iGaming Weekly Wrap-Up #9
#Breaking News
1.??????Chile moves to regulate online gambling with 20% tax on operator gross income
Chile’s newly elected government has introduced a project to legalise online gambling in the country in an effort to generate additional tax revenue.
At present, all gambling is illegal in Chile unless expressly authorised by law – a position which is currently afforded to the country’s two regulated lottery operators, as well as racetracks across the region and its 21 land-based casinos.
However, it is estimated that some 900 gambling websites already offer online gambling in the jurisdiction, and their presence in Chile is well known due to a series of high-profile football sponsorships from firms including Betsson, Betway and Betano.
When announcing its sponsorship of Chilean club Colo Colo earlier this year, Betsson described the deal as “another major milestone in Betsson’s expansion plan in South America.”
Chile first introduced an initiative to regulate online gaming last year, but the project is only now beginning to see the light of day.
Online gambling is estimated to be worth around $150m annually in Chile, and the government intends to use that revenue to collect taxes worth some $55m, according to Treasury undersecretary Alejandro Weber.
2.??????Bet365 experiences stake decline but maintains prominent market position
Bet365 Group has experienced a bounceback from COVID-19, with the company reporting that profits remain high despite the amount wagered on sports across its platform falling last year.
Issuing its financial statement covering the 12 month period ending on 28 March 2021, the Stock-on-Trent-based operator revealed that the amount wagered on sport on the bet365 website fell by 13%.
Despite this decline, the number of active site customers grew by 13%, and the operator has asserted that the stake decrease has been offset by a year-on-year margin increase.
Additionally, company founder and owner Denise Coates also took a ￡170 million pay cut during this time period, but she remains one of the UK’s highest-paid business figures and its largest single taxpayer.
Overall, the group’s operating profit rose by 47% YoY to ￡285.5 million (2020: ￡194.7m), a development attributed to a reduction in staff costs – including director salaries – to ￡701.3 million (2020: ￡870.6m).
A vertical breakdown saw mobile sports betting remain the most popular method for bet365 customers to wager on fixtures – despite declining by 2% – whilst in-play betting also dropped from 75% of all bets in 2020 to 68% the following year.
3.??????Second New York igaming bill introduced in Assembly (allowing online Casino)
The legislation – A09436 – describes interactive gaming as wagers on casino-style games, made through virtual or electronic means from a location within New York state, is transmitted to and accepted by electronic equipment located at a licensed gaming facility.
Casino operators may use up to two mobile interactive gaming wagering platforms and brands for authorised games, provided they have been cleared by the New York State Gaming Commission.
Igaming operators will be required to pay a one-time fee of $2m, while the fee for independent contractors is set at $10m.
Operators will also have to pay a tax rate equivalent to 25% of igaming gross gaming revenue (GGR), which will be separately maintained and returned to the state for deposit into the state lottery fund for education aid.
4.??????California cardrooms file lawsuit against tribal sports betting initiative
Two cardrooms, Hollywood Park Casino and Cal-Pac Rancho Cordova, have filed a lawsuit challenging an initiative that would legalize sports betting in California and allow tribal owned casinos to sue cardrooms.
The suit was filed at the Los Angeles Superior Court. It aims to halt the California Sports Wagering Regulation and Unlawful Gambling Enforcement Act, which could appear on the November ballot. A referendum on sports betting legalization in California will take place in November if enough signatures are gathered in support of the ballot.
The measure would also give exclusive rights to tribal casinos to offer roulette and dice games such as craps, while California cardrooms will not be allowed to offer these games. Tribal casinos and cardrooms have long been embroiled in disputes over the legitimacy of cardrooms offering casino games.
The suit claims that the measure violates California’s constitutional law regarding ballot initiatives, which states that each initiative can only contain one subject.
If passed, the initiative will allow tribal casinos to file suits against any cardroom competitors in California.
