Gextech managing director Peter Glancy described it as ‘a significant step for the company’. He commented: “We are really proud to announce at IGE that the five year broadcast deal with SIS, the preeminent betting shop broadcaster in the UK and Europe.”

Mark Kingston, COO of SIS, added: “From our perspective we’ve been working with Gextech for quite  some time and we’re delighted that we will be releasing the product in the very near future. It was important to get it absolutely right before we launched the service and make sure we could fully support it as a product. We are confident that we can now do just that and we can’t wait to get it out into betting shops across Europe.”

Gextech has the ability to live stream its Fantastic League product, and is already doing so in betting shops in Serbia, Montenegro and Croatia, but the partnership with SIS gives the firm greater scope to provide a more extensive service. “We’re looking at a lot of markets,” Glancy said. “Operators in Italy and France have shown considerable interest and both countries are very important markets for us. We also have very strong ongoing discussions with the biggest gaming companies operating in Europe.”

Fantastic League has been in operation on line for the last year, and Glancy is pleased at how Gextech’s developers have managed to keep the product at the cutting edge. “It’s come a long way,” he acknowledged. “It’s not just a virtual horserace or virtual greyhound race. The core that we have built, the ‘Smart Stitch’ IP software, has got the capability and complexity to be able to be adapted to other sports, which would be too difficult and expensive for other people to do."

“Our football matches are live in real-time, not a series of clips, and no two games are the same. It’s an amazing feat by our developers to have created such a product. It’s been a lengthy process but now we have something that it is extremely cutting edge.”

Gextech delivers six virtual matches every five minutes, with the live broadcast game supplemented by five other concurrent matches. This allows multiple betting options, including the potential for a ‘super 6’ type bet every five minutes. “When we are broadcasting a live game, we have a tickertape providing updates on what is happening in the other matches. The games are three minutes long, providing a quick football betting event for bookmakers and punters alike.”

Gextech is looking to extend Fantastic league onto mobile platforms and has already signed deals which will see it enter China. The product has now been translated into Mandarin and Cantonese, alongside the Spanish, French, German and Italian versions. It has also been adapted for gaming floors via an innovative 30 second ‘Spot the Ball’ game with 16 numbers plus a zero, essentially creating a football theme roulette game. Players choose which quadrant of a matrix they think the ball is going to be in and place their bets. Gextech has signed an agreement with Octavian International to put Spot the Ball on its platform and believes that the full Fantastic League product could find itself on gaming terminals some time soon.

>Read the Betting Business article (PDF)

“To have the ability to deliver the Fantastic League across the SIS satellite distribution platform and partner with the leading broadcaster to the UK and Ireland betting industry is a significant step for Gextech”. “We are excited about the prospect of working with SIS and delighted to make this announcement” added Peter Glancy Managing Director of Gextech.  Mark Kingston, COO of SIS commented ”this is an exciting as well as challenging time in the betting and gaming industry and we are delighted to have concluded this agreement which provides an outstanding opportunity for SIS and Gextech to offer the Fantastic League to an extensive International customer base”.

Satellite Information Services Limited (SIS) is a long established media business focused on TV production, broadcasting and is the leading provider of live pictures and data services to the betting industry in the UK, Ireland and overseas.

Gextech founded in 2003. The company possesses a wealth of experienced in technology and gaming development, with offices in London, Barcelona, and Malaga. Clientele include International bookmakers, broadcasters, gaming machine and casino operators.

About the Game

The Fantastic League™, the World's most sophisticated and technically advanced virtual fixed-odds football game, offering action packed live football games every 5 minutes. All games broadcast in real time; each game combines full match betting markets with live football action. Fantastic League games™ take place in specially designed stadiums, with dynamic lighting, and outstanding rendered player and crowd generation.

Fantastic League™ has been created by Gextech designers using cutting edge computer graphics and building state of the art 3D animation, plus a world first in mathematical intelligence, Smart-Stitch® [IP] technology that has the ability to create live multiple football games every 5 minutes. It’s RNGs (Random Numbers Generators) and probabilistic model have been independently audited by TST North America Inc.

04/June/2009
Fantastic League™ Spot the Ball in G2E Asia 2009

The innovative football virtual betting product, Fantastic League™ Spot the Ball is presented at Global Gaming Expo Asia 2009.

After a first presentation at the London show IGE, the game is available in Octavian's stand (1123) at the G2E show in Macau operating under its Symphony platform.

