Month: April 2023

First announced by Weerwind in July 2022, the initial plan was to ban adverts in public spaces, television or radio from 1 January. However, Weerwind delayed its implementation in October, due to public consultations regarding the law being ongoing.

Last month, Weerwind said that the ban would come into place no later than 1 July, with this having now been confirmed as the formal start date of the ban.

The new date provides clarity to a subject which has been the cause of much public consternation in the Netherlands, namely the issue of children seeing gambling advertising.

“Advertising is necessary to make the legal offer of online games of chance known, so that people do not play illegally,” Weerwind said. “At the same time, as a government, we also have a duty to protect vulnerable groups against the risks of online games of chance. 

“With this ban, vulnerable groups, especially young people, come into less contact with these advertisements and we limit the temptation to engage in high-risk games of chance.”

Online ads remain

All television and radio adverts, as well as ads in public spaces, such as on billboards, will be banned from 1 July. However, advertising on the internet and television on demand will be allowed, but under strict conditions.

Internet advertising such as social media and targeted advertisements will only be permitted if an operator can actively prevent these adverts from reaching young people under the age of 24. Targeted ads at consumers in this age bracket is illegal in the Netherlands. 

Operators must also show that at least 95% of the advertising reached people who were 24 years or older, while consumers should be given the chance to indicate that they do not want to see these adverts.

“We have listened carefully to the advice that has been given”

Speaking to Casinonieuws about the ban, Charlotte Hees, spokesperson for the Ministry of Justice and Security, said a blanket ban on advertising so that no ads would reach young people would be too great a “risk” and could lead to consumers turning to illegal operators.

“We have listened carefully to the advice that has been given; that is nowhere realistic,” Hees said. “Then you get a total ban on advertising and the risk is too great that people end up on the path of illegal gambling.

“95% 24+ is strict, but it appears to be feasible based on an inventory of media parties. That may not be feasible on all websites and advertising is therefore no longer allowed there.”

The ban will include a period of tradition whereby existing deals will be permitted to remain in place for a set amount of time.

The period for sponsorship of TV programs and events lasts until July 1 2024, while deals within the sports sector, such as shirt sponsorship agreements, are permitted until July 1 2025. After this date, sponsorship by licensed operators will be prohibited.

“The transitional period is limited to sponsorship agreements concluded before the date of entry into force of this decision.” Hees said. “There is no room to conclude new agreements during this period. This would detract too much from the purpose of the decision to reduce the amount of untargeted advertising and its wide reach.”

Ban draws praise and criticism

The ban has drawn praise from a number of political parties, campaign groups and other organisations that have previously spoken out against gambling advertising in the country. 

“I am pleased that the ban on untargeted advertising for high-risk games of chance is finally coming into effect,” said Michiel van Nispen of the Socialist Party. “I have been politically committed to this for a long time. Because we see that it is risky to encourage people to gamble online because it can cause such problems, for people and society.”

“This decision ignores the importance of advertising”

However, Helma Lodders, chairman of trade association VNLOK, hit out at the new law, saying it ignores the social responsibility that licensed operators already take

“Finding a good balance between advertising enough to lead people from the illegal to the legal offer and protecting vulnerable groups as well as possible is difficult,” Lodders said. “Yet that is the common task for the minister and for us. 

“We understand the concerns of society that advertising should not lead to more problem players. However, this decision ignores the importance of advertising and ignores the social responsibility that providers already take. 

“We are sceptical whether this decision offers protection to vulnerable groups. We ask the minister to monitor the consequences of this decision to prevent a counterproductive effect.”

In a trading update, Rank said net gaming revenue (NGR) for the three months to 31 March reached £174.4m (€197.9m/$217.0m), with Rank reporting growth across all of its operating segments.

The group’s Grosvenor land-based casino business was the primary source of revenue in Q3, generating £77.9m in NGR, up 15% on the previous year. Rank put this down to an increase in visitor numbers across the UK, with average weekly NGR also rising 15% to £6.1m.

Revenue from Mecca bingo venues also climbed 9% year-on-year to £34.8m, with customer visits up 4% and spend per visit rising 5%. Rank also noted a 9% rise in average weekly NGR from these facilities.

In Spain, Rank’s Enracha venues generated £9.2m in revenue during the quarter, an increase of 8% on the previous year.