#US / Canada
5.??????Arizona reports record-breaking $499.2m handle for December
Arizona sportsbooks fell just short of the $500m mark in December, though still broke the southwestern state’s betting record.
Online and retail operations in the Grand Canyon State handled $499.2m in wagers during the final month of 2021, up 7% from November’s $466.7m.
December’s action capped off a strong first few months for sports betting in Arizona, beating October’s previous all-time-high handle of $486.1m.
Arizona bettors averaged $16.1m per day over the entire month, an approximately $500,000 increase over November’s $15.6m.
https://www.gamblinginsider.com/news/15499/arizona-reports-record-breaking-4992m-handle-for-december
6.??????Connecticut online gaming revenue reaches $18.8m in January
Online gaming and in Connecticut generated net gaming revenue of $18.8m in January, 15.6% higher than the net revenue recorded in December 2021.
This revenue was after promotions, which came to $3.6m. Before promotions the total was $22.4m.
Out of the $18.8m in revenue, the Mashantucket Pequot Tribe brought in $11.1m and the Mohegan Tribe the remaining $7.7m.
Players staked $780.0m on online gaming, a fall of 4.2% from December.
The Mashantucket Pequot Tribe’s Foxwoods Resort Casino saw the most staked, at $502.5m- a decline of 4% month-on-month. Customers staked the second highest amount with Mohegan Digital, hitting $277m. Mobile-on-premise stakes at the Mashantucket Pequot Tribe’s Foxwoods Resort Casino – mobile gaming that took place at the casino itself – made up the remaining $440,460.
7.??????Virginia reports record $485.5m sports betting handle for January
Virginia’s sportsbooks shattered their previous record of $427.3m set in October 2021.
Legal Sports betting in Virginia has now been going one year old, and in its 12 month of operation the state’s handle reached a new record of $485.5m in January. That’s an increase of 13.8 per cent from December’s $426.6m, shattering the previous record of $427.3m set in October 2021.
Virginia was the fastest state in the US to top $1bn in wagers and it saw nearly $3.4bn in wagers in the market’s first year.
In January, sportsbooks won $39.1m in gross revenue, the second highest revenue to date and an increase over the $31.5m reported in December. Adjusted gross revenue for sports betting was $18.2m, up 80 per cent from December’s $10.1m. Taxes from the 11 licensed operators were $2.9m, up 66.4 per cent from December’s $1.7m.
8.??????Colorado sports betting handle reaches record $573.7m in January
Consumers in Colorado wagered a record $573.7m on sports in January, while revenue for the month amounted to $34.6m.
The amount spent by players easily beat the previous record of $491.5m set in October of 2021 by 16.7%, while it was also 75.5% higher than in January last year and 24.3% up from $461.4m in December 2021.
Online wagers in January amounted to $567.1m, whereas in contrast, just $6.6m was bet at retail sportsbooks across the state, figures published by the Colorado Department of Revenue showed.
Gross gaming revenue from sports betting in the month reached $34.6m, which was 49.8% higher than $23.1m in January 2021 and 40.1% more than $24.7m in December 2021 but fell short of the record $36.8m set in October last year by 6.0%.
Online betting accounted for $34.2m in total revenue, while the remaining $437,090 came from retail wagering facilities.
9.??????New Yorkers spend $1.54bn on internet sports betting in February
Consumers in New York staked a total of $1.54bn (￡1.17bn/€1.42bn) on internet sports betting in February, while gross gaming revenue from online wagering reached $91.7m.
The amount bet during the period from 31 January to 27 February, which included the Super Bowl, was 5.5% lower than the $1.63bn spent in the opening 23 days of the state’s legal market.
领英推荐
New York launched legal online sports betting on 8 January and the total wagered in the first 23 days of operation comfortably surpassed the US monthly handle record of $1.30bn set by New Jersey in October last year.
Gross gaming revenue from sports betting in February was also 18.9% lower than $113.0m in the opening period for the state’s legal market.
