SCCG Weekly Newsletter #121

Sportswashing has become a major topic of discussion lately with the 2022 World Cup being hosted by Qatar. However, the practice of using sports to refine a nation’s moral reputation is not a new practice, nor is it exclusive to one region. Sportswashing is a term used to describe corrupt or authoritarian regimes who use sport and sports events to whitewash their image internationally.

In theory, sports have a relatively fair structure and rules that apply to everyone, providing a fair play opportunity. This ‘fair’ structure characterizes the value that oppressive regimes see in hosting sporting events or acquiring sports teams, with the intention of distracting from or normalizing the public to a nation’s immoral actions and reputation. This article is not intended to push any agenda or take sides on any controversial matters so I will not go into detail of past examples. The purpose of this article is to help our readers better understand and identify the dangerous practice of sportswashing.?

Sportswashing can occur in any sport but soccer places this practice on the largest stage. This is due to the global popularity of the sport and the opportunity for countries to be represented at the FIFA World Cup - The most widely viewed single sporting event in the world. An estimated 5 billion people tune into the World Cup and many countries are willing to go deep into their pockets for the opportunity to host. FIFA has a history of corruption, which essentially places a price tag on the largest exposure opportunity in the world. Opening the floodgates to authoritarian regimes and allowing them to control the narrative of the event. The olympics is another major event that has a long history of sportwashing.?

Sportswashing on a smaller scale can happen anywhere and the accusations continue to grow as sports become more affiliated with politics and economics. It becomes vitally important for us to bring attention to this immoral practice and raise awareness towards any violation of human rights and many other problematic political standards that exist all around the world.

It's no secret that blockchain is the hottest buzzword in the technology industry. The technology behind bitcoin is being applied to everything from supply chain management to online voting, and it's only a matter of time before you'll be able to use it as quickly as you can send an email.?

But what exactly is blockchain? And why should you care??

Let's break it down:?

Simply put, blockchain is a digital ledger that keeps track of transactions. Every time someone buys or sells something with bitcoin, for example, that transaction gets logged. It's held on a massive network of computers around the world — hence, "blockchain" — and each transaction must be verified by all parties involved before it can be recorded in the ledger as complete.?

Why should I care??

Because of its ability to allow strangers to trust one another over an internet connection without having to rely on any third party (like a bank or credit card company), blockchain has become a popular way for businesses to move money around without the need for traditional financial institutions like banks or credit card companies.?

“Blockchain technology can be the future of financial services and commerce”?

Blockchain technology has the potential to transform businesses that are built on data and record keeping. It is a decentralized peer-to-peer network that stores data in blocks, creating an unalterable record of transactions. Each block refers to the previous one by way of a cryptographic hash function makes it impossible to

alter any information without changing the subsequent blocks. This makes blockchain networks very secure and resistant to cyber-attacks.?

Eventually we cannot deny the opportunities, a business can explore, but we have to act in a smart way, and keep regulations in mind, as this will be a huge part, of mass adoption in the coming years.

While the accessibility of gambling opportunities has grown and the demand steadily increasing, Africa is now owning the space as one of the fastest growing continents in-terms of online gaming in the whole world.

Gambling dates back further than the written word and will be around for innumerable times to come. The difference between where all things started and where they are now is the change brought by the evolution of technology in recent years and as the saying goes fruits of covid-19 for Africa - tremendous internet and mobile phone penetration which came as a result of over 24 months lockdowns that many African states under went making online gambling more accessible than ever.

It hasn’t been an overnight effort but African countries are now afforded the same online betting opportunities as the rest of the world, which have set the industry’s rapid growth. With sports betting being the most popular means of gambling, casino games and the lottery have been consistently growing over the years. This is evident seeing as some tier 1 and 2 sports betting players from Europe and UK mainly have expanded into the continent;?

• Betfred
• 888Africa
• Bet365
• Bwin?
• Betway

The list goes on and on but just to mention a few. As one of the key consulting heavy weights across the globe with offices in the UK, Europe, Canada, Latin America,?head quartered in the heart of Gambling in the whole world Las Vegas we samely?have a-strong footprint and team in Africa well positioned to assist any operator like we have already to many?expand into the region straight from;

• ?Feasibility market reports
• Business Developments for both B2C and B2B
• Marketing & Advertising
• Operations setup?
• Talent Recruiment?
• Partnership setups?
• Negotiations?
• R & D
• Product localization etc :?.?

