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Aston Villa Foundation and Kaizen Foundation Celebrate Success of ‘Play it Forward’ Programme in Birmingham
The Aston Villa Foundation, in partnership with the Kaizen Foundation, has announced the successful progress of the Play it Forward programme, a community-focused initiative designed to tackle inequalities in physical activity and access to sports facilities in neighborhoods surrounding Villa Park.
Supported by the Premier League, the Professional Footballers’ Association (PFA), and Birmingham City Council, the programme is investing in the long-term sustainability of community-led sports spaces. As part of its delivery, Play it Forward will fund an additional 350 hours of physical activity on mini outdoor pitches across Birmingham, helping to create safer, more accessible environments for young people to engage in sport.
Expanding Community Sports Access Across Birmingham
Since its launch, the initiative has successfully established four community sports sites across the City of Birmingham. Working in collaboration with local partners Birmingham United, Spark Active, and Our Community Foundation, the programme is using football as a powerful tool to engage, inspire, and support young people in areas facing social and economic challenges.
The programme officially launched in October with two high-profile community events. Aston Villa midfielder Youri Tielemans made a surprise visit to the Concord Youth Centre in Sparkbrook, while Aston Villa Women players Sabrina D’Angelo and Maya Hijikata visited the Birmingham Settlement Sports & Community Centre in Kingstanding. During these events, young participants took part in football activities, Q&A sessions, and discussions about the players’ journeys into professional sport.
Long-Term Support Beyond the Pitch
In addition to funding facilities and activity hours, the Aston Villa Foundation is providing extensive professional expertise to strengthen partner organisations. This support spans grants and fundraising, marketing and communications, governance, monitoring and evaluation, health and safety, safeguarding, and risk management, ensuring the programme delivers sustainable, measurable impact.
Siraj Hussain, Founder of Birmingham United Foundation, highlighted the importance of safe community spaces: “Sparkbrook is one of the most deprived areas in Birmingham, with young people struggling to access provisions and safe spaces to take part in sport. Bringing young people to a place like Concord Youth Centre, supported by trusted youth mentors, gives them the chance to be off the streets and engaged in something positive. Sport is an incredible engagement tool.”
Sport as a Catalyst for Youth Development
Panos Konstantopoulos, President of the Kaizen Foundation, emphasized the broader social value of the programme: “Access to sport is not a luxury; it is essential for youth development. It supports physical and mental wellbeing while fostering teamwork, respect, and healthy competition. Play it Forward creates opportunities for young people to channel their energy in ways that can be life-changing.”
Alison Mapp, CEO of Spark Active, also praised the initiative’s impact on grassroots football:
“We are committed to developing girls’ football and offering affordable, accessible sports provision in deprived areas. Many girls prefer community-based football over formal settings. Play it Forward has helped us strengthen our relationship with the Aston Villa Foundation and elevate our work. Their funding, equipment, coach mentoring, and player visits have taken our girls’ football programme to the next level.”
Building Sustainable Impact Through Football
The Play it Forward programme demonstrates how strategic partnerships between football foundations, charities, and local organisations can drive meaningful change. By improving access to facilities, investing in long-term community infrastructure, and using sport as a vehicle for inclusion, the initiative continues to make a lasting difference for young people across Birmingham.
The post Aston Villa Foundation and Kaizen Foundation Celebrate Success of ‘Play it Forward’ Programme in Birmingham appeared first on Eastern European Gaming | Global iGaming & Tech Intelligence Hub.
AGO
Genius Sports and Pac-12 Launch Comprehensive AI, Tech and Integrity Partnership to Fuel Regulated Betting, Moment-Based Ad Products and Analytics
Genius Sports has unveiled a new multi-year partnership focused on integrity, technology, and AI with the Pac-12 Conference (“Pac-12”) to enhance the future of legitimate and responsible sports wagering, integrity, fan interaction and revenue generation, as well as performance evaluation in collegiate athletics.
The collaboration strengthens Genius Sports’ position as the backbone of contemporary sports. Under the terms of the agreement, Genius Sports will implement GeniusIQ, its data and AI platform, at all venues for Pac-12 football and men’s and women’s basketball events – establishing a unified, smart framework for data tracking, video capture, real-time analysis, and commercial engagement.
Genius Sports and Pac-12 will work together on various innovations aimed at protecting integrity, enhancing the fan experience, and creating new revenue opportunities.
Permitted wagering and integrity protections
Genius Sports will act as the sole distributor of official data from Pac-12 events to authorized sportsbooks globally. In this position, the firm will implement a new Authorized Gaming Operator (“AGO”) initiative aimed at ensuring the integrity of Pac-12 events and safeguarding student-athletes.
Alongside removing negative and high-risk bet types, the AGO program will enhance transparency, information exchange, and collaboration among the Pac-12, Genius Sports, and authorized sportsbooks, while stopping prohibited bettors from making bets; all aimed at addressing the risk of corruption linked to betting and safeguarding student-athletes.
A fresh age of marketing focused on moments
Genius Sports’ Moment Engine allows brands to launch advertising in real-time during critical moments in Pac-12 games across broadcast, streaming, and digital platforms, turning live sports data into actionable advertising chances.
