In an attempt to avoid a proliferation of the industry as witnessed in Cambodia, The Philippines is keeping its door shut for new online casinos.
Andrea Domingo, Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation chairperson, said on Tuesday that her agency will be placing a halt on the acceptance of any new license applications in the foreseeable future to stay focused on the sustainable growth of the gaming industry in the Philippines.
The comments were made by Ms Domingo during her opening speech at the G2E Asia conference in the Philippines, which started today.
Domingo said, “We don’t want to overburden the industry by blatantly giving out licenses.”
She added, “The President declared a ban on IRs and casinos in January 2018 and we have observed that. He lifted the ban in Clark last year and we have observed that too, but even the Clark region is saturated.”
She reiterated, “Even in Clark we have stopped acceptance of any applications for new casinos.”
As per Domingo, acceptance of any new POGO licenses, which had been going on for some time, will also be halted. Domingo said the idea is to allow the gaming industry to mature so that all the regulations can be put in place.
She also noted that she was confident that around 95 to 97 per cent of the issues related to POGO and its dark side, including kidnapping, prostitution and finance, will be addressed by the ned of 2020.
The Philippines’s regulator also issued a warning to gaming operators who represent themselves as BPOs. She said, “We have the formula to catch that.”
Domino said that licences for e-bingo and e-games have also been halted in areas where they are deemed to be saturated.
“We want people to know that if it’s overcrowded, there’s no reason to put your money in, just go and invest somewhere else. These are the things we have been discussing with the board, and these are the things that we will be implementing by 2030.”
“But for all those that are here now, rest assured, that PAGCOR will do everything to support you and your profitability within the framework of the law.”
The Southeast Asian country does not want to benefit from Cambodia’s ban on online casinos and is monitoring if gaming service providers here are hiring workers from Cambodia, Domingo said.
Online casinos banned in Cambodia may relocate to the Philippines and boost office demand, property consultant Santos Knight Frank senior director Morgan McGilvray said in October.
The Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. is regulating the issuance of new licenses for both land-based and online casinos. “We want to rationalize so that everybody with a license has a good chance of being successful,” Chairman Andrea Domingo said.
December 05, 2019
November 19, 2019
Spanish Betting Sites Agree to Voluntary New Advertising Code
Gambling operators in Spain have agreed to a new voluntary code of conduct on advertising in a bid to avoid tougher, mandatory rules which could be imposed by the government. Taking effect from January 2020, the regulator has approved the new rules but it’s too early to tell whether the tough coalition government will think they’ve gone far enough.
The advertising legislation was created by online betting trade association in Spain, JDigital and has been given the green light for launch on 15 January 2020 by regulator, Dirección General de Ordenación del Juego (DGOJ).
Adopting a responsible approach
The new code of conduct largely mimics the legislation in other country which calls upon betting firms to take a responsible approach when considering their advertising campaigns. This includes not showing images of anyone who appears to be under 25, refraining from celebrity endorsements with a large youth fanbase and not using any professional athletes to promote gambling. The message of responsible gambling must also be prominent in any type of advertisement.
Other limitations include a restriction on the number of bonus offers which are made but they don’t go as far as restrictions in place in other countries. For example, in the UK there is a “whistle to whistle” block on advertising which prevents any promotional ads being shown during competitive events.
Some of the members of the Jdigital online betting group include Bet365, The Stars Group and GVC Holdings together with local operators such as R Franco and Luckia. The operators will be hoping that the new code will pacify a government which had previously threatened a tough clampdown on all gambling ads in a move backed by the country’s ombudsman.
New coalition government
Elections last week couldn’t produce an outright majority in government so a coalition has been struck up between the PSOE ruling party and UP, the party that campaigns against austerity. The UP has been particularly vocal in its opposition of gambling and given the chance would restrict operators in any way possible.
However, UP have had their own recent scandals. During their election campaign they showed an individual who claimed his life had been ruined by bookmakers and betting, and was now destitute. Super-sleuths soon tracked down the man online after he uploaded a video from his recent skiing holiday, throwing doubt on the “testimony” that he had provided about the damage done by gambling.
The advertising legislation was created by online betting trade association in Spain, JDigital and has been given the green light for launch on 15 January 2020 by regulator, Dirección General de Ordenación del Juego (DGOJ).
Adopting a responsible approach
The new code of conduct largely mimics the legislation in other country which calls upon betting firms to take a responsible approach when considering their advertising campaigns. This includes not showing images of anyone who appears to be under 25, refraining from celebrity endorsements with a large youth fanbase and not using any professional athletes to promote gambling. The message of responsible gambling must also be prominent in any type of advertisement.
Other limitations include a restriction on the number of bonus offers which are made but they don’t go as far as restrictions in place in other countries. For example, in the UK there is a “whistle to whistle” block on advertising which prevents any promotional ads being shown during competitive events.
Some of the members of the Jdigital online betting group include Bet365, The Stars Group and GVC Holdings together with local operators such as R Franco and Luckia. The operators will be hoping that the new code will pacify a government which had previously threatened a tough clampdown on all gambling ads in a move backed by the country’s ombudsman.
New coalition government
Elections last week couldn’t produce an outright majority in government so a coalition has been struck up between the PSOE ruling party and UP, the party that campaigns against austerity. The UP has been particularly vocal in its opposition of gambling and given the chance would restrict operators in any way possible.
However, UP have had their own recent scandals. During their election campaign they showed an individual who claimed his life had been ruined by bookmakers and betting, and was now destitute. Super-sleuths soon tracked down the man online after he uploaded a video from his recent skiing holiday, throwing doubt on the “testimony” that he had provided about the damage done by gambling.
Online Gambling Delayed by Six Months in the Netherlands
The Netherlands has announced that the planned launch of online gambling in the country is being put back by six months. The new date for the anticipated start will now be 1 July 2021 to give the country enough time to pass and vet applications from operators.
According to the Sander Dekker, Minister of Justice and Security, the reason for the delay is due to the proposed changes made to Remote Gambling Act which means it won’t come into force until 1 January 2021. As this is six months later than originally expected, the secondary legislation around licensing has been delayed by the same length of time.
Verification process
The regulator in the Netherlands, Kansspelautoriteit (KSA), had previously announced that no gambling company would be able to apply for a licence under the new legislation until it has been formally enacted. It also said that it needs six months to process and check any applications. As the release date for the Remote Gambling Act has been pushed back by six months, the regulator has insisted that the launch date for operational play is delayed too.
Part of this process will include checking that each operator has a robust age-verification system in place. The minister said that underage gamblers had in the past been able to access state-run sports betting without a problem and he was concerned that the issue may be repeated with other online betting.
The Nederlandse Loterij has since upgraded its processes to block younger gamblers and Dekker said they expect other gambling operators to do the same, or else face sanctions.
A pro-gambling government
It wasn’t all negative news for the gambling industry however as Dekker insisted that preventing gambling advertisements was not on the government’s agenda. Some legislators had been renewing their calls for a total ban but the minister said that was not an “objective of the current Dutch gambling policy”.
Dekker said there was evidence that restricting gambling advertisements could have a negative impact on those who play, as it would remove the ability to channel individuals towards locally licensed sites which are robustly checked and supervised. Without the ability to monitor, implement and drive responsible gambling initiatives in the same way, this could lead to more problem gambling .
The minister admitted that they may consider tightening existing gambling rules in certain areas. The legislation they may toughen up includes introducing a time limit on advertising through certain types of media, stopping behaviour targeting and restricting credits for free play or other bonus offers. Celebrity endorsements are also likely to be overhauled, particularly those who may have a strong appeal to younger players.
According to the Sander Dekker, Minister of Justice and Security, the reason for the delay is due to the proposed changes made to Remote Gambling Act which means it won’t come into force until 1 January 2021. As this is six months later than originally expected, the secondary legislation around licensing has been delayed by the same length of time.
Verification process
The regulator in the Netherlands, Kansspelautoriteit (KSA), had previously announced that no gambling company would be able to apply for a licence under the new legislation until it has been formally enacted. It also said that it needs six months to process and check any applications. As the release date for the Remote Gambling Act has been pushed back by six months, the regulator has insisted that the launch date for operational play is delayed too.
Part of this process will include checking that each operator has a robust age-verification system in place. The minister said that underage gamblers had in the past been able to access state-run sports betting without a problem and he was concerned that the issue may be repeated with other online betting.
The Nederlandse Loterij has since upgraded its processes to block younger gamblers and Dekker said they expect other gambling operators to do the same, or else face sanctions.
A pro-gambling government
It wasn’t all negative news for the gambling industry however as Dekker insisted that preventing gambling advertisements was not on the government’s agenda. Some legislators had been renewing their calls for a total ban but the minister said that was not an “objective of the current Dutch gambling policy”.
Dekker said there was evidence that restricting gambling advertisements could have a negative impact on those who play, as it would remove the ability to channel individuals towards locally licensed sites which are robustly checked and supervised. Without the ability to monitor, implement and drive responsible gambling initiatives in the same way, this could lead to more problem gambling .
The minister admitted that they may consider tightening existing gambling rules in certain areas. The legislation they may toughen up includes introducing a time limit on advertising through certain types of media, stopping behaviour targeting and restricting credits for free play or other bonus offers. Celebrity endorsements are also likely to be overhauled, particularly those who may have a strong appeal to younger players.
November 14, 2019
Australian Regulator Goes To War With Illegal Operators
Australian Media Regulator the ACMA will instruct Internet providers to block overseas illegal online gambling operators to protect what it says are vulnerable gamblers.
Since the 2015 interactive review by then premier Barry O’Farell some 65 online operators that were serving the Australian market have left however some are still operating and have been named such as, FairGo Casino and Emu Casino that operate out of a Curacao license.
The AMCA say that Aussie gamblers spend upwards of $400 million a year on these illegal sites which works out to be a loss of around $100 million in loss of taxes to the government.
Not only this say the AMCA but most do not pay out on big wins or a small proportion of it. The Chairwoman of the AMCA Nerida O’Loughlin said, “We have been targeting illegal gambling services we know are active in the Australian market through complaints received and monitoring. But we expect that list of sites will grow as we investigate more,” Ms O’Loughlin said.
“The ability to have ISPs block illegal websites will be a valuable additional weapon in the ACMA’s arsenal in the fight against illegal online gambling.” She went on to say, “Customers had also experienced illegal operators continuing to withdraw funds from their bank account without authorisation.”
“If you have funds deposited with an illegal gambling site, you should withdraw those funds now.
“Public education is also crucial in deterring Australians from using these sites, given many illegal offshore gambling websites target Australians by using Australian themes and images, such as the Australian flag and native animals,” Ms O’Loughlin finished by saying.
Since the 2015 interactive review by then premier Barry O’Farell some 65 online operators that were serving the Australian market have left however some are still operating and have been named such as, FairGo Casino and Emu Casino that operate out of a Curacao license.
The AMCA say that Aussie gamblers spend upwards of $400 million a year on these illegal sites which works out to be a loss of around $100 million in loss of taxes to the government.
Not only this say the AMCA but most do not pay out on big wins or a small proportion of it. The Chairwoman of the AMCA Nerida O’Loughlin said, “We have been targeting illegal gambling services we know are active in the Australian market through complaints received and monitoring. But we expect that list of sites will grow as we investigate more,” Ms O’Loughlin said.
“The ability to have ISPs block illegal websites will be a valuable additional weapon in the ACMA’s arsenal in the fight against illegal online gambling.” She went on to say, “Customers had also experienced illegal operators continuing to withdraw funds from their bank account without authorisation.”
