Consumers wagered a total of $43.4m on sports during the month, up 19.6% year-on-year and 1.6% higher than $42.7m in July of this year.
A large portion of this was spent betting online via DraftKings, with this reaching $32.9m. The remaining $10.5m was wagered at retail sportsbook locations across the state.
In terms of revenue, gross gaming revenue from sports betting for the month amounted to $4.2m.
The group hosted its first, business-wide ‘Play Well Day’ where workers were invited to an employee-only event, promoting the role of staff in creating a culture that embraces safer play.
During the Play Well Day, FanDuel announced the appointment of professional boxer, mixed martial artist and wrestler Amanda Serrano as a responsible gaming ambassador.
The Casino Legislation Amendment (Royal Commission Implementation and Other Matters) Bill 2022, which outlines sweeping changes to Victoria’s casino regulatory system, dealing with Crown Melbourne, was passed just over a month after its introduction in August.
A royal commission led by Ray Finkelstein KC recommended these amendments to the law after it found that senior executives at the casino were “indifferent to their ethical, moral and sometimes legal obligations,” in its extensive report into misconduct at the Crown Melbourne casino.
Crown also faced inquiries in New South Wales and Western Australia.
The law also includes provisions for a pre-commitment regime for poker machines, meaning that players will have to set how much they are prepared to lose before they play, another recommendation of Finkelstein’s report.
Crown has until the end of 2023 to put in place the spending limits, and December 2025 to fully implement the entirety of the changes. The grace period is a reflection of the new technology which will have to be developed by the operator in order to ensure its full compliance with the law.
If Crown does not demonstrate it has cleaned up its “disgraceful” conduct, it will automatically be stripped of its casino licence.
Minister for consumer affairs, gaming and liquor regulation Melissa Horne said:
“We are holding Crown Melbourne to account and delivering on an additional 12 recommendations – targeting money laundering and harm minimisation – to implement every one of the royal commission’s recommendations.”
“This legislation implements world-leading reforms to make sure the failures uncovered by the royal commission can never happen again.”
Earlier this year, private equity giant Blackstone acquired Crown for AU$8.87bn.
Collins was initially appointed on 8 July 2022, replacing Chris Philp, who left office during the month’s swathe of resignations protesting Boris Johnson’s continued leadership of the Conservative party.
His leadership comes in a period of flux for UK gambling policy. A review of the 2005 Gambling Act is currently underway, with a white paper widely expected to be released in the coming months.
Collins in the fourth minister to lead the review since it began – will Philp replacing John Wittingdale, who himself replaced Nigel Huddleston. However, he is the first minister responsible for the review appointed during new Prime Minister Liz Truss’s premiership.
There are rumours that the new Truss-led government intends to completely abandon all efforts at gambling reform, as outlined in reports last week.
Besides the Gambling Act review, the lottery sector is also undergoing a shake-up, with the Gambling Commission announcing just days ago that fourth National Lottery licence had been formally awarded to new applicant Allwyn. Allwyn replaced the previous holder Camelot, which had held the licence since the lottery’s inception in 1994.
Commenting on the announcement, industry trade group the Betting and Gaming Council (BGC) tweeted: “Many congratulations to Damian Collins who continues his vital role at DCMS – this appointment is thoroughly deserved and we wish the Minister every success.”
The chairman of the organisation, Michael Dugher additionally tweeted a short message of congratulations.
Youth-orientated gambling harms charity the Young Gamers and Gamblers Education Trust (YGAM) also tweeted: “Congratulations Damian Collins. We look forward to working with you in this important role.”
Collins will work under new Secretary of State for DCMS Michelle Donelan. Before coming into that role, Donelan had long been a critic of the industry.
Since the 2010 general election Collins has been member of parliament for Folkestone and Hythe and chairs the joint committee on the draft online safety bill. From 2016-19 he also chaired the House of Commons DCMS select committee.
While the rest of Canada could play the flagship Interprovincial Lottery Corporation game last week, residents of Quebec were unable to do so due to 455 professional workers going on strike over pay and conditions.
