Month: December 2021

The amendments include an increase in tax rates across the board, including items such as casino gaming tax, limited payout machine gaming tax, bingo gaming tax, and the betting tax on fixed odds bets on sporting events.

For casino tax, operators are expected to pay 9.85% tax on gross gaming revenue (GGR) which doesn’t exceed SAR12m (£560,000/€660,000). Revenue above SAR12m but under SAR30m is taxed at 11.3%. Revenue between SAR30m and SAR100m will be taxed at 12.5%, the same rate as before. The highest possible tax rate for casinos is for revenue of SAR100m or more, which is taxed at 14.05%.

Previously, revenue less than SAR30m was taxed at 9.5% and revenue above this total at 12.5%.

Tax rates for limited payout machine gaming were set at 15.25% of GGR, paid to the Provincial Revenue Fund. The highest tax rate for bingo gaming is R73.8m for revenue of SAR1bn or more.

The secretary for the KwaZulu-Natal Legislature, Letho Sibiya, said he doesn’t foresee such proposals being met with any objection, “given that the tax rates have not been revised for many years”.

Regarding tax revenue from horse racing, the amendment proposes that revenue be paid to other categories of licenced operators, rather than just to the operator Gold Circle as is currently the case.

The bill proposed category 1 licensed racecourse operators – those which conduct thoroughbred horse race meetings – should receive 1.6% horse racing tax revenue.

Category 2 operators who conduct harness racing horse race meetings, and category 3 operators who conduct standardbred horse race meetings should receive 0.2% each.

Another proposal suggested that a percentage of the tax revenues which are currently being paid into a provincial revenue fund should be funneled into a Transformation Fund for “specific projects to be undertaken by the licensee in accordance with a detailed project plan”.

For fixed odds betting, operators are subjected to a tax rate of 6.0%. 3.0% goes to the Provincial Revenue Fund, 1.0% to the Transformation Fund, 1.6% to category 1 operators, and 0.2% to category 2 and 3 operators.

From a total of 22 investigations, the regulator identified 15 websites that had breached the Dutch Gambling Act and were as such deemed to have broken national law.

KSA did not disclose the identity of any of the affiliates or the sites they were promoting, but it did state that 13 of the affiliates could be subject to a penalty, depending on what action they take in response to the KSA warning. The other two sites remain under investigation.

In some cases, the KSA said that the affiliate immediately stopped advertising for unlicensed providers, while other affiliates switched to advertising for licensed operators.

At the first instance, KSA issues a cease-and-desist order to affiliates, after which it carries out re-inspections to monitor activity. If the website does not halt illegal activities, then KSA can issue a financial penalty.

“Offering games of chance without a license is prohibited; the same applies to advertising games of chance that are not licensed,” KSA said. “With affiliate marketing, sites receive money when they click through to the online game of chance and the KSA periodically conducts research into these advertisers.”

In May, KSA warned it was to commence a new round of action against affiliates offering unlicensed gambling in the jurisdiction.

This followed a previous round of action when KSA said examined 44 websites, which were reported upon and sanctions were subsequently imposed.

Of the websites examined, 26 were found to be promoting online gambling and forced to remove adverts, with 20 removing them immediately, three upon warnings from KSA that a penalty may be applied, while three subject to further investigation.

The announcement comes after the Dutch government this week published a new report that suggested ordering unlicensed operators to stop passively accepting bets from Dutch customers helped channel players to licensed igaming sites.

The report included data on the number of visits to gambling websites recorded in the Netherlands from 1 October, when the country’s igaming market opened.

The plaintiff had partaken in online casino games from an operator based Malta, before Germany’s Fourth State Treaty on Gambling (GlüNeuRStV) was implemented. The GlüNeuRStV allowed online casino to be offered in Germany for the first time.

The plaintiff had argued that because their online play was illegal at the time, they were entitled to reimbursements on losses they had made.

The operators involved were represented by Hambach and Hambach law firm.

This case was initially dismissed by the Euskirchen District Court in May. However, the plaintiff appealed the ruling and the matter was then brought before and rejected by Bonn Regional Court.

This is the first appeal judgement at any of Germany’s regional courts in this type of case.

The Bonn Regional Court stated that the suit had failed as the plaintiff had violated section 285 of Germany’s criminal code, by knowingly playing online casino games from a provider outside of Germany.

The plaintiff argued that he had no knowledge of this law, which the court did not accept.

Several similar lawsuits in lower courts were dismissed in September.

Intralot reported a 8.2% year-on-year uptick in turnover, comprising amounts wagered on B2C products plus revenue from supplier contracts, to €100.2m.

This, it said, was down to significant growth in the US and a higher contribution from Croatia as a new contract with Hrvatska Lutrija came into force. Across other key markets, it saw business recover from the pandemic. 

