Month: November 2021

The group, titled Dordtse Queens, was ran by eight administrators, who advertised illegal bingo games through the group and on their own personal Facebook pages, attracting almost 10,000 members.

The regulator also found that minors were given the opportunity to participate in the illegal games.

As a result the KSA reported the matter to Facebook, which promoted to remove the social media giant to remove six pages affiliated with Dordtse Queens.

It is the second time in recent months the regulator has taken action against unlicensed bingo offerings on Facebook.

In September Luxury Bingo and BSB Shop were both ordered to take their products offline, and threatened with fines if they failed to comply.

Meanwhile the country’s regulated market is up and running, with KSA issuing 10 licences to offer igaming in the Netherlands from October 1. However a technical fault with the country’s self exclusion platform Cruks meant that the launch was delayed until October 4.

Since then, JOI Gaming, a subsidiary of casino operator JVH Gaming & Entertainment Group has also been approved for launch.

Simon Rydings of Edinburgh, 50, has been sentenced to three months in prison after running a lottery on behalf of Sheffield Hospitals Charity, but failing to deliver the proceeds.

Rydings will also have to pay £1,000 compensation to the charity within 18 months of leaving prison.

His business, Capen Limited, had its licence suspended by the Commission in December last year. It operated charitable ventures, the Little Lottery, the Sports Lotto and Zaffo, as well as the defunct Lottery For Kids, receiving an operating licence in 2014 and a software licence in 2017. 

Birmingham Magistrates Court heard that Rydings spent the £285,000 on other costs associated with running the business, to the point where he was unable to repay the full amount to the charity.

Helen Venn, executive director of the regulator, said Rydings “completely failed as the CEO of a company with a Gambling Commission licence” and was “now paying the price”.

“Lotteries in this country can only be run for good causes – charities and other non-commercial organisations who run lotteries rely heavily on the income they receive from lotteries to support the important work they do,” Venn explained.

“Consumers in this country deserve to know that when they enter a lottery they are helping support their chosen cause – and we will not hesitate to take action against individuals who misuse funds in the way Rydings did.”

The Gambling Commission recently received final applications for its Fourth National Lottery licence, with the hope of picking a preferred operator by early 2022.

This was a decrease of 41.6% compared to the same period in 2020.

Leisure and hospitality made up a majority of the revenue. For Genting’s Resorts World Kijal, Genting and Langkawi locations in Malaysia the revenue came to MYR17.7m, down by MYR1.16bn year-on-year.

This was a 99.0% decrease in revenue, primarily due to the closure of Resorts World Genting due to Malaysia’s novel coronavirus (Covid-19) lockdown, with the property not reopening until 30 September, the final day of the reporting period.

The reopening of land-based casinos in the UK in May after Covid-19 lockdowns partially mitigated the Malaysia shutdown. The Genting UK estate, Resorts World Birmingham and Crockford Cairo in Egypt generated revenue of MYR406.0m, a rise of 209.0%.

This was largely down to the properties being shuttered for much, if not all, of Q3 2020.

In the US, Resorts World New York City and Resorts World Catskills, and Resorts World Bimini in the Bahamas also saw revenue rise, from MYR69.9m in 2020 to MYR364.2m in Q3 2021. Resorts World New York City remained closed as a result of the pandemic, until June 2021.

Overall, leisure and hospitality revenue totalled MYR787.9m, a 43.0% year-on-year decrease.

Other property revenue came to MYR20.3m, a rise of 14.0%, while investment revenue increased by MYR1.6m to MYR18.1m.

Turning to expenses, cost of sales amounted to MYR891.8m, down 26.1% year-on-year. However this resulted in a gross loss of MYR65.6m for the quarter, though this was reduced from MYR 275.2m in Q3 2020

Other income reduced the business’ losses by MYR63.7m. However other expenses, losses and impairment charges resulted an an operating loss of MYR252.7m, up marginally year-on-year.

Finance costs came to MYR95.4m, and while this was offset by Genting Malaysia’s share of profits from an affiliated business totalling MYR30.9m. After paying MYR72.1m in taxes, Genting Malaysia’s net loss for the quarter came to MYR307.0m.

The third quarter’s contribution brought the operator’s revenue for the nine months to 30 September to MYR2.26bn, down 35.0%.

Year-to-date cost of sales stands at MYR2.56bn, and after expenses Genting Malaysia’s operating loss was MYR906.0m, a 32.4% increase on 2020. After finance costs and taxation, its net loss for the nine month period came to MYR1.30bn.

Looking ahead, Genting warned that it may face further pain from supply chain issues, which alongside rising energy costs and inflation may hinder growth.

However, it added, Mayalsia’s emergence from the Covid-19 pandemic puts its local properties in a strong position, especially as border restrictions are eased and vaccine roll-outs help tourism return.

