Month: June 2021

Under the three-year agreement, Betway has partnered with FC Schalke 04 and will benefit from advertising at the team’s Veltins-Arena for the next three seasons.

It is the latest major deal for the operator, which previously partnered with the UK Grand National in 2017, and this deal set to extend from 2020 to 2024, as well as recently securing a partnership with ATP’s Mercedes Cup in which it is the official betting partner.

The partnership comes as Germany is establishing a new regulatory framework, with the new State Treaty on Gambling coming into effect on 1 July.

This will see new licences issued for slots and poker. Sports betting licences, meanwhile, were issued under the third amended State Treaty from October last year, with Betway licensed in March 2021.

Schalke joins a roster of other high-profile football partners for the operator, which include Werder Bremen – which was relegated alongside Schalke in the 2020-21 Bundesliga season – Hertha BSC, and VfB Stuttgart.

“It’s a great honour to be partnering with FC Schalke 04, one of the most recognised names in German football,” Betway head of marketing for Germany Maik Bordowski said.

“We look forward to supporting the club and their ambitions to work their way back to the Bundesliga. In the following years, the premium partnership provides Betway with extensive advertising and marketing rights.”

Its comments followed the Department opting against challenging a court verdict that upheld a 2011 opinion, which stated the 1961 act only applied specifically to sports betting, and not other forms of interstate gambling.

Commenting on the DoJ’s decision, executive director of New Hampshire Lottery Charlie McIntyre said the operator had been confident in the eventual outcome throughout the process.

“This case represents a historic victory for the New Hampshire Lottery and lotteries across the country,” McIntyre said. “That said, the biggest winners are our country’s schools and a variety of other important causes that depend on lottery funding each year—literally billions of dollars in critical funding have hung in the balance.”

“As the nation’s first lottery, we had a responsibility to challenge this opinion. We would like to once again thank the New Hampshire Attorney General’s Office for its leadership, expertise and skill in guiding us through this process and ultimately to this monumental victory, preserving the New Hampshire Lottery as a critical resource for education in the Granite State for years to come.”

Read the full story on ICE365.

Whilst the Gambling Commission remains co-operative with the necessary parties, it has stressed that it may not be able to directly affect proceedings.

A statement from the Commission said: “The Gambling Commission has certain powers as a regulator and sometimes it is assumed we can do things which we cannot. This does not mean we do not recognise the distress and clear upset that many Football Index customers will be feeling.

“Alongside the courts, it is for the Administrators to resolve the return of funds to affected consumers from the financial resources still held by the company. This is not something that can be directed by the Gambling Commission, but we are in contact to make sure any legal obligations covered by our remit are met.

“Whilst there will be limitations on what information we can publish whilst our regulatory investigations are ongoing, we will continue to provide updates whenever we have further information to share.”

The ‘football stock market’ is currently in the hands of administrators and the High Court (in tandem with the Jersey courts) as they try and resolve the repayment of customer funds.

The UK government has also launched its own independent inquiry into the collapse of the platform, and the Commissions involvement – or lack thereof.

Football Index’s operator BetIndex went into administration back in March. After dealings with administrators and the courts, the company has started to put in place plans to repay the money lost by customers.

However, this only dealt with money held in player accounts as the fate of money held in active bets is still unclear. The operator revealed through court documents, though, that it intends to repay some of the money that may be owed through these bets by relaunching the platform and giving creditors equity in the new Football Index.

“At the present time, there has been no valuation by the Administrators of ‘share portfolios’,” the Commission said. “The Gambling Commission is not involved in this valuation and it is unconnected to our powers as a regulator.”

The deal allows British and Irish racing content to be shown live for pari-mutuel betting into local pools via the Hyderabad Race Club’s digital platforms.

RMG and SIS hold the broadcast rights to 34 British and 26 Irish racecourses, respectively.

“We’re delighted to see our racing broadcast in India thanks to this ground-breaking joint venture with SIS and NorthAlley,” said Ian Houghton, director of international at RMG.

