Month: June 2021

Under the deal, The Hockey News – which BetMGM said has more than 1 million readers – will use BetMGM odds for its podcasts and news articles, as well as displaying ads from the operator.

“The Hockey News has long been the trusted leader among hockey fans for the best news and analysis,” BetMGM chief revenue officer Matt Prevost said. “They’re an ideal partner for BetMGM to reach one of the most passionate and knowledgeable fan bases in all of sports.”

W. Graeme Roustan, owner and publisher of The Hockey News, said the fact that MetMGM was a well-known and trusted operator played a major part in the deal.

Read the full story on iGB North America

The deal will cover the 2021-22 season, with the BK8 logo to feature on the front of players’ shirts and training kits throughout the campaign.

Norwich City will also work with BK8 on a range of activations for supporters.

“BK8 will undoubtedly be a new brand for City fans, however, they’re a well trusted name across Asia,” Norwich chief operating officer Ben Kensell said. “The Premier League has an accumulative TV audience of over three billion and is broadcast into over a billion homes – a huge proportion of these Premier League fans are based in Asia.

“Supporting BK8 in marketing to this global Premier League fanbase equally affords us as a club the opportunity to further our own exposure and commercial efforts into those markets.”

As part of the deal, former Norwich City player Darren Eadie has joined BK8 as a brand spokesperson and will help support and drive engagement.

“BK8 shares the club’s aspiration to seek continuous improvement,” Eadie said. “It is the undying desire to achieve greater heights in an unforgiving environment that brought us together.”

Confirmation of the new agreement comes after City concluded its shirt sponsorship deal with online gambling operator Dafabet.

The operator had served as the team’s principal partner since the 2019-20 season, in a deal the club described as a record commercial agreement.

Dafabet branding appeared on the team’s shirt for the 2019-20 and 2020-21 seasons, but the team will now seek a new principal partner ahead of its return to the Premier League for the 2021-22 campaign.

“Over our 2019-20 Premier League campaign we announced record commercial revenue for the football club,” Kensell said. “More recently, we’ve also enjoyed a very successful Championship season throughout the challenges of pandemic.

“Throughout that period Dafabet have been fantastic supporters. As a club with a clear model, the contribution of our official partners and the team at Dafabet has been crucial. As the partnership comes to an end, we thank them tremendously for their support and wish them well.” 

Dafabet chief executive Dimitris Karatzas added: “We’ve had a great couple of years working with Norwich City and I am pleased to see the club returning where it belongs, the Premier League. 

“During the past two years, we connected with the team running the club in so many ways, establishing relationships that have far exceeded our expectations.”

Dafabet has a number of other sports sponsorship deals in place, including agreements with Scottish Premier League club Celtic and Spanish La Liga team Cadiz, while the operator last month signed an extended deal to remain as title sponsor of the World Pool Masters for the 2021 event.

The proposal – bill 2713-D – was first put forward by a legislative committee in February this year and would set tax rates at 10% of gross revenue for all verticals.

Winnings are taxed at eight times the annual minimum wage in the country, or UAH48,000 (£1,223/€1,429/$1,745). 

In addition, the proposal also repeals a threefold increase in licence fees that would have applied until the country established a central monitoring system for gambling. 

Previously, plans for gambling tax in Ukraine’s newly-regulated landscape called for a rate ranging from 10% to 30% of gross revenue depending on vertical. 

The Rada first voted on whether to pass the bill into law, without the need for a second reading. Although many more deputies voted for the bill than against, by a 217-59 margin, 55 members either abstained or didn’t vote. As a result, the bill fell short of the 226 votes required to pass a bill without a second reading.

After this vote failed, deputies then voted on whether to instead simply pass the bill to a second reading. In this case, 229 deputies voted for the bill and 58 against, allowing it to pass.

The bill had previously been scheduled for a first reading on 19 May, but this vote was delayed to June.

Last month, just before the originally scheduled vote, the tax bill was criticised by the Scientific and Expert Management Committee of the Verkhovna Rada, which said the taxes should be higher in order to protect state and local budgets.

