Lost Advertising Dollars -- The Tico Times, an English-language newspaper in Central America, reports that the U.S. Justice Department's efforts to scare media outlets into refusing advertisements for online gaming site have caused MVP Sportsbooks to lose $1.7 million in print advertisements and $1 million in radio advertisements for the next NFL season. Other MVP Sportsbooks contracts include a $400,000 deal with Fox Sports Radio, $250,000 with Sports Digest, and $175,000 with Athlon.
Sumo Grudge Match -- Key industry figures will don inflatable rubber suits in order to settle their rivalries on the sumo mat at the Global Interactive Gaming Summit & Expo in Toronto this May. The card features such blockbuster matches as David Carruthers (CEO of BetOnSports.com) vs. Cole Turner (BoDog.com) and Steve Ives (BetFair) vs. Michael Carlton (Victor Chandler). In the spectacular main event underdog Chris Costigan, a.k.a. Sting (owner and webmaster of Sports911.com) will struggle to go the distance with longtime crowd-favorite Sue Schneider (CEO of River City Group). Spectators are, of course, encouraged to wager on each match (with fun money), and celebrity bookmakers Alan Weinrib and Mark Blandford are expected to release the betting lines soon. The event is being held for charity and all proceeds will go to GamCare. The River City Group has initiated the extravaganza by donating $1,000 in the event's name.
New Washington Law -- Washington Governor Gary Locke signed Senate Bill 6481 into law on Thursday, permitting residents of the state to legally wager on horse racing via Internet and phone. A main reason cited in both the House and Senate for passing the bill was a prevailing feeling among lawmakers that the state was losing valuable revenue as residents bet with other advance deposit wagering systems, despite those services being illegal in Washington.
Attacks on Decline -- Web monitoring firm Netcraft and BBC News Online have been tracking the performance of the top 20 British betting companies' Web sites and have found that no sites have been brought down by extortionists recently, even as the this weekend's Grand Nationals approach. Many are expecting a strong wave of attacks during the popular betting event, as was seen with the Super Bowl and Cheltenham festival, but as for now there have been no attacks in the days and hours leading up to the Grand Nationals. Netcraft's analysis showed that from March 19 to April 1, betting Web sites sustained only 23 outages, most of which were due to maintenance repairs. By contrast, in the preceding 19 days of monitoring 33 outages were discovered, several of them from DDoS attacks. The results indicate that either the extortionists are letting up or the bookmakers are improving their defenses and becoming less vulnerable to attack.
Quoteworthy -- "I was particularly comforted to note that those surveyed saw gambling as an activity with some risks and were in favor of continuing with very careful regulation in the future. This matches the approach taken in the draft Bill which, by establishing the
Gambling Commission, will create as comprehensive a system of control and regulation as exists anywhere in the world."
-- U.K. Minister for Gambling, Andrew McIntosh. NOP Research Group recently completed a survey for the Department of Media, Culture, and Sport, finding that 71 percent of respondents have gambled in the last 12 months.
Crypto License -- I-gaming software developer CryptoLogic announced last month that its subsidiary WagerLogic has entered into a technology license agreement with Dr. Scott Lewis, who develops Internet applications, including the patented optimization technology for online gaming products that WagerLogic will begin utilizing. CryptoLogic's President and CEO, Lewis Rose, said, "This technology license will enhance our ability to deliver high quality multimedia information to our customers, which is in keeping with our strategy to offer exciting and engaging online gaming entertainment."