“If you have funds deposited with an illegal gambling site, you should withdraw those funds now.
“Public education is also crucial in deterring Australians from using these sites, given many illegal offshore gambling websites target Australians by using Australian themes and images, such as the Australian flag and native animals,” Ms O’Loughlin finished by saying.
November 13, 2019
Latvian Consumers Warned by Regulator Over Rogue Lotteries
The Latvian gambling regulator has issued a warning to customers about sham lotteries operating in the country. The Lotteries and Gambling Supervisory Inspection (IAUI) has cautioned any customer who is considering taking part to fully check out the operator online before parting with any cash.
Many of these rogue operators contact customers to claim they have winnings to pay out, and the Latvian regulator is keen to prevent unsuspecting individuals from handing over sensitive information.
Red flags to look out for
The IAUI has admitted that it is very hard to spot a fake lottery operator for certain as many do an excellent job as masquerading as the real deal. However by exercising caution and being watchful the regulator believes that it’s possible to avoid falling into their trap.
Before buying tickets, Latvian consumers should research the company to see if there is any evidence that they are running a legitimate lottery. No money should be handed over if there is no proof that the lottery operate is genuine with a proven track record.
It’s not just the purchase of the tickets that is a problem however as many rogue lottery providers are contacting consumers to tell them of a “win”. The IAUI said any email about a win for a lottery that players don’t remember entering should be viewed with extreme caution.
Fraudsters commonly make contact by telephone as well as by email. The lucky “winner” will be asked to cover the costs of opening an account and transferring the winnings. They are usually also told that they’ll need to pay tax on their windfall.
The regulator said that when contact is made through a public email server such as hotmail and gmail, there is a much higher risk that the email could be a fake. Other tell-tale signs include spelling or grammatical mistakes in the Latvian language; this suggests that a bot is responsible the correspondence and is once again, a scam.
Any individual who has taken part in a lottery and believes that the communication could be genuine should look for confirmation in the details provided. In cases where the winner is legitimate, the operator should provide the name of the individual and the winning ticket number in its response. The player can then check this information against their own ticket to verify the authenticity.
IAUI warned that no reputable lottery would ask for taxes or any other form of payment in order to pay out the winnings. Therefore any company that does should be treated as potentially suspicious.
Many of these rogue operators contact customers to claim they have winnings to pay out, and the Latvian regulator is keen to prevent unsuspecting individuals from handing over sensitive information.
Red flags to look out for
The IAUI has admitted that it is very hard to spot a fake lottery operator for certain as many do an excellent job as masquerading as the real deal. However by exercising caution and being watchful the regulator believes that it’s possible to avoid falling into their trap.
Before buying tickets, Latvian consumers should research the company to see if there is any evidence that they are running a legitimate lottery. No money should be handed over if there is no proof that the lottery operate is genuine with a proven track record.
It’s not just the purchase of the tickets that is a problem however as many rogue lottery providers are contacting consumers to tell them of a “win”. The IAUI said any email about a win for a lottery that players don’t remember entering should be viewed with extreme caution.
Fraudsters commonly make contact by telephone as well as by email. The lucky “winner” will be asked to cover the costs of opening an account and transferring the winnings. They are usually also told that they’ll need to pay tax on their windfall.
The regulator said that when contact is made through a public email server such as hotmail and gmail, there is a much higher risk that the email could be a fake. Other tell-tale signs include spelling or grammatical mistakes in the Latvian language; this suggests that a bot is responsible the correspondence and is once again, a scam.
Any individual who has taken part in a lottery and believes that the communication could be genuine should look for confirmation in the details provided. In cases where the winner is legitimate, the operator should provide the name of the individual and the winning ticket number in its response. The player can then check this information against their own ticket to verify the authenticity.
IAUI warned that no reputable lottery would ask for taxes or any other form of payment in order to pay out the winnings. Therefore any company that does should be treated as potentially suspicious.
Dutch Regulator Says New Online Licences Almost Ready
The gambling regulator in the Netherlands, the Kansspelautoriteit (KSA) has announced that once the legislation comes into force applicants will be able to obtain their licence. The Netherlands Remote Gambling Act was passed earlier this year and the body has provided more information about what will be required to obtain a licence to operate.
A regulated gambling market is planned for launch in January 2021, just over one year away, but some of the legislation is expected to come into force from next summer.
A change for the Netherlands
The decision from the Dutch senate to approve online gambling means that there will be four difference licences available for purchase. These include casino games where the player is up against the operator (such as table games and slots), online poker and other peer-to-peer casino games, sporting events betting and horse racing and trotting betting.
Anyone wishing to apply for an online licence in any of these areas will have to complete the application in Dutch and pay the fee which is non-refundable. Each application costs €45,000 and if a licence is not granted, this fee will not be returned.
Raft of requirements
It may seem a fairly straightforward matter to obtain the licence but it is not just about proving the operator’s identity. The KSA has a long list of robust requirements that it expects every operator to meet if it wants to offer its services to the Dutch market.
These are wide-ranging and including aspects of Dutch consumer law as well as global legislation on gambling and good practice.
Each operator must demonstrate that it will follow tight rules on checking the identity of customers and have a strict policy which helps to enforce the prevention of fraud. They must agree to work closely with the KSA to prevent match-fixing or corruption within sport and its marketing campaign must be vetted by the regulator in advance.
The KSA also announced that it will be utilising advanced technology so it can be connected to operators at all times. This will take the form of a Control Database which every operator must be linked with. This connection will enable the KSA to check digital data at any time and satisfy itself that rules are being properly adhered to.
With such a long list of requirements to qualify for a licence, the KSA has said it will be running workshops to help operators make sure they’re meeting all the conditions before applying.
A regulated gambling market is planned for launch in January 2021, just over one year away, but some of the legislation is expected to come into force from next summer.
A change for the Netherlands
The decision from the Dutch senate to approve online gambling means that there will be four difference licences available for purchase. These include casino games where the player is up against the operator (such as table games and slots), online poker and other peer-to-peer casino games, sporting events betting and horse racing and trotting betting.
Anyone wishing to apply for an online licence in any of these areas will have to complete the application in Dutch and pay the fee which is non-refundable. Each application costs €45,000 and if a licence is not granted, this fee will not be returned.
Raft of requirements
It may seem a fairly straightforward matter to obtain the licence but it is not just about proving the operator’s identity. The KSA has a long list of robust requirements that it expects every operator to meet if it wants to offer its services to the Dutch market.
These are wide-ranging and including aspects of Dutch consumer law as well as global legislation on gambling and good practice.
Each operator must demonstrate that it will follow tight rules on checking the identity of customers and have a strict policy which helps to enforce the prevention of fraud. They must agree to work closely with the KSA to prevent match-fixing or corruption within sport and its marketing campaign must be vetted by the regulator in advance.
The KSA also announced that it will be utilising advanced technology so it can be connected to operators at all times. This will take the form of a Control Database which every operator must be linked with. This connection will enable the KSA to check digital data at any time and satisfy itself that rules are being properly adhered to.
With such a long list of requirements to qualify for a licence, the KSA has said it will be running workshops to help operators make sure they’re meeting all the conditions before applying.
November 11, 2019
Sports Betting in the US Predicted to Explode by 2025
Sports betting in the USA is only just taking a foothold now but experts believe that in the next five years it’s going to become seriously big business. Projections from gambling experts and industry investors have suggested that by 2025 the industry could be worth as much as $8 billion.
A ruling by the Supreme Court in May 2018 paved the way for individual states to start bringing in their own laws on betting and many have chosen to do so, legalising gambling as a result.
Growing number taking part
Each state is free to make up its own legislation on the subject of gambling, and an increasing number are choosing to rip up the old rules and introduce new, more lenient legislation which permits controlled betting. In little more than a year, 14 states have already introduced sports betting and many more are considering following suit.
At the NYC Sports Betting Investor Summit which took place this week, it was estimated that a minimum of 10 new gambling operators could join the market in the coming years, boosting opportunities for customers to bet.
At present the market is worth around $833 but this figure is expected to rocket in the next few years, hitting $7-8 billion by 2025. Previous estimates released suggested revenue of $5 billion by 2025, so it’s clear that the market is continuing to expand even faster than previous expected.
Caution required
Although there are clear and multiple opportunities presenting themselves within the US sports betting market, investors were quick to warn that not every operator will succeed. Huge costs relating to the acquisition and retention of customers will eat into profits and this along with intense competition could mean that many simply don’t survive.
Another hurdle that many panellists would continue to present a problem was the difficulty with crediting funds to accounts. Credit card companies in the US refuse to allow gambling transactions and this has hampered the ability of some to be able to bet. Approximately 30% of betting transactions in the US are financed from credit cards compared to 80% of bets in Europe. This could be changing in Europe however, as many countries are exploring whether a ban on credit cards in casinos would be appropriate and helpful in combating gambling addiction.
A ruling by the Supreme Court in May 2018 paved the way for individual states to start bringing in their own laws on betting and many have chosen to do so, legalising gambling as a result.
Growing number taking part
Each state is free to make up its own legislation on the subject of gambling, and an increasing number are choosing to rip up the old rules and introduce new, more lenient legislation which permits controlled betting. In little more than a year, 14 states have already introduced sports betting and many more are considering following suit.
At the NYC Sports Betting Investor Summit which took place this week, it was estimated that a minimum of 10 new gambling operators could join the market in the coming years, boosting opportunities for customers to bet.
At present the market is worth around $833 but this figure is expected to rocket in the next few years, hitting $7-8 billion by 2025. Previous estimates released suggested revenue of $5 billion by 2025, so it’s clear that the market is continuing to expand even faster than previous expected.
Caution required
Although there are clear and multiple opportunities presenting themselves within the US sports betting market, investors were quick to warn that not every operator will succeed. Huge costs relating to the acquisition and retention of customers will eat into profits and this along with intense competition could mean that many simply don’t survive.
Another hurdle that many panellists would continue to present a problem was the difficulty with crediting funds to accounts. Credit card companies in the US refuse to allow gambling transactions and this has hampered the ability of some to be able to bet. Approximately 30% of betting transactions in the US are financed from credit cards compared to 80% of bets in Europe. This could be changing in Europe however, as many countries are exploring whether a ban on credit cards in casinos would be appropriate and helpful in combating gambling addiction.
October 08, 2019
RFID implicated in live-streamed poker cheating scandal
Seems a pro-poker player, Mike Postle, has achieved impossible-seeming results. Other players have put hours upon hours upon hours into analyzing his baffling play. It is like watching someone play with perfect information, they claim!
While nothing definitive has been found, Stones Gambling Hall, a live poker site where the questionable Postle has spent a lot of time live streaming, has stopped using RFID chipped playing cards and hired an investigator.
It’s not just that Postle is winning, it’s how he’s winning, that is drawing suspicion. Ingram, Berkey and others have spent hours reviewing hands Postle played and found several times where Postle made a fold or a call that wouldn’t seem “right” but happened to work out in his favor.
Berkey said Postle made plays no pro would ever make, and he did them often, and they worked. Poker is a game of incomplete information. Berkey said Postle played “as if he had perfect information.”
Stones Gambling Hall said it has hired an independent investigator to look into the accusations.
In a statement Stones Gambling Hall said: “We temporarily halted all broadcasts from Stones. We have also, as a result, halted the use of RFID playing cards.”
