Team Vitality, one of the world’s leading esports clubs, is excited to announce the launch of RushBee, a new marketing agency designed to deliver high-impact, culturally relevant campaigns. Built to meet the evolving expectations of Gen Z and Alpha, RushBee helps brands craft authentic narratives that drive engagement across gaming, entertainment, and pop culture.

Building on over a decade of Team Vitality’s expertise in building online communities and partnering with top content creators, RushBee offers brands a unique gateway into emerging digital behaviours and trends. The agency specializes in immersive, social-first brand experiences that connect meaningfully with digital-native audiences.

While rooted in the gaming culture, RushBee’s ambitions go beyond the esports sector, aiming to help brands engage with next-gen audiences across traditional and media industries, creating immersive,social-first brand experiences, designed for Gen Z and Alpha.

RUSHBEE: THE AGENCY SERVING BRANDS IN TODAY’S FAST-MOVING DIGITAL WORLD

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With over 3.3 billion gamers worldwide, younger generations are shifting their attention from traditional media to new platforms such as Twitch, TikTok, and YouTube. Video games and social media are now the pillars of contemporary pop culture and the brands looking to connect meaningfully with Gen Z and Alpha, must embrace this cultural phenomenon to be successful.

RushBee has been launched to help brands navigate this cultural phenomenon with authenticity, speed, and creative edge. With a team of experts in strategy, production and creation, RushBee will deliver standout brand stories that resonate across platforms and generations to help brands cut through the noise, offering complete support on four major key pillars including:

• Brand strategy: Connect brands with the new generation of consumers who shape trends and spark cultural conversations – turning attention into long-term affinity.
• Creative factory: From idea to execution, crafting bold, original campaigns that cut through the noise and come to life across every channel.
• Growth media: Design data-led, tailor-made media strategies that reach the right audience, spark engagement, and drive measurable results.
• Experiential: Building immersive, innovative brand experiences that captivate all types of audiences and create lasting emotional impact.

Under the leadership of François-Xavier Roux – an expert in creative industries and artistic production with a background at M6 Music, Paramount Media Networks, and Endemol – RushBee is positioning itself as a new force in cultural marketing. “Through RushBee, we want to channel the expertise we’ve developed in esports to service more traditional brands,” explains François-Xavier. “The high expectations of gaming and esports communities have pushed us to move faster, think sharper, and execute with greater precision than traditional agencies, especially when it comes to creativity and data. RushBee is uniquely equipped to tell powerful stories and help brands create bold, engaging campaigns that resonate.”

Drawing on his deep experience in brand strategy and the production of high-impact content, François-Xavier will guide brands across the entire value chain, from strategic consulting and creative campaigns to immersive activations, talent partnerships, and the production of innovative formats.

TEAM VITALITY PROVIDES PREMIUM SUPPORT TO BRANDS

Leveraging a network of partners including ALDI, NESCAFÉ LATTE, UNILEVER, hummel, and EVNIA by Philips, RushBee draws on Team Vitality’s proven expertise in brand collaboration. Rooted in a global footprint including 12 esports teams across Europe, Asia, and the Americas, over 13 million social media followers, and offices in Paris and Berlin, RushBee builds on a strong foundation of influence and credibility.

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This new business unit represents a powerful growth engine, enhancing Team Vitality’s premium services and marking a new chapter where cultural relevance, sporting ambition, and long-term value creation converge.

Team Vitality continues its expansion with a clear objective: to become the go-to partner for brands shaping the future of gaming, entertainment, and digital culture.

Amélie Canet, Director of Strategy and Brand Development at Team Vitality, shares:
“The creation of RushBee aligns perfectly with our 2025–2027 roadmap and marks a strategic turning point for Team Vitality. It reflects our ambition to build a sustainable business model that supports our global development beyond pure competitive performance. RushBee embodies our commitment to innovation, diversification, and delivering tangible value, both for our long-standing partners and new brands seeking to connect with the digital generation. It also reinforces our positioning as a premium international brand.”

Fujitsu, the leading provider of infrastructure and platform solutions to businesses in the global online gambling industry and beyond, has named Sammi Abdulla as Business Development Manager for iGaming.