February included figures from Caesars Sportsbook, FanDuel, DraftKings and Rush Street Interactive, all of which began operations on opening day in New York, as well as BetMGM, which went live on 17 January, PointsBet on 25 January and WynnBet on 2 February.
10.??Bragg Gaming obtains gambling supplier licence in Ontario
Bragg Gaming Group has been granted a gambling supplier licence by Ontario authorities, allowing the B2B company to provide its betting content and technology to operators.
The licence, granted by the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario (AGCO), covers Bragg Gaming’s player account management platform, known as PAM, in addition to its portfolio of iGaming and sports betting content.
The Canadian province of Ontario is set to launch iGaming on 4 April, following a legalisation process that will have lasted exactly two years.
Chris Looney, CCO, Bragg Gaming, commented: “This licence is another milestone achievement for Bragg. Hot on the heels of Bragg’s recent launches in the UK, which has similar regulatory standards to Ontario, and the Netherlands, where we successfully launched local partner brands on our PAM, as well as content and aggregation products, we are now fully ready to support our Canadian partners as the market prepares to open up.”
Bragg Gaming’s licence means it will be able to partner with B2C operators in the province. Operators that have been granted a gambling licence in Ontario so far include the likes of Rivalry Corporation, PointsBet, theScore Bet (a subsidiary of Penn National Gaming) and 888 Holdings.
https://www.gamblinginsider.com/news/15484/bragg-gaming-obtains-gambling-supplier-licence-in-ontario
11.??Gaming Realms given approval for iGaming Supplier Licence in Ontario
Alchemybet, a subsidiary of supplier Gaming Realms, has been awarded a supplier licence to operate in Ontario, Canada. This licence allows the company to supply games ahead of the formal opening of the regulated iGaming market in the Canadian province on 4 April 2022.
At present, Gaming Realms operates internationally, in the US, Canadian and UK iGaming markets. This move into the Canadian iGaming market highlights a significant milestone in the company’s development ambitions for its subsidiary, Alchemybet. This new licence will see it initially focusing on providing its Slingo Originals game content to Ontario’s licensed online casino operators.
Ontario holds a population of 15 million people, which stands as larger than any state within the US that is currently licensed for iGaming. Gaming Realms expects to see high revenue from this move and in particular in comparison to New Jersey, Michigan and Pennsylvania, where it already supplies its Slingo Originals content.
Following this initial focus on Slingo Originals, the company will launch its full games portfolio in Ontario.
12.??Missouri sports wagering bills advance to committees
A number of new bills that would authorize sports wagering in Missouri have progressed in the state legislature.
Senate Bills 643, 1046 and 1061 are all currently pending the Senate Appropriations Committee after being referred there during their last hearings.
Each of these bills will be heard by the Committee on March 9.
These bills contain different proposals with the shared goal of legalizing sports betting in Missouri.
SB643 was first introduced on January 5 2022. It looks to repeal three sections of the Revised Statutes of Missouri and enact 17 new sections, which detail how sports betting would be implemented in the state.
According to the bill text, sports betting operators will pay an initial application fee of $50,000 for an interactive sports wagering license in Missouri and a license renewal fee of $20,000.
This will allow the license holder to contract with a maximum of three individually branded online sports wagering platforms.
#M&A & Finance
13.??Rush Street Interactive acquires Phil Galfond’s Run It Once Poker
Rush Street Interactive (RSI) has acquired Phil Galfond’s poker platform Run It Once (RIO), taking the European poker brand to the US market.
While the details of the deal are yet to be disclosed, RIO founder and professional poker player Phil Galfond said that the process of agreeing a deal took 18 months. Under the deal, RIO will integrate its software into RSI’s platform.
“We spoke with many potential partners over the last 18 months and are very excited to be on team RSI,” Galfond said. “They share our values: Honesty, integrity, fairness, and transparency – and not only with their players. They stood out to me in the fair and honest way they dealt with us.