While nothing definitive has been found, Stones Gambling Hall, a live poker site where the questionable Postle has spent a lot of time live streaming, has stopped using RFID chipped playing cards and hired an investigator.
It’s not just that Postle is winning, it’s how he’s winning, that is drawing suspicion. Ingram, Berkey and others have spent hours reviewing hands Postle played and found several times where Postle made a fold or a call that wouldn’t seem “right” but happened to work out in his favor.
Berkey said Postle made plays no pro would ever make, and he did them often, and they worked. Poker is a game of incomplete information. Berkey said Postle played “as if he had perfect information.”
Stones Gambling Hall said it has hired an independent investigator to look into the accusations.
In a statement Stones Gambling Hall said: “We temporarily halted all broadcasts from Stones. We have also, as a result, halted the use of RFID playing cards.”
October 02, 2019
Flutter Entertainment To Merge With Stars Group
In a major development this morning it was announced that Flutter Entertainment which owns Paddy Power and Betfair are to merge with online poker giant The Stars Group.
It will become once the deal is finalised the worlds largest gambling entity with combined revenues of £3.8 billion based on 2018 figures.
Flutter Entertainment was only created in 2016 with the merger of Paddy Power and Betfair and the new merger will see Flutter hold a 54.6% share in the combined business with The Stars Group holding 45.4%.
It is understood shareholders will approve the deal in the second quarter of 2020 and completion will be done by the end of 2020.
Observers say that with the merger the new company will be a huge player in the US market with both betting and poker being the new businesses major brands.
Peter Jackson the Chief Executive of Flutter said of the deal, “The combination represents a great opportunity to deliver a step-change in our presence in international markets and ensure we are ideally positioned to take advantage of the exciting opportunity in the US through a media relationship with FOX Sports as well as our development of US sports betting through Flutter’s FanDuel and TSG’s FOX Bet brands.2 He went on to say, “We are committed to these two high-quality brands to drive the growth of the combined group in the US.”
Stars Group Chief Executive Rafi Ashkenazi said: “This exciting combination will allow us to enhance and accelerate our existing strategy. The combination with Flutter will further enhance our company’s core strengths, and position us strongly for the future in this rapidly evolving industry.”
It is understood that oce the business is full combined Rafi Ashkenazi will assume the role of Chief Operating Officer.
It has also been confirmed that the newly combined company will be incorporated, headquartered and domiciled in Dublin, Ireland, what will become of The Stars Group Headquarters in Isle Of Man has not yet been announced.
It will become once the deal is finalised the worlds largest gambling entity with combined revenues of £3.8 billion based on 2018 figures.
Flutter Entertainment was only created in 2016 with the merger of Paddy Power and Betfair and the new merger will see Flutter hold a 54.6% share in the combined business with The Stars Group holding 45.4%.
It is understood shareholders will approve the deal in the second quarter of 2020 and completion will be done by the end of 2020.
Observers say that with the merger the new company will be a huge player in the US market with both betting and poker being the new businesses major brands.
Peter Jackson the Chief Executive of Flutter said of the deal, “The combination represents a great opportunity to deliver a step-change in our presence in international markets and ensure we are ideally positioned to take advantage of the exciting opportunity in the US through a media relationship with FOX Sports as well as our development of US sports betting through Flutter’s FanDuel and TSG’s FOX Bet brands.2 He went on to say, “We are committed to these two high-quality brands to drive the growth of the combined group in the US.”
Stars Group Chief Executive Rafi Ashkenazi said: “This exciting combination will allow us to enhance and accelerate our existing strategy. The combination with Flutter will further enhance our company’s core strengths, and position us strongly for the future in this rapidly evolving industry.”
It is understood that oce the business is full combined Rafi Ashkenazi will assume the role of Chief Operating Officer.
It has also been confirmed that the newly combined company will be incorporated, headquartered and domiciled in Dublin, Ireland, what will become of The Stars Group Headquarters in Isle Of Man has not yet been announced.
September 26, 2019
Panama to Scrap Gambling Tax to Attract Tourists
Panama has announced sweeping new changes to the taxation of betting in the country, with the abolition of the unpopular 5.5% Income Tax. Under the new rules, players will be able to receive their winnings tax-free whether they choose to take it as chips or cash.
The move is a desperate attempt to prop up the diminishing tourism industry in Panama and there are hopes that lucrative rules around betting will lure more visitors to the country.
Junta de Control de Juegos (JCJ), the body responsible for gambling regulation in Panama, announced that it would be introducing changes relating to the taxation of betting. The 5.5% tax which currently applies to gambling winnings is being scrapped by the Ministry of Economy and Finance.
The tax was originally introduced in 2015 with the aim of raising revenue to pay for retirement benefits for citizens. However, this levy was a policy of the previous government and the current incumbents believe that it is proving detrimental to the tourist trade.
The secretary of the JCJ confirmed that the income tax would be abolished right across the board on all aspects of gambling in Panama. This includes casino tables, slots, bingo and sports betting and is designed to encourage more tourists the visit the country.
Getting rid of tax on gambling winnings has proved to be a popular policy with a number of agencies. The head of the tourist body Autoridad de Turismo de Panama has backed the plan. The tourist industry has slumped with the loss of approximately 40,000 jobs and hotel occupation rates plunging to below 45% in the last two years.
The gambling body in Panama, Asociación de Administradores de Juegos de Azar, has been campaigning for the tax to be scrapped since it was first introduced four years ago. They believe that the taxes has played a part in persuading local players and international gamblers to visit neighbouring countries instead.
At the same time as getting rid of the tax for players, the Panama government is preparing to introduce a new audit system for operators. Using an “interconnected electronic system” the government will be ensuring that operators are paying the right amount of tax, and will also be stepping up their monitoring activity to identify taxable revenue.
Inside sources have suggested that many of the changes announced have been implemented as a result of a recent meeting between the head of the JCJ and his Mexican equivalent, Luis Calvo Reyes, who leads Mexico’s gambling regulatory body.
The move is a desperate attempt to prop up the diminishing tourism industry in Panama and there are hopes that lucrative rules around betting will lure more visitors to the country.
Junta de Control de Juegos (JCJ), the body responsible for gambling regulation in Panama, announced that it would be introducing changes relating to the taxation of betting. The 5.5% tax which currently applies to gambling winnings is being scrapped by the Ministry of Economy and Finance.
The tax was originally introduced in 2015 with the aim of raising revenue to pay for retirement benefits for citizens. However, this levy was a policy of the previous government and the current incumbents believe that it is proving detrimental to the tourist trade.
The secretary of the JCJ confirmed that the income tax would be abolished right across the board on all aspects of gambling in Panama. This includes casino tables, slots, bingo and sports betting and is designed to encourage more tourists the visit the country.
Getting rid of tax on gambling winnings has proved to be a popular policy with a number of agencies. The head of the tourist body Autoridad de Turismo de Panama has backed the plan. The tourist industry has slumped with the loss of approximately 40,000 jobs and hotel occupation rates plunging to below 45% in the last two years.
The gambling body in Panama, Asociación de Administradores de Juegos de Azar, has been campaigning for the tax to be scrapped since it was first introduced four years ago. They believe that the taxes has played a part in persuading local players and international gamblers to visit neighbouring countries instead.
At the same time as getting rid of the tax for players, the Panama government is preparing to introduce a new audit system for operators. Using an “interconnected electronic system” the government will be ensuring that operators are paying the right amount of tax, and will also be stepping up their monitoring activity to identify taxable revenue.
Inside sources have suggested that many of the changes announced have been implemented as a result of a recent meeting between the head of the JCJ and his Mexican equivalent, Luis Calvo Reyes, who leads Mexico’s gambling regulatory body.
September 24, 2019
Gambling and football: a relationship under scrutiny
When Championship club Derby County signed Wayne Rooney, record goalscorer for England and Manchester United, this month, pundits asked whether the transfer was to strengthen the team or improve its financial position off the pitch.
Derby, which plays in English football’s second tier, announced that Rooney would wear the number 32 shirt when he joined the team in January, while also revealing a “record-breaking [shirt] sponsorship deal” with 32Red, a Gibraltar-based online bookmaker.
The apparent connection between shirt number and sponsor drew widespread condemnation from UK newspapers, politicians and church groups. They say the deal is only the latest example of bookmakers and clubs pushing their commercial relationship too far, without regard to how children and addicts are bombarded with messages that encourage betting during matches.
GVC Holdings, one of the world’s largest online gambling groups and owner of bookmaker Ladbrokes Coral, has called for a ban on betting groups sponsoring football clubs. “There has been far too much perimeter adverts, TV adverts, bookmakers splashed across football jerseys,” said Kenny Alexander, chief executive.
Such restrictions would match new laws in Italy, home of another of Europe’s biggest leagues, that came into full force this year. Meanwhile, in May, German regulators warned the country’s football association over its sponsorship deal with GVC’s Bwin brand, arguing such partnerships could breach a ban on advertising online casino and slot games.
Similar rules in the UK would threaten the relationship between betting and English football. The sport has been associated with gambling for decades, such as through “pools” markets where fans bet small stakes on the outcome of matches, and the two industries have enjoyed strong revenue growth in recent years partly because of their close financial ties.
Interviews with more than a dozen senior betting and football industry executives, many of whom spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the subject, said a fierce debate was taking place on how best to head off a larger regulatory backlash and show gambling groups and clubs were responding to public concern about their close financial ties.
Mr Alexander called 32Red’s deal with Derby County “ridiculous, at a time when the industry is being attacked [and] we are trying to get the industry off the front pages”.
Though Derby’s owner Mel Morris said the Rooney transfer provided “commercial opportunities that are significant and widespread”, the club said it would not provide further detail on “commercially sensitive business operations”.
Football shirts are attractive billboards, allowing gambling companies to reach hundreds of millions of fans around the world.
According to Global Betting and Gaming Consultants, in the UK alone, gross gambling yield — the sum of bets placed minus winnings — from football rose from £908.5m in the year to April 2016, to £1.4bn in the same period last year.
Sponsorship of English teams also helps to target fans in Asia, where Premier League football shirts pushes company logos to fans without falling foul of local laws, such as in China where online gambling is banned, or Australia, where there is a ban on betting groups advertising on television during sports matches.
Half of the 20 teams in the English Premier League and two-thirds of the 24 clubs in the Championship have gambling company logos on their shirts.
The sponsors are diverse. Everton and Hull City’s main sponsor is Kenya-based SportPesa, the Chinese characters of Malta-registered Asian betting brand LoveBet adorns the shirts of Burnley, while Filipino group Dafabet features on Norwich City shirts.
These 26 teams made £225.2m in commercial revenues in 2018, representing 11 per cent of the clubs’ total revenues, according to an analysis of their financial records. Shirt sponsorships are typically the largest individual commercial deal available to most clubs. this differs
However, none of the so-called big six clubs — Manchester United, Manchester City, Arsenal, Tottenham Hotspur, Chelsea and Liverpool — have a gambling group as shirt sponsor, though Spurs has done previously. These clubs, among the 10 richest clubs in the world, can command lucrative commercial tie-ups with global brands willing to pay big to reach an enormous international fan base. Manchester United’s main shirt sponsor, Chevrolet, pays $80m year to appear on its shirts.
Instead, it is smaller clubs, which do not command such large support but still regularly appear on television screens in the UK and worldwide, targeted by gambling sponsors with smaller marketing budgets. For Championship clubs with gambling shirt sponsors, commercial income accounts for about 14 per cent of revenues.