Sammi is a highly experienced business development manager, having held roles at major companies both inside and outside of the industry. Most recently, he was Business Development Manager at media powerhouse, Next.io.

As Business Development Manager at Fujitsu, Sammi has been tasked with driving the company’s expansion within the global online gambling industry, building meaningful relationships, understanding the unique demands of the sector and aligning Fujitsu’s solutions with client needs.

This includes delivering tailored platform and infrastructure solutions such as compute, storage and hybrid cloud. Sammi will also consult on technical requirements and compliance standards and support clients in driving digital transformation initiatives that improve scalability, uptime and security.

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Over the coming months, his priority will be to engage with key stakeholders across the industry, demonstrate how Fujitsu’s technology can add real value and help clients to strengthen and futureproof their operations via scalable, secure and reliable infrastructure.

Nick McDonald, iGaming Account Director at Fujitsu, said: “Sammi is one of the most experienced Business Development Managers in the sector with a proven track record at renowned organisations both in and out of the industry. We are delighted to be able to leverage this as we look to strengthen our position in the market. 

“Fujitsu’s platform and infrastructure solutions set the standard for others to follow, and with Sammi on board, we can make more operators and suppliers aware of our suite of products and how they can help them future proof their operations. 

“This is a significant hire for Fujitsu, and I look forward to working closely with Sammi in the weeks, months and years to come.”

Sammi Abdulla, Business Development Manager for iGaming at Fujitsu, added: “I’m thrilled to have joined Fujitsu and to be diving even deeper into the iGaming world, a space I have good knowledge of and feel passionate about. 

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“With Fujitsu’s powerful tech behind us, I’m excited to help our clients level up their infrastructure, stay ahead of the game and maybe even have a little bit of fun while we do it. 

“I’m also looking forward to working with the incredible Fujitsu team, which has already made me feel incredibly welcome.”

Legalizing online casino gaming could add $18.4 billion to US state budgets, a new study says.

The report, conducted by online casino comparison site BonusFinder.com, analyzed tax revenue generated by online casinos across the seven US states where they are already legal — Connecticut, Delaware, Michigan, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and West Virginia — to estimate the total economic impact.

Based on average per-adult spending of $262.40 in those markets, the researchers estimated how much revenue the remaining 44 jurisdictions, including Washington D.C., could generate if they adopted similar legislation.

In total, the study estimated that the states are leaving up to $62 billion in gross revenue on the table.

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With a 30% tax rate — an average of the seven states with legal online casino gaming— this would translate into $18.4 billion in tax income annually. Even with a more conservative tax rate of 20%, the figures could reach $12.3 billion.

California is estimated to be missing out on the most — with the analysis showing that its adult population of approximately 31 million could generate up to $2.4 billion in annual tax revenue.

“These numbers highlight two problems,” said Luciano Passavanti, Vice President at BonusFinder.com. “States are missing out on billions in tax revenue, and consumers are being pushed to platforms that don’t offer the same safety, accountability, or responsible gaming tools as licensed operators.”

This concern is backed by a recent report from research firm Yield Sec, which found that 74% of gross gaming revenue in the US in 2023 — totaling $67.1 billion — came from unlicensed, illegal, and unregulated operators.

That means the vast majority of online gambling activity is still happening outside state oversight — costing governments billions in potential tax income and leaving players vulnerable.

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“The demand for online casino gaming already exists — but right now, the money is flowing offshore,” Passavanti added. “States that act now have the chance to bring that revenue back into their own economies, and to do so responsibly.”

States where online casino gaming is already legal are directing the funds into essential public services. In Michigan, more than $400 million from iGaming taxes, which includes both online sports betting and online casinos, went to the School Aid Fund, $4 million to the First Responder Presumed Coverage Fund and $3.7 million to the state’s agricultural and equine development programs.

Beyond the financial upside, regulated online casino markets allow states to implement age verification, deposit limits, and self-exclusion tools, offering far stronger consumer protections than offshore operators.

“With over $18 billion in annual tax revenue potentially at stake, the case for legalization is becoming harder to ignore.” Passavanti said.

“As states continue to explore ways to balance budgets and modernize outdated gambling laws, regulated online casinos could offer both financial upside and meaningful consumer protections — if policymakers are ready to act.”

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