“The service has now fully launched and initial turnover levels on British and Irish races have been encouraging. All being well, we very much hope to roll out the service to other regions in India in the future and introduce fixed odds betting.”

Suresh Paladugu, chief executive of NorthAlley, added: “We are excited to bring international races to Indian punters in the most convenient way for the first time in India.

“We highly appreciate the initiative and support from Hyderabad Race Club management in making this happen. We will continue to work with RMG and SIS to enhance experience and bring quality content for Indian players.”

The launch follows news last week that RMG and SIS had agreed a further three-year agreement for the distribution and transmission of audio-visual and data from British racecourses, which are licensed for the term 2023-2026 to bookmakers across UK and Ireland.

Following a tender process, SIS was awarded the contract following the organisations’ current five-year agreement, which started in 2018.

Commenting on the agreement, SIS chief executive Richard Ames said: “SIS is very pleased to extend the relationship we hold with RMG and are confident that this agreement will continue to deliver excellent value for racecourses and bookmakers with a collaborative approach to growing the value of horseracing.”

“Winning this extension in a competitive situation is testament to the good work and excellent relationship that has been fostered between the companies over the last three years. I look forward to RMG’s premium racing content being the cornerstone of SIS’ racing services for many years to come.”

Danske Spil said that Mehl has secured a new role as chief executive of an unnamed technology company, but will remain in her current role until 1 November 2021 at the latest.

The operator said that during her time as director, Mehl has made significant changes and helped to modernise the business.

“Pernille, together with her team and in collaboration across Danske Spil, has delivered an incredibly good effort and impressive results in DLO, which means that today we have very strong and competitive brands within our games,” said Nikolas Lyhne-Knudsen, administrative director of Danske Spil.

“I would therefore like to take this opportunity to say a thousand thanks to Pernille and offer congratulations. I am glad that Pernille has plenty of time to follow tasks through to the end and say a proper goodbye in the autumn.”

Commenting on the announcement, Mehl said: “I have enjoyed every single day in Danske Spil, so it is with sadness that I have to say goodbye.

“I feel proud and lucky to have been surrounded by such competent colleagues ,who together have helped to create a strong business.”

Last week, Danske Spil warned of illegal “lottery subscriptions” that were circulating in regions of Denmark.

Daniel Henzgen, executive board member of the gaming provider, said that the new treaty would usher in “completely unrealistic… senseless regulatory distance requirement for amusement arcades”, putting at risk 8,000 jobs in Baden-Württemberg alone.

He hit out at new restrictions on gaming halls being introduced at the same time as online gambling opens up across the country and pointed out that “even the state lottery monopoly wants to offer online slot machines”.

He added: “Nothing is more dangerous for cohesion and confidence in the population than ideology, which is sold as science.

“We have known this phenomenon of contempt for gamblers and gaming providers disguised as pseudo-evidence in the regulatory discussion for many years […] Millions of people consume gambling. Always. Attempts to counter this with bans and to marginalise legal, quality offers only ever strengthen the black market and illegal, uncontrolled gaming.”

Germany’s states agreed on a broad new regulatory framework for gambling in January 2020.

The Glücksspielneuregulierungsstaatsvertrag (GlüNeuRStV) will retain the monopoly structure of Germany’s state lottery industry, while also lifting prohibition on online slots and poker and allowing for sports betting, legalised in the current State Treaty, to continue.

However, there have also been concerns raised about restrictions on live betting, advertising and player account activity. Slots stakes will be capped at €1 per spin, while the industry was dismayed by the Bundestag imposing a 5.3% tax on the turnover of the newly-regulated verticals.

Meanwhile legal firm AdvoFin has said that is pursuing 150 cases with a total value of €10m, in relation to gambling losses by individuals over the past three years in Germany.

AdvoFin is taking on the cases on a no-win, no-fee basis, and will reclaim 37% of any financial damages.

Stefan Bohar, board member of AdvoFin, said: “Users of the previously illegal offers can claim back their gambling losses for at least the past three years. The new State Treaty on Gambling does not change anything about that.