Executives at these teams say privately that although shirt deals are typically worth less than £10m, even obscure betting groups offer far more than better known companies in other sectors.
“Commercial agreements between leagues, clubs and betting companies make a significant contribution to the ongoing financial sustainability of professional football at all levels,” said the English Football League, the body that runs professional divisions below the Premier League. “The EFL strongly believes that there has to be an approach whereby football can work with gambling companies in a sensible and socially responsible way.”
Nigel Adams, the UK’s sport minister, has warned clubs to abide by the “spirit of the rules”on accepting betting sponsorships. But there are no formal rules restricting gambling companies from endorsing clubs, while football’s governing bodies have also been caught between commercial imperatives and moral concerns.
In 2017, the Football Association pulled out of a sponsorship deal with Ladbrokes Coral worth £4m a year. This followed criticism from the player Joey Barton, who was banned by the FA for 18 months for placing bets on matches. Mr Barton said it was hypocritical for the body to impose such a ban while having commercial partnerships with gambling companies.
The English Football League has a sponsorship contract with online bookmaker SkyBet worth up to £4m a year, but said it also used the deal to promote responsible gambling messages on shirtsleeves and works with clubs to limit harm to vulnerable fans.
The opposition Labour Party has called for an outright ban on gambling firms sponsoring football clubs. “These companies are making fans feel they don’t have a stake in the game unless they have a bet,” said Tom Watson, Labour’s deputy leader.
Anti-gambling activists have also been buoyed by their success in forcing the UK government to drastically cut the maximum stake on fixed-odds betting terminals, high speed slot machines in betting shops — a move strongly resisted by high street bookmakers. According to analysts at Barclays, Ladbrokes Coral, William Hill and Paddy Power Betfair, will suffer a combined £785m loss in annual revenues thanks to the new FOBT regulations, which came into effect in April.
Shaken by this regulatory defeat, gambling executives held discussions on how to get ahead of further curbs and show their companies are responding to public concern.
At the start of this month, GVC, William Hill, Flutter, SkyBet and Bet365 began a voluntary “whistle-to-whistle” ban on advertising between the start and finish of sports fixtures, among other measures to protect punters.
Peter Jackson, chief executive of Flutter, said that the collaboration was “unprecedented”. According to one executive at a UK gambling company, the aim was to avoid “counterproductive” regulation.
But betting groups want publicity that helps them stand out.
Championship side Huddersfield Town last month unveiled a shirt dominated by a large sash bearing the logo of Paddy Power, the Irish betting brand owned by London-listed Flutter.
The FTSE 100 company later revealed the kit was an elaborate marketing stunt, with Paddy Power declaring it would instead pay for Huddersfield and three other English clubs to keep their shirts free of any branding whatsoever this season.
“While the hoax part of the campaign initially divided opinion, the subsequent reveal has prompted support from many fans and started a public debate about shirt sponsorship in football more broadly,” said Flutter.
This month, the FA charged the Yorkshire-based club with misconduct saying the club had broken rules about the size of corporate logos on shirts. A hearing on the matter is due to be held. Callum Limb, a Huddersfield spokesman, said “it doesn’t seem right to be talking about something that is currently under FA investigation”.
Industry watchdog the Gambling Commission also this month launched an investigation into Russian betting firm 1xBet, and the company’s UK website was taken down. It followed allegations revealed in a Sunday Times investigation that the group had promoted a “pornhub casino”, which uses topless croupiers, and had advertised on illegal websites.
In response, 1xBet told the newspaper it would investigate immediately if any third-party networks or partners were found to advertise its brand on banned sites or sites that break the law.
Neil Banbury, general manager at 32Red, which sparked controversy with its deal with Derby, defends the tie-ups between clubs and betting groups, however.
“Gambling companies and the wider industry has an important role to play in tackling problem gambling,” he said. “To remove the industry from the public’s eye would be irresponsible.”
Derby, which plays in English football’s second tier, announced that Rooney would wear the number 32 shirt when he joined the team in January, while also revealing a “record-breaking [shirt] sponsorship deal” with 32Red, a Gibraltar-based online bookmaker.
The apparent connection between shirt number and sponsor drew widespread condemnation from UK newspapers, politicians and church groups. They say the deal is only the latest example of bookmakers and clubs pushing their commercial relationship too far, without regard to how children and addicts are bombarded with messages that encourage betting during matches.
GVC Holdings, one of the world’s largest online gambling groups and owner of bookmaker Ladbrokes Coral, has called for a ban on betting groups sponsoring football clubs. “There has been far too much perimeter adverts, TV adverts, bookmakers splashed across football jerseys,” said Kenny Alexander, chief executive.
Such restrictions would match new laws in Italy, home of another of Europe’s biggest leagues, that came into full force this year. Meanwhile, in May, German regulators warned the country’s football association over its sponsorship deal with GVC’s Bwin brand, arguing such partnerships could breach a ban on advertising online casino and slot games.
Similar rules in the UK would threaten the relationship between betting and English football. The sport has been associated with gambling for decades, such as through “pools” markets where fans bet small stakes on the outcome of matches, and the two industries have enjoyed strong revenue growth in recent years partly because of their close financial ties.
Interviews with more than a dozen senior betting and football industry executives, many of whom spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the subject, said a fierce debate was taking place on how best to head off a larger regulatory backlash and show gambling groups and clubs were responding to public concern about their close financial ties.
Mr Alexander called 32Red’s deal with Derby County “ridiculous, at a time when the industry is being attacked [and] we are trying to get the industry off the front pages”.
Though Derby’s owner Mel Morris said the Rooney transfer provided “commercial opportunities that are significant and widespread”, the club said it would not provide further detail on “commercially sensitive business operations”.
Football shirts are attractive billboards, allowing gambling companies to reach hundreds of millions of fans around the world.
According to Global Betting and Gaming Consultants, in the UK alone, gross gambling yield — the sum of bets placed minus winnings — from football rose from £908.5m in the year to April 2016, to £1.4bn in the same period last year.
Sponsorship of English teams also helps to target fans in Asia, where Premier League football shirts pushes company logos to fans without falling foul of local laws, such as in China where online gambling is banned, or Australia, where there is a ban on betting groups advertising on television during sports matches.
Half of the 20 teams in the English Premier League and two-thirds of the 24 clubs in the Championship have gambling company logos on their shirts.
The sponsors are diverse. Everton and Hull City’s main sponsor is Kenya-based SportPesa, the Chinese characters of Malta-registered Asian betting brand LoveBet adorns the shirts of Burnley, while Filipino group Dafabet features on Norwich City shirts.
These 26 teams made £225.2m in commercial revenues in 2018, representing 11 per cent of the clubs’ total revenues, according to an analysis of their financial records. Shirt sponsorships are typically the largest individual commercial deal available to most clubs. this differs
However, none of the so-called big six clubs — Manchester United, Manchester City, Arsenal, Tottenham Hotspur, Chelsea and Liverpool — have a gambling group as shirt sponsor, though Spurs has done previously. These clubs, among the 10 richest clubs in the world, can command lucrative commercial tie-ups with global brands willing to pay big to reach an enormous international fan base. Manchester United’s main shirt sponsor, Chevrolet, pays $80m year to appear on its shirts.
Instead, it is smaller clubs, which do not command such large support but still regularly appear on television screens in the UK and worldwide, targeted by gambling sponsors with smaller marketing budgets. For Championship clubs with gambling shirt sponsors, commercial income accounts for about 14 per cent of revenues.
Executives at these teams say privately that although shirt deals are typically worth less than £10m, even obscure betting groups offer far more than better known companies in other sectors.
“Commercial agreements between leagues, clubs and betting companies make a significant contribution to the ongoing financial sustainability of professional football at all levels,” said the English Football League, the body that runs professional divisions below the Premier League. “The EFL strongly believes that there has to be an approach whereby football can work with gambling companies in a sensible and socially responsible way.”
Nigel Adams, the UK’s sport minister, has warned clubs to abide by the “spirit of the rules”on accepting betting sponsorships. But there are no formal rules restricting gambling companies from endorsing clubs, while football’s governing bodies have also been caught between commercial imperatives and moral concerns.
In 2017, the Football Association pulled out of a sponsorship deal with Ladbrokes Coral worth £4m a year. This followed criticism from the player Joey Barton, who was banned by the FA for 18 months for placing bets on matches. Mr Barton said it was hypocritical for the body to impose such a ban while having commercial partnerships with gambling companies.
The English Football League has a sponsorship contract with online bookmaker SkyBet worth up to £4m a year, but said it also used the deal to promote responsible gambling messages on shirtsleeves and works with clubs to limit harm to vulnerable fans.
The opposition Labour Party has called for an outright ban on gambling firms sponsoring football clubs. “These companies are making fans feel they don’t have a stake in the game unless they have a bet,” said Tom Watson, Labour’s deputy leader.
Anti-gambling activists have also been buoyed by their success in forcing the UK government to drastically cut the maximum stake on fixed-odds betting terminals, high speed slot machines in betting shops — a move strongly resisted by high street bookmakers. According to analysts at Barclays, Ladbrokes Coral, William Hill and Paddy Power Betfair, will suffer a combined £785m loss in annual revenues thanks to the new FOBT regulations, which came into effect in April.
Shaken by this regulatory defeat, gambling executives held discussions on how to get ahead of further curbs and show their companies are responding to public concern.
At the start of this month, GVC, William Hill, Flutter, SkyBet and Bet365 began a voluntary “whistle-to-whistle” ban on advertising between the start and finish of sports fixtures, among other measures to protect punters.
Peter Jackson, chief executive of Flutter, said that the collaboration was “unprecedented”. According to one executive at a UK gambling company, the aim was to avoid “counterproductive” regulation.
But betting groups want publicity that helps them stand out.
Championship side Huddersfield Town last month unveiled a shirt dominated by a large sash bearing the logo of Paddy Power, the Irish betting brand owned by London-listed Flutter.
The FTSE 100 company later revealed the kit was an elaborate marketing stunt, with Paddy Power declaring it would instead pay for Huddersfield and three other English clubs to keep their shirts free of any branding whatsoever this season.
“While the hoax part of the campaign initially divided opinion, the subsequent reveal has prompted support from many fans and started a public debate about shirt sponsorship in football more broadly,” said Flutter.
This month, the FA charged the Yorkshire-based club with misconduct saying the club had broken rules about the size of corporate logos on shirts. A hearing on the matter is due to be held. Callum Limb, a Huddersfield spokesman, said “it doesn’t seem right to be talking about something that is currently under FA investigation”.
Industry watchdog the Gambling Commission also this month launched an investigation into Russian betting firm 1xBet, and the company’s UK website was taken down. It followed allegations revealed in a Sunday Times investigation that the group had promoted a “pornhub casino”, which uses topless croupiers, and had advertised on illegal websites.
In response, 1xBet told the newspaper it would investigate immediately if any third-party networks or partners were found to advertise its brand on banned sites or sites that break the law.
Neil Banbury, general manager at 32Red, which sparked controversy with its deal with Derby, defends the tie-ups between clubs and betting groups, however.
“Gambling companies and the wider industry has an important role to play in tackling problem gambling,” he said. “To remove the industry from the public’s eye would be irresponsible.”
August 16, 2019
Betting firms’ deals with trainers and jockeys treble
The number of trainers and jockeys signing up to links with betting firms has trebled in three years. A British Horseracing Authority register lists the names of 19 trainers and 24 jockeys as having commercial arrangements with bookmakers. The authority said on Thursday that in 2016 the register had six trainers and eight jockeys.
