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World Series of Politics: The NFL, the Wire Act and Brazil

It's a busy episode this week, with Brendan Bussmann and Brandt Iden looking at the NFL, the Wire Act and Brazil's election.

The dynamic duo kick off by discussing sports betting activity around the National Football League’s kickoff on 8 September. This season is set to be the biggest ever for sports betting; 46.6 million Americans plan to place a bet during the season.

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However, there are some issues emerging on where bets can be placed – the league is trying to prevent betting on match days.

There’s also some intrigue around the Wire Act, in the wake of a Rhode Island District Court judge ruling that the Department of Justice must formally state that it only applies to sports betting. Could this provide much-needed clarity after an attempt to enforce the act across all forms of gambling?

Does this mean the issue is dead and buried? Brandt is confident, but Brendan is not so sure.

Further afield, Brazil is preparing to go to the polls in a ..

September 23, 2022

Sweden to open applications for B2B licences on 1 March

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Sweden will open its application process for B2B supplier licences on 1 March 2023, regulator Spelinspektionen has announced, despite the fact the bill to implement these licences has not yet passed the legislature.

Currently, the bill to implement gambling software licences has not yet become law. The measure was proposed by the government in an effort to increase the level of channelisation in the Swedish market, but has not yet gone to a vote in the Riksdag.

While the results of Sweden’s recent election mean that the government that introduced the bill no longer holds a majority, Spelinspektionen said it was still working to ensure the bill could come into effect as planned if it is passed. The text of the bill says that the new licence regime will come into force on 1 July 2023.

In order to do this, it has now said that it will open applications for licences from 1 March 2023 and encouraged suppliers to prepare applications to be submitted from this date.

The regulator said the..

September 23, 2022

DC sports betting bounces back in August as handle reaches $13.1m

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Washington DC recorded its first month-on-month rise in sports wagering handle for two months in August, while gross gaming revenue also increased.

Player spending for the month amounted to $13.1m (£11.9m/€13.4m), which was 15.9% higher than $11.3m in July and also 5.7% up from $12.4m in August of last year.

Gross gaming revenue from sports betting during the month reached $1.8m, comfortably surpassing the $1.2m generated in July this year by 50.0%, while this was also 20.0% higher than $1.5m in August 2021.

In terms of individual operator performances, Caesars once again claimed top spot in the DC market with $683,326 off a handle of $5.7m.

Gambet, which is operated by the DC Lottery and powered by Intralot, ranked second with $557,987 in revenue from $3.4m in player spending. BetMGM, which operates in DC in partnership with MLB team the Washington Nationals, was next with revenue of $362,462 from a $2.5m handle.

Next, Flutter Entertainment’s FanDuel, which opened a FanDuel-brand..

September 23, 2022

English football must distance itself from the Pogos

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iGB op-ed: Zak Thomas-Akoo argues that in the wake of criminal scandals regarding offshore operators based in the Philippines, the continued association by English football clubs with the sector could be a ticking time-bomb for scandal.

Most fans of Premier League clubs probably couldn’t tell you much about the Pogo sector, but it has become deeply embedded in top-flight English football.

A Philippines Offshore Gambling Operation, or Pogo, is a Philippines-based gambling site that broadcasts games of chance to other jurisdictions – usually elsewhere in Asia. Almost by definition, this comes without approval by local authorities in the operator’s target markets. While China has been the highest-profile target, a number of Pogos also specialise in the Korean or Vietnamese markets.

The sector is also widely believed to be infiltrated by criminal organisations and has been linked to crimes such as human trafficking, slavery and prostitution, with the situation getting so bad that a sena..

September 23, 2022

Mississippi player spending reaches $21.2m in August

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Consumers in Mississippi spent $21.2m (£18.9m/€21.7m) wagering on sports in August, halting a four-month consecutive decline in the US state.

Sports betting handle for the month was 15.9% higher than $18.3m in July, but 0.9% down from $21.4m in August of last year.

Revenue also increased month-on-month, with the $2.7m generated in August being 8.0% higher than $2.5m in July, while this total was also 42.1% up from $1.9m in August 2021.

Coastal casinos were again most popular with consumers in Mississippi, with these venues drawing $14.2m in bets and turning $1.7m in total revenue for the month.

Spending at central casinos amounted to $4.2m, with revenue at $618,375, while northern casinos processed $2.2m in bets and generated $1.7m in revenue.

Baseball was the sport of choice for consumers during the month, with players wagering $8.5m at coastal casinos, $1.4m at central casinos and $1.3m at northern casinos.

The Mississippi Gaming Commission also noted that percentage for the mo..

September 21, 2022

German municipalities now unable to tax betting shops

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The German supreme court for administrative matters, the Federal Administrative Court, has ruled that municipalities will no longer be able to levy a betting shop tax.

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 A..

September 21, 2022

FanDuel expands responsible gambling efforts

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Flutter Entertainment-owned FanDuel Group has announced a series of new responsible gambling initiatives to coincide with the American Gaming Association’s (AGA) Responsible Gaming Education Month.

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.

Read the full story on iGB North America.

September 20, 2022

Dutch regulator issues 21st online licence

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Dutch regulator de Kansspelautoriteit (KSA) has issued its 21st online gambling licence, to a business known as Smart Gaming BV.

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 the 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.
..

September 20, 2022

FDJ opens talks over ZEturf Group acquisition

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French national lottery operator Française des Jeux (FDJ) has entered into exclusive negotiations over the acquisition of online horse racing and sports betting brand ZEturf Group.

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 a..

September 16, 2022

Rumour Truss will scrap gambling review may be bad news, analyst warns

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Regulus Partners analyst Dan Waugh warned against the industry celebrating rumours new prime minister Liz Truss would abandon the Gambling Act review, instead arguing the news may be “worst outcome for industry”.

A report from Guardian chief political correspondent Jessica Elgot concerning general government plans to scrap a number of legislative proposals noted “rumours” that the Gambling Act review was among the proposals that could be axed.

Long-delayed process

The Gambling Act review has been in motion since late 2020, having initially been on the Conservative Party manifesto in 2019.

However, various delays have meant that a white paper outlining the government’s wish list for reforms has still not been published.

A major factor in the repeated delays appeared to have been changes in personnel, with four different ministers having overseen the legislation since it began.

Chris Philp, who at the time was responsible for the review, said in his July resignation letter that th..

Author: Bookiecity