An agreement in principle was struck last week between Loto-Québec and the protesting administration, legal and technology employees and Syndicat des professionnels du gouvernement du Québec (SPGQ) union, and has now been ratified by a vote among unionised staff.
Under the terms of the deal, which runs until the end of 2027, employees will work longer hours but have more flexibility on location and see increased pay. The deal includes 2% pay increases in each year of the contract, plus several bonuses, including a 1% bonus for 2022, a 2.5% signing bonus and a 6.5% bonus for 2022 to be given in January. There will also be a 1% per-year retention bonus in 2024 and 2025 and a 10% expertise bonus for 35 professionals.
The strike derailed the planned Québec launch of the revamped Lotto 6/49, and caused further disruptions to the working of the lottery, such as consumers being unable to redeem tickets either at retail sites or via the corporation’s smart phone app.
The first Lotto 6/49 draw in Quebec, following a series of modifications to the game, is to be held later today (Wednesday). Lotto 6/49 now offers two multi-million dollar jackpots with each draw, despite the C$3 entry fee remaining the same.
The Classic Draw, which has been held for more than 40 years, has been joined by The Golden Ball Draw, which replaces the current guaranteed prize. Each draw will continue to have a guaranteed winner, who secures either a $1m prize or a multi-million dollar prize.
A lawsuit had been originally brought about by the bookmakers that operated betting shops in the German city of Dortmund. Since 2014, the city had been levying a municipal tax based on the dimensions of the physical area of the betting shop – which was defined as areas where bets were processed and monitored. The tax was designed to be passed directly onto consumers.
However, in 2017 the Federal Administrative Court ruled that the tax could not be based on the area of the shop, leading to the city rewriting the statute as a 3% stake tax – this was in addition to the federally imposed 5% stake tax for sports betting.
Following this, the Münster Higher Administrative Court allowed an appeal about whether this tax by multiple levels of government was inadmissible due to similarities with taxes imposed under the Lottery Act, which does not allow for municipal as well as federal taxes.
The supreme court suspended the appeal process pending a decision by the Federal Constitutional Court on the admissibility of municipal accommodation tax, the outcome of which was expected to heavily influence the betting shop tax. In March, the Constitutional Court ruled that the tax was invalid, leading to the resumption of the Dortmund case proceedings.
The president of the German sports betting association (DSWV) Mathias Dahms welcomed the verdict:
“Many betting agencies have been wrongly taxed twice for many years, although we have pointed out the illegality of the additional municipal betting office tax from the start. Now the years-long struggle through the authorities has finally been won.”
The association had historically fought the tax, including in a 2019 report that questioned its legality.
Details of the talks or financial terms of the potential deal were not disclosed, but FDJ did state that the purchase would form part of wider plans to expand its presence in France’s online gambling market.
Founded in 2001, ZEturf employs approximately 100 staff and processed almost €800.0m (£701.6m/$802.5m) in wagers, including more than €100.0m in pool bets, in 2021.
According to FDJ, online horse racing betting accounts for more than 50% of ZEturf bets. This makes the business France’s second largest operator in this segment with a market share of around 20%.
In addition to its activities in France, ZEturf operates in the Netherlands, Belgium and Spain.
Should the acquisition proceed to the next stage, the deal would be subject to approval by competition and regulatory authorities
The talks come after FDJ in July this year also announced that it had entered into exclusive negotiations with Aleda, a point-of-sale and payment provider, with intent to buy the business.
The operator said the planned acquisition was part of the development strategy for FDJ’s payment and services business, while it would also reinforce its commitment to merchants by helping them manage their points of sale.
Upon posting its first-half results in the same month, FDJ also announced the acquisition of payments specialist L’Addition. The business specialises in payment management, point-of-sale systems and management services for the café, hotel and restaurant sector.
As yet, little information has been provided about Smart Gaming, which is registered in the Dutch town of Aalsmeer.
The KSA said that it will list the domain name that the business will use as soon as this is known, but Smart Gaming has not yet submitted the domain it intends to use.
The business is the 21st operator to receive a licence to operate in the Dutch online gambling market. It follows the ComeOn Group, which announced that it would launch its flagship ComeOn brand in the Netherlands after receiving a licence last week.