Some of the links on the list are with long-established bookies, such as Frankie Dettori’s arrangement with Ladbrokes, Paul Nicholls’s with Betfair or Colin Tizzard’s stable with Coral, but most involve newer firms striving to build market share in the lucrative British and Irish betting markets. Flat rider Josephine Gordon writes a blog for Unibet, for instance, while the Gloucestershire trainer Fergal O’Brien is on the register alongside 32Red, the online casino that brokered a deal to bring Wayne Rooney to Derby County.
A well-known sports professional writing for a betting site, or helping to promote it, raises its profile and attracts punters. Riding racehorses, and training them, can be a very precarious career – so maximising earnings when possible is an understandable pursuit.
However, links to bookmakers, although perfectly legal, could adversely affect public perception of racing. Bookie sponsorship is forever widening its scope – William Hill sponsor ITV Racing, while several of that channel’s presenters write blogs for, or are ambassadors for, various other firms. An ITV Racing spokesperson said: “Promotional work that any of our pundits undertake for betting companies is separate to their work for us and cannot be promoted through ITV.”
Photographs of a winning jockey after a Grand National, Derby or other big race – with a highly visible brand name or logo on silks and breeches – is invaluable publicity for bookies. And while not exactly resembling Lewis Hamilton on an F1 podium, more trainers are starting to sport promotional logos.
Before entering an arrangement with a betting company, all trainers and jockeys must notify the BHA of the details, under rules governing “payment for non-riding or non-training services”.
There is no suggestion of bookmakers acting improperly. The kind of control mechanism they have introduced includes one from Betfair that obliges staff who “ghostwrite” blogs for racing people to sign agreements not to act on information they receive until it is in the public domain.
Asked for a response to the increase in the register, the BHA stated: “Guidelines are provided to trainers and riders as and when they enter into an arrangement with a betting organisation.
“We monitor the arrangements on an ongoing basis, as well as public perception. Services to betting organisations include blog posts, social media work, company functions, photo-shoots, video content, yard visits and a commitment to wear branded clothing.”
The authority’s guidelines display concern to prevent any suspicion of insider dealing. Trainers are advised: “For ‘high-profile’ horses, those running in graded races, feature handicaps or any races where there is a known ante-post betting market, the appropriateness of market-sensitive information should be strongly considered before it is first made available to the public through media hosted by a betting operator. Such information, could include, but is not limited to: jockey bookings, changes to publicly stated running plans, equine injuries and fatalities.
“If in doubt, it is highly likely the most appropriate means of communicating the information to the public is either through the media (PA, Racing Post etc.) or through the trainer’s own channels (e.g. website or social media).”
Some of the links on the list are with long-established bookies, such as Frankie Dettori’s arrangement with Ladbrokes, Paul Nicholls’s with Betfair or Colin Tizzard’s stable with Coral, but most involve newer firms striving to build market share in the lucrative British and Irish betting markets. Flat rider Josephine Gordon writes a blog for Unibet, for instance, while the Gloucestershire trainer Fergal O’Brien is on the register alongside 32Red, the online casino that brokered a deal to bring Wayne Rooney to Derby County.
A well-known sports professional writing for a betting site, or helping to promote it, raises its profile and attracts punters. Riding racehorses, and training them, can be a very precarious career – so maximising earnings when possible is an understandable pursuit.
However, links to bookmakers, although perfectly legal, could adversely affect public perception of racing. Bookie sponsorship is forever widening its scope – William Hill sponsor ITV Racing, while several of that channel’s presenters write blogs for, or are ambassadors for, various other firms. An ITV Racing spokesperson said: “Promotional work that any of our pundits undertake for betting companies is separate to their work for us and cannot be promoted through ITV.”
Photographs of a winning jockey after a Grand National, Derby or other big race – with a highly visible brand name or logo on silks and breeches – is invaluable publicity for bookies. And while not exactly resembling Lewis Hamilton on an F1 podium, more trainers are starting to sport promotional logos.
Before entering an arrangement with a betting company, all trainers and jockeys must notify the BHA of the details, under rules governing “payment for non-riding or non-training services”.
There is no suggestion of bookmakers acting improperly. The kind of control mechanism they have introduced includes one from Betfair that obliges staff who “ghostwrite” blogs for racing people to sign agreements not to act on information they receive until it is in the public domain.
Asked for a response to the increase in the register, the BHA stated: “Guidelines are provided to trainers and riders as and when they enter into an arrangement with a betting organisation.
“We monitor the arrangements on an ongoing basis, as well as public perception. Services to betting organisations include blog posts, social media work, company functions, photo-shoots, video content, yard visits and a commitment to wear branded clothing.”
The authority’s guidelines display concern to prevent any suspicion of insider dealing. Trainers are advised: “For ‘high-profile’ horses, those running in graded races, feature handicaps or any races where there is a known ante-post betting market, the appropriateness of market-sensitive information should be strongly considered before it is first made available to the public through media hosted by a betting operator. Such information, could include, but is not limited to: jockey bookings, changes to publicly stated running plans, equine injuries and fatalities.
“If in doubt, it is highly likely the most appropriate means of communicating the information to the public is either through the media (PA, Racing Post etc.) or through the trainer’s own channels (e.g. website or social media).”
August 15, 2019
Austrian prosecutors target Freedom Party's Strache in probe
Austrian prosecutors raided addresses linked to the nationalist Freedom Party's former Vice Chancellor Heinz-Christian Strache and the head of gambling company Novomatic on suspicions of graft and corruption.
The probe centers on the appointment of Freedom Party's Peter Sidlo to the management board of Casinos Austria, a lottery and casino operator in which the Austrian government and Novomatic own stakes, a Casinos Austria spokesman said, confirming a report in Austrian newspaper Der Standard. Casinos Austria isn't a target of the probe, he said.
Investigators are looking into whether Strache, former junior Finance Minister Hubert Fuchs, and others pledged to change laws in return for Novomatic backing the appointment at Casinos Austria, Der Standard said.
A spokesman for the white-collar prosecutors' office in Vienna confirmed that raids took place Monday in relation to a graft investigation. The prosecutors suspect six individuals and one gambling company, he said. He declined to elaborate, citing the confidentiality of the investigation.
Novomatic Chief Executive Officer Harald Neumann and owner Johann Graf are among those being probed, Der Standard said. A spokesman for Novomatic declined to comment.
Strache said on his Facebook page the allegations were unfounded and were a political attack. Sidlo didn't immediately return an email seeking comment. He was also appointed to the Austrian central bank's supervisory board by the Freedom Party last year. The Freedom Party said the probe didn't involve its current leadership.
Strache resigned as vice chancellor and Freedom Party Chairman in May, following the release of a video in which he was shown promising state contracts for cash to a woman claiming to be a Russian oligarch's niece and plotting the takeover of Austria's largest newspaper. He also mentioned Novomatic as a donor in the video, a claim Novomatic has denied.
Conservative Chancellor Sebastian Kurz, who had governed in a coalition with the Freedom Party, was toppled a few days later, and Austria will now have an election Sept. 29.
The probe centers on the appointment of Freedom Party's Peter Sidlo to the management board of Casinos Austria, a lottery and casino operator in which the Austrian government and Novomatic own stakes, a Casinos Austria spokesman said, confirming a report in Austrian newspaper Der Standard. Casinos Austria isn't a target of the probe, he said.
Investigators are looking into whether Strache, former junior Finance Minister Hubert Fuchs, and others pledged to change laws in return for Novomatic backing the appointment at Casinos Austria, Der Standard said.
A spokesman for the white-collar prosecutors' office in Vienna confirmed that raids took place Monday in relation to a graft investigation. The prosecutors suspect six individuals and one gambling company, he said. He declined to elaborate, citing the confidentiality of the investigation.
Novomatic Chief Executive Officer Harald Neumann and owner Johann Graf are among those being probed, Der Standard said. A spokesman for Novomatic declined to comment.
Strache said on his Facebook page the allegations were unfounded and were a political attack. Sidlo didn't immediately return an email seeking comment. He was also appointed to the Austrian central bank's supervisory board by the Freedom Party last year. The Freedom Party said the probe didn't involve its current leadership.
Strache resigned as vice chancellor and Freedom Party Chairman in May, following the release of a video in which he was shown promising state contracts for cash to a woman claiming to be a Russian oligarch's niece and plotting the takeover of Austria's largest newspaper. He also mentioned Novomatic as a donor in the video, a claim Novomatic has denied.
Conservative Chancellor Sebastian Kurz, who had governed in a coalition with the Freedom Party, was toppled a few days later, and Austria will now have an election Sept. 29.
August 14, 2019
CBS Sports Reconsidering Network Policy That Prohibits Gambling Info in NFL Broadcasts
Building off the network’s Super Bowl LIII broadcast in February, CBS Sports will expand the use of augmented reality and deploy more high-speed cameras for its NFL coverage this fall.
What remains to be seen is whether CBS will revamp its policy on sports betting. The NFL announced a broad betting data partnership with Sportradar on Monday, and 18 states either already have legal sports betting or have passed legislation that is awaiting enactment. CBS Sports chairman Sean McManus said in the prelude to last season’s Super Bowl that “our policy is we don’t discuss gambling information.” On Tuesday, he signaled a softening of that hard line.
“We’re still talking about it,” McManus says. “We have not formulated our plan yet, but it’s under discussion and we’ll have a plan, obviously, by opening day.”
CBS debuted some on-field AR graphics at the Super Bowl, but executive producer Harold Bryant says new implementations will be within the domain of the studio. “We still want to explore that space and that technology to see how it can enhance our coverage,” he says. “The best place for us to learn about it, to demo it, and then to apply it is in the studio.”
Bryant says there’s no specific plan to use AR for X’s & O’s analysis or other graphical elements. It’s an open invitation for his team to suggest use cases. “The door is open to anything our artists and our producers and designers can come up with,” he says. “Even our announcers—if there’s something they want to do, we’re going to figure it out. We’re going to grow with the technology and use it as much as we can as the season goes along.”
While CBS Sports has no plans for a dedicated 4K Ultra HD broadcast during the regular season, Bryant says the network has still not decided on a postseason plan. Most regular-season games will have more high-speed cameras incorporated into the feed in order to enhance replays. “Adding the super slo-mo is what fans want to see,” Bryant says. “It’s to help tell the story—slow it down, see those fabulous catches, those moves out in the field, crossing the goal line.”
NBC had originally been slated to broadcast Super Bowl LV on Feb. 7, 2021 with CBS taking Super Bowl LVI on Feb. 6, 2022, but in March, the networks agreed to a swap. NBC was motivated to have the Super Bowl in the same season as the 2022 Winter Olympics; CBS was content not to compete against Olympics coverage that month.
The trade broke the typical three-year cycle of Super Bowl broadcasts (with Fox Sports also in the rotation) and reduced the downtime between games for CBS, which has already begun preliminary preparations for Super Bowl LV in 18 months. “We’ve already had our first in-house planning meeting, and we’re going to meet with the NFL, the organizing committee and survey the stadium this fall,” Bryant says.
That was the same timeline CBS Sports followed prior to the most recent Super Bowl, with Bryant making an open call to tech companies to experiment with innovations well in advance of kickoff. He made as many as 10 site visits to Atlanta’s Mercedes-Benz Stadium to scout locations and plan logistics.
The 2021 Super Bowl will be played at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa. CBS has produced a Super Bowl there before—but it was Super Bowl XXXV way back on Jan. 28, 2001.
