Each week, CasinoBeats breaks down the numbers behind some of the industry’s most interesting stories. In our latest edition we take a look at further Swedish refusal for Global Gaming and Ninja Casino, financial increases and coronavirus pledges.

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Sands China and MGM China have become the latest organisations to make donations in order to help combat the spread of the coronavirus pandemic across China and Macau.

Reported by Inside Asian Gaming, the pledges follows Melco Resorts and Entertainment vowing to reassess all non-core investments to be made in 2020 due to the impacts of coronavirus.

The developer, owner and operator of casino gaming and entertainment facilities states that the decision comes amid a severe drop in tourism in Asia to integrated resort facilities in the region, and the recent decision by the Macau SAR government to close all casinos in Macau.

Joining the likes of JM Holdings, Suncity Group and Guangdong Group, Sands has donated MOP$25m (£2.4m) to help contain the spread of the virus as well as assisting with relief efforts across the two regions.

This includes MOP$20m (£1.9m) in coordination with the Liaison Office of the Central People’s Government in Macau to assist the mainland efforts in combating the virus, in addition to a further MOP$5m to support the implementation of preventative measures across the local community.

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Evolution Gaming is eyeing continued positive development in the United States, as the firm also aims to continue an “eternal ambition” of widening the gap to competitors throughout 2020.

Lauding continued expansion in North America, the signing of several new customers, including Flutter Entertainment with brands Paddy Power and Betfair, Parx Casino and Penn National Gaming, as well as good leverage from investments, the firm reports yet further growth for 2019’s final quarter and full year.

Operating revenue for Q4 saw a 51 per cent year-on-year jump from €70.2m to €106m, which helped push full-year figures to €365.7m, representing a 49 per cent increase from €245.4m.

The firm aligns the positive revenue development to increased commission income from both new and existing customers, dedicated tables and environments also contributing as a result of additional customers launching or extending their customised live casino environments.

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The Spelinspektionen has rejected an application by Viral Interactive to resurrect the Ninja Casino brand within the Swedish online gaming market.

Global Gaming transferred the Ninjacasino.se domain to Viral Interactive, a holder of a Swedish license for commercial online gaming issued by the Swedish Gambling Authority, five months ago after its licenses were revoked by the regulator.

It was said that Global Gaming would act as a marketing partner to Viral Interactive and would continue to provide support in terms of resources and expertise in marketing, customer experience and branding for Ninjacasino.se as well as the previous launched NanoCasino.com.

Alongside the transfer, Viral Interactive applied to add the domain to the others on its licence, a motion which the Spelinspektionen has now rejected.

As a result Ninjacasino.se will not be able to launch on Viral Interactive’s license until further notice, although the company can appeal the decision.

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The current pace of growth across New Jersey’s igaming scene could see the region generate in excess of $650m revenue this year, smashing the previous years $482.7m reports PlayNJ.com.

With the recent addition of live online slot games adding a new avenue for growth, New Jersey’s online and retail sportsbooks could also be poised to surpass Nevada for the first time since August.

January’s igaming win surged 64 per cent year-on-year to $55m (2019: $33.5m), with total gaming revenue across the state reaching $300.7m for the month, representing a 30.9 per cent rise from $229.6m.

Golden Nugget continues to retain its place as overwhelming market leader with revenue of $21.2m, a 74.1 per cent rise from $12.1m, ahead of Resorts Digital which was boosted 84.8 per cent to $11.9m, (2019: $6.4m).

Borgata saw its figures more than double to $10.3m (2019: $4.7m), with Caesars Interactive NJ the only entity to see a decline to $4.2m, a 7.4 per cent drop from $4.5m.