Sports Betting in NJ -- The New Jersey Assembly Tourism and Gaming Committee on Thursday approved a bill that would permit visitors at Atlantic City casinos to place wagers on sporting events. The bill was welcomed by the committee as an opportunity to increase state revenue for health care and other social programs, but several hurdles remain. Besides needing to pass a vote by the state's full assembly and then the citizens of New Jersey, the bill would also have to challenge and defeat a federal law that prohibits sports betting in all but four states. The Tourism and Gaming Committee almost unanimously agreed that the federal law could be overcome. The next step for the bill is consideration by the Assembly Appropriations Committee. . . . Meanwhile, New Jersey police officers busted a large illegal sports betting operation that operated in the northern part of the state, reportedly under the control of three organized crime families. The suspects are said to have used a wire room in Costa Rica to process bets placed via phone and Internet. According to prosecutor John Molinelli, "It's the direction illegal gambling is taking. You get an access code, you get an 800 number letting you call the wire room and place a bet." Among the charges faced by the 43 suspects are racketeering, promoting gambling, trafficking stolen property, money laundering, loan sharking, aggravated arson and possession with intent to distribute cocaine.
Dutch Cases -- Last week the Dutch national lottery, De Lotto, joined in proceedings in a Dutch court hearing Betfair's case against the government. Betfair is challenging the government's decision to maintain De Lotto's sports betting monopoly in the country for another license period. De Lotto's five-year permit expires Dec. 12, and a decision in the case is expected to come Dec. 9. A high court is also expected to deliver sometime next week a verdict on German company Star Games' attempt to introduce Internet gambling tournaments in the Netherlands.
The KPMG Company of the Year -- Betfair accepted the KPMG "Company of the Year" award Thursday at the annual CBI/Real Business Growing Business Awards in London. The event, now in its sixth year, is organized annually as a partnership between Real Business magazine and the Confederation of British Industry (CBI). The Company of the Year award was decided upon by a panel of judges chaired by CBI Director-General Digby Jones.
Match Fixing? -- Bookmakers are quite certain that a seemingly insignificant UEFA Cup Group D match between Greece's Panionios and Georgia's Dinamo Tbilisi was fixed. Dinamo Tbilisi was leading the match 1-0 at halftime but went on to lose 5-2, and suspicious betting patterns were reported by many books. Before kickoff, odds on Betfair for Dinamo Tbilisi to lead at halftime but to eventually lose drifted from a normal 36-1 all the way down to 5-1, while odds on Panionios winning went from 4-7 to 1-4. "A few years ago this match would have been inconsequential," commented Graham Sharpe, a spokesperson for William Hill, "but we now have clients in these markets and feel obliged to offer odds." Sharpe also noted that his company lost £10,000 on the event. Betfair has stated that it would help UEFA's investigation into the match, but the company would only be able to show graphs of betting patterns because Britain's Data Protection Act prevents it from providing customers' names. Betfair said it would be able to share more specific information if the UEFA had a memorandum of understanding in place with the company. Company officials met with the organization last week to discuss such an agreement.
The Italian Market -- Giorgio Tino, Italy's state-run gambling monopoly, estimates that Italy is now the world's third largest gambling market, behind only Great Britain and Japan. (The company's figures treat Nevada, California and Atlantic City as separate entities instead of consolidating them into one large U.S. market.) The gambling market in Italy grew enough last year for it to climb from sixth to third place. A spokesperson said the statistics are especially important "if one considers that the state levy in Italy is much higher than the European average, which does not reach 14 percent. In Italy, taxes on winnings were 22 percent in 2003, even without considering the taxes in favor of the Olympic committee and Unire, and it will be higher in 2004."