Month: May 2023

Nearly five years to the day when the US Supreme Court decided to overturn the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA), a majority of Americans believe that justices were correct in their decision, according to the AGA.

The ruling – which the way for the state-by-state legalisation of sports betting – is more popular than it was in past. 85% of those polled believed it to be the correct course of action, compared to 63% in 2019. Meanwhile, 77% of US consumers also support legalisation in their state of residence.

“American adults have always enjoyed betting on sports, and overwhelmingly value the ability to bring their action into a legal market, close to home,” said AGA president and CEO Bill Miller.

“The rapid spread of legal sports betting—fueled by regulated, responsible entities—has contributed to communities and established consumer protections by migrating betting away from the illegal market monopoly that PASPA perpetuated.”

Regulated sector attracting users

The trade body also found that the legal industry has made progress attracting bettors from the offshore and unlicensed sector.

The AGA’s research said that 78% of US bettors place all or most of their bets through regulated operators. In total, 77% of online sports bets are placed through licensed businesses. This compares to only 44% in 2019.

The lobbying organisation reported that 46% of bettors that place their bets through unregulated operators plan to transition to regulated businesses within the next 12 months.

Meanwhile, 90% of bettors who are active principally on the legal market intend to remain so in the next year.

Among the main reasons listed by users for why they choose regulated over unregulated offerings are the confidence bets will be paid out at 71%. Players also said that trust in account security and payment options was a factor at 68%, while 58% highlighted the availability of responsible gaming resources as playing a pivotal role.

Continued need for consumer education

The survey results showed that US adults are more knowledgeable about the legality of sports betting in their state. However, the AGA emphasised the continued need for consumer education, with many who were queried stating that they were ensure about the status of the law.

The number of American adults who said they were unsure whether online sports betting was legal in their state fell 45% to 29%.

However, 70% of sports bettors who placed most of their bets with illegal operators believed that were betting using legal offerings.

“Five years post-PASPA, the AGA and our members continue to support responsibly expanding the legal market while cracking down on predatory illegal operators,” said Miller.

“The regulated industry and our partners across the entire ecosystem—policymakers, law enforcement, regulators, leagues, media, technology providers and more—have made significant strides in our collaborative consumer education efforts since 2018, and we will continue to find new ways to enhance consumer protections as the market matures.”

IBIA said the expansion was happening due to the imminent government regulation of sports betting in Brazil, the growth of the sports betting market and past instances of match-fixing in the country.

It added that according to H2 Gambling Capital, 60% of the remote gambling market in Brazil is made up of IBIA members.

Khalid Ali, CEO of IBIA, said that the body is looking forward to expanding its reach in Brazil.

“We welcome the Brazilian government’s decision to regulate the sports betting industry as an overwhelmingly positive move,” said Ali. “IBIA looks forward to working with policymakers to ensure Brazil enjoys the full benefits of a dynamic and competitive sports betting market, whilst reducing the risks of match-fixing.”

Ali added that this expansion would allow the integrity body to deploy its comprehensive anti-match fixing technology, which would combat against match-fixing attempts in Brazil.

“What sets IBIA apart from commercial monitoring systems is the ability to track transactional activity linked to individual consumer accounts rather than analysing simple odds movements,” he continued. “Responsible regulated sports betting operators have a significant incentive to help crack-down on match-fixing and IBIA intends to be at the forefront of that preventative action in Brazil.”

“IBIA’s advocacy expertise and monitoring and alert network will have a vital role to play in helping Brazil successfully deter, investigate and prosecute match-fixing.”

Last week, IBIA announced that it had received 40 suspicious alerts in the first quarter of the year.

Erwin Haitzmann and Peter Hoetzinger, co-chief executive officers of Century Casinos, noted that the quarter had been an eventful one with ongoing construction at Century Casinos’ properties and its acquisition of Nugget Casino Resort.

“We are pleased that each of our reportable segments had revenue growth for the first quarter of 2023 compared to the first quarter of 2022,” said Haitzmann and Hoetzinger in a joint statement. “Construction of our hotel in Cape Girardeau, Missouri and our land-based casino and hotel in Caruthersville, Missouri continues, and we are excited to see the progress made at these properties.”

Read the full story on iGB North America.

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During a control visit in 2019, Denmark’s regulator found that the unnamed association had been offering bingo and banko games illegally for its members on a daily basis for a number of years.

Spillemyndigheden said bingo and banko were the primary purpose of the association and was in breach of national laws. As such, the case was reported to the police.

Denmark currently has a monopoly on lotteries, including bingo and banko games, with the exception of lotteries and similar games that are non-profit and for the benefit of a good cause. The regulator said this was not the case with the association.

The case was heard yesterday (8 May), during which the court agreed with the regulator’s findings and ordered the association to pay a fine of DKK15,000 (£1,752/€2,014/$2,213).

The court also said the association should have an estimated DKK5.0m confiscated as part of the ruling.

Problem gambling

The case comes after Denmark’s government last month committed an additional DKK30m to address problem gambling in the country over the next three years.

Between 2023 and 2025, DKK10m will be released each year by Denmark to support problem gambling ongoing efforts and projects, with recent research having suggested that almost 500,000 Danes suffer from problem gambling in some form.

The first DKK10m will be spent on initiatives targeting children and young people, as well as for further research into gambling addiction.

Also last month, Spillemyndigheden took responsibility for Anti-Doping Denmark’s national anti-match fixing platform. The regulator will now oversee for StopMatchfixing, a service which allows individuals anonymously to report instances of suspected match-fixing.   

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In the ruling yesterday (8 May), the court said Bet365 breached the rights of athletes by posting images and using their names on its social media channels between 21 February 2019 and 11 March 2021.

Bet365 had argued that using the images and names should have been regarded as editorial content as part of its social media output, but the court disagreed and considered it to be marketing. 

The court awarded each athlete DKK50,000 per notice of remuneration and compensation, in accordance with the country’s Marketing Act.

Danish football star Christian Eriksen, currently of Manchester United in the English Premier League, was the athlete impacted the most by the case, with his name or image having appeared on Bet365’s social media 29 times during the period. He was awarded DKK1.5m in compensation.

Further damage

Other impacted athletes included Danish national team goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel, who had his rights infringed 10 times and was due DKK500,000. Schmeichel currently plays for OGN Nice in France but was with Leicester City in the Premier League at the time of the breach.

National football team captain Simon Kjær was the subject of six breaches and was awarded a compensation package worth DKK350,000 for six breaches, while women’s football star Pernille Harder was also issued DKK350,000 for seven incidences of rights infringement.

Danish football legend Peter Schmeichel, who is retired but now works as a pundit, was also awarded DKK350,00 after his name and image was used seven times.

In addition to compensation, the court ordered Bet365 to pay a further DKK311,500 in legal costs incurred by the Danish Players’ Association, Danish Elite Sports Athletes’ Association and Danish Handball Players’ Association for bringing the case to court.

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