PlayUZU, Mexico’s leading online casino brand, is turning up the volume on entertainment. In a powerful new partnership with OCESA, Latin America’s top live entertainment promoter, the Skill-On-Net brand has signed on as an official sponsor of the iconic Palacio de los Deportes for the 2025–2026 season.

From March 2025 to February 2026, PlayUZU will be front and centre at more than 40 world-class concerts and live events, featuring top international artists and top-tier productions. PlayUZU players will have the chance to win tickets and VIP access to some of the hottest shows in the country via exclusive promotions and giveaways, gaining access to premium concert experiences and once-in-a-lifetime events.

The sponsorship is the centerpiece of PlayUZU’s blockbuster new campaign, “Sounds Like PlayUZU”, which positions music, fun, and excitement as the cornerstones of the brand. The campaign seeks to connect with the Mexican public by creating unforgettable moments, both in the digital world on the PlayUZU platform and at iconic venues like the Palacio.

PlayUZU continues to expand its presence in Mexico and offer added value that goes beyond online gaming. From backing the local entertainment scene to putting user safety and responsible gaming first, the brand is all about creating safe, fun, and meaningful experiences for its community.

Iñaki Paz, Country Manager of PlayUZU Mexico, said: “By teaming up with OCESA and the Palacio de los Deportes, we’re bringing the thrill of live entertainment directly to our community — on stage and online. This isn’t just a sponsorship. It’s an invitation: Join the movement. Live the music. Feel the excitement. Experience PlayUZU.”

Colombian operator BetPlay has partnered with interactive payment provider TAPPP and satellite television provider DirecTV to launch the first in-broadcast betting experience available directly from a television screen.

The product, which went live on Colombian Division A soccer games last week, enables BetPlay customers who subscribe to DirecTV to open an overlay on their TV screens while watching a live soccer match and place a bet within the same screen.

TAPPP’s patented payment technology facilitates the transaction between the broadcast and BetPlay, within both linear TV services and DirecTV’s streaming platform for the first time.

Reflecting on the launch at SBC Summit Americas in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, last week, TAPPP Chief Executive and Founder Sandy Agarwal said, while the product has only been live for six games, initial data shows that 14.5% of people watching the games clicked, age-verified, and accessed the betting experience. Moreover, 6.5% scrolled through to see what kind of bets were available and 37.5% showed intent to bet by linking their accounts.

Agarwal also said that early data from trials showed that when viewers placed even a modest bet, their engagement with the game rose from an average of 10 minutes to 21 minutes.

The technology has the potential to revolutionize the way that bettors engage with sports and entertainment on TV, enabling a more intuitive and social online betting experience.

BetPlay board member Paola Echeverri said the operator hoped to see the offering expand across sports and entertainment programming. “A year from now, this is going to be a lot bigger, and it’s going to be a lot more entertaining and a lot more fun than we’re seeing right now,” she said.

“That overlay will hopefully have transformed into a new way of consuming sports and a new way of expressing your passion, which is what our brand is all about, betting on your passion. We are completely betting on transforming that passion in our customers and hopefully, with TAPPP and DirecTV, creating something completely new that we can’t envision right now, but that we completely feel coming our way.”

The project has taken almost 18 months to deliver after DirecTV accepted TAPPP’s proof of concept in January 2024. Describing the process as “very complex, business wise and technology wise,” Agarwal said it took a team of 60 full-time engineers nine months to deliver the product ready for launch.

Advertisement

However, with sports betting rolled out, Agarwal is ready to expand TAPPP’s innovative payments technology to multiple use cases. “We want to be ubiquitous,” he said. “We’ve taken practice swings with almost every sport. The platform is, in lot of ways, plug and play.”

TAPPP has received investment via two funding rounds. The first was in 2018, followed by a $10 million Series B funding round co-led by Accomplice and Verance Capital in 2022.

Other backers included Stephen Pagliuca of the Boston Celtics and Peter Tomozawa of the Vegas Golden Knights and Seattle Sounders. As well as Permit Ventures, London-based Oakvale Capital and ADvantage, which counts sports betting entrepreneur Laila Mintas among its venture partners.

Pollard Banknote Limited has congratulated the West Virginia Lottery (the Lottery) on the successful launch of Royal Court Riches, its first eInstant game from the Pollard Digital Games Studio. Royal Court Riches has already demonstrated strong performance in multiple markets—in its first international launch, it achieved that jurisdiction’s highest tickets sold, total sales, and gross gaming revenue within its first 30 days of release.

Royal Court Riches is the first in a series of games from the Pollard Digital Games Studio slated to launch in West Virginia this year. The lineup selected for West Virginia reflects Pollard Banknote’s commitment to being the partner of choice to lotteries, and includes games with a variety of themes, mechanics, and play styles to ensure appeal to a broad player base, a key pillar of responsible revenue growth. The Pollard Digital Games Studio uses a data-driven, player-focused approach to game design. Games are created to resonate with lottery players by blending engaging play styles with mechanics inspired by traditional, retail lottery products. The Pollard Digital Games Studio is dedicated exclusively to developing eInstants for the lottery industry.

The launch schedule for West Virginia includes a mix of proven best-sellers such as Bacon Me Crazy, titles new to the U.S. market such as Dragon Keno Blast, and Gemstone 7s, which will feature a progressive jackpot. Another notable release, Road Trip Riches, will be customized to include symbols representing iconic West Virginia landmarks, including the West Virginia State Capitol and the New River Gorge Bridge.

“We are very excited to partner with Pollard Banknote to expand our offering to players in West Virginia. The addition of Royal Court Riches and the upcoming games from the Pollard Digital Games Studio furthers our commitment to delivering exceptional immersive experiences designed specifically to appeal to lottery players, and growing our contribution to education, seniors and tourism in a socially responsible manner,” said John Myers, Director of West Virginia Lottery.

“Pollard Banknote is excited to share our engaging eInstant games with players in West Virginia. This launch deepens our partnership with the Lottery, which already includes the delivery and support of PlayON, Pollard Banknote’s robust loyalty platform, as well as mobile app and website development. In addition, our joint venture entity, NeoPollard Interactive, delivers the State’s iLottery platform and a range of managed services to provide a turnkey program,” said Shannon DeHaven, Vice President of Digital Engagement at Pollard Banknote.