Looking at the Google Trends diagram, it is clear just how?Africa is dominating searches on online betting across the world lately – and will probably be for years to come.

With this increasing interest comes many risks and opportunities which we are at the center to enable all gambling industry stake holders grasp while mitigating risks and jump on all opportunities availed.

Conclusion: It’s time for Africa!

Coljuegos is the regulatory entity in charge of the exploitation, administration, operation, and issuance of regulations of games of chance in Colombia. It has registered an upturn in betting and exploitation rights of games of chance despite the economic deceleration. At the end of October 2022, bets for 21 billion pesos have been reported and it is expected to reach the end of the year with bets for 26 billion pesos due to the Soccer World Cup in Qatar.?

Currently, online games offer different categories, which include Slot Machines, Roulette, Blackjack, Baccarat, Bingo, Poker, Virtual Games, Instant Win Games and Live Casino, and those in which the result depends on the occurrence of a real event, where sports bets are found.

In this last category, bets on all sports such as soccer, tennis and cycling are allowed. An example of these bets is who will be the winner of a match, how many goals a favorite team or player will score, if the team of your preference is the champion of a sporting event such as the World Cup, if it qualifies to the second phase of the event, or who will be the first player to collect a corner kick in a match, among other categories.

As in all games of chance, the player must be of legal age, and particularly, in the category of games operated by Internet, the player must be domiciled in Colombia and must register by creating a user account in the web site provided by the operator authorized by Coljuegos.

Once the user account is created, the player may acquire credits for participation through the means of payment authorized by the Superintendencia Financiera de Colombia such as bank accounts, credit cards, rechargeable prepaid cards, wire transfers or collection through authorized postal payment service operators, and cash payments through physical points provided by the authorized operator.

After acquiring the credits for the participation, the player will be able to bet the value he/she wishes, and the winnings obtained will be reflected in the balance of his/her user account. user account. It is important to read the terms and conditions to participate in the game and to be able to withdraw resources from an account. The player must always prove identity, since by being fully identified, legal and responsible gambling is guaranteed.

Currently there are 17 operators authorized by Coljuegos and there is a report of 7,004,174 user accounts until August 2022 (a player may register in one or several platforms).?

Internet operated games have had a growth in the last years. In fact, in 2020 they closed with bets close to 8 trillion pesos and by 2021 at 16 trillion pesos; only so far in 2022 Internet bets are reported for 21 trillion pesos and it is expected to reach 26 trillion pesos. Of this large total of bets, the average return in prize money to the public is estimated at 94%.

At the end of October 2022, the games operated by Internet have generated resources from exploitation rights for 194 billion pesos, which compared to the same period of the previous year shows an increase of 34%, resources destined to the fulfillment of the prevailing social programs.

Super six

We begin this week with the major news from Macau that Genting has missed out on one of the new concession licences following the announcement that all six of the province’s current operators retained the right to offer gambling in the region.

Sands China, Galaxy Entertainment, MGM China, Wynn Macau, Melco Resorts and SJM Holdings are all breathing a sigh of relief at the award of the new licences – because if any had failed with their bids for the decade-long extensions, then the companies would have had to give the casino area back to the Government for free at the end of the year.

However, Genting, which came in with a surprise bid for one of the new licences has missed out.

The Malaysian businesses’ bid was always unlikely to be successful ahead of the six operators already in Macau – but, should it have been successful, it would have represented a significant overhaul in the province’s power structure.

G-force

Heading into Europe, and Novomatic is making moves, with the Austrian supplier receiving G4 certification in Italy and Spain, marking its "strong commitment to player protection and the protection of minors."

The certification by the Global Gambling Guidance Group has been highlighted by Novomatic as a sign of its responsible gambling focus, further promoting its safer gambling certifications in Austria, Germany, the Netherlands and the UK.

