SUSPENDED Trading of Lasseters’ shares has been voluntarily suspended on the Australian Stock Exchange at the company’s request.
The suspension was due to the uncertainty of funding from Lasseters International Holdings Limited, the Australian online sportsbook and casino operator’s parent company. The suspension will last for one month or until Lasseters and its parent company can come to an agreement.
Last week the company revealed a 49 percent decline in operating revenue from the previous year and said poor results continued to illustrate the 2006 Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act’s impact on the firm.
EXPANDING Boylessports, an Ireland-based bookmaker, is preparing to spend an estimated 3 million euros to extend its online reach to Spain and other countries in Europe, the Irish Times reports.
The company enlisted a former Bwin Interactive Entertainment executive, John Overett, to lead a 20-person development team in the creation of Web sites and products for new markets.
Daniel O’Mahoney, chief executive of Boylessports, told the paper a Spanish language Web site will launch in two months along with four additional languages that will be added within the next year.
FUNDS RAISER The Tasmanian Thoroughbred Racing Council, or TTRC, has confirmed Betfair, an international Internet betting exchange, will increase funding by 12.9 percent or $287,000 Australian dollars to $2.49 million Australian dollars for the 2008-09 season.
The money will be used to fund grassroots and showcase races and a new minimum prize-money level for group and listed races within Tasmania.
“This new initiative in conjunction with the overall prize money allocation for the 2008-09 season is targeted at offering extra opportunities and returns to owners who participate and support the local industry throughout the entire year,” said Rohan Mitchell, TTRC chief executive, in a prepared statement.
“It is also extremely important that Tasmania continues to focus on the group and listed status of its races and continues to support these key events, these feature races play an extremely important role for all participants and organizations within the industry,” he added.
SPONSORSHIP Bet-at-home.com and the Bulgarian Football Union, or BFU, have signed a sponsorship agreement that makes the Germany-, Austria- and Malta-based sports betting Web site the official sponsor of the national team.
The sponsorship features a myriad of advertising rights, which includes prominent brand placement at the 2010 FIFA World Cup and BFU home matches.
"This cooperation fits very well with our existing sponsorships in Eastern Europe and supports the future advertising activities of bet-at-home.com in Bulgaria", said Klaus Gruber, marketing manager of bet-at-home.com, in a prepared statement.
iGAMBLE In another addition to its iPhone game suite, Spin3, a mobile solutions provider, has launched play-for-real casino games, which are powered by Microgaming, an online gaming software supplier.
The company said these are the first commercially available play-for-real casino games made just for the popular iPhone.
“(This development) is a great achievement, reinforcing Spin3's commitment to set the benchmark for mobile casino gaming,” said Matti Zinder, chief executive of Spin3, in a prepared statement.
IN CHARGE Betfair, the betting exchange, has introduced a premium charge for its winningest customers who pay less in commission than it costs for the company to service them.
"This charge comes in a year after our last price increases -- a year during which we have invested very heavily in the business," company representatives, which included Chief Executive David Yu and Managing Director Mathias Entenmann, told Betfair users during a live forum discussion on the company's Web site Wednesday.
"And we think it is fairest that the weight of that cost should be limited to those customers who we believe are gaining a disproportionate benefit from the service we provide," they added.
The charge, which rose from around 5 percent to 20 percent, will only apply to 0.5 percent of its customer base, the company said. According to its 2007 annual report, Betfair maintains over one million registered customers, 433,000 of which were active during the period.
The charge is set to take effect from Sept. 22.
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