WEBMASTER NEWS
POKERSTARS REVEALS BIGGEST-EVER MARKETING
CAMPAIGN
AMAYA-OWNED POKERSTARS has
revealed the details of a new marketing
campaign that it said will be the biggest
project of its kind ever launched by the
online gaming brand.
The advertising campaign, which was
rolled out on the Facebook social media
network at the weekend, features football
stars Cristiano Ronaldo and Neymar Jr,
both of whom have sponsorship deals in
place with the brand.
Ronaldo and Neymar appear in videos
that feature poker as the centrepiece of the
athletes’ evening with friends, highlighting
the game’s social and competitive aspects.
The videos will feature on Ronaldo and
Neymar’s official Facebook pages, before
being broadcast on television by channels
around the world in two weeks’ time.
To coincide with the television launch ,
PokerStars will run a separate promotion
entitled ‘Dream Team Collection’, which
features online poker challenges and puzzles
that incorporate Ronaldo and Neymar.
Players will have the chance to win
various prizes as well as a shot at a $1
million (€912,300) grand prize.
Michael Hazel, interim chief executive
of PokerStars’ parent company Rational
Group, acquired by Amaya last year,
added: “This is the biggest PokerStars
marketing campaign in history and we are
excited to launch with exclusive distribution
on Facebook.
“The vast numbers of fans who engage
with both stars makes Facebook a great
platform to reach a big audience.
“To put this into context, the combined
fan base for both superstars is a huge 157
million; the estimated global TV audience
for the recent Champions League final was
180 million.”
GIG ACQUIRES ESTONIAN AFFILIATE NETWORK, SIGNS
MICROGAMING DEAL
GAMING INNOVATION GROUP (GIG)
has completed the acquisition of an
affiliate network based in Estonia.
Under the agreement, GIG will take
ownership of the affiliate in question as
well as all associated affiliate agreements
and future revenues.
Targeted primarily at the Nordic
market, GIG expects the network to
generate more than 20,000 new depositing
customers for B2B clients of its Innovation
Labs subsidiary over the next three years.
“We are pleased to conclude our third
acquisition of a growing high value
affiliate network in our target markets in
a short timeframe,” GIG chief executive
Robin Reed said.
“Not only are we increasing our
capability of driving paying users to
partnering operators, but we are also
strengthening our online distribution
channel to bundle with our platform
service ‘iGamingCloud’ to the benefit of
our clients.”
Meanwhile, GIG has also entered into a
licence agreement with Microgaming.
Under the deal, Microgaming will
provide its poker software to GIG
operators.
Guts.com will be the first GIG operator
to go live with the new software during
the fourth quarter of this year, with both
Betspin.com and Rizk.com due to follow
in 2016.
The deal will also allow GIG subsidiary
iGamingCloud to offer poker as part of its
cloud services offering to its range of B2B
clients, pending case-to-case approval by
Microgaming.
“We are thrilled by the prospects of
building a great player experience by
promoting poker at the intersection
of sports and social entertainment,”
Reed said.
Roger Raatgever, chief executive
of MicroGaming, added: “Already
a customer of our Quickfire Casino
product, we're delighted to be extending
our relationship with the Gaming
Innovation Group through our poker
platform.”
CHERRY-OWNED GAME LOUNGE TO ACQUIRE FINNISH AFFILIATE’S
DOMAINS
CHERRY-OWNED SCANDINAVIAN
affiliate network Game Lounge has agreed
a deal to acquire a prominent Finnish
affiliate’s domains for €1.2 million
($1.3 million).
Under the agreement, Game Lounge
will take ownership of various domains
such as Nettikasinovertailu.info,
Netticasino.eu and
Onlinecasinofindr.com.
In a statement, Game Lounge said
it expects the deal to help increase its
presence in the Finnish market, while
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parent company Cherry said that the
agreement will give marketing support to
its existing brands.
The agreement will be fully financed
by Game Lounge operations.
“Through this acquisition, Game
Lounge continues to further strengthen
its position as one of Scandinavia’s
leading affiliate networks,” Game
Lounge chief executive Jonas
Cederholm said.
“We see significant potential with the
acquisition and it will play an important
strategic role for the launch of our next
white label in Finland.”
Fredrik Burvall, chief executive of
Cherry, added: “We have been very
pleased with the performance of Game
Lounge so far, and this acquisition will
increase volumes at a much lower cost,
both for Cherry’s current brands and
upcoming white labels.
“The affiliate market is an important
part of the online gaming industry and
Cherry continues to strengthen its online
business with this acquisition.”