Hills tapping into dreams; Italy slowing up; FremantleMedia on pursuit

william hill italy fremantleWilliam Hill is hoping to tap into the hopes and dreams of parents across the country by offering them the chance of a lifetime. The company is setting aside £1 million by handing out 200,000 £5 bet certificates that entitles parents to a free wager on their kid one day turning out for England. The “Back Your Pride and Joy” promotion kicked off last week and is worth a potential £5,000 as the odds offered are 1000-1. To qualify punters simply need to place a £10 bet either online or instore then go to the link and the dreaming can start. Helping support the promotion is former England ‘keeper Chris Kirkland who earned his dad £10k in a similar bet that was placed when he was 12 with Kirkland eventually making the first team. 1,000-1 is very generous and if we had a talented kid we’d be all over this!

Italy’s iGaming industry slowed up in April compared with March whilst still being more than it was in the previous year. Gross gaming revenue increased 16.4 percent year-on-year to €67.7 million with particularly good performances across both casino and poker. This was a decrease of 8 percent compared with the previous month and it continues to show the market is still struggling. Fixed odds sports betting’s strife carried on into another month with revenues down 29.1 percent compared to the previous year and the number now sits at €18.1 million. Horse betting revenues again slowed slightly as April saw the sectors strongest figure for the year to date with revenue of €0.93 million.

FremantleMedia has signed a deal with Hasbro to create games based on a number of popular brands. Connect 4 and Trivial Pursuit will both be made into slots and instant win games for online and mobile with Simon Murphy, head of gambling for FremantleMedia stating: “We are hugely excited to be working with Hasbro to develop Connect 4 and Trivial Pursuit premium branded gambling content. The new addition of the gaming brands to our portfolio further strengthens our position as one of the leading developers and distributors of branded gaming content.”