Tipico, a leading global sportsbook operator, unveiled its “Big Game” promotions. To qualify for Tipico’s Big Game SGP Competition, eligible customers must successfully wager $50 or more in real money on a bet with a minimum of two parlay legs on Sunday’s matchup. The top finishers of the SGP Competition will be those who place winning bets with the longest parlay odds.

One Grand Prize package will be awarded to the individual with the longest parlay odds on their bet. The Grand Prize package, which is valued at approximately $10,000, includes two complimentary tickets to a championship sporting event of the winner’s choosing along with two airfare tickets and a two-night hotel stay. The Top 10 Runners Up of the SGP Competition will receive five $100 Bet Credits totalling $500 to use on NBA or NCAAB wagers in the Tipico Sportsbook, issued weekly to each winner after the Competition concludes.

“Placing a Big Game bet enhances the most watched annual sports event on the planet. But why stop at a straight bet? In the Same Game Parlay Competition, bettors can up the ante and compete for the experience of a lifetime,” Adrian Vella, CEO of Tipico North America, said.

In addition to the Same Game Parlay Competition, on the heels of the Cincinnati Bengals’ AFC Championship loss against the Kansas City Chiefs, eligible Tipico users can also participate in the Bengals Revenge Bet promotion. To take advantage of this offer, bettors must place a minimum moneyline bet of $50 or more on the Philadelphia Eagles to win the game. Along with their real money return, winners will secure two $5 bet credits: one on the Bengals to beat the Kansas City Chiefs in their first matchup of the 2023-2024 season, and one on the Bengals to win the Big Game in 2024.

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“We embraced Ohio teams as we entered the market, and mourn with you, Cincinnati. At Tipico, we are Eagles fans for the week – but with confidence that the Bengals will be back in force next year! The Bengals Revenge Bet allows fans to channel their passion and frustration into the first shot at redemption by betting against Cincinnati’s newest rival,” Vella said.

Within the last several months, Tipico has created and debuted several promotions and competitions to further pledge its commitment to its customer base, particularly in conjunction with its recent launch in the state of Ohio. These include Tipico’s “Win Ohio” Grand Prize Sweepstakes, a free-to-play game leading up to the Tipico Ohio launch, along with a myriad of Ohio-centric promotions including bet credits, deposit matches, and welcome offers.

In 2022, the BlackByte ransomware group published a 292MB file containing sensitive information from the San Francisco 49ers. Like teams, venues and vendors, bookmakers are also in danger as they handle a large volume of personal data in the run-up to major events, during the events themselves and in the aftermath.

With the Big Game coming up soon in Arizona, Sumsub, an all-in-one verification platform that secures the entire customer journey with customizable KYC, KYB, transaction monitoring and AML solutions, has outlined what to expect and how to avoid threats associated with major events.

Expected traffic increases

Last year’s Big Game registered more than 101 million viewers according to the Nielsen consultancy. American fans avidly continue to bet on major sporting events as more and more states legalize gambling following the removal of a federal ban. By the end of 2022, the online betting industry registered a growth of two billion dollars, driven by sports pools.

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Based on its experience with traffic spikes at major sporting events, Sumsub expects to see a traffic increase of more than 83% at sportsbooks around the last game of the football season.

“Though major sporting events attract much-desired traffic to betting platforms, cybercriminals and scammers increase in number as well, so bookmakers need to take extra care. Manual verification is not optimal because, with the increased user traffic, onboarding time grows accordingly, so the best choice would be to find a trusted all-in-one verification provider offering an advanced automated solution for KYC, AML and anti-fraud,” said Andrew Sever, co-founder and CEO of Sumsub.

As user traffic increases and verification takes longer, it can be tempting for betting platforms to cut some expenses. This is especially true for bookmakers used to performing manual verification, which can take more than 24 hours under normal circumstances and much longer during big events. Bookmakers know that if verification takes too long, users will go to the competition. As a result, they may be willing to sacrifice verification accuracy for speed.

However, this type of compromise inevitably leads to regulatory sanctions. For example, Entain, the owner of Ladbrokes, was fined £17 million ($20.6 million)—the largest ever fine in the UK—for failing to enforce player security and anti-money laundering measures.

Surge in fraud

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Fraud is increasing in the gaming sector. In Q1 2022, fraud increased 50.1% compared to Q1 2021. There was also an 85% increase in fake account registrations compared to Q4 2021. The upcoming Big Game is expected to attract even more fraudsters.

The list of fraud schemes that bookmakers experience is extensive:

• arbitrage betting
• multiple accounts
• identity theft
• account takeover
• money laundering
• affiliate fraud

Cybersecurity threats

“Big sporting events and hacking go hand in hand and the bigger the event, the more threats there are. Attackers can be individual hacker groups looking to make a quick buck or politically oriented groups wanting to steal sensitive information,” added Andrew Sever.

Cyberattacks range from hacking into match broadcasts and security cameras to stealing the personal data of athletes, organizers and spectators. More attention needs to be paid to collecting and storing user data securely, as well as increasing the overall resistance of betting platforms to hackers.

Best ways to avoid threats while enjoying high traffic?

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During major sporting events, the challenge for bookmakers is to onboard users without reducing approval rates, all while remaining AML (anti-money laundering) compliant and maintaining security.

The solution is to create an automated verification flow that allows users to easily onboard and go through extra checks only where and when it really matters. Below is a list of checks bookmakers can employ at each stage of the customer journey. There are also some suggestions on how to make this flow even more agile:

Request a minimum number of checks at the time of registration. When a user registers for the first time, platforms may limit verification procedures to collecting names and checking phone numbers or email, and verifying the user’s Social Security Number (SSN). This way, the user becomes familiar with the service and is more motivated to go through the full verification procedure when he really wants to place a bet.