What remains to be seen is whether CBS will revamp its policy on sports betting. The NFL announced a broad betting data partnership with Sportradar on Monday, and 18 states either already have legal sports betting or have passed legislation that is awaiting enactment. CBS Sports chairman Sean McManus said in the prelude to last season’s Super Bowl that “our policy is we don’t discuss gambling information.” On Tuesday, he signaled a softening of that hard line.
“We’re still talking about it,” McManus says. “We have not formulated our plan yet, but it’s under discussion and we’ll have a plan, obviously, by opening day.”
CBS debuted some on-field AR graphics at the Super Bowl, but executive producer Harold Bryant says new implementations will be within the domain of the studio. “We still want to explore that space and that technology to see how it can enhance our coverage,” he says. “The best place for us to learn about it, to demo it, and then to apply it is in the studio.”
Bryant says there’s no specific plan to use AR for X’s & O’s analysis or other graphical elements. It’s an open invitation for his team to suggest use cases. “The door is open to anything our artists and our producers and designers can come up with,” he says. “Even our announcers—if there’s something they want to do, we’re going to figure it out. We’re going to grow with the technology and use it as much as we can as the season goes along.”
While CBS Sports has no plans for a dedicated 4K Ultra HD broadcast during the regular season, Bryant says the network has still not decided on a postseason plan. Most regular-season games will have more high-speed cameras incorporated into the feed in order to enhance replays. “Adding the super slo-mo is what fans want to see,” Bryant says. “It’s to help tell the story—slow it down, see those fabulous catches, those moves out in the field, crossing the goal line.”
NBC had originally been slated to broadcast Super Bowl LV on Feb. 7, 2021 with CBS taking Super Bowl LVI on Feb. 6, 2022, but in March, the networks agreed to a swap. NBC was motivated to have the Super Bowl in the same season as the 2022 Winter Olympics; CBS was content not to compete against Olympics coverage that month.
The trade broke the typical three-year cycle of Super Bowl broadcasts (with Fox Sports also in the rotation) and reduced the downtime between games for CBS, which has already begun preliminary preparations for Super Bowl LV in 18 months. “We’ve already had our first in-house planning meeting, and we’re going to meet with the NFL, the organizing committee and survey the stadium this fall,” Bryant says.
That was the same timeline CBS Sports followed prior to the most recent Super Bowl, with Bryant making an open call to tech companies to experiment with innovations well in advance of kickoff. He made as many as 10 site visits to Atlanta’s Mercedes-Benz Stadium to scout locations and plan logistics.
The 2021 Super Bowl will be played at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa. CBS has produced a Super Bowl there before—but it was Super Bowl XXXV way back on Jan. 28, 2001.
August 13, 2019
Chelsea, Liverpool and Spurs sponsor 1XBet suspends UK operations over probe
1XBet, a partner of English top-flight soccer clubs Chelsea, Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur, has suspended its UK operations following a Sunday Times investigation into improper conduct.
The Russian gambling firm has blocked access to its site in the UK, but is still actively promoting itself on social media, including relationships with its Premier League partners.
The Sunday Times investigation into the firm’s global operations found that 1XBet was promoting a casino featuring topless croupiers, taking bets on children’s sports, advertising on illegal websites and cockfighting live streams emblazoned with the three club’s logos. In response to the findings, the Gambling Commission confirmed it had launched an investigation.
Some of the clubs’ top players, including Roberto Firmino, Willian and Olivier Giroud, have all fronted campaigns for the Russian company, which is now based in Cyprus.
The three Premier League clubs, who finished second, third and fourth last season, all have close ties to the 1XBet.
Last August, Tottenham revealed 1XBet as their official betting partner for Africa. The firm’s licence has since been suspended in Kenya – a country with an endemic problem with gambling addiction – over betting industry-wide tax issues.
Meanwhile, Chelsea and Liverpool only penned deals with 1XBet in July. Additionally, Spanish soccer champions Barcelona, ranked as the world’s fourth most valuable sports team, have a global betting partnership with the company until June 2024.
In response, 1XBet blamed its overseas marketing partners for its promotions and advertising on piracy websites.
The company told the Sunday Times: “If any of these third-party networks or partners are found to advertise the 1XBet brand on prohibited sites or sites which break the law, 1XBet shall investigate immediately.”
Betting tech company FSB Technology said players deposits would be protected on the suspended website and told the Sunday Times that it had always complied with UK regulations, adding it would renew its licensing agreement with 1XBet.
Tottenham told the UK weekly that 1XBet had assured them that it provides a safe environment to protect people from “irresponsible gambling and addiction”.
Liverpool confirmed to the Sunday Times that there were restrictions on their partnership deals to ensure all marketing content was appropriate.
Chelsea did not respond to a request for comment from the newspaper.
The Russian gambling firm has blocked access to its site in the UK, but is still actively promoting itself on social media, including relationships with its Premier League partners.
The Sunday Times investigation into the firm’s global operations found that 1XBet was promoting a casino featuring topless croupiers, taking bets on children’s sports, advertising on illegal websites and cockfighting live streams emblazoned with the three club’s logos. In response to the findings, the Gambling Commission confirmed it had launched an investigation.
Some of the clubs’ top players, including Roberto Firmino, Willian and Olivier Giroud, have all fronted campaigns for the Russian company, which is now based in Cyprus.
The three Premier League clubs, who finished second, third and fourth last season, all have close ties to the 1XBet.
Last August, Tottenham revealed 1XBet as their official betting partner for Africa. The firm’s licence has since been suspended in Kenya – a country with an endemic problem with gambling addiction – over betting industry-wide tax issues.
Meanwhile, Chelsea and Liverpool only penned deals with 1XBet in July. Additionally, Spanish soccer champions Barcelona, ranked as the world’s fourth most valuable sports team, have a global betting partnership with the company until June 2024.
In response, 1XBet blamed its overseas marketing partners for its promotions and advertising on piracy websites.
The company told the Sunday Times: “If any of these third-party networks or partners are found to advertise the 1XBet brand on prohibited sites or sites which break the law, 1XBet shall investigate immediately.”
Betting tech company FSB Technology said players deposits would be protected on the suspended website and told the Sunday Times that it had always complied with UK regulations, adding it would renew its licensing agreement with 1XBet.
Tottenham told the UK weekly that 1XBet had assured them that it provides a safe environment to protect people from “irresponsible gambling and addiction”.
Liverpool confirmed to the Sunday Times that there were restrictions on their partnership deals to ensure all marketing content was appropriate.
Chelsea did not respond to a request for comment from the newspaper.
August 06, 2019
Videoslots makes loss limit requirement mandatory
Videoslots.com has further strengthened its position on responsible gambling by making it a mandatory requirement for customers in the United Kingdom to set a loss limit budget before they can bet.
The casino operator rolled out its mandatory policy in the UK in order to help protect its players and ensure gambling remains fun, becoming the first operator in the industry to do so.
Videoslots currently boasts more than 3,500 games, with engaging and exciting offers from some of the industry’s best suppliers including NetEnt, Playtech, Evolution Gaming and hundreds of others.
Alexander Stevendahl, Chief Executive Officer at Videoslots, said: “Responsible gambling is our number one priority and this requirement adds an extra level of safety for Videoslots players.
“We believe gambling should be a fun and engaging form of entertainment and we hope our initiative will help keep it that way. Hopefully other operators will join us in our stance.”
The casino operator rolled out its mandatory policy in the UK in order to help protect its players and ensure gambling remains fun, becoming the first operator in the industry to do so.
Videoslots currently boasts more than 3,500 games, with engaging and exciting offers from some of the industry’s best suppliers including NetEnt, Playtech, Evolution Gaming and hundreds of others.
Alexander Stevendahl, Chief Executive Officer at Videoslots, said: “Responsible gambling is our number one priority and this requirement adds an extra level of safety for Videoslots players.
“We believe gambling should be a fun and engaging form of entertainment and we hope our initiative will help keep it that way. Hopefully other operators will join us in our stance.”
July 31, 2019
Ladbrokes Coral fined £5.9 million
The company that own Ladbrokes Coral has been issued a fine of £5.9 million for failing to protect vulnerable customers and for failing in its anti-money laundering duty.
The Gambling Commission stated that over a three-year period, Ladbrokes Coral failed to put in place effective safeguards that would “prevent customers suffering gambling harm”.
As part of its verdict, it citied one customer who had lost £98,000 and had asked Coral to stop sending further promotional communication. This customer had 460 attempted deposits declined but were still able to lose this sum of money two and a half years later.
Another customer spent over £1.5million over three years, accessing their account 10 times a day and losing £64,000 in a four-week period. Yet despite this, nothing was done to prevent them from accessing the site.
The Commission stated that Coral “did not ask the customer to evidence their source of funds and could not provide evidence of any social responsibility interactions being carried out”.
However, the firm failed to carry out “social responsibility interactions”.
The problems are said to have occurred between November 2014 and October 2017, after GVC Holdings had bought Ladbrokes Coral.
As a result, they will now pay £4.8 million and divest £1.1million “gained from customers as a result of failings”.
Richard Watson, executive director of the Gambling Commission, said: “These were systemic failings at a large operator which resulted in consumers being harmed and stolen money flowing though the business and this is unacceptable.”
The Gambling Commission stated that over a three-year period, Ladbrokes Coral failed to put in place effective safeguards that would “prevent customers suffering gambling harm”.
As part of its verdict, it citied one customer who had lost £98,000 and had asked Coral to stop sending further promotional communication. This customer had 460 attempted deposits declined but were still able to lose this sum of money two and a half years later.
Another customer spent over £1.5million over three years, accessing their account 10 times a day and losing £64,000 in a four-week period. Yet despite this, nothing was done to prevent them from accessing the site.
The Commission stated that Coral “did not ask the customer to evidence their source of funds and could not provide evidence of any social responsibility interactions being carried out”.
However, the firm failed to carry out “social responsibility interactions”.
The problems are said to have occurred between November 2014 and October 2017, after GVC Holdings had bought Ladbrokes Coral.
As a result, they will now pay £4.8 million and divest £1.1million “gained from customers as a result of failings”.
Richard Watson, executive director of the Gambling Commission, said: “These were systemic failings at a large operator which resulted in consumers being harmed and stolen money flowing though the business and this is unacceptable.”
July 18, 2019
Kenyan Govt orders deportation of 17 foreign betting firm directors
It will be a long trip back home for 17 foreign directors of betting firms whose licences were not renewed after the government pushed its crackdown on the gambling industry a notch higher by ordering their deportation.
On Tuesday night, the Immigration department began flying home some of the foreign nationals whom sources told the Nation were detained in the hours after Interior CS Fred Matiang’i signed the order shortly after 2pm.
The decision was reached after the National Security Advisory Committee (NSAC), with the blessings of President Uhuru Kenyatta, decided there would be no backing down on the war against rogue betting companies.
This is after what has been a week of high octane open warfare fought in the courts, in public through tough statements and advertisements punctuated by back-room lobbying and arm-twisting failed to bring the State and betting companies to the negotiating table.
According to sources, among those deported on Tuesday were directors from Bulgaria, Italy, Russia and Poland.
The deportation orders said that those sent back home were in Kenya illegally since the licences of the companies they were running were cancelled.
The orders also said that whatever they were doing was in contravention of their work permits.
The Interior ministry refused to disclose the names of those deported citing security concerns.
“This is still an ongoing operation so we won’t disclose their names for now because those being deported have to be arrested first,” Interior spokesperson Wangui Muchiri told the Nation.
