Israeli Operator Inks Online Deal
Mifal Hapayis, Israel's national lottery provider, has tapped Intralot, a global supplier of integrated gaming processing systems, to power its new online lottery services to launch by the beginning of 2006. Intralot will be responsible for the development, design and maintenance of Mifal Hapayis' new interactive system, E-Pais. The system will be built on Intralot's B-On platform, which enables unlimited access to entertainment games, sports betting and lottery games on digital distribution channels anywhere and at anytime. The platform features multiplayer mobile and PC gaming capabilities coupled with betting, tournaments and instant tickets. The online gambling services will be available in Hebrew, English, Russian and Arabic. Online players will be required to pay with credit cards or pre-paid cards. The financial details of the contract were not disclosed.
North Carolina Lottery Could Go Online
A North Carolina bill signed into law last week by Gov. Mike Easley allows the state to set up a system for selling lottery tickets over the Internet, provided that proper regulations for doing so are established. The system would enable players to purchase weekly and monthly ticket subscriptions via credit card with the lottery commission. A spokesperson for House Speaker Jim Black predicted that it would be several years before North Carolina considers online ticket sales. Efforts to legalize Internet lotteries have been made recently in Georgia, Illinois and Texas, but none have resulted in the enactment of legislation.
German Lottery Site Could Go Public
German lottery Web site Tipp24 is considering a stock market flotation within the next four months. The issue date will depend upon the mood of the capital markets and the results of the forthcoming general election in Germany. The company's EBIT was up last year to 3 million euro from 1 million euro in 2003. Gross turnover rose from 105 million euro to 154 million euro in a year-on-year comparison.
Lottery Scams on the Rise
The National Lottery Commission, a British watchdog group, reports that the number of U.K. consumers taken by lottery scams has soared to a record high. The group says that complaints have tripled from 285 last year to 961 this year and that the number of scams that go unreported could be even higher. Schemes include bogus e-mails and phony Web sites urging consumers to hand over banking and credit card details. Syndicates also phone consumers at home, telling families they've won money prizes and need to pay "fees" to claim their prizes.
Growing Support for Philippine Lottery
Nearly 34 percent of respondents to a recent "Pulse Asia" survey in the Philippines favor the legalization of the numbers lottery game jueteng, but only if it was to be managed either by the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO), the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR) or some other agency controlled by the president. Fifty-four percent, however, said that the legalization of the illegal game would only make things worse for the country. The majority of respondents believe that most Filipinos who play jueteng are in poverty-stricken areas of the country and that money typically going toward families' basic needs will instead be used to play the game if it is legalized.
The survey of 1,200 people was conducted in July at the height of public clamor for President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to step down. At the same time the Senate was conducting hearings on a jueteng scandal involving Arroyo's husband and son.
Gtech Deals
Gtech Holdings Corporation announced that its subsidiary, Gtech Global Services Corporation, has signed agreements with two important entities: WestLotto, the operator of online and instant-ticket lottery games in the German state of Nordrhein-Westfalen, and the Spanish ONCE, the lottery operated by the Spanish National Organization for the Blind. Gtech signed a five-year contract with Westdeutsche Lotterie (WestLotto) to provide ongoing software support and enhancements. The firm will also act as general contractor for hardware maintenance as well as terminal software support provided by Wincor-Nixdorf. Gtech expects to generate revenues of approximately $16 million over the five-year period of the contract. Gtech will provide 5,000 additional handheld lottery terminals to Organización Nacional de Ciegos Espanoles (ONCE), which is authorized by the Spanish government to administer lottery and wagering games in Spain. It will also upgrade ONCE's central system hardware.
Sir Richard's Domain
Despite his public pledge to never again bid to run the National Lottery, Sir Richard Branson has registered the domain "VirginNationalLottery.com," although a Virgin spokesman insisted Branson isn't plotting to use the site. "He has no intention of bidding," the spokesman said." It was purely a defensive measure. We register Virgin Web sites the whole time to stop third parties taking advantage.''