Month: January 2023

While general gambling licence fees in Georgia was administered by the country’s central government, additional fees per gaming table or machine are applied at the municipal level, in this case by the Batumi City Assembly.

These fees may be set within a range, with a minimum of GEL20,000 (£6100/ €6900/ $7400) per gaming table up to a maximum of GEL40,000, or fees between GEL2,000 and GEL4,000 per slot machine.

The country’s capital city, Tbilisi, sets its fees around the maximum. Batumi, on the other hand, set it taxes towards the minimum in order to attract investment from gambling operators. This had helped the city become one of Europe’s major gaming destinations, attracting customers from Turkey and Israel in particular.

“It was always a special taxation to attract the gambling business to this region,” Peace Casino manager and head of Batumi’s casino association Shota Amiranashvili told iGB. “The casino business built the infrastructure here.”

However, at the start of this year, the municipal government in Batumi increased the tax rates to the top of the scale.

No consultation with Batumi industry

“They did this without any consultation with the industry,” Amiranashvili said. “We learned this from the news. They must not have wanted bad feedback from this.”

Amiranashvili said that the government hopes the plan will increase revenue, but that the amount collected may be below expectations.

“The government has simple mathematics,” he said. “They say ‘if we increase taxes by 60%, we will get 60% more revenue,’ but it doesn’t work like that.”

Amiranashvili said that the tax hike will not completely stop the growth of the casino industry in Batumi, but that it will lead to much slower growth compared to what would have happened if taxes remained the same.

“Somebody will still open there, but if there’s 10 projects it will become five projects and if there’s three big projects it will become one big project,” he said.

The state’s handle for December was $1.62bn (£1.34bn/€1.52bn), up 3.9% from $1.56bn in Novemberand the third-highest monthly amount since the state launched its legal online betting market in January 2022.

However, gross gaming revenue from sports wagering fell for first time in five months, with the December total reaching $141.8m, down 4.34% from the record $148.2m reported in November.

Read the full story on iGB North America.

Issued by the Ohio Casino Control Commission (OCCC), the Type C sports gaming proprietor licence will enable Elys to roll out its sports betting technology in the state, which opened its regulated market on January 1 this year.

Incidentally, Elys’ licence will run for a period of five years, beginning on January 1.

Read the full story on iGB North America.

Revenue for the month reached $20.4m (£16.8m/€19.1m), which was 52.2% up from $13.4m in December of 2021. This was also comfortably higher than $5.8m in November 2022when Iowa suffered a sharp decline following multi-million-dollar winning bet payouts to US businessman Jim ‘Mattress Mack’ McIngvale.

Figures published by the Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission (IRGC) showed that of total revenue posted in December, $17.6m came from online sports betting, while a further $3.1m was attributed to retail sportsbook activity.

Read the full story on iGB North America.

Campeonato Brasileiro Série B side, Atlético Clube Goianiense, announced the sponsorship with Blaze, a sportsbook online provider. Blaze will feature on the club’s kits as the main sponsor.

The length of the deal is currently undisclosed.

Meanwhile, Campeonato Brasileiro Série A team Botafogo agreed a two-year deal with online sports provider Parimatch to become its main shirt sponsor.

Nick van Gorsel, director of operations at Blaze, said that the company is proud to be the new sponsor of Atlético Clube Goianiense.

“The club has a passionate and loyal fan base that will complement our growth. It is a great honor for everyone at Blaze to be part of the ACG family and we will do our part in supporting the club.”

Adson Batista, president of the club, added that the current state of Atlético Clube Goianiense helped secure the deal with Blaze. “Blaze too showed a lot of interest in our brand.

“From several clubs they choose only a few opportunities within Brazil for sponsorships and one of them is Atlético. We are a solid club, without debts, that has a very valued brand. This makes us proud and we are very happy with the new partnership.”

Meanwhile, Botafogo has called its sponsorship with Cyprus-based Parimatch a move in line with the club’s plans for expansion and international growth.

“We are pleased to be the club chosen by Parimatch, a global betting giant, to expand its business across Brazil and South America,” said John Textor, owner of Botafogo.

“Our new Parimatch partners will soon know what it’s like to be a chosen one.”