On Tuesday morning, banks started to freeze the accounts which are thought to hold billions of shillings following an order by CBK on Monday night.
And that’s not all. In what was a very fluid day SportPesa, Betin and Betpawa moved to court seeking to reverse an earlier decision by the Betting Control and Licensing Board (BCLB) to block their paybill numbers and short codes.
In separate suits, the firms asked High Court judge Weldon Korir to hold BCLB bosses for contempt for putting their businesses at risk of being arrested for operating without a licence.
They also faulted the BCLB for blocking the paybills despite the pending legal battle in court.
However, justice Korir declined to heed to their pleas on wanting BCLB bosses punished over the issues they were protesting about.
Instead, he ordered that the betting board together with telcos Safaricom and Airtel be allowed time to respond to the case first before any punishment is imposed on them.
On Tuesday night, the Immigration department began flying home some of the foreign nationals whom sources told the Nation were detained in the hours after Interior CS Fred Matiang’i signed the order shortly after 2pm.
The decision was reached after the National Security Advisory Committee (NSAC), with the blessings of President Uhuru Kenyatta, decided there would be no backing down on the war against rogue betting companies.
This is after what has been a week of high octane open warfare fought in the courts, in public through tough statements and advertisements punctuated by back-room lobbying and arm-twisting failed to bring the State and betting companies to the negotiating table.
According to sources, among those deported on Tuesday were directors from Bulgaria, Italy, Russia and Poland.
The deportation orders said that those sent back home were in Kenya illegally since the licences of the companies they were running were cancelled.
The orders also said that whatever they were doing was in contravention of their work permits.
The Interior ministry refused to disclose the names of those deported citing security concerns.
“This is still an ongoing operation so we won’t disclose their names for now because those being deported have to be arrested first,” Interior spokesperson Wangui Muchiri told the Nation.
On Tuesday morning, banks started to freeze the accounts which are thought to hold billions of shillings following an order by CBK on Monday night.
And that’s not all. In what was a very fluid day SportPesa, Betin and Betpawa moved to court seeking to reverse an earlier decision by the Betting Control and Licensing Board (BCLB) to block their paybill numbers and short codes.
In separate suits, the firms asked High Court judge Weldon Korir to hold BCLB bosses for contempt for putting their businesses at risk of being arrested for operating without a licence.
They also faulted the BCLB for blocking the paybills despite the pending legal battle in court.
However, justice Korir declined to heed to their pleas on wanting BCLB bosses punished over the issues they were protesting about.
Instead, he ordered that the betting board together with telcos Safaricom and Airtel be allowed time to respond to the case first before any punishment is imposed on them.
July 11, 2019
Liverpool joins Barca and Spurs on 1XBet sponsor roster
Following up on their 1XBet has announced a five-year sponsorship deal with FC Barcelona, 1XBet has unveiled a new multi-year partnership with Liverpool. No value or term for the Liverpool deal has been released.
1XBET will become the Official Global Betting Partner of Liverpool and will receive stadium branding at Anfield and on Liverpool’s digital platforms, as well as access to first-team players and club legends for promotions.
Billy Hogan, managing director and chief commercial officer, Liverpool, said: “We are delighted to welcome 1XBET to Liverpool FC as our newest partner. I know that their games and special offers will appeal to our fans around the world and we look forward to seeing these as we go into the new 2019/2020 season.”
1XBET has multiple markets in pre-match and live betting odds, alongside online games including live casino tables and virtual slot machines. Creating specific markets and odds for Liverpool fans will be a key part of the activation of the sponsorship.
Alex Sommers, 1XBET spokesman, said: “We’re incredibly excited to be partnering with the club to meet our goal of bringing fans closer to the sporting action through our innovative products and supercharged betting experience. We’re very proud of the relationship we have with Liverpool Football Club and we’re keen to work closely with fans around the world to bring them exciting entertainment opportunities and unique offers in the upcoming season.”
1XBET will become the Official Global Betting Partner of Liverpool and will receive stadium branding at Anfield and on Liverpool’s digital platforms, as well as access to first-team players and club legends for promotions.
Billy Hogan, managing director and chief commercial officer, Liverpool, said: “We are delighted to welcome 1XBET to Liverpool FC as our newest partner. I know that their games and special offers will appeal to our fans around the world and we look forward to seeing these as we go into the new 2019/2020 season.”
1XBET has multiple markets in pre-match and live betting odds, alongside online games including live casino tables and virtual slot machines. Creating specific markets and odds for Liverpool fans will be a key part of the activation of the sponsorship.
Alex Sommers, 1XBET spokesman, said: “We’re incredibly excited to be partnering with the club to meet our goal of bringing fans closer to the sporting action through our innovative products and supercharged betting experience. We’re very proud of the relationship we have with Liverpool Football Club and we’re keen to work closely with fans around the world to bring them exciting entertainment opportunities and unique offers in the upcoming season.”
July 09, 2019
SAZKA confirms OPAP takeover intent
Czech gambling conglomerate SAZKA Group has clarified its intentions to secure ‘full control’ of Athens-listed OPAP SA, Greece’s largest lottery and sports betting operator.
On Monday, the Athens Securities Exchange temporarily suspended OPAP’s listing, announcing that the gambling group anticipated a ‘major imminent corporate event’.
This morning, Reuters disclosed that SAZKA governance had submitted a formal Athens Exchange filing detailing its intentions to acquire OPAP outright.
At present SAZKA maintains a 33% holding in OPAP, which is secured through its Emma Delta subsidiary and co-owned with Greek shipping tycoon Georgios Melissanidis.
The Czech conglomerate, which operates one of European gambling’s biggest investment portfolios, secured its original holding in OPAP during 2013, as the Greek government was forced to privatise a number of state-owned enterprises, required under the terms of Greece’s IMF bailout.
In its filing, SAZKA governance has propositioned an opening ‘€9.12 per share’ offer to OPAP investors, significantly below the speculated ‘40% premium of €14-per-share’ offer reported on Monday by Greek business news sources.
Having restructured its ownership, SAZKA is controlled by Czech billionaire Karel Komarek Jr KKCG fund which is reported to aggressively expanding its holdings in established European gambling enterprises.
Having received SAZKA confirmation offer, The Athens Exchange will resume trading on OPAP shares today.
On Monday, the Athens Securities Exchange temporarily suspended OPAP’s listing, announcing that the gambling group anticipated a ‘major imminent corporate event’.
This morning, Reuters disclosed that SAZKA governance had submitted a formal Athens Exchange filing detailing its intentions to acquire OPAP outright.
At present SAZKA maintains a 33% holding in OPAP, which is secured through its Emma Delta subsidiary and co-owned with Greek shipping tycoon Georgios Melissanidis.
The Czech conglomerate, which operates one of European gambling’s biggest investment portfolios, secured its original holding in OPAP during 2013, as the Greek government was forced to privatise a number of state-owned enterprises, required under the terms of Greece’s IMF bailout.
In its filing, SAZKA governance has propositioned an opening ‘€9.12 per share’ offer to OPAP investors, significantly below the speculated ‘40% premium of €14-per-share’ offer reported on Monday by Greek business news sources.
Having restructured its ownership, SAZKA is controlled by Czech billionaire Karel Komarek Jr KKCG fund which is reported to aggressively expanding its holdings in established European gambling enterprises.
Having received SAZKA confirmation offer, The Athens Exchange will resume trading on OPAP shares today.
May 17, 2019
Local doctor denied massive payout on Kentucky Derby bets
Friedlander stopped at the Tamarack Junction and made several bets on the race, including an exacta bet, where you need to pick the top two horses, and a trifecta bet, where you pick the top three.
Before the race’s lengthy review, he thought he had lost all his bets, but when the decision was overturned and Country House was announced as the winner – he realized he had won the exacta and trifecta bets.
The trifecta bet combo of horses he picked was so unlikely, it paid 11,500 – 1. Given that he had $40 on it, that would pay him about $460,000. Combine that with the roughly $150,000 on the exacta bet, and Friedlander was set to win over $600,000.
“They looked at it and told me they have betting caps on these types of bets,” he explained.
That is because that book is not a pari-mutuel sports book, meaning they are liable for making their own payouts, without sharing revenue from other William Hill locations, so it’s that fine print that cost Friedlander his massive score – as they cap some of their bets.
“They told me that I won $35,000, which is amazing, but it’s a far cry from $600,000 I thought I had won.”
William Hill declined our request for an interview, but did release a statement:
"Because of the requirements of the gaming regulations, there are significant costs involved to offer pari-mutuel wagering in Nevada. Unfortunately, it doesn’t make economic sense to offer pari-mutuel wagering at all of our 115 Nevada locations.
"William Hill has 17 pari-mutuel locations in Nevada. At a number of additional William Hill locations, we offer booked wagering on the five major race days (Kentucky Derby, Preakness Stakes, Belmont Stakes, and Friday/Saturday of Breeders’ Cup) as a convenience to our customers in a manner consistent with the gaming regulations.
"At the locations where we book these select races, we pay official track prices, subject to certain caps that are prominently displayed. Those caps, which limit exacta payout odds to 150/1 and trifecta payout odds to 500/1, generally are consistent or greater to those that have been historically offered by our competitors that book. The capping of booked race payouts has been industry standard for decades and allows race books to book without taking on unlimited liability, which no one would want to do.
"Tamarack Junction, a small casino in Reno, is one of the locations where we have booked the Kentucky Derby for many years. We congratulate our customer at the Tamarack Junction for his winning exacta and trifecta bets.
"The customer has the right to appeal to the Nevada Gaming Control Board but we are confident that we have fully complied with the relevant gaming regulations and had prominent signage alerting customers to the payoff caps."
Friedlander did not yet cash his tickets for the $35,000. He says he’s going to fight the case with Gaming Control Board.
“It's up to the Gaming Control Board. Essentially it's gonna come down to are their signs conspicuous enough or not,” he explained.
According to longtime bookmaker Chris Andrews, he may have a better shot with the control board than you might expect.
“Most people think that gaming sides with the casino, that’s not the case,” said Andrews. “They usually side with the customer.”
Friedlander says he is told he will get a decision in 45 days.
“William Hill is trying to position themselves as America’s sportsbook,” Friedlander stated in closing. “I just hope when other novices go in and try to make bets, they don’t run into this type of problem.”
Before the race’s lengthy review, he thought he had lost all his bets, but when the decision was overturned and Country House was announced as the winner – he realized he had won the exacta and trifecta bets.
The trifecta bet combo of horses he picked was so unlikely, it paid 11,500 – 1. Given that he had $40 on it, that would pay him about $460,000. Combine that with the roughly $150,000 on the exacta bet, and Friedlander was set to win over $600,000.
“They looked at it and told me they have betting caps on these types of bets,” he explained.
That is because that book is not a pari-mutuel sports book, meaning they are liable for making their own payouts, without sharing revenue from other William Hill locations, so it’s that fine print that cost Friedlander his massive score – as they cap some of their bets.
“They told me that I won $35,000, which is amazing, but it’s a far cry from $600,000 I thought I had won.”
William Hill declined our request for an interview, but did release a statement:
"Because of the requirements of the gaming regulations, there are significant costs involved to offer pari-mutuel wagering in Nevada. Unfortunately, it doesn’t make economic sense to offer pari-mutuel wagering at all of our 115 Nevada locations.
