Exclusive Partner -- William Hill is the exclusive betting partner of a brand new mobile betting service called At The Races 3G, which can stream the entire At The Races television broadcast to any mobile device that is properly equipped to receive the transmission over 3's cellular network. Developed in-house by At The Races, the service will at first be available only to subscribers of the 3 network—which serves about half of the six million 3G devices in the UK—but At The Races is currently in negotiations with Vodafone and Orange to bring the service to their networks as well. The transmission stream of At The Races 3G lags only one second behind the TV broadcast, and the audio is apparently nearly perfect. Users can connect to the William Hill call center to place a bet simply by pressing the number '1'.
Remote Law -- Nevada's governor Kenny Guinn has signed into law a bill that will permit casino visitors to gamble with the house using remote handheld devices in public areas, such as at restaurants or poolside. Now that AB 471 is law, Nevada's State Gaming Control Board and Gaming Commission will draft rules to regulate the implementation of remote gambling at casinos. It will take several months or as much as a year for the agencies to draft the regulations. Remote gambling will not be permitted in hotel rooms or other private areas.
Data Rights Case -- In Britain, the High Court has denied bookmaker Victor Chandler International an injunction against the British Horseracing Board and its pre-race data service provider PA News. Shortly after the European Court of Justice delivered the BHB a defeat in its data rights case against William Hill last November, VCI applied for an injunction, charging that the BHB was forcing bookmakers to pay "abusively high and excessive charges." The court inevitably ruled that the BHB works for the good of racing and therefore also for the bookmakers who benefit through their commercial interest in the sport. VCI has been refused the right to appeal and must now pay £200,000 in overdue balance on its contract with PA News. Greg Nichols, CEO of the BHB, stated, “The ruling certainly disabuses a common misconception that the European Court of Justice ruling back in November disentitled the BHB from charging bookmakers for the supply of pre-race data." Within the next month a Dublin court will rule on a similar dispute that involves a group of Irish bookmakers who seek a £20 million-a-year rebate from the BHB over data rights contracts.
Partners -- Internet services and solutions company Philweb Corp-- which is the primary technology service provider and marketing consultant to the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp (Pagcor) in matters involving Internet-based gambling operations—has signed an agreement with FB Systems Inc, a subsidiary of Canada-based Futurebet Gaming Systems. Under the terms of the agreement, FB Systems will be Philweb's partner in providing technology, marketing, and distribution services to Pagcor. The agreement covers all North American sports and all Philippine-based sports except for soccer.
Deadline Extension -- Channel 4 has extended the deadline by which to reach an agreement with Britain’s racing and betting industries through the end of this week. The original deadline was set for May 31st, but was extended through the end of last week because discussions show the prospect of a positive outcome. The Tote confirmed yesterday that it was interested in contributing to a sponsorship deal now that new rules in program sponsorship allow bookmakers to lend their name to racing coverage. Betfair and the Racecourse Association are also reportedly somewhat interested in helping. By tomorrow or Thursday bookmakers could pitch a new offer that involves several of them joining together to sponsor coverage throughout the season, but the figure is not likely to come anywhere near the £8 million subsidy requested by Channel 4. After broadcasting horseracing for 21 years, Channel 4 has stated it is losing money through its coverage of the sport and is therefore requesting the subsidy. At least two stations, BBC and ITV, would reportedly be eager to inherit Channel 4’s burden.
Quoteworthy -- “Son, can I borrow your credit card?”
--Professor Joe Kelly of the State University of New York. Speaking at a recent meeting of the National Council of Legislators from Gaming States on the subject of new UK law provisions that exempt minors' credit cards from online gambling debt enforcement. Kelly envisioned a situation where a father might like to borrow his son's card.
Welcome Aboard -- Gianni Corrandini, a promoter and advisor of I-gaming software and solutions firm WorldMatch, has been voted onto Malta's seven-member Remote Gaming Council. Founded by Malta's Lotteries and Gaming Authority, the Remote Gaming Council advises the government on the most recent developments within the online gambling sector. The government itself does not actually sit on the Council, but does take part as an observer. The Council is made up of stakeholders from the online gaming industry, including license holders, data carriers, Internet service providers, as well as legal and financial professionals.
Upgrade -- Betfair recently upgraded its system improve its server capacity and also to launch Spanish and Turkish language versions of its site. The upgrade took longer than expected, and the 15 hours of downtime that resulted is the longest since the company's emergence five years ago. Betfair has invested an estimated £30 million in technology since its launch.
Mobile Slingo -- Mobile entertainment publisher Kayak Interactive has signed a deal with Slingo, Inc to offer two mobile multiplayer versions of Slingo, the popular web-based game that combines elements of bingo and slot machines. Kayak's Slingo-2-Go service will feature Slingo.com's popular titles Slingo Millenium and Slingo, 5-Card.