The International Gaming Awards or simply the IGA is regularly supported by some of the most renowned iGaming industry’s insiders, gaming operators and gaming venues including both land-based and online casinos. The International Gaming Awards is held every year as managed by the Clever Duck Media Ltd. company which is a prominent event management firm with an effective, creative and passionate team that has a unique, innovative understanding of the entire gaming industry.

The International Gaming Awards 2020

Just like every year, this year’s event gathered masses. The International Gaming Awards of the IGA 2020 took place at the Savoy Hotel located in London on the 3^rd of February. This year’s event was supported as well as enhanced by loads of renowned online and land-based casino insiders as well as a number of different gaming clients from all tiers. Some of the event’s sponsors included IGT, Pilot Games, SG Games, SA Gaming, Connective Games, Alea.com, Melco, Pragmatic Play, Yggdrasil Gaming, Videoslots Casino, 1XBet Professional Betting, Play’ n GO and many others.

The International Gaming Awards 2020 awarded several top-tier companies including online casino gaming and online sports betting operators for their unique, innovative work in the industry. A number of brands were also recognized for providing a unique, very positive impact in the industry via several different awards categories. One brand definitely stood up from its competition and this is William Hill which for two consecutive years has been named the IGA Sports Betting Operator of the Year.

Considering the operator’s recent successes which have helped it secure this prestigious award, the William Hill sports betting operator is taking all the right steps to remain one of the leaders in the industry. When it comes to its Sports Betting Operator of the Year by the IGA awards, the operator is recognized for its amazing ability to lead the industry not only in its customer numbers but also for its tablet and mobile customers as well as for its mobile platform’s originality and innovation.

William Hill’s Excellence

The Sports Betting Operator of the Year 2020 winner is also recognized for providing a number of premium-level customer services and products including its telephone service, usability and growth of its sports betting platform and its marketing efforts. All in all, the winning operator has shown that it excels in everything that the market demands and even more.

Commenting on the news, William Hill International’s CEO Patrick Jonker said that this year has started in an excellent way for his company. The company’s CEO also pointed out that his company’s major gaming brand Mr Green had enjoyed a similar success after winning the EGR Nordics Awards Operator of the Year just several days before the company’s major sports betting brand won the Sports Betting Operator of the Year IGA Award.

Being awarded the Sports Betting Operator of the Year by the International Gaming Awards just shows how well William Hill is positioned in the industry especially when it comes to the company’s two major brands. Mr. Jonker also said that he could not be any prouder of his teams. Another brand that was honored at the International Gaming Awards was the excellent Yggdrasil Gaming that was named the Innovator of the Year for four consecutive years. Yggdrasil Gaming won the award thanks to its remarkable developments including its new division named Yggdrasil Publishing.

One of the biggest, most prominent gaming companies in the industry, William Hill U.S. has just inked an extremely important partnership deal which will make the company fully authorized sports betting operator of the NBA. In order to make this happen, the London-based company has partnered with the owner of the popular Capital One Arena located in Washington DC, Monumental Sports and Entertainment.

Under the terms of this business agreement, William Hill US will craft the very first sportsbook within a United States-based sports arena. Needless to say, this is a major accomplishment for the London Stock Exchange-listed company which has been around since 1934. The company was founded by William Hill in London, the UK. At the time of its inception, gambling was considered illegal which surely posed major threats for the company.

Since its inception, William Hill changed many owners over the years. First of all, the company was acquired by Sears Holdings back in 1971. Then, Grand Metropolitan purchased the company in 1988 before Brent Walker acquired it in 1989. Several years later in 1997, a Japan-based investment bank mounted a massive £700 million-worth William Hill leverage buyout following Brent Walker’s financial struggles and growing debts which at the time exceeded £1.3 billion.

William Hill Operations Outside the United Kingdom

The company’s financial struggles did not stop here. In 1999, the Japanese investment bank offloaded the entire company to privately owned equities CVC Capital Partners and Cinven for around £825 million. The company’s stocks eventually appeared on the London Stock Exchange back in 2002. At this time, the company was in a better place in terms of its finances which led to its rapid growth. WH acquired Sunderland Greyhound Stadium in 2002, followed by the acquisition of Newcastle Greyhound Stadium a year later.

Two years later, William Hill acquired more than seven hundred betting offices across the United Kingdom, Isle of Man, and the Republic of Ireland. This acquisition, in particular, took the company to the very top position in the rich, highly competitive United Kingdom betting market. When it comes to the company’s operations outside its home country, William Hill operates worldwide with more than 14,000 people working across its board.

In June of 2002, the company expanded its operations to Nevada which at the time was the only US state allowing sports wagering. During the process of its expansion in the state of Nevada, William Hill purchased three sportsbook chains, Club Cal Neva, Leroy’s and Lucky’s for around $53 million. After the Supreme Court’s ruling from June 2018 which allowed New Jersey to legalize some sports betting activities, William Hill entered this market as well and started offering services to Ocean Resort Casino and Monmouth Park Racetrack both located in New Jersey.

The Deal Kicking Off Just in Time

When it comes to the company’s latest partnership deal, William Hill is allowed to use the official National Basketball Association’s betting data while at the same time, the NBA will work on promoting its partner across its several different holdings including its social media, NBA.com and NBA.app platforms. All in all, the business deal comes at the right time as the NBA regular season kicks off on the 22nd of October.

Commenting on the news, the NBA’s Head of Fantasy and Gaming, as well as its Senior Vice President Scott Kaufman-Ross, said in its official press release that William Hill as a global, internationally-recognized brand makes a perfect partner for the NBA. He also added that William Hill which has entered the US betting market several years ago will provide a true, world-class experience to all fans of the NBA.

