Tag Archives: Sports betting regulation

Audit claims Colorado regulator “did not complete” background checks

Audit claims Colorado regulator “did not complete” background checks

The Colorado office of the state auditor released a report criticising the state regulator for limited background checks and failures to investigate temporary licensees, as well as raising questions about the operator tax filings.

The regulatory failures documented by the report places into stark relief the first years of legal sports betting in the state.

“During the first year of regulating sports betting, the Division of Gaming, within the Department of Revenue, did not have an effective process to investigate sports betting operations for temporary licensure, or to collect sufficient documentation to determine if sports betting operations’ monthly tax filings were accurate,” the report states.

The audit found the commission issued the majority of operators only temporary licences. With these licences, the operators receive the same privileges as permanent licences but with far less stringent background check procedures.

“As of March 2022, 35 out of the 39 licensed retail and i..

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Rhodes reveals Gambling Commission plans to “ramp up” enforcement

Rhodes reveals Gambling Commission plans to “ramp up” enforcement

Gambling Commission chief executive officer, Andrew Rhodes says the regulator will escalate penalties for failings, adopt more “prescriptive” approach to customer interaction and “ramp up” enforcement if industry continues to fail to live up to the Commission’s standards.

Rhodes made the remarks at the Westminster Media Forum Regulation Conference, where he spoke on the current state of the landscape in the industry ahead of the release of the Gambling Act review white paper. Rhodes hinted that the contents of the white paper should not necessarily be a surprise to anyone paying attention to the GC’s public comments.

“On behalf of the Gambling Commission, without waiting for what the white paper may bring, I can give you an overview on what we think needs to happen to make gambling in Great Britain as fair and safe as it can be, and what our next steps are to achieving that,” said Rhodes.

However, the regulator also said again that the regulator will not wait for the review to chan..

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Californians to vote on legalising online betting this year

Californians to vote on legalising online betting this year

A proposition to allow online sports betting in California – but with licence fees of up to $100m – will to appear on the state’s ballot this November.

Flutter chief executive Peter Jackson confirmed that the measure – backed by Flutter’s FanDuel brand, as well as DraftKings and BetMGM – was set to appear on the ballot this November, having gained more than the required 997,139 signatures.

“We’re very excited abut the Californian situation,” he said. “Clearly getting to this stage was not straightforward but we’re very, very happy to be on the ballot.”

These signatures must still be verified, though the measure reportedly has enough signatures that this is expected to be a formality. If it appears on the ballot and is approved by a majority of voters, it will become law.

The measure is titled the California Legalize Sports Betting and Revenue for Homelessness Prevention Fund Initiative (2022), as 85% of tax proceeds will gowards reducing homelessness. Sports wagering will be taxed ..

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Brazil publishes sports betting rules

Brazil publishes sports betting rules

Brazil’s Secretariat of Evaluation, Planning, Energy and Lottery (SECAP) has published its rules for sports betting in the country, which include a BRL22.2m (£3.6m/€4.2m/$4.4m) licence fee.

The Ministry of the Economy will act as the regulator and will establish a deadline – which will fall within the next six months – for operators already doing business in Brazil to comply with these rules.

There will be no limit on the number of licences that can be issued, with licences lasting five years. However, operators must pay a BRL22.2m (£3.6m/€4.2m/$4.4m) licence fee.

In addition, operators based abroad must set up a subsidiary in Brazil and must have “sufficient capital and economic and financial capacity” to operate.

The bill said whether a business’ financial capacity was “sufficient” would be determined by the relationship between its share capital and the volume of bets it takes, rather than setting a specific minimum amount of capital.

Operators will be permitted to offer bets o..

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Bally’s Interactive pens partnership with the Cleveland Browns

Bally’s Interactive pens partnership with the Cleveland Browns

Bally’s Interactive, a division of Bally’s Corporation, has entered into a long-term partnership with American football team the Cleveland Browns.

The partnership, which will see Bally’s named as an official sports betting partner of the team, comes before the official launch of sports betting in Ohio.

The Buckeye State is set to offer online and mobile sports betting before January 1, 2023, after Governor Mike deWine set this as the deadline to launch an official sports betting market.