The deal will cover the 2021-22 season and see PlanetPay365 become an official partner of the team.

PlanetPay365 will benefit from a branding presence on pitch-side advertising boards inside the team’s Stadio Olimpico home ground

The provider will also work with AS Roma on a range of joint digital campaigns that will run across the club’s official online channels. 

AS Roma, managed by former Chelsea, Manchester United and Real Madrid boss Jose Mourinho, currently sit fifth in the 2021-22 Serie A with 22 points from 13 games.

The partnership with payment provider PlanetPay365, rather than parent company SKS365, means the deal is in line with Italy’s Dignity Decree. Introduced in 2019, it bans all gambling advertising.

Clubs are still able to partner with overseas operators for deals targeting markets abroad, while the deal with PlanetPay365 is not specific to gambling, meaning it does not breach regulations.

Such exceptions have allowed other clubs to agree deals, including Inter Milan agreeing an Asia-facing deal with AYX, ACF Fiorentina partnering with Olympic Entertainment Group subsidiary OlyBet in other European markets outside Italy, and AC Milan’s Africa-focused deal with Premier Bet.

AS Roma in March announced a new partnership with LeoVegas.News, a sports site venture from online casino LeoVegas. As LeoVegas.news is not a gambling site, it does not fall under the banned deals set out in the Dignity Decree.

PlanetPay365 also previously partnered with Serie A team Torino FC, through which the provider also benefitted from a presence inside the club’s ground and on its official television channel.

AS Roma, managed by former Chelsea, Manchester United and Real Madrid boss Jose Mourinho, currently sit fifth in the 2021-22 Serie A with 22 points from 13 games.

Football SAGA’s website will allows supporters from clubs across the country to voice their concerns surrounding the influx of gambling advertising and marketing in the sport.

The site launched with the support of nine supporters’ groups, including the Aston Villa Supporters’ Trust, Plymouth’s Argyle Fans’ Trust, and Birmingham City’s Blues Trust.

Football SAGA’s formation comes in the wake of a fan-led review into football, led by Chatham and Aylesford MP Tracey Crouch, failed to examine football’s relationship with gambling. That inquiry was set up in the wake of the failed European Super League project, and focused on the governance structures of clubs.

“The fan-led review report is looking to make football fairer and more sustainable, but gambling’s dominance over the sport is not fair or sustainable and mustn’t be ignored – we will do everything we can to make sure fans views are heard by government,” The Big Step founder James Grimes said.

Grimes claimed there was “overwhelming public support” for a ban on gambling advertising and sponsorship in football.

“We’re delighted to already have the support of nine supporters’ groups, and we look forward to welcoming many more to Football SAGA,” he added.

The Big Step wrote to ITV during Euro 2020 this summer, calling for the broadcaster to refrain from showing any gambling ads during England’s semi-final match with Denmark.

ITV also recorded a 47% reduction in gambling ads during the Euro 2020 group stage when compared to the 2018 World Cup.

“Gambling advertising has saturated the game,” adds Mo Razzaq, club liaison officer at the Aston Villa Supporters’ Trust “So much, that it has become normalised to such an extent that young people grow up thinking this is a harmless activity.

“Compulsive gambling has a devastating impact on physical, mental, and financial health. We need to take action against the damage it is doing to our communities and society as a whole.”

Gambling brands sponsoring football clubs has been a key point of contention for reform campaigners, with groups such as the Gambling Related Harm All Party Parliamentary Group and Peers for Gambling Reform calling for an outright ban. The industry has already implemented a ban on gambling advertising around pre-watershed sports broadcasts, which standards body the Betting and Gaming Council claims to have significantly cut minors’ exposure to industry promotions.

The approval will enable Wazdan to offer its games to players throughout West Virginia, including titles such as Sizzling 777 Deluxe, Lucky Reels, Space Spins, Power of Gods: The Pantheon and Magic Stars 3.

The licence comes after Wazdan in May secured a transactional waiver to launch in New Jersey, while in recent months the supplier has been approved to launch in Greece and Belarus.

In addition, Wazdan has applied for licences in both Michigan and Pennsylvania.

Read the full story on iGB North America.

Holbøll will begin the role from 1 March 2022, after finishing maternity leave, and joins from Danish tabloid newspaper Ekstra Bladet, where she served as editor in chief.

She previously spent time as head of digital and head of news at the publication, having previously worked as head of news and digital for Metroxpress, another newspaper, and as managing editor for TV channel TV 2 Danmark’s digital portal.

Details on her responsibilities, beyond leading global media and branding efforts, have not been outlined to date, though Holbøll said she would use her experience in management, digitisation and media to build on Better Collective’s goal of “making igaming entertaining transparent and fair”.