Turning to digital and revenue for this area of the business was 16% higher at £52.5m. Rank noted a 15% rise in UK NGR, with revenue from the Grosvenor brand up 23% and Mecca 15%, while Spanish digital revenue also jumped 19%.

For the year to date, revenue for the nine months to the end of March was 6% higher at £511.8m. Grosvenor venues NGR edged up 1% to £231.2m, Mecca venues NGR climbed 6% to £100.3m, Enracha venues NG was 19% higher at £26.9m, while digital NGR increased 11% to £153.3m.

“We are pleased that the momentum we saw at the start of the second half of our financial year has continued with positive NGR growth across all our businesses,” Rank chief exectuive John O’Reilly said. “Despite the challenging macroeconomic environment, the investments we have been making to improve the customer experience in our venues have helped drive the improved performance across both Grosvenor and Mecca. 

“The digital business is benefitting from the build out of enhancements to the customer experience on our proprietary technology and we have a strong pipeline of developments to continue to grow market share into the future.”

Rank expects to announce its preliminary full year results for on 17 August.

The National Centre for Social Research (NatCen)-led project aims to develop a new high quality problem gambling methodology to replace the existing telephone survey data collection. Following a May 2022 pilot, the Commission approved the project despite concerns that the new GB harms survey was oversampling problem gamblers.

In the latest stage of the research, NatCen conducted further experiments to further test and refine the survey’s methodology and questionnaire content. This marks the second phase of the experimental stage of the project.

The phase will be followed by a third stage conducted between April and July 2023. This will be the final test of the agreed approach, taking learnings from the first two experiments and applying them so that the survey’s design and questionnaire content is “robust and fit for official statistics”.

Household selection experiment

During the latest stage of the project, the Commission conducted two experiments, testing both the content and sampling of the survey. The first experiment explored the survey’s household selection and the presentation of harms statements.

“NatCen explored the best ways to encourage both gamblers and non-gamblers to complete the survey to ensure a representative spread of respondents,” read the report.

In the experiment, NatCen changed the wording on the invitation letters to make it clearer that the organisation asking was interested in responses from both gamblers and non-gamblers.

In parallel with this work, NatCen also conducted a split sample experiment to find the “optimum approach” for the number of adults per household to be invited to take part in the survey. Subsequently, it tested results when inviting two rather than four adults per household.

“Within this first experimental phase, NatCen also continued to build on the work that the Gambling Commission have been doing to develop a way of understanding the incidence and nature of harms associated with gambling,” said the report.

As part of this work, NatCen ran an experiment to find whether a yes or no response, as opposed to a four-point scale, worked best when asking about experiences of harm.

Following the conclusion of the experiment, NatCen made a number of recommendations as to future methodology. Among other changes, the non-profit argued that the preferred option is to invite two, rather than four, adults per household take part.

The refined four-point answer scale for the harms questions should also be maintained, with the questions being “very often”, “fairly often”, “occasionally” and “never”.

Presentation of the gambling activity list

In the second experiment, NatCen tested the construction and presentation of the gambling activity list. This was accomplished by testing an updated list of gambling activities as well as testing different ways of presenting the list of gambling activities to respondents.

NatCen tested three different methods showing the list – a long-list, a chunked-list and a hierarchical-list. The organisation also tested the inclusion of a quick response QR code which aimed to simplify the process by bypassing the need to manually enter information.

NatCen recommended that a long-list approach be adopted, and that QR codes should be retained as an alternative way for participants to access the survey in future.  

The Cavinder Twins, Hanna and Haley, are former NCAA basketball players who have surmounted a large social media following. In an exclusive deal, they will bring their Twin Talk podcast, which originally launched on iHeartRadio, to Betr Media. 

Betr said that this partnership will expand on-camera content and female-focused sports content for the company. 

In addition to their own podcast, The Cavinder Twins will make regular appearances on BS w/ Jake Paul and other Betr Media content across multiple platforms.  

Founder and CEO of Betr, Joey Levy says he is thrilled to welcome The Cavinder Twins to the company. He said: “They have already accomplished so much and are just scratching the surface of their potential.”

The Cavinder Twins said the partnership offers growth potential to their brand.  

“Betr gives us the ability to accelerate the growth of the Cavinder Twins brand in a focused and truly authentic manner,” the Cavinder Twins said. 

