Sportingbet Grows -- Sportingbet has entered into an agreement to acquire Antigua-based ISC Entertainment Inc., a company that owns and provides marketing service for certain U.S.-facing sports betting and gaming Web sites, including MySportsbook.com and WorldwideGamble.com. ISC's risk management, customer services and back-office functions have been carried out by Sportingbet under a white-label agreement since 2002. The deal's initial consideration of $33 million will be satisfied by a payment of $16.5 million in cash from Sportingbet's resources and the issue of 2,745,158 ordinary shares valued at $16.5 million. Deferred cash consideration of about $6 million will become payable in three years if the ISC business generates cumulative incremental profits over $22.6 million. ISC generated $90 million in profit for the year ended June 30, 2005, and its operating profit amounted to $6.7 million after its payment of royalties to Sportingbet. The board of Sportingbet expects operating profit before goodwill amortization for the year ended July 31, 2005 to be about $107 million.
Auctions -- The Belle Rock Gaming Group of casinos has introduced another online gaming innovation with its new Belle Rock Gaming Auctions program, which enables players to earn and use free auction points to bid on a wide range of items, including electronic equipment, jewelry, appliances, trips, tickets, home wares, sports equipment and rare collectibles. Players earn free auction points by playing at Belle Rock casinos and for making a number of interactions, including installing and logging onto the Belle Rock Buddy messaging application, opening additional real-money Belle Rock Gaming casino accounts, updating or verifying their details, linking their accounts in the Belle Rock Buddy and taking part in research surveys. An average of 10 new auctions will be hosted every day, and no item will ever have a reserve price. The featured item for August is a brand new SUV.
It's Official -- The Isle of Man's Department of Home Affairs today officially granted PokerStars.com an e-gaming license that will permit the company to begin operating its online poker business on the island.
Batter Up -- Starting Wednesday, William Hill's television network--Channel 425 on Sky Digital--will begin showing live U.S. Major League Baseball games each week. Punters will be able to make bets on several aspects of the game, including which batter will score the first run or RBI or how many strikeouts each starting pitcher will get. Live in-running betting will also be offered on a number of markets.
Hills Must Sell -- England's Competition Commission has declared that bookmaker William Hill must sell off 50 betting shops to remain compliant with competition standards. The company in May announced its purchase of 624 betting shops for £504 million from Stanley Leisure, thereby surpassing Hilton-owned Ladbrokes as the biggest bookmaker in the United Kingdom. Last month William Hill sold 28 shops to the Tote in the hopes that the sale would satisfy the commission's concerns. The 50 shops the company has now been ordered to sell do not include the 28 sold to the Tote.
Spread Betting -- London-based spread betting firm Global Trader has received a license from the U.K. Financial Services Authority to begin trading in Ireland. Although the company was founded in Dublin in 2001, it moved to London in 2004 because negotiations to obtain a license from the Irish Financial Services Regulatory Authority were slow and unproductive. The company's initial focus in Ireland will be toward customers who have an interest in emerging markets and who are currently unable to execute such products with the existing providers. Global Trader reportedly conducts over 300,000 trades per year for clients in 26 countries, which amounts to over US$5 billion in trades per year.