It argued that as gambling could have a negative social impact, taxes should therefore be designed to limit consumption through higher duties. 

First announced in October 2020 and finalised in January this year, the agreement will see the operator pay $43.0m (£30.4m/€35.4m) to acquire the two businesses.

Esports Entertainment said the two deals significantly strengthen its ‘Play, Watch, Bet’ strategy, adding state-of-the-art esports entertainment centres, an esports-focused software business, esports analytics platform and P2P skill-based wagering platform.

“With the completed acquisition of Helix and ggCircuit, we have created the most diversified, US-listed esports entertainment asset in the entire ecosystem,” Esports Entertainment chief executive Grant Johnson said.

ggCircuit is a B2B software business that provides cloud-based management for local area network (LAN) centres, a tournament platform and integrated wallet and point-of-sale solutions. 

The business has over 1,000 connected locations and its ggLeap product has over 60 million hours of usage by over two million unique gamers on tens of thousands of public gaming screens inside centres worldwide.

Helix eSports owns five esports centres, including two of the five largest sites in the US, offering a range of experiences including casual play, competitive tournaments, STEM programming, high school leagues, large groups and esports bootcamps.

Helix also operates Genji Analytics, an esports-focused analytics provider that uses sophisticated computer vision, natural language processing and machine learning tools to delivers broadcast optimisation and talent scouting analytics.  

The acquisition also includes LANduel, Helix’s proprietary player-vs-player wagering platform that allows for skill-based wagering on third-party video games.

“These acquisitions significantly strengthen our ‘Play, Watch, Bet’ strategy, adding state-of-the-art esports entertainment centres, an esports-focused vertical enterprise software business, a best-in-class esports analytics platform, and a player-vs-player skill-based wagering platform to our diversified asset base,” Johnson said.

“Together with what we have already built, Esports Entertainment Group has unparalleled scale, and we are on our way to becoming a global industry leader.”

Crown Resorts, Star Entertainment and SkyCity Entertainment Group have received notice of the allegations, while the National Bank of Australia (NAB) has also been contacted by Austrac.

Austrac, which monitors financial transactions in order to identify money laundering, organised crime, tax evasion, welfare fraud and terrorism financing, said the allegations relate to “serious non-compliance” with the Australian Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing Act 2006 (AML/CTF Act) and the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing Rules Instrument 2007 (AML/CTF Rules).

Crown said its notice was in reference to its Crown Perth property, with the site having been under investigation since October last year over a potential breach of regulations.

According to Crown, Austrac’s Regulatory Operations branch identified potential serious non-compliance with the AML/CTF Act and AML/CTF Rules, while Austrac having initiated a formal enforcement investigation into the compliance of Crown Perth.

Crown also said it received legal advice a practice that existed at Crown Melbourne between 2012 and 2016 contravened section 68 of the Victorian Casino Control Act 1991. This involved Crown receiving payment from debit or credit cards of international guests at Crown Melbourne’s Crown Towers Hotel, with the funds then made available to the patron for gaming at the casino.

Section 68 of the Act prohibits a casino operator from, in connection with gaming or betting in the casino, providing money or chips as a part of a transaction involving a credit or a debit card. Crown transacted over AUS$160m (£88m/€102m/US$124m) through the process, which ceased in November 2016.

Crown said investigations are ongoing and it has notified the Victorian Commission for Gambling and Liquor Regulation and the Victorian Royal Commission about the issue.

Meanwhile, Star Entertainment said its notice was in relation to the Star Sydney property, with potential non-compliance related to concerns regarding ongoing customer due diligence, adopting and maintaining an AML/CTF program and compliance with such a program. 

Austrac identified the issues in a compliance assessment conducted in September 2019, which focused on the casino’s management of customers identified as high risk and politically exposed persons over the periods 1 July 2015 to 30 June 2016 and 1 July 2018 to 30 June 2019. 

The Austrac Enforcement Team will now carry out an investigation into the matter, while the agency advised it has not made a decision regarding any regulatory response that it may apply to Star.