“The story of Better Collective is impressive; it is a very ambitious Danish listed company with a global presence and a bright future ahead of it,” Holbøll said. “At the same time, it has a progressive strategy, which I strongly believe in, so of course I’m really looking forward to being part of the team.”

She added that by moving from media to gaming, she would have an opportunity to test her skills in a new sector.

The new appointment comes after Better Collective last week announced a net loss of €3.5m (£3.0m/$3.9m) in the third quarter of 2021, as a 148.1% rise in revenue was offset by an increase in costs.

Revenue for the three months to 30 September amounted to €45.4m, up from €18.3m in the third quarter of last year, but higher expenses led to a net loss.

Overall gross gaming revenue (GGR) dropped 8.8% to €114.1m from Q2, but casino gaming revenue reached new highs of €64.8m.

Sports betting revenue took a hit in Q3, falling 27.0% to €49.3m.

iGaming proved to be more popular than sports betting for the first time this year, accounting for 57.0% of overall GGR.

Football continued to be the most popular sport to bet on by a considerable distance, making up 82.1% of sports betting turnover. Tennis followed with 13.3%, while 4.6% of turnover was derived from other sports.

For igaming slots continued to dominate, accounting for 77.6% of igaming turnover. 9.8% came from French roulette, and blackjack was responsible for 5.2% of turnover.

Scroll down to see the full interactive datasets.

All data and figures are processed by Ficom Leisure following the the official release of the figures by Portuguese regulator the Serviço de Regulação e Inspeção de Jogos (SRIJ). Ficom Leisure is a leading European corporate advisory firm specialising in all segments of the betting and gaming sector.

Ficom Leisure provides monthly figures on the New Jersey online market in the New Jersey iGaming Dashboard and Pennsylvania in the Pennsylvania iGaming Dashboard, available on iGB North America. It also provides quarterly figures on the Spanish online market in the Spain iGaming Dashboard, as well as monthly figures on the Italian market in the Italy iGaming Dashboard.

The requirement will come into effect from 29 November, while customers will continue to be encouraged to wear face masks when inside the casino to help limit the spread of the virus.

Finland uses the EU’s Digital Covid-19 passport, which contains three different certificates including vaccination status, whether the holder has a negative test result and if they have recovered from Covid-19.

The casino will also change its opening hours from the same date. It will now be open between 3pm and 2am from Sunday to Thursday, then 3pm to 4pm on Fridays and Sundays.

Slots will be in operation at all times, while poker rooms will open from 5pm.

“We follow the general guidelines and recommendations of the health authorities regarding the Covid-19 situation,” the Finnish monopoly operator explained. “We will introduce a passport to ensure the health safety of our customers and staff and to serve you longer in the evenings.

“We will continue to closely monitor the development of the Covid-19 situation and react quickly if necessary.”

The announcement comes after Veikkaus last week said problem gambling is at an “all-time low” following the introduction of loss limits on its slot machines, while revenue from the machines is projected to plummet by more than 80%.

Data released by the operator has shown that from September to October, up to 100,000 players stopped gambling as they had reached their loss limits.

Under the deal, BtoBet will provide BestBet24 with its Neuron 3 sportsbook platform for use across both online and retail channels.

Neuron 3 will be rolled out across BestBet24’s network of more than 80 retail shops across Poland, as well as both its online and mobile offerings.

“This significant deal is yet another step in our growth strategy to expand into new regulated markets,” Aspire Global chief executive Tsachi Maimon said. “We have once again demonstrated that BtoBet and our own proprietary sportsbook opens up for numerous growth opportunities in regulated markets with both existing and new customers.”

Meanwhile, BtoBet has also announced it will provide Flutter Entertainment-owned FanDuel with its player account management platform to support the operator’s entrance into the Brazilian market with its daily fantasy Ssports (DFS) offering.

The deal extends an existing agreement between the two parties, with BtoBet having supported Flutter’s Betfair brand with its launch in Colombian in October 2020.

“We look forward to working closely with BtoBet, and through our shared commitment to offer a unique DFS experience to local players,” Fanduel’s new markets director Aaron Champagne said.

Aspire Global’s Maimon added: “The agreement with FanDuel is yet another significant step towards our objective of establishing strong positions in the US and Brazil. Our success in these markets will be important steps in reaching our goal to become a world leading B2B igaming supplier.”

The deal comes after Aspire Global earlier this month reported a year-on-year increase in revenue and net profit for the third quarter of its 2021 financial year after experiencing growth across all areas of its business.

Revenue for the three months to 30 September was €58.6m (£49.5m/$65.8m), up 46.0% on last year and a record quarterly total for the supplier while net profit increased 81.2% to €18.3m.