“Providers who do not receive a German licence under the new rules remain illegal. There can therefore be no question of a general legalisation of online gambling in Germany.”

The deal will cover the 2021-22 and 2022-23 seasons, with the option to extend by an additional two years.

Betano branding will appear on the front of first team players’ shirts throughout this term.

The operator has been active in the Portuguese market since 2019.

It also has partnerships in place with Portuguese teams SC Braga and CS Marítimo, as well as PAOK and Olympiacos in Greece, Apollon Limassol and Pafos in Cyprus, and Universitatea Craiova and FSCB in Romania.

In January, Betano secured its first commercial deal outside of Europe when it agreed to become the new main sponsor of Brazilian Campeonato Brasileiro Série A football team Clube Atlético Mineiro.

Operated by Kaizen Investment, Betano is also active in Brazil, Germany, Romania, Greece and Cyprus. Sazka-owned OPAP holds a 36.75% stake in the operator.

In November last year, OPAP acquired an additional 15.48% stake in Stoiximan Group’s Greek and Cypriot operations from owner Kaizen, bringing its stake in this part of the business to 84.48%.

The profits from the notes are intended to fund Everi’s 7.50% senior unsecured notes, due in 2025, and will likely pay associated expenses.

The notes will be guaranteed on a senior unsecured basis and will rely on Everi’s domestic subsidiaries.

Read the full story on iGB North America.

Scientific Games said that it was in the process of exploring a range of options to offload the units, including a sale, a strategic combination with another business, an initial public offering or a combination with a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC).

The supplier’s executive chair Jamie Odell, and president and chief executive Barry Cottle, both highlighted the importance of reducing debt to provide long-term stability.

At the conclusion of the process, Scientific Games will consist of “leading gaming, igaming and SciPlay businesses”.

With this focus, it intends to grow its digital offerings to be “comparable in size to the land-based gaming business within three years,” Cottle said.

He added: “Today’s announcement reflects key steps to optimise our portfolio and strengthen our balance sheet by significantly de-levering while also targeting investments in our largest growth opportunities.

“These steps will accelerate our path to become a content-led growth company focused on leading in both land-based and digital markets,” he explained. “Our company will be positioned to build great games that define the future of gaming, supported by platforms that power the best operators in the world.”

Doing so would provide it with the resources to expand its digital offerings and platforms, thereby unlocking value for shareholders, customers, and employees.

“Each of our businesses will be better positioned to partner with their respective customers and to deliver long-term growth and profitability,” he added.

In May, Scientific Games reported a year-on-year increase in revenue and declining losses in the first quarter of 2021.

Growth in its lottery segment, as well as digital and social gaming, helped to offset a drop in gaming machine sales over the three months to March 31, with group revenue up 0.6% to $729m.

Odell added: “When I joined the board in September 2020, I told stakeholders that we were focused on rapidly de-leveraging the balance sheet, unlocking the value of the company’s products and technologies and creating a flexible, nimble company positioned to deliver above-market returns to investors.

“Today, we have announced major initiatives aimed at achieving each of these key objectives, recognising significant value in each of the businesses and positioning the company for sustainable growth, all as a result of the dedicated work of our teams.”

The upcoming FY21 results are set to be released on 25 August 2021.

The company said it expects a normalised earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation to come between $247m and $253m while net profit after tax will fall between $84m and $88m.

In comparison to its FY20 results, this represents a potential rise of 26.0% and 32.7% respectively.

According to a statement, the operator anticipates that it will “comfortably” meet its financial covenants by 30 June 2021.

SkyCity added that its local New Zealand businesses saw strong performances, while SkyCity Adelaide in particular was performing well following its expansion in December 2020.

This followed a period of closure for its Adelaide venue, from November 2020, following a reorganisation of its executive team.

In addition, the company added to an announcement made on 8 June 2021, which confirmed the appointments of Silvana Schenone, Julian Cook and Chad Barton as SkyCity non-executive directors.

The updated announcement outlines Schenone, Cook and Barton’s additional appointments as independent directors as required by NZX listing rules 2.6.1 and 2.6.2.