“The Star takes its anti-money laundering obligations very seriously and will fully co-operate with Austrac in relation to its requests for information and documents and the investigation,” Star said in a statement.

Elsewhere, SkyCity said its allegations were for potential serious non-compliance by SkyCity Adelaide, again relating to ongoing customer due diligence, adopting and maintaining an AML/CTF Program and compliance with such a program. 

Austrac became aware of the issues during a compliance assessment in September 2019, which focused on the casino’s management of customers identified as high risk and politically exposed persons during the period from 1 July 2015 to 30 June 2016 and also 1 July 2018 to 30 June 2019.

The agency has not yet stated what form of regulatory action SkyCity may face, but it will request further information of the operator. SkyCity said will fully co-operate with Austrac during the investigation. 

“SkyCity takes its anti-money laundering responsibilities and obligations very seriously,” SkyCity said. “SkyCity has processes and practices in place in its business to detect and prevent money laundering and continually reviews these to ensure it meets all anti-money laundering requirements.”

In addition, Austrac contacted NAB over potential breaches of both the AML/CTF Act and AML/CTF Rules, citing “potential serious and ongoing non-compliance” with customer identification procedures, ongoing customer due diligence and compliance with part of its AML/CTF program.

Austrac’s enforcement team has initiated a formal enforcement investigation into NAB, but stated it is not considering civil penalty proceedings and that this decision is “reflective of the work undertaken” by NAB to date.

NAB noted that referral to Austrac’s enforcement team follows regular engagement by the bank with the agency “over a long period of time”, both to report issues and keep Austrac informed of progress in uplifting and strengthening the group’s own AML/CTF program.

The bank added that it has invested approximately $800m as part of a multi-year program to improve its financial crime and fraud controls and has more than 1,200 people dedicated to managing financial crime risks.

“NAB takes its financial crime obligations seriously,” NAB chief executive Ross McEwan said. “We are very aware that we need to further improve our performance in relation to these matters. We have been working to improve and clearly have more to do.

“NAB has an important role in monitoring and reporting suspicious activity and keeping Australia’s financial system, our bank and our customers safe.

“It is a key priority for everyone at NAB to uplift our financial crime capabilities, minimise risk to customers and the bank, and improve operational performance. That’s why we are so focused on getting the basics right every time to protect our customers and our bank.”

The country looks set to adopt the model of taxation widespread in Europe, which it hopes will “provide stable flows of public revenue and premiums and mak[e] bettors use the services of local operators”.

The previously agreed 3% tax on turnover was signed into law in 2018, but drew much opposition and now is set to be scrapped.

The tax base is taken after both winnings and taxes on these winnings are paid out, as well as after social security payments. Of the taxation income, 0.82% will go to schools that have achieved performance goals in national exams, 2.55% to the National Public Security Fund (FNSP), 1.63% to sports clubs and 95% for lottery operators.

Ahead of the launch of legal sports wagering across the country (a process which has since been delayed due to changes in proposed regulation to a concession model instead of licensing), the National Bank for Economic and Social Development (BNDES) has received 38 responses to its request for proposals from potential vendors.

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro formally added sports betting to the country’s agenda last August, signing a decree to add sports wagering to Brazil’s Investment Partnership Program (PPI) portfolio and national privatisation programme and appointing managers to lead the licensing process.

This equates to €44.46 per month or €10.26 per week, and follows DGOJ’s announcement in March that GGR for the online market grew 13.8% year-on-year in 2020.

The overall number of players, meanwhile, grew 8.2% to 1.4 million.

The vast majority of players were men, at 82.3%. While the absolute number of men playing rose to 1.2 million, compared to 261,812 women, the share of men compared to women declined.

Most players were in the youngest age groups, with 406,667 aged 18-25 and 503,335 aged 26-35. Among all ages, betting was the most popular form of online gambling and all groups saw an increase in players. 

However, this growth was most rapid in older players, with a 14.1% increase in the number of 46-55 year-olds to 156,069 and a 12.3% increase in 56-65 year-olds to 61,706

The age group that spent the most on gambling were those aged 36-45, with a median spend of €802, up 0.8%. For the 46-55 group, this figure was €783, for 56-65 it was €578 and for 26-35 the median spend was €521, all of which were increases. The 18-25 age group saw the largest increase, by 8.4%, but still had the lowest spend at €233.