The bulk of this total was generated through technology supply deals, which accounted for €56.2m of the total, with a further €33.2m coming from licensed B2C operations. Game management contracts made up the remaining €10.3m of turnover. 

After player winnings were paid out from the licensed operations, gross gaming revenue from this segment came to €12.6m. This, coupled with €67.9m from B2B contracts, resulted in a group total of €80.5m, up 8.5%. 

Costs of sales for the quarter – comprising player winnings and revenue-related expenses – actually declined marginally to €71.4m, and once these were deducted from turnover, the business was left with a gross profit of €28.8m. Once operating expenses were factored in, earnings before interest and tax were up significantly, to €6.3m. 

Factoring interest, depreciation and amortisation charges back into this figure resulted in earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) of €28.3m, a 49.5% increase. 

Intralot then recorded significant gains of €42.2m from third-party investments, and €46.0m in interest and similar income. This resulted that operating profit jumping from a €13.7m loss in Q3 2020 to €67.2m. 

After €3.7m in taxes and a small loss from discontinued operations, net profit for the quarter came to €63.5m. 

This strong third quarter performance contributed to turnover for the year to date rising 24.4% to €302.8m, aided by growth across all key verticals.

Turnover, or amounts wagered, for licensed operations grew 37.7% to €94.8m, thanks to improvements in Malta and Argentina, where growth mitigated a particularly week currency exchange rate. 

Technology and support services were the biggest contributor to turnover for the year to date, at €173.4m, which Intralot credited to a strong US performance. Turnover from the region was up 22.9% year-over-year, thanks to growth in lottery operations, aided by a significant jackpot in January. 

Australia also recovered strongly from Covid-19, while Argentina’s recovery, coupled with the launch of its new contract with Croatia’s Hrvatska Lutrija mitigated a decline in sales from other markets. 

The biggest growth came from management contracts, which was up 65.8% to €34.6m, thanks to an improved performance from sports betting games distributor Bilyoner in Turkey. Turnover from its contract with Morocco’s La Marocaine Des Jeux et Des Sports was up €3.7m, while the launch of sports betting for lotteries in Washington DC and Montana contributed €3.3m to the total. 

Looking at turnover broken down by product, lottery was by far the biggest contributor to Intralot’s top line, accounting for €183.8m of the total. Sports betting followed on €53.0m, with a further €36.9m coming from IT products and services. 

Racing made up €1.5m of group turnover, with the final €27.6m coming from video lottery terminals (VLTs). 

Once player winnings were taken out, this left gross gaming revenue of €244.4m, a 21.2% increase from the prior year. 

Subtracting costs of sales for the nine months to 30 September (including payouts to players) of €216.3m from the €302.8m turnover total, Intralot was left with a gross profit of €86.5m. Once other income and operating expenses were factored in, EBIT came to €17.5m, a significant improvement from the €9.2m loss recorded for the first nine months of 2020. EBITDA came to €82.6m, almost double the prior year total. 

The increased share of profits from investments and interest income record in Q3 buoyed Intralot’s bottom line for the period, resulting in the business swinging from an operating loss to a profit of €56.8m. After taxes and losses from discontinued operations, the business’ profit for the year to date stood at €40.0m, compared to a loss of €62.0m. 

“The nine-month results reflect the continuing strong operational performance combined with the positive impact of the capital structure optimisation agreement achieved in the beginning of August,” Intralot chairman and chief executive Sokratis Kokkalis commented. 

“The robust improvement in the cash flow generation and high EBITDA margins enhanced by reduced future debt servicing costs, highlight Intralot’s strengthened overall financial profile and prospects to pursue new opportunities for growth through strategic partnerships.”

Bas Brons, Mieke Hoste and Marcel Marijnissen will now advise on the system, which allows consumers to self-exclude from gambling and for licensed operators to request involuntarily exclusion of a player direct with the KSA.

All licensed operators in the country are required to integrate with Cruks in order to see if any of their players are registered with the scheme.

Brons is a senior counsellor, practitioner and mental health care professional, specialising in gambling addiction treatment. For the past three years, Brons has worked for the Solutions-S Centre for Addiction Care and previously spent almost 11 years as a therapist, counsellor and coach at BBCoaching.

Hoste is a licensed clinical psychologist with experience of working with both adults and teenagers. She spent time working at Hart Hospital in Tienen in Belgium and the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, also in Belgium.   

Marijnissen is an addiction specialist who currently serves as chief medical officer at the Hervitas addiction treatment centre in the Dutch city of Zeist. He also spent time as an addiction doctor at both the Triora Addiction Care facility and Solutions-S Centre for Addiction Care.

The triple appointment comes after a new Dutch government report published this week suggested that ordering unlicensed operators to stop passively accepting bets from Dutch customers has helped channel players to licensed igaming sites.