>More photos

Spot The Ball, Gextech's latest development of its Fantastic League™ virtual football game, will kick off on the Octavian Symphony platform (available in both Downloadable Games and Lottery Editions). Spot The Ball is a new and unique multi-lingual football game that updates a universally recognised and proven betting format using the latest technologies. Using its groundbreaking, versatile Smart Stitch® technology, Gextech is able to reproduce the complexity of team sports and replicate betting opportunities readily available in real football matches. In Spot The Ball, realistic animated action sequences are played out on the playing terminal screen. The ball is passed from virtual player to player, as well as being deflected from its course by tackles and interceptions. The winning number is the square containing the ball when the action is randomly stopped. The game has an easy-to-use interface with all odds displayed. An on-screen betting panel allows customers to increase bets and select other betting options.

“We are delighted to have teamed up with Gextech and excited by the potential of Spot The Ball, “ said Harmen Brenninkmeijer, CEO of Octavian. “ There are many sports-based betting games but most are simple racing games which do not require complex probability analysis or detailed graphics. Spot The Ball uses the same core engine as Fantastic League™. This populates a virtual stadium, adds fans and players and employs game rules that simulate realistic, second-by-second football match action.“

“We are excited to be working with Octavian as they have extensive experience of delivering game content on a broad range of playing terminals, and a wide range of land-based venues,“ added Peter Glancy, Managing Director of Gextech. “That knowledge, coupled with the scalability of Octavian's Symphony platforms, will enable us to quickly roll out Spot The Ball to a worldwide audience.“

With global interest in football set to increase in the run-up to the FIFA World Cup 2010 in South Africa, Octavian says that the game, is generating high levels of interest amongst its customers worldwide. Spot The Ball, previewed at IGE in January and due to be showcased at other major gaming exhibitions during 2009, is currently available in English, French, German, Spanish, Italian, Cantonese and Mandarin.

About Octavian Global Technologies (website)

Established in 2001, Octavian is a leading provider of  total gaming and lottery solutions, serving Casino, AWP (Amusements With Prizes), Lottery and emerging gaming market sectors worldwide. Octavian-developed solutions, and also leading third-party products, are marketed under four core solution areas – OctaSystems, OctaGames, OctaSupplies and OctaLotto. The company currently has offices and computer centres in the Argentina, Australia, Colombia, Germany, Italy, Russia, Rwanda, UK, and Ukraine. Through this extensive network, and also through joint ventures and partnerships across the gaming world, Octavian systems, games and other solutions are deployed and supported in more than 30 countries.

About Gextech (website)

Gextech is a leading provider of gaming content, with offices in London, Barcelona and Malaga. Gextech offers outstanding gaming content and technological solutions on multiple platforms, including Broadcast, Internet and Mobile.

Peter Glancy Gextech Managing Director said: "This agreement brings the potential of over two thousand outlets in Austria, Switzerland and Germany and both SEM Austria and Gextech agee The Fantastic League™ will be a huge success with European customers".

12/February/2009
Octavian and Gextech have signed an agreement to distribute Fantastic League™ Spot the Ball internationally: At the recent IGE 2009 show, Gextech and Octavian presented the new version of their game Fantastic League™ Spot the Ball, for Fixed Odds Betting Terminals. The product was received with great interest and was presented on Octavian's Symphony platform. “This is a proven crowd puller – an exceptionally easy-to-play format known by millions, but now delivered with eye-catching live 3D action using the latest technology,” said Harmen Brenninkmeijer, CEO of Octavian International Ltd.

“Yes, we introduced a really inspiring mix of new products at IGE. These included High Drive, our new jackpot gaming system, Gextech’s new Fantastic League Spot The Ball content, which is now running on our Symphony DE platform, and exciting new converged-media products from a new supplies partner, Global New Media, Inc. High Drive is our latest Progressive Jackpots Gaming System. It runs 8 jackpots in all and is the latest development of our integrated auto-payout jackpot concept. It allows an operator to connect, typically, between 8 to 12 machines. We used Liberty machines for the demo at IGE but other manufacturers’ EGMs can also be used. Together with the integrated plasma, graphical topper and themed Octavian games, this provides an ideal way for operators to create eye-catching hot spots that draw in players and maintain their interest.

We also teamed up with Gextech to make available their Fantastic League Spot The Ball game content on the Octavian Symphony DE platform. This means operators can now bring this latest development of the world’s leading virtual football game to land-based fixed-odds betting terminals. Each of these new product areas attracted a great deal of attention and interest at the show. Spot The Ball updates a classic game format and delivers it using the latest technologies. It recalls memories of newspaper Spot The Ball competitions and we believe it will work well in the UK, mainland Europe and in Latin America, all regions where football has a high profile and a massive fan base. I think our timing is good too, as interest in football will grow considerably in the lead up to the FIFA 2010 World Cup in South Africa, which will once again create a global football frenzy.” Said Helen Hedgeland, Octavian International Head of Marketing in an interview to Yogonet magazine.

