Hong Bao

What is Hong Bao?

Black Cube, an intelligence firm hired by Playtech in 2020 to look into alleged illegal behaviour at its rival Evolution, released a divisive report into Evolution’s actions. Evolution denied and refuted much of its findings.

Evolution then commissioned Spectrum Gaming Group to produce a report on its actions and the validity of the Black Cube report. Produced in 2022, the report has long been subject to confidentiality despite Evolution claiming the report exonerated the company.

Playtech on Wednesday published a statement highlighting what it claimed were compliance failures at Evolution, written into the Spectrum report.

What is Hong Bao?

Prior to announcing the Yahoo Finance accord last November, Polymarket and one of its rivals unveiled deals with Google Finance.

In January, Polymarket and Dow Jones announced an agreement that paved the way for event contract data to appear on various Dow Jones sites, including The Wall Street Journal. Dow Jones also owns Barron’s, Investor’s Business Daily and MarketWatch, among other media properties.

Polymarket also has marketing deals with Major League Baseball (MLB), Major League Soccer (MLS), the NHL and UFC.

What is Hong Bao?

Nobody is predicting the end of gambling. The market is still growing. Good operators are still making money. New products are emerging.

But what has changed is what shareholders want those companies to prove – and the price they are willing to pay for that proof.

Fantini points to land-based examples like Red Rock Resorts and Monarch Casino as companies that can still attract capital because they offer sensible growth and strong management. That is a telling comparison with the industry’s recent past.