For Pac-12 advertisers, this opens up the chance to engage with significant Pac-12 moments that are crucial, immediately, with enhanced accuracy and on a larger scale.
Enhanced performance insights
The collaboration will also aid Pac-12 schools by providing the most cutting-edge performance analysis available worldwide.
Programs will utilize the GeniusIQ-enabled Performance Studio platform, offering coaches and athletes advanced analytics and video tools employed by most NBA and WNBA teams.
“College sports are entering a new era where official data and real-time intelligence power everything from integrity and betting and media to performance,” said Mark Locke, CEO at Genius Sports. “By deploying GeniusIQ across Pac-12 venues, we are building the data infrastructure that connects leagues, sportsbooks, broadcasters and advertisers in real-time.”
“The Pac-12 is thrilled to announce this partnership which will allow a college sports conference, for the first time, to impose direct and meaningful integrity restrictions on sports books who receive and use Pac-12 data,” said Pac-12 Commissioner Teresa Gould. “This partnership positions the Pac-12 as an early-mover in the data rights space, connecting to our strategic vision and challenger mindset to push boundaries in a disciplined fashion while introducing new opportunities for brand elevation and revenue growth.”
The post Genius Sports and Pac-12 Launch Comprehensive AI, Tech and Integrity Partnership to Fuel Regulated Betting, Moment-Based Ad Products and Analytics appeared first on Eastern European Gaming | Global iGaming & Tech Intelligence Hub.
Atlaslive
How Established Operators Can Address Online Casino Vulnerabilities: Atlaslive’s Recommendations
This article concludes Atlaslive’s series exploring online casino vulnerabilities and the ways established operators can address them early.
Throughout the series, several key exposure areas were examined, including cybersecurity threats, KPI warning signals, financial leakage risks, infrastructure and platform limitations, as well as compliance and regulatory pressure. Each of these factors can directly influence revenue stability, player trust, and long-term operational scalability.
In this final installment, Atlaslive specialists present a set of mitigation principles designed to help operators reduce operational exposure and maintain stability as their businesses expand.
A Structured Approach to Reducing Operational Exposure
Since 2019, Atlaslive has worked with operators across multiple markets and at different stages of growth, including companies transitioning from legacy platforms in search of greater stability and operational control.
Based on this experience, one consistent observation emerges: vulnerabilities rarely result from a single failure. More often, they develop through disconnected operational processes, delayed system visibility, or infrastructure that was not designed to support increasing complexity.
To address these risks, Atlaslive specialists recommend a structured operational approach.
Monitor KPIs in Real Time
Early anomaly detection plays a key role in identifying potential vulnerabilities before they escalate.
Continuous monitoring of indicators such as Registration-to-Deposit Conversion (Reg2Dep), payment success rates, chargebacks, retention metrics, and player lifetime value allows operators to detect performance distortions at an early stage. Acting on these signals quickly helps prevent small operational issues from turning into structural revenue losses.
Integrate Risk, Payments, and CRM Systems
When systems operate separately, operational blind spots often appear, making fraud detection and oversight more difficult.
A unified architecture that connects risk management, payment processing, and CRM systems improves visibility across both player behavior and financial flows. This integration enables faster responses to fraud attempts, bonus abuse, and unusual player activity.
Strengthen Security Governance
Security governance remains a core component of operational resilience.
Multi-factor authentication, encrypted infrastructure, and standardized security frameworks help minimize both technical and regulatory risks. Consistent security practices also support compliance requirements in regulated markets.
Automate Compliance Workflows
As regulatory requirements continue to grow in complexity, manual processes increase the risk of operational errors.
Automated KYC triggers, transaction monitoring systems, and reporting workflows allow operators to maintain consistent compliance standards while reducing operational friction and cross-market inconsistencies.
Maintain Continuous Operational Support
Operators expanding into multiple jurisdictions face increasing operational pressure.
Continuous technical monitoring combined with localized support enables faster incident response and helps maintain platform stability during peak traffic periods, market expansion, or high activity.
“Vulnerability management is not a reactive exercise. It is an ongoing operational discipline that protects revenue, player trust, and regulatory standing.”
—Tetiana Honchar, Platform Product Manager at Atlaslive
Building Long-Term Operational Resilience
Online casino vulnerabilities rarely appear suddenly. They tend to develop gradually through small operational gaps, unnoticed KPI changes, or infrastructure that struggles to handle scale.
For established operators, proactive monitoring and structured governance are essential. Security, performance, compliance, and scalability must function together as part of an integrated operational system.
Operators that treat vulnerability management as a continuous operational discipline are better positioned to protect revenue integrity, maintain regulatory standing, and scale their businesses with greater stability.
To learn more about this topic, read the full article on the Atlaslive blog.
This document is provided to you for your information and discussion only. This document was based on public sources of information and was created by the Atlaslive team for marketing usage. It is not a solicitation or an offer to buy or sell any gambling-related product. Nothing in this document constitutes legal or business development advice. This document has been prepared from sources Atlaslive believes to be reliable, but we do not guarantee its accuracy or completeness and do not accept liability for any loss arising from its use. Atlaslive reserves the right to remedy any errors that may be present in this document.
