A Tidbit from the Far East -- Lottery vendor
YesIB is launching a service in South Korea that will enable people to purchase lottery tickets via the Internet or mobile phone. YesIB will run the business on behalf of the
Korea Veterans Welfare and Health Corporation. The service is expected to be up and running by January.
Tidbits from the US -- The gaming world continues to await the reintroduction of Rep. Bob Goodlatte's, R-Va., federal online gambling prohibition bill. The word from the Goodlatte camp is that he'd like to do so shortly after Congress reconvenes in early September, although sources close to Goodlatte continue to stress that several other bills have been higher priorities this year. According to the Las Vegas Review Journal, Goodlatte says he's met twice with U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft to discuss Goodlatte's Internet gambling prohibition bill. The Review Journal reports, "The Virginian described the discussions as encouraging, but declined to say if the attorney general would support his bill."
The list of candidates for chairman of the Nevada Gaming Commission continues to swell as former Nevada Attorney General Brian McKay, according to the Las Vegas Review Journal, has been thrown into the mix. Other names to have surfaced include Assistant Chief Deputy Attorney General Jeffrey Rodefer; state Ethics Commissioners Pete Bernhard and Raymond "Skip" Avansino; Las Vegas lawyer John Bailey and former Democratic Assemblyman Bob Sader.
Tidbits from the UK -- A group of U.K. bookmakers led by interactive betting firm Blue Square is seeking through the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) to prevent a partnership between BSkyB and Ladbrokes from having exclusive rights for five years to offer interactive betting on Sky Sports Extra and certain other Sky sports channels on Sky Digital. Rival bookmakers argue that the deal jeopardizes competition and could eventually create a monopoly on the iTV market. The OFT, which asked rivals for comments after the deal was made earlier this month, is being asked to investigate the issue further. telegraph.co.uk reports that BSkyB will receive a cash payment of £30 million from Ladbrokes on completion of the deal. The partnership will operate fixed-odds and pools betting services.
I-gaming software developer World Gaming plc this week announced the opening of its corporate headquarters in London. The office will also serve as the regional marketing and sales offices aimed at accelerating the company's growth throughout Europe, the Middle East and Africa. CEO Mike Aymong called the opening "a crucial operational footprint for the company and a demonstration of management's commitment to strengthening our global position in the I-gaming market." The company was previously headquartered in Antigua under its original name, Starnet Communications International. The company moved its headquarters to Antigua from its original home in Vancouver following the 1999 commencement of an RCMP investigation into illegal gambling activity.
A Tidbit from the Rock -- Gibraltar intends to mount legal action against the European Commission for investigating whether its tax laws conflict with the state aid rules of the European Union. The EC kicked off its investigation last month on Gibraltar's exempt and qualifying company legislation. Gibraltar contends that the essence of the legislation is that it allows tax exemption to companies that do business outside of Gibraltar and does not apply to companies that do business inside the country. Gibraltar's chief minister, Peter Carauna, said the tax exempt company and the qualifying status company are pillars of the country's economy.
Makin' Deals -- Littlewoods Leisure's Sportech betting and gaming arm and ITV have signed a £250,000 deal that makes Littlewoods the exclusive sponsor of ITV's interactive football coverage. The coverage will promote Littlewoods' gaming products, with an emphasis on its football pools division. Through the deal, ITV Digital's 1.2 million subscribers will be able to win prizes by predicting the outcome of matches. Officials from Sportech says that more deals between the two groups may be on the horizon.
Gaming software maker dot com Entertainment Group Inc. last Wednesday announced a license agreement with DSI Sportsbook International of Costa Rica. Starting in September, dot com will supply the sportsbook with its Internet bingo and casino technology.
Revolution UK Online reported early this month that Sports.com has extended its agreement with German site Oddset, the online sports betting division of Deutsche Lotto and Toto Block. The deal enables Sports.com's German visitors to place bets directly at www.oddset.de on several sports, including soccer, handball and ice hockey. Sports.com has provided Oddset with sports content since February.
New Stuff -- Bentley Communications, an Internet gaming technology and content provider, is planning a pari-mutuel wagering site aimed at residents of California. The target start date for offtrackbettingonline.com is Jan. 1, 2002, which is the day the new law allowing account wagering in California kicks in.
Beta testing has begun for Euro Off-Track's Isle of Man totalisator hub. The center will allow players to wager with co-mingled pools of greyhound, thoroughbred and harness racetracks as well as jai alai and frontons in the United States and Europe. Euro Off-Track, which is operated by betinternet.com, will be using U.S. Amtote International's Spectrum System for the Isle of Man-based hub.
A New Face -- Outgoing Bingo.com chief executive Shane Murphy has chosen Tarrnie M. Williams to replace him on an interim basis. The decision has been in effect since Monday. Williams is the founder and president of Tarpen Research Corporation, a consulting company. He also serves as director of YMBiosciences Inc., Blue Zone Productions Inc., Appareo Software Inc. and several other private corporations. Williams has been an adjunct professor of commerce and business administration since 1993.
Quote Worthy -- "(Telephone-account wagering) does level the playing field in California with other states that have legalized telephone wagering and allows us to compete with offshore (Internet) sites. . . The state is the one that has chosen to undermine the horse racing industry by the introduction of the lottery. We have 17 off-track betting sites in Northern California and probably 10,000 sites dispersing lottery tickets, and all of a sudden there are Indian casinos all over the place."
--Jack Liebau Sr., president of Magna Entertainment Corp.'s three California racetracks--Santa Anita, Bay Meadows, and Golden Gate Fields--on the state of race wagering in California now that the state has approved account wagering (as quoted by the San Francisco Chronicle).