Anton Rublievskyi, CEO of Parimatch International, added that the company has found the right fit for them. “We were looking for a team that shared our values, had a rich history, loyal fans and big ambitions for the future.

“We are sure we have found the right one in Botafogo. It is a great honor for us to join this team and conquer new heights together. Let’s start the new year strong and continue to support and grow the sports industry in Brazil.”

Previously, Botafogo was sponsored by Blaze in a deal that was signed in July 2022, which lasted until the end of the year.

Back to square one for sports betting

External online sports providers are reinvesting in Brazilian football after former president Jair Bolsonaro failed to sign the most recent sports gambling law before he left office.

The law would have seen the country take control of the online sports betting market, which it currently receives no income from. There also would have been no limit on licences issued.

Brazil spent years trying to pass Federal Law No. 13,756/2018 to legalise fixed-odds sports betting, both land-based and online. The law was initially introduced six years ago and had been granted several extensions before Bolsonaro opted to not sign the new regulations into law.

When the law was expected to come into force, the Brazilian Ministry of Justice had prepared a crackdown on gambling sponsorship deals. However, the collapse of these efforts have allowed international operators to once again sign new deals.

The proposed law – Senate Joint Resolution 17 – would devise the framework for a new body named the Texas Gaming Commission, which would supervise legalized gambling in Texas.

Casino gambling would be authorized at a “limited number of destination resorts and facilities” with the proceeds going towards tax relief and funding for education and public safety.

The amendment’s author is Houston-based state senator Carol Alvarado, a Democrat who initially pre-filed the bill on 14 November 2022.

[Read full story on iGB North America]

Mathews will, however, stay on the Esports Entertainment Group board as a director.

The operator noted that his departure was not due to any disagreement with the company.

In his place, Michael Villani has been appointed as interim chief financial officer. 

Villani joined Esports Entertainment Group as financial controller in February of 2021. Before this, he worked as a director in the deal advisory practice of KPMG.

Villani will continue his current role as financial controller and will also act as the company’s principal Financial Officer.

He was with KPMG for a total of 18 years in both deal advisory and audit departments. Additionally, he has previously served as chief financial officer of a Geneva-based hedge fund.

Ongoing trouble with Esports Entertainment Group

Mathews’ resignation follows the departure of former CEO Grant Johnson from EEG at the end of 2022. 

EEG has faced difficulties in the past number of years involving brand closures, a debt default and large operating losses. In May of last year, EEG revealed in a quarterly financial report that there was “substantial doubt” about its ability to stay in business for at least a year. 

In December of 2022, EEG escaped delisting, but had been told to drastically increase its share price by February to remain on the Nasdaq exchange. Since this date, the operator’s share price has only fallen further.

The company has previously announced its plans to scale back its igaming business, including exploring the potential sale of igaming assets. EEG has already confirmed the closure of its Argyll igaming operations – which operates RedZone and SportNation – in the UK and Ireland in December due to high operational costs and an inability to generate profit.

Additionally, EEG had announced the sale of its online casino business in Spain was expected to close by 12 December 2022. However, no current update on this plan has been revealed. Proceeds from the sale will mainly be used to pay down the principal on a senior convertible note.

On January 3 of this year, it was announced that Alex Igleman would take over as new company CEO. 

Issued by the Hellenic Gaming Commission (HGC), the licence will enable Spinomenal to work with approved operators in the regulator’s Greek market.

Spinomenal counts Demi Gods II, Majestic King and Book of Rampage among its current range of games with these and other online titles to be made available to Greek-licensed operators.

In addition to Greece, Spinomenal is licensed in Romania and Malta, while the provider last year secured approval in Great Britain for both its Panda Bluemoon and SubTech brands.

“Entering the Greek market is another top achievement for our business and perfectly wraps up another strong year,” Spinomenal chief executive Lior Shvartz said. “Our presence in Greece forms a major part of our expansion strategy within the leading regulated igaming markets.”  

Under the deal, Kambi will continue to provide its sportsbook engine to RSI in 15 states across the US, as well as in Canada, Colombia and Mexico.

Kambi initially partnered with RSI in 2018 following the repeal of the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA) in the US and has supported the operator with its expansion across a range of markets.

Read the full story on iGB North America

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