Also last week, the KSA launched a gambling harm prevention research programme, developed by Hague-based health organisation ZonMw. It said that aim of the scheme will be to gather new knowledge on the prevention and treatment of gambling addiction and gambling-related harms, so it can be formed into new treatment measures.
The regulator has also taken steps lately to crack down on unlicensed online gambling. Earlier this month it ordered two different operators – Betworld247 and Sons of Slots – to leave the Dutch market or pay weekly fines.
The bill, titled the Anti-Online Gambling Act, is currently awaiting consideration by a legislative committee.
In an explanatory note describing the bill, Villanueva emphasised the urgency of the bill, asking for it to be passed “immediately”.
“The consequences of gambling and online gambling are too severe to be ignored,” read the note. “The cost of gambling is no longer limited to the loss of money, but extends to the loss of values and lives.”
“This bill seeks to prohibit online gambling and the placing of wagers or bets through the internet or any form of online gambling activities to prevent further deterioration of morals and values, encourage people to work instead of relying on a game of chance, stop addiction and save lives.”
If passed, the bill would introduce punishments those that bet or knowingly receive wagers online, of up to six months in prison or a fine between ₱100,000 (£1,520/€1,737/$1,737) and ₱500,000.
If a corporation commits an offence against the Act, a maximum penalty of up to five years in prison and a fine of ₱500,000 will be handed to those responsible.
If passed, the Act will take effect within 15 days after its publication in the Philippines’ Official Gazette, or 15 days after it is published in at least two newspapers.
The Department of the Interior and Local Government, along with the Department of Justice, will be in charge of enforcing the contents of the act within 30 days of its enactment.
Online gambling directed at customers in the Philippines was only introduced last year, with online operators such as Okada Manilla being permitted to launch.
The country does, though, have a thriving industry of offshore operators that accept customers from other countries, sometimes including those where online gambling is specifically prohibited, such as China. These operators, known as POGOs, have been a major source of controversy, and a report last year from the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) found that there was a “clear link” between POGOs and human trafficking.
Last month, Alejandro Tengco, the newly appointed chairman and CEO of the Philippines Amusement and Gaming Corporation (Pagcor), said that Pagcor would consider being split up between its roles as a regulator and an operator.
Casineia.com is an online casino operated by Ease Gaming, which is based in Curaçao. The operator does not have a Swedish licence and so, according to Sweden’s 2019 Gambling Act, is ineligible to operate in the Nordic country. Despite this, an investigation by Spelinspektionen found that the site was available to and aimed at Swedish consumers.
In order to illustrate it’s claim that the site was aimed at the Swedish market, the regulator cited some facts it had gathered during its investigation. For example, the website has information available in the Swedish language; customer service is also available in Swedish.
Sweden is additionally a clickable country when registering for an account. The regulator also said that the site markets itself to Swedish consumers.
Ease Gaming will also be prohibited from offering gambling activities in the country on its other website: Slothive, Gamblii and Jinxcasino.
“The Gambling Act applies to games provided in Sweden, with specifically stated exceptions,” Spelinspektionen said. “It is a prohibitive legislation that is based on the principle that everyone who acts on the Swedish gaming market must have a licence. It is therefore not permitted to provide games without a license when one is required.”
“The purpose of the new regulation is for gambling to be channeled to offers from responsible, reliable and controllable players,” continued the regulator. “The regulation is based on the fact that everyone who acts on the Swedish gambling market must have a Swedish gambling license and that other actors without a license must be shut out.”
“Spelinspektionen considers that, with regard to consumer protection and to guarantee gaming safety, it is important that the decision is complied with immediately.”
According to the regulator’s strategy for tackling unlicensed activity, published in December last year, the order to leave the market is the first step in the enforcement process. Those that fail to comply will then be hit with fines, and should this fail to deter the operator, it will turn to the police.
In June, the Swedish government announced that it had scrapped plans to give authorities the power to block all offshore unlicensed gambling, regardless of whether or not the site is specifically aimed at Swedish consumers.
