Latest News
Midnite appoints former LiveScore Group CPO Sam Talbot as Vice President of Product
Midnite, the hyper-growth UK sportsbook and casino operator, has appointed Sam Talbot as Vice President of Product, strengthening the company’s leadership team as it accelerates its product-led strategy and pursuit of Tier 1 status in global markets.
Talbot brings more than 15 years of experience in product leadership roles across digital and consumer-facing platforms, with a proven track record of scaling product teams, defining strategic roadmaps, and building innovative user-centric solutions. Most recently Sam served as Chief Product Officer at LiveScore Group, where he led product strategy and development across high-traffic sports and entertainment products, driving engagement and growth.
He joins at a pivotal time for Midnite following its recent $35 million Series C funding round led by The Raine Group, which took total funding beyond $75 million and is being used to scale operations, accelerate development of best-in-class products and support international expansion. A key focus of the investment is expanding Midnite’s product and engineering capabilities as it pursues its ambition of becoming a tier-1 operator.
Midnite develops its entire platform in-house, with all engineering teams based in the UK. This approach enables rapid innovation and a deeply customer-centric product strategy, which has underpinned the company’s rapid growth and challenger brand positioning.
Nick Wright, Co-Founder of Midnite, said: “Midnite is product obsessed, so bringing Sam on board as VP of Product felt like a completely natural fit. He shares our DNA when it comes to building for players first, and he brings the leadership and experience we need as we scale.
“Our vision is to become a tier-1, market-leading, product-led operator, and that means continuing to raise the bar for what the betting and gaming experience should feel like. Sam will play a central role in shaping that future. With the backing we’ve secured and the team we’re building, there’s a huge amount to come from Midnite this year.”
Sam Talbot added: “Midnite’s commitment to in-house technology and genuine product innovation really stood out to me. This is a team that cares deeply about the player experience and moves quickly to deliver it. I’m excited to be joining at such an important stage of growth and to help build products that set new standards in the industry.”
Founded in 2015 by Nick Wright and Daniel Qu, Midnite has grown rapidly in recent years, expanding its product mix and team while establishing itself as one of the UK’s most exciting challenger brands. With significant new investment and an expanding leadership team, the company is focused on closing the gap with the market’s largest operators through product excellence and innovation.
The post Midnite appoints former LiveScore Group CPO Sam Talbot as Vice President of Product appeared first on Eastern European Gaming | Global iGaming & Tech Intelligence Hub.
American gambling industry
Gaming Americas Weekly Roundup – January 26-February 1
Welcome to our weekly roundup of American gambling news again! Here, we are going through the weekly highlights of the American gambling industry which include the latest news and new partnerships. Read on and get updated.
Latest News
ComeOn Group has launched its new marketing campaign in Ontario. The campaign underscores ComeOn Group’s long-term commitment to sustainable expansion – powered by ComeOn’s proprietary technology and a clear focus on delivering standout, personalised entertainment experiences at scale. At the centre of the campaign is a series of premium television commercials starring Jeremy Piven, a long-standing ComeOn brand ambassador. Piven’s high-energy presence and authentic connection to sports reinforce the brand’s entertainment-first positioning, bringing ComeOn’s sportsbook experience to life across TV and digital. Produced by ComeOn Group’s internal creative hub, the campaign provides a cohesive creative platform that clearly differentiates the brand in a crowded market.
Michigan commercial and tribal operators have reported a combined $399.8 million total internet gaming (iGaming) gross receipts and gross sports betting receipts in December. Gross receipts increased 19.1% compared to November. December iGaming gross receipts totaled $315.8 million, the highest to date. The previous high was $278.5 million recorded in October 2025. December gross sports betting receipts totaled $84.0 million, which is a decrease from the $87.3 million recorded in November. Combined total iGaming and internet sports betting adjusted gross receipts (AGR) for December were $357.87 million, including $296.74 million from iGaming and $61.13 million from internet sports betting — representing an iGaming increase of 27.2% and a sports betting decrease of 5.6% when compared to November 2025.
The Cordish Companies and Bruce Smith Enterprise celebrated the highly-anticipated grand opening of Live! Casino Virginia, the region’s first full-scale casino. The opening of the temporary gaming facility marks an important milestone in bringing new jobs, economic development and tourism to the region while construction advances on the permanent resort destination next door. Located just 25 miles south of Richmond and only 45 miles north of the North Carolina border, Live! Casino Virginia is conveniently off I-95 at Exit 48B. Live! Casino Virginia delivers a full-scale gaming experience 24 hours a day, seven days a week, featuring 75,000 square feet of gaming space with more than 900 state-of-the-art slot machines and over 30 live-action table games.
Partnerships
GuardDog, a responsible play innovation fund from Underdog, has announced an investment in Regen, the first platform to automatically convert entries into savings with every play. In addition to the investment, Underdog will feature Regen as a new resource in its responsible play hub, highlight Regen in customer communications from the responsible play and customer support teams as well as provide access to the platform to all of its employees. Regen allows users to link their sportsbook, fantasy sports and prediction market accounts, and automatically save a small percentage from every entry, win or loss, creating savings without changing how they play.
Table Trac Inc. has announced that the Mardi Gras Hotel & Casino located in Las Vegas, United States, Nevada, will soon have Table Trac Inc.’s CasinoTrac casino management system installed. Mardi Gras Hotel and Casino is located just steps from the Las Vegas Convention Center and Main Monorail terminal the Mardi Gras is convenient to all of the World Famous attractions of Las Vegas.
