TIDMENT
RNS Number : 0284J
Entain PLC
17 December 2020
ENTAIN AND VERIZON MEDIA ANNOUNCE GLOBAL INNOVATION ALLIANCE
FOR IMMERSIVE TECHNOLOGY, GAMING AND SPORTS
Verizon Media will develop first of its kind VR experience for
live sports viewing as part of deal with Entain
New YouGov Research Reveals interactivity and social media are
transforming
Gaming and Entertainment
17 December 2020 - Entain plc (LSE: ENT), the international
sports-betting and gaming operator (formerly known as GVC Holdings)
and Verizon Media, the global media and technology company, today
announced a global innovation alliance to develop new opportunities
across interactive sports and entertainment. Entain brands include
Ladbrokes, bwin, partypoker, and BetMGM in the United States, which
is co-owned with MGM Resorts.
The new alliance coincides with initial findings from new
research for Entain by YouGov, revealing that the use of technology
is increasingly shaping consumer behaviours in gaming and
entertainment around the world, notably in the United States and
Australia. Social media has become central to consumer enjoyment,
with new immersive experiences, driven by virtual reality and 5G,
accelerating growth of both gaming and e-sports.
Entain and Verizon Media will collaborate to develop a
first-of-its-kind highly immersive proof of concept virtual reality
experience, that will combine live sports viewing with interactive
layers of sports data and gaming. Consumers will be able to
participate in sports events, check data, socialise with friends,
and place bets on Entain platforms.
Additionally, Entain will work closely with Verizon Media to
develop concepts for new formats with emerging technologies like
5G, virtual reality, and augmented reality to bring the best
experiences in immersive content and gaming to sports betting and
gambling. Along with betting on the Entain platforms on live
streaming sports events, the goal is to create realistic, immersive
experiences for sports fans, such as being in the stadium,
participating in play, competing and betting on outcomes on the
Entain platforms.
"To win in the future we need to understand where consumers will
be in five, ten years' time and work with other global businesses
also investing in that," said Shay Segev, CEO of Entain. "We
envisage consumers meeting at a game with friends, who could in
fact be elsewhere, using virtual reality headsets to watch,
interact and share the experience together and, potentially,
compete between themselves at half time or feel like they're on the
pitch with the players."
"This new alliance takes the collaboration between our two
companies to a new level and will allow us both to maximize new
opportunities across sports-betting, content and entertainment,"
said Guru Gowrappan, CEO, Verizon Media. "Together, we are building
the next-generation of content experiences for sports and gaming
fans. Our world-first 5G-enabled production studios in LA and
London, creative technology teams and Verizon Media's Immersive
platform, that enables extended reality (XR) content to be created
and distributed across digital channels at scale, allow partners
like Entain to bring next-level immersive and interactive
experiences to their customers."
The collaboration builds on an existing successful relationship
between Yahoo Sports, part of Verizon Media, and BetMGM, a joint
venture with MGM Resorts through which Entain operates in the
United States. BetMGM is integrated throughout Yahoo Sports in the
US, and in legal jurisdictions fans can place a bet with BetMGM
without leaving the Yahoo Sports app.
The new alliance coincides with first findings of new research
for Entain from YouGov, revealing that gaming and entertainment is
converging across multiple devices and becoming increasingly
interactive, with two-thirds of consumers combining it with social
media to increase their enjoyment.
Across all markets, men aged 25 to 39 are the most likely to be
innovators or early adopters and are the key audience for e-sports
and gaming. Half of e-sports players are in this age group, with
most also interacting in social media and more than half enjoying a
bet. When it comes to conventional sport, interaction is also
increasingly important to this audience, with 31% of 25 to
39-year-old and 34% of over 55's also engaging digitally to
increase their enjoyment of watching sport.
ENDS
Enquiries:
Investor Relations
E ntain plc
David Lloyd-Seed, Director of Investor Relations & External Communications Tel: +44 (0) 203 938 0000
Jennifer Spencer, Investor Relations Manager investors@entaingroup.com
Media
E ntain plc Tel: +44 (0) 203 938 0000
Tessa Curtis, Head of Media Relations Tessa.curtis@ entaingroup .com
Jay Dossetter, Head of ESG and Press Office Jay.dossetter@entaingroup.com
Powerscourt
Rob Greening / Elly Williamson Tel: +44 (0) 20 7250 1446
entain @powerscourt-group.com
FINN Partners entainfinn@finnpartners.com
John Acunto (US) john.acunto@finnpartners.com
Gemma White (UK) gemma.white@finnpartners.com
Verizon Media
Gareth Jordan, Director of Communications EMEA
gareth.jordan@verizonmedia.com
About Entain plc
Entain plc (LSE: ENT) (Formerly GVC Holdings plc) is a FTSE100
company and is one of the world's largest sports-betting and gaming
groups, operating both online and in the retail sector. The Group
owns a comprehensive portfolio of established brands. Sports Brands
include bet.pt, bwin, Coral, Crystalbet, Eurobet, Ladbrokes, Neds
and Sportingbet; Gaming Brands include CasinoClub, Foxy Bingo,
Gala, Gioco Digitale, partypoker and PartyCasino. The Group owns
proprietary technology across all of its core product verticals and
in addition to its B2C operations provides services to a number of
third-party customers on a B2B basis. The Group's unique technology
platform also powers BetMGM, the joint-venture it operates with MGM
Resorts to capitalise on the rapidly regulating US sports betting
and iGaming market. Entain is tax resident in the UK with licenses
in more than 20 countries, across five continents. The Group's
commitment to delivering sustainability and growth is recognised
through its membership of the FTSE4Good and DJSI ESG indices, which
identify companies that meet globally recognised corporate
responsibility standards. www.entaingroup.com
About Verizon Media
Verizon Media, a division of Verizon Communications Inc, houses
a trusted media ecosystem of premium brands like Yahoo, AOL,
TechCrunch and Engadget to help people stay informed and
entertained, communicate and transact, while creating new ways for
advertisers and media partners to connect. From XR experiences to
advertising and content technology, Verizon Media is an incubator
of innovation and is revolutionizing the next generation of content
creation in a 5G world. https://www.verizonmedia.com/
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END
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