Read the full story on iGB North America.

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French regulator partners with football league on anti-cyberbullying campaign

French regulator partners with football league on anti-cyberbullying campaign

French gambling regulator l’Autorité Nationale des Jeux (ANJ) has released a campaign in conjunction with major league football governing body Ligue de Football (LFP) to bring awareness to the cyberbullying of professional football stars.

According to the campaign, football players are regularly subjected to online abuse and accused of purposefully causing bettors to lose wagers they had placed.

A number of athletes have spoken out about this, after they had received abuse online after appearing in football matches.

The new campaign has been promoted by a video, which shows empty football kits on a pitch saving and scoring goals during a match. The bodies of players are not visible, reminding viewers that real football players are not “invisible men” that they can bully online without consequence.

The match sequences in the video are styled after matches from Ligue 1, which is sponsored by Uber Eats, and Ligue 2 BKT, which is sponsored by Balkrishna Industries.

The video also feat..

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FanDuel withdraws daily fantasy product from Ontario

FanDuel withdraws daily fantasy product from Ontario

FanDuel will withdraw its daily fantasy sports product from Ontario from 1 April, in line with the Canadian province’s regulations for when its online betting and gaming market opens to licensed operators.

Ontario is set to launch licensed sports betting and igaming on 4 April, ending a state monopoly. Earlier this month, the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario (AGCO) released a guide for operators that revealed that businesses which apply for registration before the 4 April launch must cease operations in Ontario from the moment their registration is approved by AGCO.

FanDuel is among the operators that has received a licence, and as a result it has opted to withdraw its daily fantasy sports brand, including both free and paid games, as this vertical is not permitted under the new regime.

The operator did note, however, that its daily fantasy sports brand would still be available in other provinces.

All entries submitted prior to April 1 will run as normal, with all winnings ..

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Missouri sports betting bill passed to state senate

Missouri sports betting bill passed to state senate

A bill that aims to legalize sports betting in Missouri is heading to the state senate after it passed its final house reading yesterday (March 24).

House Bill 2556 was first introduced on January 19 and was first referred to the Special Committee on Public Policy. It was sponsored by Representative Dan Houx.

It was one of several sports wagering bills that progressed through the Missouri state legislature in March.

Read the full story on iGB North America.

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Kansas to consider new sports betting bill

Kansas to consider new sports betting bill

The Kansas House of Representatives is to run the rule over a new bill that seeks to legalise online and retail sports betting in the US state, with operators entering into contracts with the state lottery.

Sponsored by the state’s House Federal and State Affairs Committee, House Bill 2740 sets out proposals to expand the existing lottery act to allow for online sports wagering.

The bill states that the Kansas Lottery would be able to offer sports betting through one or more lottery gaming facility managers that have entered into a contract with the lottery.

Each lottery gaming facility manager would be limited to operating three interactive sports wagering platforms, while they would also be permitted to agree a deal with an approved interactive sports betting platform, subject to clearance by the Kansas Lottery.

Sports wagering supplier licences would run for a period of two years, though the lottery may award provisional licences for up to one year. The bill said that fee for th..

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Nairobi bill would only permit betting in five-star hotels

Nairobi bill would only permit betting in five-star hotels

The Nairobi County Assembly has approved at first reading a bill that would only allow gambling operators to be located five-star hotels, and would only allow them to operate between the hours of 8pm and 6am.

The Nairobi City County Betting, Lotteries and Gaming (Amendment) Bill, 2021 would amend the country’s Gaming Act, which only became law last year.

The bill was approved at its second reading last week, bringing it one step closer to becoming law.

It would add new provisions to the country’s gaming laws, including only allowing betting, lotteries and gaming facilities to be “domiciled in a five-star hotel”, as rated by Kenya’s Tourism Regulatory Authority.

In addition, licenced premises would only be allowed to operate between the hours of 8pm and 6am.

Meanwhile, gambling advertisements may not be broadcast during the watershed period, which occurs from 10pm to 5am. Physical advertisements such as billboards would be banned entirely.

The law would also require all operators ..

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