Fantastic League™ Spot the Ball Octavian Brochure (English | Spanish)

06/January/2009
Tabcorp Australia’s Premier Gambling & Gaming Group and Gextech strike deal around the The Fantastic League™: (UK) and Spanish leading gaming solutions provider Gextech announced that it will team up with Tabcorp Australia’s number one entertainment and gaming company to jointly operate the Internet and broadcast version of The Fantastic League™, the world’s most sophisticated and technically advanced virtual fixed-odds football game, offering action packed live football games every 5 minutes. All games live and broadcast in real time, each game delivers complete match markets, betting opportunities include singles, doubles, trebles, accumulators, goal cast, home, away and even the draw.

Tabcorp and Gextech have signed a Memorandum of Understanding, which covers live broadcast of The Fantastic League™ to all Tabcorp outlets throughout Australia. The five year exclusive agreement and covers both broadcast and Internet versions of Fantastic League™ betting platform, this unique betting system delivers live games 22 hours a day, seven days a week, with unparalleled 3D graphics, including live audio, the league consists of 12 teams with one game broadcast every five minutes.

Gextech’s adaptable virtual gaming platform allows the Fantastic League™ to be channeled not only on the Internet, but also as a TV broadcast product designed for betting shops and interactive TV. With their groundbreaking, versatile Smart Stitch technology, Gextech are able to reproduce the complexity of team sports and replicate betting opportunities readily available in real football matches.

Peter Glancy Managing Director of Gextech said: “We are very excited to be working with Tabcorp, Australia’s leading premier gaming company, their experience is unparalleled and this relationship will allow the Fantastic League™ to reach Tabcorps extensive customer base.”

Dean Clark, Tabcorp’s gaming manager, commented: “Fantastic League™ is outstanding product and is a great addition to our wagering network. I’m sure the product will appeal to our customer base and we’re really looking forward to developing a long term partnership with Gextech and I believe the Fantastic League™ will add considerable value to our gaming portfolio and we look forward to launching in 2009.”

12/December/2008
Fantastic League™ Launches with Ladbrokes Online: Following the successful launch of The Fantastic League™ in collaboration with Digibet, one of Germany's leading bookmakers, Gextech and Ladbrokes are proud to announce The Fantastic League is now live and available at Ladbrokes.com, in the Online Gaming section.

Gextech and its partners look forward to the continued success of The Fantastic League™ and building a strong customer experience.

The game is now available to play in the Online Games section www.ladbrokes.com and at www.digibet.com

www.fantasticleague.com

31/October/2008
Gextech and Digibet share in Fantastic League success: Gextech is proud to announce the launch of the Fantastic League™ with one of Germany's leading gaming operators Digibet. Fantastic League is now live on Digibet's gaming platform and is now available at www.digibet.com

The following article is taken from the October edition of Betting Business magazine. The show was a great success for both Digibet and The Fantastic League™.

Full article | Photos from the Show

15/August/2008
Article in Punter: Peter Glancy, Managing Director of Gex Technologies, the creators of the FANTASTIC LEAGUE BETTING PLATFORM (centre), was presented with the winning cheque by Ian Penrose Chief Executive of Littlewoods Pools. The winners were successful in predicting the best results from five Spot-The –Ball games and the new Littlewoods Super 10 game. A four way tie shared £5000. All monies were donated to a charity of choice.

The prize money won by Peter will be donated to Northwick Park Institute for Medical Research

The charity carries out amazing work on the development of skin matrices to help those suffering from severe burns injury, especially scalds in very young children. They also carry out research work on coronary artery disease and bowel cancer and work closely with the Bobby Moore Trust.

Full article

1/May/2008
Article in Intergaming Magazine: "Unravelling the code". Speaking to some of the industry's leading voices on software development, James Walker explores the ever-blurring line between player experience and technology...

Full article

17/Feb/2008

digibet and Gextech Strike Deal Around the Fantastic League™
The Internet version of the World's Leading Virtual Fixed Odds Betting Football Game.

Official Press Release | Yogonet article | iGaming article

13/Dec/2007
Ladbrokes and Gextech strike deal around the Fantastic League™

Official Press Release | Yogonet article