US Bit -- Sen. Jon Kyl, R-Ariz., is going to push for legislation to ban Internet gambling to pass the Senate before the session ends, the Las Vegas
Review-Journal reported today. Matt Latimer, Kyl's spokesman, is quoted as saying that the senator will back the Leach bill, which passed in the House of Representatives on Tuesday, rather than support the prohibition bill introduced by Sen. Tim Johnson, D-S.D.
Makin' Deals -- Sportech plc has completed its disposal of the Pull Tabs lottery operation to Gameking plc. Sportech, the owner of Littlewoods Leisure, has also finalized deals with Safeway for branded lottery scratch cards and Granada Interactive for pay-to-play online games including "Popstars: The Rivals." ... SureFire Commerce Inc. has sold all the assets of SiteSell.com to a company that is controlled by Ken Evoy, a former vice president of SureFire, in exchange for an interest-free note worth CA$3.8 million. Repayment will begin in December and will be equal to 10 percent of the purchaser's revenue each month.
Bit from the UK -- Camelot, the operator of the U.K. National Lottery, is in talks with the lotteries of a number of European nations about starting a pan-European lottery game. The group said it expects to launch a British and French lotto game within two years.
Say What? -- "It's difficult to call whether [a prohibition bill will] get to the Senate or not. My sense is that there's a stronger sentiment in favor of that sort of legislation at the moment than there has been historically, so there's probably a better chance than before. I just think that people are realizing that there are protection issues and that there is a drain of funds from an economy that needs all the funds it can get and that there's no fiscal benefit to that and so on. ... In terms of impact on us, we have never taken play from the U.S., so we're not going to lose any revenue from the U.S. It all depends on exactly what reaction financial institutions take and the banks take and how broadly executed they are etc. But I think it's consistent with the fact that regulators want to regulate the space more and more, on a national level and on a micro level. So I don't find it entirely surprising that it is making some progress. I wouldn't like to second guess the Senate, though."
-Tobin Prior, CEO of Kerzner Interactive, on the Leach bill passing in the U.S. House of Representatives on Tuesday.