The report, presented to the Dutch parliament by Minister for Legal Protection Sander Dekker, included data on the number of visits to gambling websites recorded in the Netherlands from 1 October, when the country’s igaming market opened.

It also found that around 3,500 people had registered for Cruks as of 1 November.

This was despite the fact that October saw a Danish land-based casino revenue record of DKK38m – up from DKK32m in October 2020 and up from the DKK35m recorded in September.

Sports betting suffered the most compared to last year, dropping 56.9% to DKK131m. For the year to date, sports betting revenue stands at DKK4.25bn – down 3.2% from 2020.

Online casino revenue has remained at a steady level compared to last year, dropping slightly from DKK242m to DKK241m. The €4.82bn of online casino revenue for the year compares favourably to the same point in 2020 as its up 8.7%.

Revenue from slot machine arcades was DKK115m, the highest figure recorded in 2021 so far. However, this still represents a 10.2% decrease from October 2020 when slot revenue was DKK128m.

Slot machine revenue for the year currently totals DKK1.60bn, a 28.6% decrease from 2020 owed to venue closures in the first three months of 2021.

Overall revenue experienced a month-on-month decline, dropping 7.1% from the figure recorded in September.

BetMGM will remain an official betting partner of the Golden Knights and benefit from a branding presence on a range of surfaces inside the team’s T-Mobile Arena home in Las Vegas, Nevada.

The operator will also work with the franchise on a series of marketing activations, as well as web advertisements and exclusive co-branded sweepstakes.

“We’re excited to be continuing our great partnership with BetMGM,” Golden Knights president Kerry Bubolz said. “Just like the Golden Knights, BetMGM has become a key experience to the sports and entertainment industry in our community.”

Read the full story on iGB North America.

The state soft launched its legal online sports betting and igaming market on October 12, before proceeding with a full launch on October 19.

Players won a total of $48.7m wagering on sports online during the period, which, after deducting federal tax payments and promotional bet costs, left $3.5m in revenue for the three licensed operators in Connecticut.

The Mashantucket Pequot Tribe, which offers online sports wagering via a partnership with DraftKings, led the market with $2.7m in revenue from $23.8m in wagers.

Read the full story on iGB North America.

The deal will now run until 31 July 2024 and see Intralot continue to provide OPAP with a range of numerical lottery products and services.

This will include the supply of Intralot’s LotoxS core product, which launched in 2019, as well as other components and services.

The latest extension comes after Intralot and Sazka Group-owned OPAP in January of this year renewed their partnership until 31 July 2023. 

“The lottery solution enables OPAP to keep optimising the gaming experience and responsibly increase the engagement of the players in Greece and Cyprus,” Intralot said.

“Our next-generation, future-proof platform is designed to build scalable ecosystems that meet the growing market demand and fully supports the modernisation and digital transformation of OPAP.”

Last month, posted a year-on-year increase in both revenue and net profit during the third quarter of 2021, crediting this to growth across its sports betting and online casino operations.

Revenue for the period was up 20.3% to €470.2m (£399.7m/$530.7m), while net profit came in at €96.0m, an increase of 83.6% on €52.3m in Q3 of 2020.

An investigation identified numerous breaches of rules set out in the Tennis Anti-Corruption Program (TACP), with Khabibulina now banned from playing in or attending any tennis event authorised or sanctioned by international tennis governing bodies or national associations.

Khabibulina was found guilty of match-fixing, approaching other players to attempt to fix matches, failing to report corruption approaches and also failing to co-operate with the investigation. 

The player, who had a career-high ITF singles ranking of 492 and ITF doubles ranking of 208, was ruled to have breached a series of TACP rules on one of more occasions.

Breaches included section D.1.d of the TACP, whereby no covered person shall, directly or indirectly, contrive or attempt to contrive the outcome or any other aspect of any event.

The ITIA investigation also flagged section D.1.e of the TACP, which states players must not solicit or facilitate other players to not use their best efforts in any event, as well as section D.1.f of the TACP, which relates to players offering benefits to negatively influence a player’s best efforts.

Other breaches included section D.1.b of the TACP, whereby no covered person shall facilitate any other person to wager on the outcome or any other aspect of an event. The ITIA also cited section D.2.a.i of the TACP, which requires players to report any corruption approaches to the ITIA.

Khabibulina was also found to have breached section D.2.a.ii of the TACP, where in the event a player knows or suspects an individual has committed a corruption offence, they are obliged to report this to the ITIA.

In addition, the ITIA referred to section F.2.b of the 2020 TACP, which requires all covered persons to fully cooperate with investigations conducted by the ITIA.

Khabibulina’s ban came into effect on 21 November this year and she has 20 business days to lodge any appeal with the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

The player, who did not contest any of the charges, was also ordered to pay a fine of $150,000 (£112,975/€132,906).

The case was ruled on by independent anti-corruption hearing officer Professor Richard McLaren.