License Changes For Dragonfish Bingo Brands
Published On 18th May 2022
If you're registered to one or more bingo brands that are powered by Dragonfish - for example Wink, Costa, Quality, Chit Chat, 888 Ladies, Moon and Robin Hood - then you may well have received an email recently regarding notification of change of license. As of the end of May 2022 a large number of brands that are currently operated by 888 UK Limited will instead be operated by a new company called Grand Battery Holdings Limited. Grand Battery Holdings Limited is licensed and regulated in Great Britain by the Gambling Commission under licence number 058267-R-334552-003.
So What's Going On?
At the end of 2021 888 announced that they had sold their Dragonfish operation to Broadway Gaming. The deal worth around $50million included the bingo platform which we all know as Dragonfish and brands such as Wink, Costa and 888 Ladies. Brands like Moon, Robin Hood and Quality are not part of the deal but they do use the Dragonfish platform. The sale is now pretty much done and dusted and therefore the licensing is moving over to the new company. Interestingly they've chosen not to license the acquistions under Broadway Gaming Limited - who own and operate Pragmatic Play powered bingo sites such as Butlers and Rosy - but under the new title of Grand Battery Holdings. Note that this is a company based in Ireland and therefore is registered in that country. Coincidentally these license announcements happened in the same week that 888 shareholders agreed on the acquisition of William Hill so there's going to be a lot of activity and changes going on in the bingo and gambling sector.
What Does This Mean For Players?
The license change notification is simply a legal requirement to inform you that the agreement you originally had with 888 when signing up to a brand is now being transferred to the new company. Any funds in your account will be transferred to Grand Battery Holdings Limited. Your personal information will be shared with Grand Battery Holdings Limited pursuant to the 888 UK Limited Privacy Policy. If you don't do anything then it's taken as red that you accept the changes and are happy to carry on. However if you're not so sure - or perhaps have been reminded you have funds in a particular bingo account that you might like to take out - then you can withdraw those now and/or request that 888 close your account before the transfer of the license at the end of May. Whilst the license change is nothing for players to be concerned about it might be a good opportunity to close dormant accounts or just check in to see if you do have funds sloshing around.
What Does This Mean For Affiliates?
A change of ownership is usually not good news for affiliates. With respect to brands such as those managed by Tau and United Commissions we don't expect to see many changes - initially - because partnerships are with those platforms and not direct with the Grand Battery Holdings Limited. However with respect to Wink, 888 Ladies, Costa etc which currently fall under the 888/Uffiliates umbrella then they're future will be directly controlled by Grand Battery Holdings Limited. Initially things may just stay the same but as contracts were with 888 it probably does mean that a new contract will be needed to be signed with the new company. We'd be very surprised if agreements transfer in exactly the same way as those sent out to players. If the agreement is terminated then question marks will arise as to whether referrals etc will be transferred over or if the new company will even want affiliates. We don't even know if they'll keep all the brands running as to be honest a few of them may well have ran their course.
Interesting Times For Bingo
With Dragonfish under new ownership, Tombola moving into the Flutter stable and 888 acquiring William Hill there's definitely a lot of potential for exciting times ahead. The Dragonfish bingo platform badly needs a huge injection of something because over the last 12 to 18 months (perhaps even longer) it's become incredibly stale and lacking in innovation. Controversially we'd suggest that the real money network (all wins paid in cash, no wagering terms) has been a bit of a failure too. Hopefully the new owners do make changes and bring some much needed life back into our favourites brands like Wink and Costa. If they're creating a buzz for players then that puts energy into competitor brands as they have to up their game too. Hopefully the future does involve an all-inclusive affiliate landscape too so that we can continue to offer our views on bingo and that you're not just left with those portals who simply take the money from their highest bidders.
Related & Recent Articles
- Fancy Bingo To Close This Month
- The Shop Opens At Costa Bingo
- The Loquax Bingo Online Review 2020
- Dragonfish Bingo Brands Are On The Move
- Broadway Gaming Spring Clean Player Accounts
- Wink Bingo Review
- Latest News
