Banijay Asia, a part of Banijay Entertainment, and NODWIN Gaming, a material subsidiary of Nazara Technologies, today announced a strategic partnership to revolutionize esports, gaming and youth entertainment in India. This collaboration marks a significant step in blending cutting-edge content with the booming gaming and youth culture ecosystem. As part of this alliance, Banijay Asia will take the helm in producing Playground, NODWIN Gaming’s flagship gaming reality show that has redefined the intersection of gaming, entertainment, and influencer culture in the region. The partnership will also bring new scripted and captive reality shows to daylight, with both companies co-developing new intellectual properties (IPs) and pioneering fresh content concepts across gaming, esports and youth culture.

Deepak Dhar, Founder & Group CEO – Banijay Asia & Endemol Shine India, commented, “This collaboration with NODWIN Gaming is an exciting extension of our vision to create content that resonates with evolving youth audiences. Gaming is not just a sport; it’s a culture, a lifestyle, and a massive content opportunity. With Playground and our upcoming IPs, we aim to redefine engagement and storytelling in this space.” He further added, “I look forward to the creative collaboration with Akshat Rathee, and Joost Roset who we previously worked with, in bringing iconic global IPs to India. This is an invaluable opportunity to create clutter-breaking formats in the youth and gaming space.”

With a diverse portfolio of high-impact IPs including the televised esports tournament – BGMI Masters Series (BGMS), Comic Con India, NH7 Weekender, and more, NODWIN Gaming is a key player in the gaming, esports and youth entertainment ecosystem.

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Talking about the partnership, Akshat Rathee, Co-Founder & MD, NODWIN Gaming, said, “Youth entertainment is evolving rapidly, and our partnership with Banijay Asia positions us perfectly to lead that change. With Playground, we’ve just begun to explore what’s possible. Backed by Banijay’s global expertise, we’re now set to scale the IP across multiple languages and markets, with the ambition of building an international format. At the heart of our approach is our philosophy of ‘timeshare of mindshare’. We’re not just creating content, we’re creating cultural moments. The Rusk creative team will stay actively involved as we expand the universe of Playground, aiming to grow from one show to between five and ten each year. This is just the beginning of a bold new chapter in gaming and youth content.”

With gaming emerging as one of the most influential youth-driven industries, this partnership is poised to set new benchmarks in how gaming and entertainment are consumed in India. By leveraging Banijay Asia’s expertise in content creation and NODWIN Gaming’s deep-rooted understanding of gaming communities, the collaboration promises to push creative boundaries and capture the imagination of young audiences nationwide.

Banijay Entertainment has strong expertise in the gaming space, via its global distribution arm Banijay Rights, with successful gaming activations leveraging key brands including Peaky Blinders, Black Mirror, Simon’s Cat and MasterChef.

New integration empowers operators to reach players on Telegram with context-driven messages that drive engagement 

scoreconnect, an innovative communication platform tailored for sports betting and gaming, announced a new partnership with Optimove, the leader in Positionless Marketing, to enhance personalised content via Telegram.

Optimove’s extensive iGaming partner portfolio can now easily activate scoreconnect’s cutting-edge Telegram integration with just a few clicks. This allows operators to extend their reach and capabilities into Telegram—engaging players where they are, in real time, using scoreconnect’s powerful tools to drive better outcomes.

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scoreconnect’s platform connects directly to an operator’s live data via PAM or CRM, enabling intelligent automation that responds to what the player is doing—right now. That accuracy has been proven to improve retention, increase turnover from messaging and boost conversion from sign-up to deposit.

During SBC Summit Americas 2025 in Fort Lauderdale, scoreconnect presented its Telegram Play, a fully functional experience showing players claiming bonuses, placing bets, and receiving updates—all inside a Telegram chat window, with no redirects or delays.

scoreconnect CEO Antonio Ruggeri said: “Partnering with Optimove is a big moment for the business given its standing in the market. This integration means frictionless deployment and faster time to value. With Telegram Play, we’re not just enabling messaging—we’re enabling intelligent, real-time interaction that boosts player engagement where it matters most.”

Optimove Senior Director of Partnerships, Adi Dagan said: “We’re thrilled to welcome scoreconnect to Optimove’s partner ecosystem. Their innovative Telegram solution is a game-changer, and we’re proud to bring it to our clients. Because of scoreconnect, we can now engage more players in real time with powerful, personalised experiences that drive real impact.”

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

Scientific Games was recognised with three prestigious honours in the 23rd Annual American Business Awards. The global lottery company won two Gold ABA awards for its retail technology, SciQ and PlayCentral Powered by SciQ, in the Operations Management Solutions and Emerging Technology categories, respectively. Scientific Games’ recently retired VP, Instant Game Production, Joe Bennett, earned a Silver ABA Award for Achievement in Management—Manufacturing, recognising his career contributions in secure lottery instant game production. This year, more than 3700 nominations from organisations of all sizes and industries were submitted to the ABAs. Winners were scored by more than 300 professionals worldwide during a rigorous judging process evaluating innovation, integrity, effectiveness, creativity and growth.

MGM Resorts has announced that it has reached a new employment agreement with CEO & President Bill Hornbuckle through December 31, 2028. As part of his new employment contract, the Company has also agreed to offer Hornbuckle an advisory agreement at the end of the term to assist with its integrated resort project in Osaka, Japan until its opening. As CEO, Hornbuckle oversees all aspects of MGM Resorts’ strategy, operations and hospitality and gaming development projects. He leads the company’s global development efforts and its digital gaming strategy.

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Minimum Deposit Casinos (MDC) has released new insights into the tightening regulatory landscape for sweepstakes-based gaming in the US. Recent moves by lawmakers in New York, Louisiana, and Montana suggest a coordinated push to eliminate or restrict these alternative online gambling models. In New York, Senate Bill 5935, introduced by Sen. Joseph Addabbo, has advanced through the legislative process and targets the operation and supply of sweepstakes-style platforms. The bill specifically addresses platforms that use two forms of digital currency — one of which can be redeemed for real-world prizes — a setup now under scrutiny by state regulators.

New Partnerships

Rush Street Interactive (RSI), in partnership with Integrity Compliance 360 (IC360), has launched a new initiative called Gaming Literacy Aiding Decisions (GLAD), an innovative programme designed to assist educators in enhancing high school student gaming literacy and promoting that cohort’s responsible relationship with this ever more socially prevalent activity. The GLAD curriculum will initially launch in New Jersey and Delaware where, this spring, RSI and IC360 have been working with educational districts on a speaker series and educator curriculum delivery. These initial efforts will help define success metrics and gather feedback to shape the programme’s future, which will ultimately be available to educators more broadly to curate the content that resonates best with students.

The Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation (OLG) has selected Caesars Entertainment as the Service Provider in the Windsor Casino procurement process. This is the final procurement process in the OLG’s land-based gaming modernisation initiative. Caesars Entertainment and its predecessor companies have partnered with the OLG to operate Caesars Windsor (fka. Casino Windsor) since the opening of the temporary facility in 1994. Caesars Entertainment will assume responsibility for gaming and non-gaming operations of the Windsor casino on behalf of the OLG under a 20-year operating agreement, which is expected to begin in 2026.