French Lottery -- The French State Lottery, La Francaise de Jeux (LFDJ), has launched its core 6/49 Loto game as well as the Euromillions online with the help of Access Gaming Systems Europe (AGSE), which also provided the interactive technology for LFDJ's Internet-based instant lotto games and its fixed-odds football betting game, Cote et Match. AGSE says it will soon connect all of LFDJ's games and channels through a Xenia, its secure, high performance transaction processing architecture for gaming via the Internet, interactive TV and wireless networks.
New Attheraces -- "We were devastated when Attheraces went off air. We now feel we can make a revised media rights proposal unencumbered."-- Matthew Imi, chief executive of "New Attheraces." Now that Channel 4 has left the Attheraces consortium, the remaining two companies, BSkyB and Arena Leisure, have issued a formal offer to Britain's 59 race courses to put the television station back on the air by June 21. The courses have until a May 21 deadline to decide whether they will accept a bid to run the channel for seven years. The course would also receive direct shareholding in the new channel, beginning at 10 percent with the potential to rise to one third of equal sharing with Arena and BSkyB.
Effect on Bingo -- The United Kingdom's Department for Culture Media and Sport(DCMS) has published its study of what sort of impact the proposed Gambling Bill will have on the future viability of bingo operators. The study's conclusion is that the bill will make competition much tighter, especially for smaller clubs. The document is available online at the DCMS site.
Scandinavia Market -- Modern Times Group--an operator of broadcast television stations in Scandinavia that recently acquired a 19.9 percent stake in I-gaming company Bet24--says it plans to develop a major presence in the Scandinavian betting market. Modern Times' CEO and president, Hans-Holger Albrecht, said that the company's betting management experience with Bet24 combined with its own branding, Internet retailing presence and extensive TV sports rights should make it a viable player in the Scandinavian betting market.
Betting at Work -- Research firm IRS has published a survey that found that Internet gambling is at the top of a list of online activities in which employers have banned their workers from participating. Sixty-three percent of the companies polled ban online gaming. E-mails that put down or belittle colleagues are also banned by 63 percent of polled companies, and Web-based e-mail is banned by 45 percent.
Hoax? -- Michael Sullivan, a bookie for Sportingbet in Darwin, is seeking legal council about whether to file suit against rival Melbourne-based bookmaker Michael Eskander. Sportingbet claimed earlier in the week that one of its punters had laid down a $5 million bet on Lonhro to win its race at the Queen Elizabeth Stakes in Sydney on Saturday. Eskander suggested the announcement was a publicity stunt, but Sullivan insists the bet will be verified when the Northern Territory government collects $19,000 in tax.