About this app
What is Fiery Fruits?
“I’m trying to address every stage: prevention, support for people who are already struggling, and then action against the illegal sites.”
He does not believe illegal gambling can simply be eliminated. But he believes it can be made harder to operate. That may be the more realistic role for companies such as Trace2Trace as the illegal market evolves: not replacing regulators or enforcement agencies, but providing the intelligence needed to see beyond the individual URL. For Madsen, the motivation remains deeply personal: “I know very well what gambling addiction can do to people.”
The emergence of his company along with a string of others reflects a growing need in the industry: as illegal operators become more adept at moving, cloning and disguising their online presence, enforcement may increasingly depend on understanding the deep workings of the networks behind the screen.
What is Fiery Fruits?
It requires operators to describe in detail how they will responsibly wind down their operations should their licence not be renewed or be revoked. Or if they decide to leave the market midway through the five years between renewals.
The regulator noted that several operators received “additional points for attention”, indicating that while these applicants met minimum legal thresholds, the KSA expected continuous improvements in compliance practices.
In June, one of the operators, TOTO online BV, was reported for violating the ban on featuring role models in advertising materials.
About Fiery Fruits
According to Multiples.VC, the average enterprise multiple (EV/EBITDA) of top US-listed gaming companies is currently 10x. Data from New York University last updated in January pegged the overall market average at 23.9x and 19.7x among EBITDA-positive firms, suggesting the sector is undervalued relative to other industries. In a report released Monday, Fitch Ratings said most North American gaming companies hold “Stable” outlooks with “adequate rating headroom” despite consumer headwinds.
Macquarie’s Beynon agrees with that sentiment, pointing to the relative stability of gaming companies through tough economic stretches such as the Covid-19 pandemic. Bankruptcies in the sector have been low relative to the broader market, he notes, and both land-based and digital companies have reason for optimism moving forward.
“It’s certainly not lost on us that this sector has underperformed for several years in a row just because it doesn’t have either the growth of say, tech companies, or the perceived free cash flow-insulated businesses, which we believe it does…We’ve thought there’s been value in the sector for a few years, particularly this year,” he told iGB.