“We love sports, thrive on competition, and enjoy creating and bringing ideas to life. Betr truly makes The Cavinder Twins and our brand that much better and bigger.” 

Jeff Hoffman, partner ESM and The Cavinder Twins’ agent, added: “With Betr’s media savvy, the explosion of female sports and Betr’s disruptive behavior in gambling, it became a question of how far can we go and where do we sign,” he says.  

Regarding their new positions as creative directors and equity partners, Hoffman said: “This partnership with Betr provides a vested interest and ability to do what they do best: continue to define culture and content.” 

Many pandemic-related restrictions in Macau and Singapore have now been eased, but Sands said remaining measures, coupled with less visitors than before the outbreak of Covid-19, impacted operations in Q1.

However, with the situation improving and restrictions being eased on travel and tourism, this helped its performance year-on-year, with revenue more than doubling from Q1 of 2022.

“While travel restrictions and reduced visitation continued to impact financial performance during the quarter, a robust recovery in travel and tourism spending across our markets is now underway,” Sands chairman and chief executive Robert Goldstein said. “We remain enthusiastic about the opportunity to welcome more guests back to our properties throughout 2023 and in the years ahead.

“In Singapore, we were pleased to see the ongoing recovery at Marina Bay Sands progress during the quarter, with the property again delivering outstanding levels of performance in both mass gaming and tenant sales.  We remain energised by the opportunity to introduce our new suite product to more customers as airlift capacity continues to improve and the recovery in travel and tourism spending from China and the wider region continues.

“In Macau, we were pleased to see the ongoing recovery now underway in all gaming and non-gaming segments accelerate during the quarter. We remain deeply enthusiastic about the opportunity to continue our investments to enhance Macau’s tourism appeal to travelers from throughout the region, including to foreign visitors to Macau.”

Las Vegas Sands Q1

Revenue for the three months to March 31 amounted to $2.12bn (£1.71bn/€1.93bn), up from $943m in Q1 of last year, when Sands faced more measures and restrictions linked to the pandemic.

Casino revenue rocketed 145.8% to $1.45bn, while rooms revenue increased by 155.8% to $234m, food and beverage revenue 134.0% to $124m, mall revenue 8.7% to $162m and convention, retail and other revenue 163.2% to $50m.

Sands’ operations in Macau generated $1.28bn in revenue, an increase of 132.1% on last year, with The Venetian Macau being the primary source of revenue, posting $558m for the quarter.

In Singapore, Sands’ solitary Marina Bay Sands casino posted $848m in revenue, up 112.5% on the previous year. Sands also noted $48m in intercompany royalties and eliminated $55m worth of intersegment revenue.

Turning to costs, operating expenses were 39.9% up year-on-year to $1.74bn, with the main outgoing being resort operations at $1.34bn. Net financial costs were $183m, which left a pre-tax profit from continuing operations of $195m, compared to a $476m loss in 2022.

Sands paid $50m in tax, leaving a $145m net profit from continuing operations, in contrast to a $478m loss in the previous year, while consolidated property adjusted EBITDA climbed 620.0% to $792m.

However, when Sands included the $2.86bn gain from the disposal discontinued operations in the previous year, net profit was down 94.0%. 

“Looking ahead, our resolute commitment to making industry-leading investments in our team members, our communities and our market-leading integrated resort property portfolio positions us exceptionally well to deliver strong growth in the years ahead,” Goldstein said.

“Our financial strength supports our ongoing investment and capital expenditure programs in both Macau and Singapore, as well as our pursuit of growth opportunities in new markets.”

Star, which has been the target of multiple parliamentary inquiries into misconduct, said that it intends to restructure due to the compounding impact of regulatory operating conditions and exclusions, which, when combined with an “emerging weakness” in consumer spending, has led to this adverse environment.

The business also said that its Star Sydney casino – representing the largest single source of revenue for the group – “continues to operate in an uneven competitive environment” due to the impact of ending its junket affiliations.

These had been a particular source of controversy for the operator during its scandal, and led to questioning regarding whether the casino had been infiltrated by organised criminal elements.

Meanwhile, the business added its strong 1H FY23 performance the company reported in its Queensland properties has “deteriorated in recent weeks”, in particular at its Gold Coast property.

