entain’s pledge to invest $132 million over five years towards responsible gaming initiatives and to support people and communities around the world where it operates.

To date, EPIC Risk Management and the Entain Foundation US have launched collaborations with the National Football League Players’ Association Professional Athletes Foundation (NFLPA PAF) and USA Rugby, as well as the Division on Addiction at Cambridge Health Alliance, a Harvard Medical School teaching hospital, which is already working with Entain on a five-year research initiative better to understand problematic and addictive behaviors.

EPIC is a global leading gambling harm minimization consultancy providing strategic advisory and impactful and proven awareness, education, and risk management programs to the highest risk sectors in over 20 countries worldwide to reduce the human, financial, brand and reputational risks associated with gambling harm.

Executive Quotes:

Martin Lycka, Entain Senior Vice President for American Regulatory Affairs and Responsible Gambling, and Trustee of the Entain Foundation US: “We know from international experience that the most successful sports betting operators are also the most responsible.  As legalized sports betting continues to expand in the US, education and responsible gaming is a top priority.  We are excited to expand our partnership with EPIC to reach colleges across the country to educate young people.”

John Millington, VP of US Operations at EPIC Risk Management: “We are delighted to be able to work closely with colleges around the nation on this essential education and awareness program. There is a collective responsibility to ensure the minimization of potential gambling harms, and the promotion of player safety. Our collaboration with the Entain Foundation represents a key strategic piece of our prevention pillar, and it is great that so many organizations are recognizing the importance of education and awareness for this potentially high-risk population.”

AJ Schaufler – Associate Athletic Director for Compliance, Monmouth University: “Monmouth University Hawks are delighted to have EPIC Risk Management deliver their gambling awareness and sports betting integrity education sessions to our student athletes.  This is a topic that we take very seriously here at Monmouth and indeed, these sessions are providing our students with an increased understanding of the risks of problematic gambling, and in particular, its close links to sports betting integrity breaches.  Furthermore, they are now better aware of the support mechanisms that are available to them and have a deeper understanding and knowledge of this growing issue. We look forward to a long and successful partnership and would absolutely recommend this to all NCAA programs across the nation.”

Shannon Raymond –Assistant Athletic Director for Compliance, Fordham University: “Fordham Athletics is excited to engage with EPIC Risk Management to educate our student-athletes around the dangers of problematic gambling and the ever-growing risk that sports betting brings to both student-athletes and institutions. As part of our overall student development and wellbeing program, we see this as an extremely beneficial collaboration and are committed to ensuring our student-athletes learn from EPIC’s expertise to better understand how student-athletes can be susceptible to gambling harm. We look forward to learning how we can best support our student-athletes in this area with a long and successful partnership with EPIC.”

ZenSports Launches New Product Suite for Sports Industry Businesses

ZenSports

Until now, ZenSports has built its entire peer-to-peer sports betting business by selling directly to consumers. With the launch of its new ZenSports for Businesses product suite, the company is expanding into a new enterprise offering that will give sports industry organizations the ability to harness the power of ZenSports’ peer-to-peer sports betting and cryptocurrency technologies.

ZenSports’ consumer product is a mobile peer-to-peer sports betting marketplace where anyone can create and accept sports bets with anyone else in the world, without the need for a centralized bookmaker. Consumers can quickly and easily create their own bets with their own odds and terms or accept bets that others in the marketplace have created, all at a fraction of the cost that traditional bookmakers charge and all right from their phone. As a decentralized marketplace for sports betting, ZenSports is eliminating the need for a bookmaker altogether, and giving bettors a cheaper, faster, and more trustworthy process for wagering on sports.

ZenSports has also created its own cryptocurrency utility token called SPORTS, which consumers can use for placing bets, earning discounted betting fees, and getting cash back, bonuses, and other rewards. Betting with SPORTS tokens gives customers a more exciting and rewards-driven experience for wagering on sports than what traditional bookmakers offer. Since launching its SPORTS token in July 2019, almost 100% of all bets within the app have been made using SPORTS, even though the company also offers the ability to bet in dollars or Bitcoin.

According to ZenSports co-founder and CEO Mark Thomas, it is now ZenSports’ goal to also give other sports ecosystem partners access to its peer-to-peer sports betting platform, as well as its SPORTS cryptocurrency token. “There are numerous enterprises within the sports industry that are looking for a white-label solution for betting on sports. While other traditional bookmaking software solutions exist, none offer the same peer-to-peer, decentralized marketplace for sports betting like ZenSports does. In addition, the loyalty and rewards programs at many of these companies need to be revamped or are non-existent. Our SPORTS token and cryptocurrency/blockchain technology offer a perfect solution to drive loyalty and engagement with the audiences of these partners, just like it does for ZenSports.”

Thomas is especially bullish on the integration of SPORTS tokens into the payments and rewards programs of other sports ecosystem partners. “We’ve seen first-hand how exciting a cryptocurrency-based rewards platform is for consumers and how it creates deep loyalty and engagement. Our customer churn at ZenSports is almost zero because of the loyalty and rewards that we’ve built around our SPORTS token. Now think about integrating SPORTS tokens into other access points within the sports ecosystem, such as online merchandise, media/content, event ticketing, in-game food and beverage, and professional sports teams/leagues, thereby creating an entire payment and rewards system from beginning to end for sports enthusiasts.”

VSiN To Launch As Standalone On Sling TV

VSiN (Vegas Stats & Information Network), the first media network dedicated to sports gambling information, is launching on Sling TV, America’s number-one live TV streaming service. Available on Sling TV today as a standalone channel for $4 per month, VSiN will deliver dynamic content to the growing number of Americans who wager on sports.

VSiN delivers more than 80 hours of live linear programming each week, including legendary sportscaster Brent Musburger’s “My Guys in the Desert,” which airs weekdays at 6 p.m. ET/3 p.m. PT. All VSiN shows originate from a showcase studio in the busiest sportsbook in Las Vegas at the South Point Hotel Casino & Spa – the equivalent of CNBC being on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange.

“With more subscribers than any other live TV streaming service, Sling TV provides an amazing opportunity for us to reach the large and growing group of sports fans seeking credible, actionable sports betting information,” said Brian Musburger, founder and CEO of VSiN. “With this distribution deal, as well as others we’ve announced over the past several months, we are better able to reach the folks who wager on sports wherever they may be, while securing our position as the only full-time network dedicated exclusively to sports gambling.”

Starting at $25 per month, Sling TV is an over-the-top (OTT) content platform that delivers live TV and on-demand entertainment instantly to a variety of smart televisions, tablets, game consoles, computers, smartphones, virtual reality headsets and streaming devices. Sling TV is the pioneer of live, OTT multichannel TV services that can be taken anywhere, helping form and define the rapidly growing OTT/streaming industry. Sling TV lets users pick their personal channel lineup, starting with a base service and adding only the genre-based extras, premium channels and à la carte channels they want. With no long-term contracts, rental equipment or hidden fees, Sling TV is an advanced and affordable alternative to watch favorite cable television programming at home or on the go.