Johannes Gratzl, Member of the Executive Board of Novomatic, commented on the new G4 certification: “The successful G4 certification according to the highest international player protection standard that we now have in Italy and Spain is a remarkable success for us and proves the high importance of player and youth protection at Novomatic.”

Giddy up

Moving over to the US, where DraftKings and Churchill Downs have revealed the details behind a new multi-year partnership between the pair, which will see pari-mutuel wagering on horseracing become available to DraftKings’ customers.

The new agreement will form the base for DraftKings’ new DK Horse product, which will see customers of the sports betting operator bet on horseracing using a new standalone app.

And in other recent DraftKings news, on behalf of DraftKings Inc. investors, the Pomerantz Law Firm has begun its investigation into concerns surrounding securities fraud and other unlawful business practices.?

In late November, The Action Network published an article reporting that DraftKings user accounts had been hacked. The article also stated that funds in users' accounts had been cashed out.

This was confirmed by DraftKings Co-Founder Paul Liberman who stated that roughly $300,000 in customer funds were affected during the security breach.?

Viva Las Vegas

And finally, also in the US, Nevada’s non-restricted gaming licensees have reported a total gaming win of $1.28bn for October 2022, a 5% increase from October 2021.

The figure, published by the Nevada Gaming Control Board, is a 3% increase for the fiscal year. The total is a 3% rise from September 2022, and marks the 20th successive month that gaming win in the state has exceeded the $1bn mark.

Breaking down the total figure, Clark County gaming win totalled $1.1bn, of which $705.8m came from the Las Vegas Strip. Washoe County gaming win totalled $91.4m, with South Lake Tahoe and Elko County reporting figures of $18.1m and $35.1m respectively.

Carson Valley Area total gaming win for October 2022 was $11.9m, with the Nevada Gaming Control Board noting that its Other area reported a figure of $19m.

The continuously high figures in Nevada come despite some national economic angst, particularly high inflation and a choppy stock market.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, American football led the way with around $607m in handle, followed by baseball and basketball at $114.7m and $79.2m respectively.

In the last weeks, I have been using this space to discuss what Brazil could look like if the gaming market eventually becomes a mature one.

Those who follow the news in Brazil including my writings know that the discussions and laws ventilated (that never came into force) so far simply focused on fiscal / taxation issues. Nothing was discussed about how the operators could advertise products and approach the client base.

But there’s one more thing that hasn’t been discussed: casino game developers and their licensing.

The politicians in Brazil seem to be pretty oblivious to the reality that not only operators, but affiliates, marketing protagonists and even game developers also live under heavy scrutiny of the gaming governing bodies in first-world markets, especially in Europe where iGaming is ‘older’ than in the US.

Oblivious Politicians

It looks like the challenges of the international gaming operators and providers to see Brazil as a structured market are well beyond the lack of tax law.

It’s one thing to have an iGaming market that can be liberal in terms of taxation, laws and advertising like Cura?au, for example. But what if the politicians can’t even understand how our business works?

They don’t understand who the operators, service providers and game suppliers are, and how these distinct market agents are seen by mature markets and foreign laws, which should, in theory, be the inspiration to develop the local market.

A two-way challenge

I spoke recently with the CEO of a company that develops casino games for iGaming operators. And the reaction when I said that regulations and licensing to his business in Brazil is unlikely because the politicians are oblivious to market realities abroad.

That’s the challenge: Politicians don’t get how our business works, and I dare to say, first-world gaming businesses expect a level of awareness and understanding of how we work that local politicians in Brazil don’t have. In other words, the business environment and how the lobbying activities work here are light-years apart from what American and European C-levels and decision-makers in our industry expect.

There’s a big gap. Minding this gap may not be easy and there’s an actual ‘bridge-making’ process that needs to be done in the coming years, possibly decades.?

Our mission at SCCG is to facilitate these chats and explain to fellow gaming executives all the cultural intricacies of Brazil.?

It’s a very naive assumption to consider LATAM one single market. Places like Chile, Colombia and Peru see gaming in a very mature way compared to the scenario we just described which is the reality in Brazil.

And guess what? No one, except us, is discussing this in a public way. Let’s discuss these things, otherwise, Brazil will remain the ‘country of the future’ for our industry, and possibly, other sectors of the economy.??