About Atlaslive
Atlaslive is a B2B software development company that specializes in creating a multifunctional and automated platform to optimize the workflow of sports betting and casino operators. Key components of the Atlaslive Platform include Sportsbook, Casino, Risk Management and Anti-Fraud Tools, CRM, Bonus Engine, Business Analytics, Payment Systems, and Retail Module. Follow the company on LinkedIn to stay updated with the latest news in iGaming technology.
The post How Established Operators Can Address Online Casino Vulnerabilities: Atlaslive’s Recommendations appeared first on Eastern European Gaming | Global iGaming & Tech Intelligence Hub.
Atlaslive
How Established Operators Can Address Online Casino Vulnerabilities: Atlaslive’s Recommendations
This article concludes Atlaslive’s series exploring online casino vulnerabilities and the ways established operators can address them early.
Throughout the series, several key exposure areas were examined, including cybersecurity threats, KPI warning signals, financial leakage risks, infrastructure and platform limitations, as well as compliance and regulatory pressure. Each of these factors can directly influence revenue stability, player trust, and long-term operational scalability.
In this final installment, Atlaslive specialists present a set of mitigation principles designed to help operators reduce operational exposure and maintain stability as their businesses expand.
A Structured Approach to Reducing Operational Exposure
Since 2019, Atlaslive has worked with operators across multiple markets and at different stages of growth, including companies transitioning from legacy platforms in search of greater stability and operational control.
Based on this experience, one consistent observation emerges: vulnerabilities rarely result from a single failure. More often, they develop through disconnected operational processes, delayed system visibility, or infrastructure that was not designed to support increasing complexity.
To address these risks, Atlaslive specialists recommend a structured operational approach.
Monitor KPIs in Real Time
Early anomaly detection plays a key role in identifying potential vulnerabilities before they escalate.
Continuous monitoring of indicators such as Registration-to-Deposit Conversion (Reg2Dep), payment success rates, chargebacks, retention metrics, and player lifetime value allows operators to detect performance distortions at an early stage. Acting on these signals quickly helps prevent small operational issues from turning into structural revenue losses.
Integrate Risk, Payments, and CRM Systems
When systems operate separately, operational blind spots often appear, making fraud detection and oversight more difficult.
A unified architecture that connects risk management, payment processing, and CRM systems improves visibility across both player behavior and financial flows. This integration enables faster responses to fraud attempts, bonus abuse, and unusual player activity.
Strengthen Security Governance
Security governance remains a core component of operational resilience.
Multi-factor authentication, encrypted infrastructure, and standardized security frameworks help minimize both technical and regulatory risks. Consistent security practices also support compliance requirements in regulated markets.
Automate Compliance Workflows
As regulatory requirements continue to grow in complexity, manual processes increase the risk of operational errors.
Automated KYC triggers, transaction monitoring systems, and reporting workflows allow operators to maintain consistent compliance standards while reducing operational friction and cross-market inconsistencies.
Maintain Continuous Operational Support
Operators expanding into multiple jurisdictions face increasing operational pressure.
Continuous technical monitoring combined with localized support enables faster incident response and helps maintain platform stability during peak traffic periods, market expansion, or high activity.
“Vulnerability management is not a reactive exercise. It is an ongoing operational discipline that protects revenue, player trust, and regulatory standing.”
—Tetiana Honchar, Platform Product Manager at Atlaslive
Building Long-Term Operational Resilience
Online casino vulnerabilities rarely appear suddenly. They tend to develop gradually through small operational gaps, unnoticed KPI changes, or infrastructure that struggles to handle scale.
For established operators, proactive monitoring and structured governance are essential. Security, performance, compliance, and scalability must function together as part of an integrated operational system.
Operators that treat vulnerability management as a continuous operational discipline are better positioned to protect revenue integrity, maintain regulatory standing, and scale their businesses with greater stability.
To learn more about this topic, read the full article on the Atlaslive blog.
This document is provided to you for your information and discussion only. This document was based on public sources of information and was created by the Atlaslive team for marketing usage. It is not a solicitation or an offer to buy or sell any gambling-related product. Nothing in this document constitutes legal or business development advice. This document has been prepared from sources Atlaslive believes to be reliable, but we do not guarantee its accuracy or completeness and do not accept liability for any loss arising from its use. Atlaslive reserves the right to remedy any errors that may be present in this document.
About Atlaslive
Atlaslive is a B2B software development company that specializes in creating a multifunctional and automated platform to optimize the workflow of sports betting and casino operators. Key components of the Atlaslive Platform include Sportsbook, Casino, Risk Management and Anti-Fraud Tools, CRM, Bonus Engine, Business Analytics, Payment Systems, and Retail Module. Follow the company on LinkedIn to stay updated with the latest news in iGaming technology.
The post How Established Operators Can Address Online Casino Vulnerabilities: Atlaslive’s Recommendations appeared first on Americas iGaming & Sports Betting News.
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