The vast majority of deposits and most withdrawals were by card, though bank transfer was also a popular withdrawal method.

The year saw a number of strict marketing restrictions put in place in Spain. Advertising on TV and radio will be restricted to the hours of 1am to 5am and online ads must be age-gated, while sponsorship and bonuses are also banned.

Clairvest, via its Clairvest Neem Ventures subsidiary, was the last business standing in the tender process, after SunCity Group announced last month that it was to withdraw. 

Should the site, in the city’s Wakanoura Bay, be selected to host one of Japan’s three integrated resorts, Clairvest will construct a 569,000 square metre facility, of which 38,000 square metres will be a gaming floor. 

The property will also include a large conference hall, taking up approximately 45,000 square metres, as well as a number of facilities such as a Japanese heritage museum, restaurants, an esports facility and an urban sports park. It will also be able to accommodate 2,700 guests. 

Designed to be a “floating city”, it is described in documents released by the prefectural government as offering a “nature-rich” experience to guests. 

Clairvest’s initial outlay for the facility is estimated at JPY470bn (£3.03bn/€3.53bn/$4.29bn). 

While Wakayama has become the first to officially select its IR partner, Osaka is in a similar position, in that it has just one contender to develop a facility. 

MGM Resorts International has long been committed to a facility in the city, for which it has formed a consortium with Japanese financial services giant Orix Corporation. 

This week it also emerged that Yokohama had narrowed its bidders to two contenders, with Genting Singapore – working with pachinko developer Sega Sammy Holdings – and Melco Resorts & Entertainment competing for selection. 

Nagasaki, meanwhile, is a three-horse race, between Casinos Austria International, Oshidori International Development and its partner Mohegan Gaming & Entertainment, and Niki Chyau Fwu Group. 

In this role, Faure will oversee communication with the operator’s investors following its 2019 initial public offering (IPO). In addition, she will oversee the FDJ Group’s mergers and acquisitions strategy.

Faure has worked for FDJ since 2018, as chief of staff to chief executive Stéphane Pallez.

Prior to this, she has worked as equity manager for the French State Participations Agency (APE), which deals with businesses in which the French state holds a stake, such as FDJ.

She has also worked on the mergers and acquisitions team of investment bank Mediobanca.

FDJ also announced this week that it has provided funding to five different women’s sport projects. 

The funds will be provided to the French Boxing Federation, the French Roller and Skateboard Federation, the French Rowing Federation, the French Sailing Federation and the French Federation of Ice Sports.

The first three of these groups will use the money to fund new performance studies, while the latter two will receive new equipment and support for training.

Last month, FDJ appointed Andy Wright to replace Simon Trim as chief executive of its Sporting Group subsidiary, which is the B2B arm of the business.

Under the deal, Bally’s will take ownership of all Tropicana Evansville casino operations, as well as unencumbered rights to the facility’s sports betting and online gambling skins.

Tropicana Evansville comprises 79,000sq ft of enclosed space, including 45,000sq ft of casino floor, four dining venues and a race and sportsbook. The complex also includes 11,000sq ft of convention space adjacent to the casino, a Riverfront Event Center, a 243-room hotel tower and a 95-room boutique hotel.

As part of the agreement, an affiliate of Gaming & Leisure Properties Inc (GLPI) acquired the real estate associated with the casino for $340m (£240m/€279m), which it will now lease to Bally’s for $28m per year.

GLPI also purchased the real estate associated with Bally’s Dover Downs casino for $144m in Delaware, which it is leasing back to Bally’s for $12m per year. Both leases are governed by a master lease agreement with GLPI, which will run for an initial 15 years and includes four, five-year options.

Bally’s had agreed to acquire the casino operators for $140m, but as a result of the leasing stricture, Bally’s said no cash outlay was required at the closing of the deal.

Read the full story on iGB North America.