On their part, the William Hill officials said that the company is extremely proud of this latest creative partnership which will benefit both parties. The partnership deal with William Hill is the NBA’s fourth alignment of this kind as the association has already inked deals with MGM Resorts, FanDuel, and the Stars Group.

As reported recently, one of the biggest United Kingdom-based sportsbetting and gambling operators William Hill is about to shut down around 700 betting shops. This will naturally result in an enormous amount of jobs at risk. The company’s officials in their official press release stated that the main reason for these actions can be found in the nation’s most recent, stricter rules related to fixed-odds gambling terminals or for short FOBTs.

In their official press release, the company’s team also said that if William Hill closes 700 betting shops, almost 10,000 jobs will be at risk. While 10,000 jobs are at risk it is more likely that around 4,500 people working at these shops will lose their jobs. In the case of happening this, the company has promised to utilize some kind of voluntary redundancies in order to help their released employees find some other, alternative working positions.

Employing Around 16,600 People

William Hill is one of the most prominent names in the world of betting. The company was founded back in 1934 by William Hill. Currently, it is based in London, England. William Hill emerged on the scene when gambling activities were illegal in the United Kingdom. Throughout its existence in the industry, the company has changes hands multiple times as it was acquired by several different companies at different times.

First of all, William Hill was acquired by Sears Holdings back in 1971 which did not last for long as in 1988, Grand Metropolitan decided to purchase the company. This was also short-lived as in 1998, the company was bought by Brent Walker and then in 1997, Nomura which is a Japanese investment bank mounted around £700m million leveraged buyout of the company. Five years later, the company was finally listed on the London Stock Exchange and its stocks are still there.

William Hill as one of the biggest companies of this kind in the industry operates worldwide. Currently, the company employs around 16,600 people who work in its main offices located in the United Kingdom, Gibraltar, and Ireland. The company also has a number of telebetting centers as well as a number of betting shops which process over one million betting slips every single day.

Regulatory Changes Slashing the FOBT Maximum Stake Per Spin

The latest news on the company’s betting shops details that William Hill is about to close around 700 betting shops due to the latest regulatory chances which hit the industry. These change actually came into force back in April of this year which slashed the FOBT maximum stake from $125 or £100 per one spin to only $2.50 or £2. These changes led many other operators such as Betfred and Ladbrokes Coral Group to unveil very similar reduction plans.

In fact, it was reported that the company which operates Ladbrokes Coral Group named GVC Holding may be forced to close around 900 of its betting shops which will result in around 5,000 job losses. Moreover, Betfred has also announced closures of 500 of its facilities which will result in around 2,500 redundancies. If this happens, around 2,100 land-based gambling outlets which represent around a quarter of the UK’s land-based gambling venues will close their doors and around 12,500 people will lose their jobs.

William Hill Expanding its Nevada Operations

William Hill, one of the leading betting sites in the United Kingdom, has been rapidly expanding their global operations, including in the regulated part of US market. The biggest news regarding their footprint in the States is that William Hill’s US division and Golden Entertainment will be expanding the scope of their sports betting relationship. Their partnership was already solid, but new provisions will make it even firmer.

Golden Entertainment is a successful gaming company that owns and operates casinos, taverns and distributed gaming in Southern Montana, Maryland, and, of course, Nevada. They’ve decided to form a long-term deal and they agreed that William Hill will manage race and sports betting operations in Nevada. Based on the previous experience these two have had, there won’t be any obstacles in their mutual efforts to improve and promote sports betting.

Experienced Industry Player

So far, this popular bookmarker had successfully managed betting operations of Las Vegas-based Charlie’s Boulder, the Aquarius Casino Resort, and Charlie’s Decatur both based in Arizona. Another sportsbook will be open soon at The STRAT, and it will also be operated by the hard-working William Hill’s team.

William Hill is also known for their full-service kiosk offers at the Gold Town and Lakeside casinos. They’ve installed gambling kiosks at about 80 Golden Entertainment’s taverns and in third-party-distributed gaming locations all over the state. This impressive sports betting operator will also operate sports gambling of Edgewater and Colorado Belle in Laughlin.

Joe Asher, the CEO for the US branch of William Hill, is proud of this expanding partnership with Golden Entertainment. He’s excited about taking over four new casino resorts locations. Their main goal is to keep sports fans satisfied and that’s what they’re constantly working on.

According to Steve Arcana, Golden Entertainment COO, the excitement is mutual. They’re positively sure that this partnership will be successful, given the fact that William Hill operates worldwide and has amazing results in the gambling business.

Awaiting New Legislation

Taking over four new operations in Nevada is the extension of this amazing partnership. Unlike Nevada, Maryland and Montana still didn’t pass legislation allowing for sports betting, so William Hill will have to wait for them to permit sports betting and then extend further services.

So far, Golden Entertainment has operated Montana’s distributed gaming operations and their task was to provide services to approximately 300 locations. They’ve also gained ownership of Maryland’s Rocky Gap Casino Resort. In this Casino Resort players can enjoy slot games and all sorts of table and lottery games.

Seems like William Hill team doesn’t plan to stop forming partnerships, which is very positive for their USA establishment. They’ve forged a partnership with Prairie Meadows Racetrack & Casino, along with Eldorado Resorts.

Prairie Meadows Racetrack & Casino is located in Iowa and it was constructed in 1992. Their casino space is impressive and they offer over 1,350 slot games, table games, 10-table poker room, bingo, and Keno. Eldorado Resorts are located in Reno, Nevada, but they’ll soon launch in Iowa.

Expanding operations in Nevada is a smart business move on William Hill’s part, and the one that stands to significantly increase the company’s profit and reputation moving forward.