Fifth Street Gaming Debuts Latino-Focused Jefebet.com

Posted on: March 16, 2022, 10:45h. 

Last updated on: March 16, 2022, 02:11h.

Todd Shriber @etfgodfather Read More
Expertise: Financial, Gaming Business, Mergers and Acquisitions.

Looking to capitalize on one of the fastest-growing demographics in the US, Fifth Street Gaming Digital is introducing JefeBet.com. The site is a Spanish-language media hub and sports betting portal.

Jefebet
Fifth Street Gaming’s Silver Nugget Casino in North Las Vegas. The operators digital unit is introducing Jefebet to target Latino bettors. (Image: Security Guards Union)

FSG Digital is the internet gaming arm of Las Vegas-based Fifth Street Gaming, which has catered to the Latino market for nearly two decades with brick-and-mortar offerings, including the Lucky Club and Silver Nugget Casino. The gaming company also produced hundreds of concerts with Mexican and Colombian artists, Mexican rodeos, and food festivals, indicating its Jefebet platform is an online extension of the operator’s ties to the Latino community.

We intend to build the first online media hub in this country truly dedicated to covering sport, gambling, and entertainment in an authentic way for this highly important, yet previously underserved, audience,” said FSG Digital CEO Seth Schorr in a statement.

Jefebet’s content team is located in Argentina, Mexico, and Chile, but the site’s articles and wagering insights are focused on American sports.

Jefebet Could Be Onto Something

The US Hispanic population swelled to 62.1 million in 2020, a jump of 23% over the prior decade, according to Pew Research. That easily outpaced the overall US population growth of seven percent.

Potentially adding to the case for a concept like Jefebet is the fact that the Latino population in the US is shifting away from the traditional states, such as Arizona, California, Florida, New York, and Texas, to new areas.

In New Mexico, the state’s 1 million Latinos are nearly half of the population (48%). Despite a large population share, New Mexico, which had the ninth-largest Latino population in 2010, dropped to 13th-largest in 2020, after being passed by Georgia, North Carolina, Washington, and Pennsylvania,” notes Pew.

From a sports wagering perspective, the activity is live and legal in six of the 10 states with the highest Latino populations on a percentage basis — Arizona, Colorado, Illinois, New Jersey, New Mexico, and New York. Regulated sports betting is also permitted in North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and Washington.

Some US-based gaming companies are expanding in Latin America, confirming that operators see opportunity with this demographic.

FSG Digital Pedigree

In announcing the debut of Jefebet, FSG Digital also said it recently closed a funding round led by Sharp Alpha Advisors and Acies Investments,

Sharp Alpha Advisors is a venture capital firm focusing on iGaming and sports wagering investments. Last October, the firm said its first investment vehicle — Sharp Alpha Fund I — raised $10 million.

Acies Investments is led by the former co-chief executive officers of Acies Acquisition and former MGM Resorts CEO Jim Murren. Acies Acquisition was a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) social casino developer Playstudios, Inc. merged with to become a public company last year.

Acies Investments currently has stakes in seven betting, esports, and fantasy sports companies, including Jefebet.