“To put the operating environment into perspective, the group’s current earnings performance is at unprecedented low levels (excluding the Covid-19 period),” said the business.

Star warned that if these conditions continue for the financial year, underlying FY23 EBITDA is expected to be in the order of $280-$310m. At the lower end, this would represent a 32.3% decline in EBITDA compared to the $413.6m the business reported in its FY22 financial report.

Cost and restructuring initiatives

This total includes the impact of cost cutting and restricting initiatives that the business plans to take. However, the business said its earnings estimate do not include expected costs related to its regulatory pressures.

“The FY23 underlying EBITDA excludes provisions for fines, costs associated with the ongoing regulatory reviews (legal, consultant and other costs) and any one-off costs associated with the group’s cost initiatives, all of which will be treated as significant item,” said the company.

In response to these pressures, Star announced a raft of new cost and restructuring initiatives to help it operate in the new environment.

The company plans to reduce approximately 500 FTE positions across the business, although this will exclude its risk management and remediation resources. Additionally, the company plans to cancel all incentive programmes across the business, as well as a salary freeze for all non-union employees.

“These actions, together with the previously announced $40 million of operational initiatives, are expected to deliver a combined ongoing reduction in group operating expenditure of more than $100 million annualised compared to FY23,” said the company.

The company also “continuing to progress” on its previously announced sale of its Sheraton Grand Mirage Resort Gold Coast property, with the company saying that it expects bids to be received shortly.  

Refinancing plans

The business also said it is “accelerating” previously hinted at plans to refinance its existing debt funding arrangements, with a focus on improving the group’s liquidity position, as well as helping the company cope in the new earnings environment.

“In addition, the group continues to work with regulators and the NSW Manager and Queensland Special Manager to remediate its businesses, to support a return to suitability over time,” said the company.

Under the partnership, US Integrity will promote the initiative to its client list of professional and collegiate sports properties, as well as regulated sportsbook operators across North America.

Launched in 2019, the Have A Game Plan campaign aims to bring sports betting stakeholders together around a common consumer education platform, focusing on four core principles of responsible wagering.

Read the full story on iGB North America.

Revenue for the month reached $515.3m, up 11.4% from $462.7m in March 2022 and also 12.8% ahead of $456.8m in February of this year.

Retail slots accounted for almost half of all gambling revenue for March, with the $225.4m generated during the month being 5.0% ahead of the previous year. However, revenue from retail table games slipped 8.9% to $85.9m.

Read the full story on iGB North America.

The US state opened it regulated market on March 10, with the inaugural online wagering report published this week by the Massachusetts Gaming Commission (MGC) covering the three-week period from this date, through to March 31.

DraftKings proved the most popular operator among consumers, drawing $257.6m in bets in the opening weeks, ahead of FanDuel on $181.1m and BetMGM with $45.3m.

Read the full story on iGB North America.

The regulator began its inquiry after a broadcast of investigative reporting television programme Kassa claimed that Betent sent advertising messages to users aged between 18 and 24 from October 2021 to March 2022.

The KSA said this was not permitted since young adults are a vulnerable target group. “The brains of young people are still developing,” said the regulator. “As a result, they are more susceptible to gambling addiction.”

Within the four-month period, the regulator found that Betent sent messages to for online games of chance on its site Betcity.nl, without taking steps to prevent young people from seeing the ads.

The failings took place prior to Entain’s acquisition of the operator, which was first announced in June 2022.

Ongoing investigation

The fine is fourth in six months that the KSA have imposed in the same investigation into advertising targeted at young people. The KSA also fined Bet365-owned Hillside New Media Malta in March, JOI Gaming in January and Toto Online in November for similar breaches of the rules in relation to young people being exposed to advertising. The regulator set the penalty at €400,000 in all three cases.

“The law prohibits games of chance providers from targeting young adults with advertising,” said KSA chairman René Jansen. “The KSA monitors this closely and with these four sanctions it once again underlines how important it is that providers of games of chance respect the rules that are intended to protect vulnerable target groups.”  

While Betcity accepts the ruling, it found that the language set out in the regulations to be ambiguous. The business claimed in its ruling that the rules – which prohibit the targeting of young people by gambling ads – were not clear as what that meant in practice. Betcity welcomes the ruling for providing clarity in this the matter.