Tidbits from the US -- U.S. Reps.
Bob Goodlatte and
Rick Boucher recently met with National Journal Group reporters to discuss Internet legislation likely to move in 2001. Of particular interest to both the terrestrial and interactive gambling industries, Goodlatte's Internet Gambling Prohibition Act was never mentioned.
All eyes in the United States this coming week will be turned to the confirmation hearing for former Missouri governor and senator John Ashcroft, who has been chosen by President-elect George W. Bush to be the country's next attorney general. The casino industry is very nervous about Ashcroft's tough anti-gambling stance. An unnamed congressional source told the Las Vegas Sun, "If I were out there, and I were looking at the sky, I'd see a pretty dark cloud forming over Nevada." American Gaming Association President Frank Fahrenkopf says the casino industry is concerned, but is hopeful that Ashcroft will leave gambling issues alone. "The question of whether a state has gaming is a state decision, not a federal decision," Fahrenkopf said. "We would hope that the attorney general would not try to interfere with state-authorized gaming in the country."
With the new year come the rejuvenated opposition in U.S. Congress to betting on amateur sports. Nevada is the U.S. state with legalized sports betting on college sports (or any other type of sports for that matter), but if the NCAA gets its way, a federal law will make it illegal. According to an Associated Press article, Congress might shoot for renewing the date in March during the height of the college sports betting season--the men's championship basketball tournament.
Tidbits from the UK -- Hotel Online.com reports that Gala, the gaming group which just purchased Hilton Group's Ladbrokes casinos for £235 million, is rumored to be in the hunt for a sports betting operation. The first name tossed into the rumor mill is William Hill. The publication reports that the group is also believed to be considering the purchase of Firststake, a betting firm that operates Firststake.com as well as a chain of bookmakers.
Sportingbet.com, an online sportsbook based in Alderney, announced this week that the target date for its highly anticipated £30 million initial public offering on the AIM exchange is Jan. 30. The final pricing and allocations are expected to be announced around Jan. 23.
Makin' Deals -- Boss Media AB has signed an agreement to develop an Internet casino for Global Interactive Ltd., a company which began operating and sublicensing online casinos in 1998. Global's casinos, currently powered by software developed by Starnet Communications International, will switch over to Boss Media software in coming months. Boss Media has sold 35 casino software licenses since its first sale in 1998.
Autotote, a race wagering technology provider, announced this week that its Scientific Games subsidiary has been chosen to supply 750 EXTREMATM terminals an AEGISTM on-line lottery system and support services for the Jamaica Lottery Company (JLC) for five years. The contract, valued at $10.9 million, also contains three options, each allowing a two-year renewal. "We are excited about working with the JLC to implement this important upgrade to its lottery system," said Autotote Chairman and CEO Lorne Weil. "The Jamaica Lottery Company has plans to aggressively expand its system, making use of the latest technologies like IP enabled radio networks and the Internet, both of which must communicate with our central system. We will work very closely with them on these initiatives to ensure the most efficient rollout possible and we are looking forward to a long and rewarding relationship."
Intertops.com, an Antigua-based online sportsbook operated by an Austrian company, recently reached an astounding milestone by accepting its 15 millionth wager. In five years of existence, the bookmaker has grown a registered user base of 480,000 customers from 183 countries. To reach the 15-million mark in less than five years, Intertops.com has averaged nearly one bet every 10 seconds since its inception and averages over 140,000 bets per week. The sportsbook gave away a luxury vacation package to the customer who made the 15 millionth bet.
Gaming software developer dot com Entertainment Group, Inc. announced that its dot com (Antigua) Ltd. subsidiary has entered into a software licensing agreement with Promontora Yuan S.A. The deal calls for dot com to develop and install for Promontora a complete Internet bingo and internet casino system during the first quarter of 2001. The bingo system was installed Jan. 10; the casino system will be installed sometime between now and the end of March. As part of the agreement, Promontora is obligated to pay to dot com up-front installation fees along with an ongoing royalty interest.
A Tidbit from Oz -- Internet gambling is at the center of another scandal in Australia. Herald Sun reported Thursday that a website maintained by Community Services Minister Christine Campbell, an adamant opponent to gambling , has links to Casino-On-Net, an online casino based in the Caribbean. In November 2000, Campbell launched a $1.8 million advertising campaign to raise compulsive gambling awareness. The website in question is hosted by Tripod, a service that allots its users free server space with which they can set up their own homepages. The only hitch is that the homepages are published with random advertisements run by Tripod, and the person who maintains the homepage has no say over what ads are run. The Casino-On-Net ad, along with ads for free-play gambling sites, were among the ads displayed at Campbell's site. Remarkably, Campbell committed nearly $2 million to anti-gambling advertising, but wouldn't toss in the few hundred dollars it would have cost to purchase a domain and rent a few meg of server space. A spokesperson for Campbell said that the site would be pulled down as soon as possible.
New Stuff -- The fourth edition of Tony Cabot's "The Internet Gambling Report" is officially available. The publication, which covers the complicated legal issues surrounding online gambling, features new chapters focusing on business perspectives and marketing; intellectual property issues; and the prohibitory and regulatory challenges in the U.S. and abroad. It also includes updates on market analysis, U.S. and global legal updates, and technical requirements. "Internet Gaming Report IV provides gaming industry managers and executives with timely information about what is taking place in the regulation of online gaming," says Cabot. "The information is presented in a highly readable and compelling format. Anyone involved in having to face these questions will, after reading this book, be as up-to-date and informed as any expert in this field."
Global Player Casino, an online casino powered by its own proprietary software, is boasting a suite of new video poker games, including a version of Deuces Wild that offers a 100.76 percent pay-out percentage. Additional new games include Jacks or Better, All American, Double Bonus, Five Joker Poker, Sevens Wild as well as a full series of progressive machines.
New Faces -- Magna Entertainment Corp. announced this week that its board of directors has named Jim McAlpine the company's new president and CEO. McAlpine assumes the two positions from Frank Stronach, the company's chairman, who held them on a temporary basis.
PlayandWin Inc., the company behind Racingo(R), a bingo-style race wagering system, announced this week the hiring of John G. Simmonds, chairman and chief executive officer of Simmonds Capital Limited and TrackPower Inc., to the company's board of directors. Simmonds will leverage both his experiences in the horseracing industry and his merchant banking expertise to provide PlayandWin management with strategic counsel on launching its new horseracing products and the respective capital requirements. PlayandWin and TrackPower signed an agreement in December calling for TrackPower to sell certain assets to PlayandWin.