I-Gaming Football Sponsorships
This summer saw an increase in partnerships between online casino operators and European football teams. 32Red became the main sponsor of English Premiership Club Aston Villa, and BET24.com agreed to a similar deal with the Blackburn Rovers. And in France, Toulouse Football Club agreed a sponsorship deal with 888.com and Gamebookers.com signed on as the shirt sponsors of FC Nantes and Austrian bookmaker bwin signed a sponsorship agreement with AS Monaco.
Current policy in France, however, appears to dictate that foreign online gambling services are prohibited in the country indefinitely. The law includes the online and offline advertisement of the products, and the football clubs in France were reportedly unaware of the law.
bwin's co-CEOs were arrested two weeks ago for an alleged violation of domestic betting laws. They have declared their intent to bring legal action against France with the ECJ.
A spokesperson for Toulouse Football Club said, "As far as we know, online gaming is the only illegal activity in France, which so far can be displayed without any risk. One can hardly imagine an ad of some illegal slot network appearing on players jerseys."
The French Professional Football League (LFP) announced today that it has banned its clubs from advertising any form of gambling and online betting.
Unitab and Tattersall's Merger is Finally Final
The Queensland Supreme Court has approved the merger between Queensland-based Unitab Ltd. and Victoria-based Tattersall's Ltd. Unitab shares were suspended from trading on the Australian Stock Exchange at the close of trading on Sept. 27, but shares in the merged company are expected to begin trading on Oct. 10. Unitab shareholders voted last week in favor of a merger with Tattersall's to form a new $4.3 billion force in the gambling sector.
Australian gaming giant Tabcorp's A$1.9 billion hostile takeover attempt of Unitab was rejected on Aug. 16 by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission on grounds that the combined company would unfairly dominate betting on horse races.
Not Wearing Sevilla's Satanic 888 Jersey
Citing religious reasons, Sevilla Football Club player Frederic Kanoute has refused to wear the club's jersey, which this year features an 888 sponsorship logo. Kanoute has insisted he will don a Sevilla jersey--as long as it doesn't include references to gambling or alcoholic drinks. "Alcoholic drinks and gambling are just the dirty work of Satan and are forbidden by the Koran," Kanoute said. "[I am] very pleased that Sevilla seem to understand my position and are not obliging me to wear this shirt."
Gextech Unveils 'Fantastic' Brand
Interactive games developer Gextech announced plans to extend the range of its virtual fixed-odds sports betting products under the single brand name Fantastic Sports. Two sub-brands, Fantastic League and Fantastic Races, will cover a range of popular sports featuring 3-D video rendering linked with the company's patented Smart Stitch technology. Gextech is also gearing to launch its debut Fantastic League virtual football product into the public domain, having secured an Interactive TV distribution deal with UK-based broadcaster BSkyB. The game will additionally be delivered via the Internet and into betting shops throughout the UK.
GIG Enters Latin American Market
Interactive Systems Worldwide subsidiary Global Interactive Gaming Ltd. (GIG) has announced it will provide software and services that will enable Latin American gaming company Caliente to offer GIG's SportXction system, a play-by-play sports betting service, in 10 of its race and sports books locations. The soft launch will last three months. Pending the outcome of the launch, the SportXction system will be installed in Caliente's 160 betting shops. The company's goal is to replicate this model in other parts of the world, and discussions are pending with other potential licensing partners.
Pinnacle Launches NFL Betting Portal
Internet sports betting company PinnacleSports.com has launched a service for punters who live and breathe American football--a betting portal dedicated to the NFL. With live scores updated every 60 seconds, the portal provides news, scores, odds and statistics and gives bettors detailed match-up information on every NFL game.
Polish Lottery Group Considers Sports Betting
Polish national lottery operator Totalizator Sportowy (TS) is reportedly considering entrance into the lucrative sports betting market with the help of its U.S. partner GTECH. After reporting a profit loss in the January through July 2006 period, (clients spent US $32 million less than in the same period in 2005), experts have advised TS to diversify its offer. GTECH, through its Polish subsidiary Grytek, is reportedly trying to talk the company into the sports betting business, according to unofficial sources. Both companies, however, have refused to confirm the news.
"The data is confidential," Grytek CEO Jacek Kierat said.
But Magdalena Wojciechowska, a spokeswoman for TS, said the company is working on new projects which are currently in different planning stages. They will be made public in due course, she added.
Betdaq to Offer Betting Tips
Online betting exchange Betdaq has partnered with tipster monitoring provider Besttipping to launch "Tip Check," a new service that offers betting tips to customers. Tip Check features two services: naps of the day, which are tips from national newspapers; and private tipsters, which are professional tipsters.