The post Gaming Americas Weekly Roundup – January 26-February 1 appeared first on Eastern European Gaming | Global iGaming & Tech Intelligence Hub.
Africa Bet Partners
How Traffy Cut FTD Cost in Half and Scaled Betting in Tanzania for Africa Bet Partners via Moloco Ads
This case highlights the impact of systematic optimization in Moloco Ads for the Betting vertical. Despite market turbulence in East Africa, Traffy not only maintained Africa Bet’s KPIs but also significantly improved ROI through deep, data-driven optimization.
Project Overview
Africa Bet Partners Offer: Betting
Traffic Partner: Traffy
Source: Moloco Ads (Google Play Inventory)
Geo: Tanzania (TZ)
Period: 2 months
Total Spend: ~$42,000
Final CR (Reg-to-FTD): 60%
Final CR (FTD 1-to-FTD 2): 45%
Challenge and Initial Metrics
At the launch of the campaign, the situation was challenging. The complex economic and political environment in Tanzania had a direct impact on consumer purchasing power and the stability of payment systems.
Initial Cost per FTD: $15.00
Goal: Reduce the cost of the target action to below $8 and identify scaling potential.
Optimization Strategy: What Was Done
The success of this case is the result of Traffy’s consistent work across four key areas:
1. Traffic Quality Management (Exchanges & Publishers)
Traffy conducted a comprehensive audit of publishers (placements) through which Moloco acquired inventory.
- Blacklists were created based on low deposit conversion.
- Collaboration was optimized with specific ad exchanges that demonstrated stronger Retention.
2. Creative Strategy
Traffy moved away from standard approaches and implemented a system of regular testing of new creative packs. Creative optimization significantly increased CTR and IPM, providing the Moloco algorithm with more data for learning.
3. Traffic Cleanup to Avoid Paying for Bots
- Placements with suspicious install times (CTIT) were filtered out to protect against click flooding.
- Device “farms” were identified and banned through Device ID analysis.
- Using BI tools, installs were cross-checked with real user activity. Placements with no engagement were added to the Blacklist.
4. Funnel Optimization
Through targeting optimization at the campaign level, Traffy attracted more relevant users. This led to an increase in the CR from registration to FTD up to 60%, which is an abnormally high indicator for this region.
Key Insight
Deep publisher analytics in Moloco Ads combined with category segmentation allows reducing deposit cost by more than 2x while maintaining high player quality (Retention and repeat deposits).
Result
Traffy not only met Africa Bet’s KPIs but also built a stable model for further scaling. Even in “difficult” geos, a systematic optimization approach makes it possible to achieve outstanding results. At the moment, the campaign continues to run, and user Retention (FTD 2) shows organic growth.
The post How Traffy Cut FTD Cost in Half and Scaled Betting in Tanzania for Africa Bet Partners via Moloco Ads appeared first on Eastern European Gaming | Global iGaming & Tech Intelligence Hub.
Africa Bet Partners
How Traffy Cut FTD Cost in Half and Scaled Betting in Tanzania for Africa Bet Partners via Moloco Ads
This case highlights the impact of systematic optimization in Moloco Ads for the Betting vertical. Despite market turbulence in East Africa, Traffy not only maintained Africa Bet’s KPIs but also significantly improved ROI through deep, data-driven optimization.
Project Overview
Africa Bet Partners Offer: Betting
Traffic Partner: Traffy
Source: Moloco Ads (Google Play Inventory)
Geo: Tanzania (TZ)
Period: 2 months
Total Spend: ~$42,000
Final CR (Reg-to-FTD): 60%
Final CR (FTD 1-to-FTD 2): 45%
Challenge and Initial Metrics
At the launch of the campaign, the situation was challenging. The complex economic and political environment in Tanzania had a direct impact on consumer purchasing power and the stability of payment systems.
Initial Cost per FTD: $15.00
Goal: Reduce the cost of the target action to below $8 and identify scaling potential.
Optimization Strategy: What Was Done
The success of this case is the result of Traffy’s consistent work across four key areas:
1. Traffic Quality Management (Exchanges & Publishers)
Traffy conducted a comprehensive audit of publishers (placements) through which Moloco acquired inventory.
- Blacklists were created based on low deposit conversion.
- Collaboration was optimized with specific ad exchanges that demonstrated stronger Retention.
2. Creative Strategy
Traffy moved away from standard approaches and implemented a system of regular testing of new creative packs. Creative optimization significantly increased CTR and IPM, providing the Moloco algorithm with more data for learning.
3. Traffic Cleanup to Avoid Paying for Bots
- Placements with suspicious install times (CTIT) were filtered out to protect against click flooding.
- Device “farms” were identified and banned through Device ID analysis.
- Using BI tools, installs were cross-checked with real user activity. Placements with no engagement were added to the Blacklist.
4. Funnel Optimization
Through targeting optimization at the campaign level, Traffy attracted more relevant users. This led to an increase in the CR from registration to FTD up to 60%, which is an abnormally high indicator for this region.
Key Insight
Deep publisher analytics in Moloco Ads combined with category segmentation allows reducing deposit cost by more than 2x while maintaining high player quality (Retention and repeat deposits).
Result
Traffy not only met Africa Bet’s KPIs but also built a stable model for further scaling. Even in “difficult” geos, a systematic optimization approach makes it possible to achieve outstanding results. At the moment, the campaign continues to run, and user Retention (FTD 2) shows organic growth.
The post How Traffy Cut FTD Cost in Half and Scaled Betting in Tanzania for Africa Bet Partners via Moloco Ads appeared first on Americas iGaming & Sports Betting News.
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