“RIO Poker created a platform that people loved, with features and innovations that the poker world was excited about, but we also heard things like ‘if only they could iterate on their software faster’ or ‘I’d move all my volume to RIO if they were bigger.’
#Legal:
14.??DraftKings to pay $150,000 penalty for violating proxy betting rules
DraftKings has agreed to pay a $150,000 (￡113,000/€136,000) civil penalty for violating proxy betting rules in New Jersey.
The payment comes after the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement filed a complaint to the state Attorney General’s office regarding proxy wagering by a DraftKings customer.
Media reports in 2020 alleged that a DraftKings customer based in Florida had an agreement with DraftKings sportsbook director Johnny Avello that allowed him to use a proxy that would place bets for him in New Jersey. At the time, DraftKings denied these media reports.
However, the Attorney General determined that the operator did violate the rules regarding proxy betting. As a result, DraftKings agreed a settlement with the Division of Gaming Enforcement, that includes a $150,000 penalty payment.
In addition to the payment,?the settlement stipulates that DraftKings will undertake “corrective actions” to ensure it does not allow similar events to occur again.
15.??UKGC fines Sky Bet ￡1.2m for self-excluded email blunder
?The UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) has this morning disclosed that it has fined Sky Betting & Gaming (Sky Bet) ￡1.17 million fine for sending promotional emails to self-excluded customers.
The penalty follows an “investigation outside of a licence review” that revealed that the Sky Vegas brand had communicated a ‘Bet ￡5 get 100 free spins’ offer to 41,395 self-excluded customers and 249,159 customers who had unsubscribed from marketing emails.
Sky Bet admitted its fault to the Commission, in which the Flutter Entertainment subsidiary had breached social responsibility code of practice 3.5.3(2) – which stipulates that “licensees must, as soon as practicable, take all reasonable steps to prevent any marketing material being sent to a self-excluded customer”.
Furthermore, it also saw Sky Bet fail to comply with SRCP 5.1.11, which expresses that “consumers must not be contacted with direct electronic marketing without their informed and specific consent,” as well as being provided with an option to withdraw from such communications and not being contacted thereafter.
16.??DSWV: Uncompetitive GlüNeuRStv to lose control of German market by World Cup 2022
German Sports Betting Association DSWV has hosted its annual conference, in which members have outlined that the federal GlüNeuRStv online gambling regime is ill equipped to deal with black market threats.
2021 saw German sports betting ‘stabilise to its 2019 pre-Corona level’ as licensed operators recorded €9.4 billion in wagers and contributing to €470 million in taxes.
Despite the recovery, DSWV disclosed research undertaken during 2022 that revealed that “405 out of 507 unlicensed websites had allowed German customers to open accounts”.
The number of unlicensed offers far surpasses the GlüNeuRStv regime’s existing availability of 36 licensed bookmakers, in which no online casino licences have yet to be issued
DSWV General Manager Luka Andric observed- “For every legal provider, there are multiple providers without permission. In the meantime, there are also numerous other websites that evade any control, regulation and taxation.
17.??Malta close to leaving FATF’s grey list
The Financial Action Task Force (FATF), an international anti-money laundering (AML) organisation, has decided to keep the Philippines and Malta on its “grey list”, but noted that Malta has made significant reforms and is one step away from leaving the list.
According to FATF guidance, the grey list is made up of countries that have defects in their “regimes to counter money laundering, terrorist financing, and proliferation financing”, but recognise and have “committed to resolve swiftly” these issues.
In its February 2022 review, the FATF added that Malta had “substantially completed its action plan” by making reforms – including the increased use of the Financial Intelligence Unit’s (FIU) services to pursue money laundering and criminal tax cases. However, the organisation decided that the country requires an on-site review to ensure the AML measures are being implemented.
The FATF noted that the Philippines has several areas of concern, although the country had increased FIU sources.