Tidbits from the US --
American Wagering, Inc. announced today that the Nevada Gaming Commission has approved a settlement with the Gaming Control Board in which the company will divest itself of interests in its
MegaSports Pty. Ltd. Australian Internet gambling subsidiary. The settlement regards a disciplinary complaint filed by the Board in December 1999 claiming that AWI's MegaSports sportsbook accepted bets from investigators located in Nevada. The company has also agreed to pay a $10,000 fine. The divestiture may be accomplished by sale, spin-off or terminating the operations of the subsidiary. AWI has 180 days from the date of acceptance by the Commission. It has the right to request not more than three 60-day extension periods to complete the divestiture.
The Maryland Racing Commission has approved emergency regulations clearing the way for development of state-based home telephone account wagering. As approved, any track owner conducting live racing will have the right to offer phone betting, and although the measure still must be approved by the state Administrative Legislature Review Committee, track officials are hopeful it will be cleared in one or two months at the most. The commission acted after the Goodlatte/Tauzin compromise on the House version of the Internet Gambling Prohibition Act failed to pass. Martin Jacobs, general counsel for the Maryland Jockey Club, told the Washington Post he "can't imagine the Kyl bill passing this session."
Republican Representative Frank Wolf of Virginia is infamous as one of the loudest anti-gaming voices in Congress. In December, he mandated a nationwide audit by the General Accounting Office (GAO) of four to six communities in which gambling is a major presence. Atlantic City was first on the agenda and has already been visited. Next up is Las Vegas, where GAO members will meet with Mayor Oscar Goodman, members of the Nevada Gaming Commission, law enforcement officials, state social service organizations, and top casino executives. Auditors will focus on the political impact of gaming, the job opportunities it has created, tax revenue it produces, and crime trends surrounding the industry. Some say that the audits are redundant since the Nevada Gaming Control Board has already conducted a similar study. Jim Mulhall, vice president of governmental relations at the Nevada Resort Association, says that "Mr. Wolf will continue to spend the taxpayers' dollars in multiple ways to eventually get the answer he wants . . . It is a reflection of the implacable nature of Mr. Wolf's opposition to the industry and Nevada."
Barring a last-minute miracle, it looks like Rep. Bob Goodlatte will have to wait until at least September to have his Internet Gambling Prohibition Act brought up for a vote again in the House of Representatives. The House is off for the entire month of August. It will meet 17 times in September and then for the first week of October. It's tentatively scheduled to go out of session for the rest of October.
Tidbits from the UK -- The U.K. government recently admitted that punters who use tax-free offshore and Internet bookmakers are causing a steady decline in general betting duty being collected over the past three months as compared to the previous year. According to a report in The Telegraph, duty receipts in June for May's betting activity were £43.2m, down from £45.8m same time last year. Figures for May were £40.9m, down from £43.1m in 1999, and in April, income was £42.1m, down from £42.5m in 1999. It's expected that the decline will continue. Additionally, the Tote has reported a 10 percent drop in betting.
The U.K. Gambling Review Body last Friday cut off its acceptance of written submissions for its exploration of gambling issues in the U.K. "We have received some 150 submissions and we know that several more are on the way," said Secretariat Kirsty Wildgoose. " Submissions will not be made public by the GRB, although those who made a submission are free to use it as they wish. The GRB staff now has the fun task of sifting through piles of information before deciding whether some submissions need further clarification either in writing or orally. The GRB will put together the information into a series of conclusions and suggestions to be reported to the Home Secretary in June 2001. Plans for the GRB were announced in December 1999 as a way to design a new regulatory structure for the gambling industry, with a close look at online gambling issues. "Much of our current gambling legislation is over 30 years old. Social attitudes have changed and the law is fast being overtaken by technological developments," said Mike O'Brien, the Home Office Minister responsible for gambling policy.
A £20 million deal between Granada Media and Liverpool Football Club will create a joint venture to exploit all global new media and commercial rights of the club. As part of the deal, reported The Times, services will be developed for a new Liverpool FC portal offering entertainment, e-commerce and education and even gambling, all in numerous languages drawing upon fans around the globe. "The new deal involves all rights in perpetuity," Granada CEO Steve Morrison told The Times, except for live television rights.