Deploy simplified checks when appropriate. For low-risk users, bookmakers can introduce a simplified check using a single document, as long as it contains identity and address information. This allows users to avoid uploading additional documents to verify their address, thus increasing approval rates.

Add additional checks when users make their first deposit. This could include bank card verification and facial biometric check to ensure that the true cardholder is making a deposit.

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Introduce facial recognition to prevent fraud. Doing this at the onboarding stage combats multi-accounting. Adding biometric verification when users log in or recover their account ensures that fraudsters can’t hack it. And it’s often even more important to use it at the stage of withdrawal of funds, which is where more fraud tends to occur.

“Adding these checks to the flow reduces verification time and still ensures security. For example, Kaizen Gaming moved from manual verification to Sumsub’s automated solution, reduced their average onboarding time to 1 minute 39 seconds and increased its overall performance by 350%, all while eliminating fraud,” concluded Sever.

BetMGM prepares for its largest single day of engagement as the country’s attention turns to the biggest game of the football calendar. Now live in 20 markets, BetMGM is introducing new in-game experiences for its customers including exclusive free-to-play contests, promotions and a deep library of unique prop wagers. Details listed below.

NEW CONTESTS AND PROMOTIONS

• $100K “King of the Big Game” Contest: All BetMGM users can win $100,000 without making a wager. The free-to-play “King of the Big Game” challenges all players to make predictions on six propositions. Players who guess all six correctly will win the $100,000 grand prize. If no one guesses all six, the players who get the most will collect $1,000. Questions include:
  1. Who will have the most receiving yards?
  2. Who will have the most rushing yards?
  3. What will be the longest field goal kicked?
  4. What will be the longest touchdown scored?
  5. How many total turnovers will there be?
  6. What’s the color of the sports drink that will be dropped on the winning coach?

• BOGO One Game Parlay: All players new-and-old can earn a free wager when they place a One Game Parlay (OGP). The OGP is a low-risk, high-reward strategy that allows bettors to combine their favorite wagers for a single game to earn a large payout. Anyone who places a $10 OGP for the Big Game will be gifted $30 in free bets.
• Halftime Bet & Get: While everyone is enjoying the halftime show, BetMGM users who place a wager on who will score the first touchdown in the second half will receive an additional no-risk, free wager to make on the rest of the game.
• $56K Halftime Tournament: Customers in New Jersey, Michigan, West Virginia and Pennsylvania  head to the BetMGM Casino during halftime for an ultimate 30-minute slots tournament to win $56,000. The high-intensity competition lets users pull the mobile lever to try to tally up the most prize winnings before halftime is over.
• New Customer Promotions: New customers to BetMGM receive a $1,000 risk-free bet for the Big Game. Additionally, new users can bet $10 to win $200 if either team scores a touchdown.

BETTING INSIGHTS

• Notable Single Futures Bet on Bengals to Win: $50,000 to win $1,000,000 on Bengals (+2000)
• Notable Single Futures Bet on Rams to Win: $10,000 to win $120,000 on Rams (+1200)
• Notable Prop Bet on Big Game: $7,500 on Aaron Donald for Super Bowl MVP (+1600)

• Which Team Each State is Rooting for (via their Bets):

*Note: “Even” denotes 50% on Bengals, 50% on Rams

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• • Arizona: Tickets: Bengals, Handle: Even
  • Colorado: Tickets: Bengals, Handle: Bengals
  • D.C.: Tickets: Bengals, Handle: Bengals
  • Indiana: Tickets: Bengals, Handle: Bengals
  • Iowa: Tickets: Bengals, Handle: Bengals
  • Louisiana: Tickets: Bengals, Handle: Bengals
  • Maryland: Tickets: Bengals, Handle: Bengals
  • Michigan: Tickets: Rams, Handle: Rams
  • Mississippi: Tickets: Bengals, Handle: Bengals
  • Nevada: Tickets: Bengals, Handle: Rams
  • New Jersey: Tickets: Bengals, Handle: Bengals
  • New York: Tickets: Bengals, Handle: Even
  • Oregon: Tickets: Bengals, Handle: Even
  • Pennsylvania: Tickets: Bengals, Handle: Even
  • South Dakota: Tickets: Bengals, Handle: Bengals
  • Tennessee: Tickets: Bengals, Handle: Bengals
  • Virginia: Tickets: Bengals, Handle: Bengals
  • Washington: Tickets: Bengals, Handle: Bengals
  • West Virginia: Tickets: Bengals, Handle: Bengals
  • Wyoming: Tickets: Bengals, Handle: Bengals

CURRENT ODDS & LINES

• Gatorade Color:
  • Orange (+200)
  • Blue (+300)
  • Yellow/Green/Lime (+450) – betting favorite with 33% tickets; 36% handle
  • Clear (+450)
  • Red/Pink (+800)
  • Purple/Indigo/Violet (+1000)

• Coin Toss: BetMGM has received more bets on the coin toss than other popular prop bets such as Joe Burrow passing yards, Cooper Kupp Receiving Yards, Joe Mixon rushing yards, Odell Beckham Jr. receiving yards.
  • Heads (-105)
  • Tails (-105) – betting favorite with 60% tickets; 52% handle

• Super Bowl MVP:
  • Joe Burrow (+210) – betting favorite with 18.5% tickets; 30.0% handle
  • Matthew Stafford (+110)
  • Cooper Kupp (+600)
  • Ja’Marr Chase (+1400)
  • Aaron Donald (+2000)
  • Von Miller (+8000)

• Spread:
  • Rams -4.5
  • Bengals +4.5 – betting favorite with 56% tickets; 59% handle

• Total:
  • Over 48.5 – betting favorite with 56% tickets; 63% handle
  • Under 48.5