Littlewoods Leisure, a British football pool business, is now expanding to digital television. Its website, Bet247, has joined with cable TV company Telewest to launch television lotteries and football pools. One can pick lottery numbers or predict sports match scores simply using a TV remote control. Football bets can be placed right up until the time of the kickoff. As for the lotteries, Littlewoods reports that the odds are 10 times better for players than those of the UK National Lottery, whose competition has threatened Littlewoods since 1995. Participants can win up to 2 million pounds from the Littlewoods lotto, and in addition an opportunity to win actual prizes is offered in a lottery called PrizeBuster. Littlewoods Organisation, founded in 1923, reportedly controls 82 percent of the U.K.'s football pools. The company is currently in the process of selling their leisure division to an Edinburgh technology company called Rodime, but the betting will continue.
Makin' Deals -- Virtgame.com Corp. has announced the discontinuation of its Antigua Internet gambling operations. Constellation Casino (www.virtcasino.com) and International Sports Market (www.virtsports.com), two gaming sites catering exclusively to non-US residents, will be sold. Virtgame will now focus solely on providing Internet gaming applications services.
United Casino Corp. is pocketing US$250,000 in profits after finalizing a non-exclusive license of the company's Advanced Gaming Software Package to Cook Island-based Malt Limited. As part of the deal, Malt Limited will offer blackjack, double exposure blackjack, video poker, eight-way slots and deuces wild poker at www.bettorsisland.com, a Polynesian-themed site.
Windnsea Gaming Services this week announced the purchase of Art Deco Casino, a virtual reality/avatar-based casino site due to launch in August. Players at www.ArtDecoCasino.com are represented digitally by characters that move though a VR casino, sit down and play and interact with one another. It will be Windnsea's fifth such launching this year. Seven more are planned.
Xitrix Gaming Technologies announced that its Transnet Services Ltd. unit has signed licensing agreements for its Internet gaming technology with Bama Inc. and Endless Entertainment Inc. Transnet will develop turnkey Internet casino software at www.BetUWinCasino.com for Bama and a casino at an unspecified URL for Endless Entertainment. The two virtual casinos are scheduled to launch for real-money wagering in August.
A Tidbit from the Down Under - Fresh off its purchasing of a stake in Canbet, Sky City in New Zealand has announced that it's in the hunt for an Australian Internet gaming license. The company maintains, however, that the decision to do so doesn't involve its just-concluded purchase of Adelaide casino.
New Stuff - Six weeks after going online with its sports betting service in English and German, Gamebookers Ltd. announced that it has expanded its online wagering service into the Latin American betting market with a dedicated Spanish version of its www.gamebookers.com site. The company will also expand its current betting offer of International and European sporting events by a wide range of regional events, such as the Copa MercoSur, the Copa Libertadores de America or World Cup 2002 Qualifiers and Spanish First Division to pick up users in Spain.
Redundantly redundantly named IGN Internet Global Network Inc. announced that its operating subsidiary, WinStreak, has launched its second themed casino, Wild Wild West Casino (www.wildwildwestcasino.com). The new virtual casino is based on WinStreak's Internet gaming software, the latest version (3.0) of which the company introduced July 14. It features a uniquely designed Western theme including high resolution graphics and animations, digital sounds and music, and WinStreak's full repertoire of casino games consisting of blackjack, video poker, roulette, video keno and various slot machines.
Tidbits from Here and There - The Malta Business Weekly reports that the Maltese government is expected to net between Lm5m to Lm8m from foreign online betting operations. The figures were projected by Finance Minister John Dalli, who was speaking during the launch in Malta of British online sportsbook Heathorns International. Heathorns joins Stanley Leisure as the only two companies with back-office operations in Malta. Dalli estimates that online betting companies will employ around 500 people in the coming three years and that another five online betting companies will receive licenses to operate in Malta in the next to months.
EchoStar, the parent of DISH network, on which Television Games Network, The Racing Network and Trackpower can be seen, announced that its satellite TV system now serves more than 10 million viewers nationwide.