"William Hill has 17 pari-mutuel locations in Nevada. At a number of additional William Hill locations, we offer booked wagering on the five major race days (Kentucky Derby, Preakness Stakes, Belmont Stakes, and Friday/Saturday of Breeders’ Cup) as a convenience to our customers in a manner consistent with the gaming regulations.
"At the locations where we book these select races, we pay official track prices, subject to certain caps that are prominently displayed. Those caps, which limit exacta payout odds to 150/1 and trifecta payout odds to 500/1, generally are consistent or greater to those that have been historically offered by our competitors that book. The capping of booked race payouts has been industry standard for decades and allows race books to book without taking on unlimited liability, which no one would want to do.
"Tamarack Junction, a small casino in Reno, is one of the locations where we have booked the Kentucky Derby for many years. We congratulate our customer at the Tamarack Junction for his winning exacta and trifecta bets.
"The customer has the right to appeal to the Nevada Gaming Control Board but we are confident that we have fully complied with the relevant gaming regulations and had prominent signage alerting customers to the payoff caps."
Friedlander did not yet cash his tickets for the $35,000. He says he’s going to fight the case with Gaming Control Board.
“It's up to the Gaming Control Board. Essentially it's gonna come down to are their signs conspicuous enough or not,” he explained.
According to longtime bookmaker Chris Andrews, he may have a better shot with the control board than you might expect.
“Most people think that gaming sides with the casino, that’s not the case,” said Andrews. “They usually side with the customer.”
Friedlander says he is told he will get a decision in 45 days.
“William Hill is trying to position themselves as America’s sportsbook,” Friedlander stated in closing. “I just hope when other novices go in and try to make bets, they don’t run into this type of problem.”
May 08, 2019
How the 'Las Vegas of Italy' is kicking its slot machine addiction
At the start of this year, Massimo was standing on a bridge “determined to jump off”. The 45-year-old had been struggling with gambling addiction since 2001.
“I started to play slot machines and video poker after the death of my father and ended up spending €5,000 a day,” says the artisan fence-maker, from the city of Pavia in northern Italy. He was soon in debt to loan sharks and ended up stealing to fund his habit, including from his own mother, before considering suicide.
Now Massimo (not his real name) lives in La Casa del Giovane, a unit that houses 100 patients suffering from addictions. Around half of the cases involve gambling – a symptom of an epidemic that has gripped Pavia for more than a decade.
For centuries the city was best known as “Oxford on Ticino”: it hosts one of the country’s most prestigious universities, founded in 1361, and a beautiful medieval castle. Built about 25 miles south of Milan on the ancient Via Francigena pilgrim route running from France to Rome, its historic centre is currently a candidate to become a Unesco world heritage site.
That reputation changed in 2013 when the city was identified as Italy’s “capital of gambling”, with a video or slot gambling machine for every 104 inhabitants. Although Italians never flocked there to gamble – Pavia is no Vegas or Atlantic City – local media nicknamed it “the Italian Las Vegas”.
“We had realised something new was going on in 2004, when a 14-year-old boy brought in his father, who was showing clear signs of gambling addiction,” recalls Simone Feder, a psychologist heading the facility’s addiction programme. “Soon after, a very bourgeois-looking elderly couple asked for our help: the husband had gambled away all their money.” Since then Feder says he has treated patients of all ages and walks of life.
Pavia was shocked to hit the headlines this way, but not everybody simply accepted the news: a small group of residents self-organised into a grassroots movement called SenzaSlot (“without slot machines”) to fight the addiction. Their efforts are finally bearing fruit.
“One day I went into a bar and I could not hear the noise of the spoon with which I was mixing sugar in my coffee because of the noise of coins being inserted into slot machines,” says the group’s Pietro Pace, a computer scientist. “Inside there were people who were burning their entire salary.”
Many residents blame the city’s problems on the shift it has experienced since the 1970s, when its mechanical goods industry hit troubled times and its population fell from a high of around 87,000 (it is currently 72,000). Now the main sources of employment are the hospital and the university, and Pavia has become a dormitory city for Milan, the industrial powerhouse to its north.
“On a cultural level, there’s not much to do,” says Giulia Cavaliere, an editor and writer who has lived in Pavia all her life. “It’s a wealthy city but the mentality here is rather closed. There’s just one movie theatre. The university is the only thing that is keeping the city alive, ensuring a constant flow of young people.”
SenzaSlot says these factors all came together to make Pavia particularly susceptible to gambling addiction. In the mid-2000s, after the national government removed restrictions, gaming machines began to spread through the city’s bars and cafes. Suddenly residents would stumble upon a gambling opportunity every time they bought a cappuccino.
“The city filled with slots and video poker machines,” recalls Ludovica Cassetta, another SenzaSlot activist. “It took a few years, but it was a constant process. We reached the point where bars looked like they were all about gambling, as if regular costumers didn’t matter any more.”
By 2013 Pavia had 647 slot machines and the highest per capita spending on gambling in Italy: €1,600 a year.
SenzaSlot’s first project was a website to map the few bars and cafes in the city that did not have slot machines. It now also provides gambling-free bars with a window sticker to highlight their lack of machines and runs events to inform residents, especially schoolchildren, about the dangers of gambling.
The group offers legal support to cafe owners who want to remove slot machines from their premises – which is not as straightforward as it might sound. Pubs and cafes don’t directly operate the machines, which are owned and managed by separate companies that give bar owners a share of revenues.
Installing a new slot machine is easy, but removing one can be hard: there is the loss of income (around €500 to €750 a month per machine) and the likelihood that the bar will have to pay a penalty (typically around €8,000 per machine) for breaking a contract.
“If you hold a pair of slot machines in your bar, they bring you €1,000 to €1,500 each month, which allows many to pay the rent,” says Riccardo Bernasconi, owner of Sottovento, a slot-free snack bar. He says many bar owners agree to host the machines because the companies that operate them throw in credit card payment systems free of charge. Bernasconi has vowed never to host gaming machines, because most of his customers are students who he feels are too young to understand the dangers.
By contrast, Matteo Tacchinardi, owner of the century-old Bar Italia, has hosted gaming machines for more than a decade. He considered getting rid of them but says he could not afford the penalty. “I would have to pay €8,000 for every machine, and it’s too much for me,” he says. Nevertheless, upset at the sight of his customers “throwing away their money”, he refuses to change bills into coins if he knows they will be used in the machines.
But the SenzaSlot movement has made inroads, and now has the local authorities on its side. The former mayor of Pavia, Massimo Depaoli, introduced restrictions limiting when the machines can operate to eight hours a day – from 10am to 1pm and 6pm to 11pm – in an effort to reduce use by vulnerable groups such as children and older people.
The city council has also introduced a rule forbidding the opening of any new slot machines within 500 metres of a school, church or retirement community. “Unfortunately, we couldn’t touch the existing slot machines because we have to wait until the end of the contract,” says Depaoli, who stepped down last month. “But Pavia is not a very large city, so it is hard to find places that don’t fall in the restricted areas.”
The municipality has barred slot machines from premises it owns, and offered slot-free bars and cafes longer opening hours on public holidays as an incentive to make the shift.
The policies appear to be having an effect. By the end of last year, the number of gambling machines in Pavia had fallen from 642 to 547, with the per capita spend down 25% to €1,200.
The SenzaSlot activists, meanwhile, welcome the latest moves but say the wider fight is not yet won. “True, our city is trying to limit slots,” says Cassetta, “but the fact is there are plenty of towns nearby that don’t have any anti-slot regulations. People can just go there to gamble.”
“I started to play slot machines and video poker after the death of my father and ended up spending €5,000 a day,” says the artisan fence-maker, from the city of Pavia in northern Italy. He was soon in debt to loan sharks and ended up stealing to fund his habit, including from his own mother, before considering suicide.
Now Massimo (not his real name) lives in La Casa del Giovane, a unit that houses 100 patients suffering from addictions. Around half of the cases involve gambling – a symptom of an epidemic that has gripped Pavia for more than a decade.
For centuries the city was best known as “Oxford on Ticino”: it hosts one of the country’s most prestigious universities, founded in 1361, and a beautiful medieval castle. Built about 25 miles south of Milan on the ancient Via Francigena pilgrim route running from France to Rome, its historic centre is currently a candidate to become a Unesco world heritage site.
That reputation changed in 2013 when the city was identified as Italy’s “capital of gambling”, with a video or slot gambling machine for every 104 inhabitants. Although Italians never flocked there to gamble – Pavia is no Vegas or Atlantic City – local media nicknamed it “the Italian Las Vegas”.
“We had realised something new was going on in 2004, when a 14-year-old boy brought in his father, who was showing clear signs of gambling addiction,” recalls Simone Feder, a psychologist heading the facility’s addiction programme. “Soon after, a very bourgeois-looking elderly couple asked for our help: the husband had gambled away all their money.” Since then Feder says he has treated patients of all ages and walks of life.
Pavia was shocked to hit the headlines this way, but not everybody simply accepted the news: a small group of residents self-organised into a grassroots movement called SenzaSlot (“without slot machines”) to fight the addiction. Their efforts are finally bearing fruit.
“One day I went into a bar and I could not hear the noise of the spoon with which I was mixing sugar in my coffee because of the noise of coins being inserted into slot machines,” says the group’s Pietro Pace, a computer scientist. “Inside there were people who were burning their entire salary.”
Many residents blame the city’s problems on the shift it has experienced since the 1970s, when its mechanical goods industry hit troubled times and its population fell from a high of around 87,000 (it is currently 72,000). Now the main sources of employment are the hospital and the university, and Pavia has become a dormitory city for Milan, the industrial powerhouse to its north.
“On a cultural level, there’s not much to do,” says Giulia Cavaliere, an editor and writer who has lived in Pavia all her life. “It’s a wealthy city but the mentality here is rather closed. There’s just one movie theatre. The university is the only thing that is keeping the city alive, ensuring a constant flow of young people.”
SenzaSlot says these factors all came together to make Pavia particularly susceptible to gambling addiction. In the mid-2000s, after the national government removed restrictions, gaming machines began to spread through the city’s bars and cafes. Suddenly residents would stumble upon a gambling opportunity every time they bought a cappuccino.
“The city filled with slots and video poker machines,” recalls Ludovica Cassetta, another SenzaSlot activist. “It took a few years, but it was a constant process. We reached the point where bars looked like they were all about gambling, as if regular costumers didn’t matter any more.”
By 2013 Pavia had 647 slot machines and the highest per capita spending on gambling in Italy: €1,600 a year.
SenzaSlot’s first project was a website to map the few bars and cafes in the city that did not have slot machines. It now also provides gambling-free bars with a window sticker to highlight their lack of machines and runs events to inform residents, especially schoolchildren, about the dangers of gambling.
The group offers legal support to cafe owners who want to remove slot machines from their premises – which is not as straightforward as it might sound. Pubs and cafes don’t directly operate the machines, which are owned and managed by separate companies that give bar owners a share of revenues.
Installing a new slot machine is easy, but removing one can be hard: there is the loss of income (around €500 to €750 a month per machine) and the likelihood that the bar will have to pay a penalty (typically around €8,000 per machine) for breaking a contract.
“If you hold a pair of slot machines in your bar, they bring you €1,000 to €1,500 each month, which allows many to pay the rent,” says Riccardo Bernasconi, owner of Sottovento, a slot-free snack bar. He says many bar owners agree to host the machines because the companies that operate them throw in credit card payment systems free of charge. Bernasconi has vowed never to host gaming machines, because most of his customers are students who he feels are too young to understand the dangers.
By contrast, Matteo Tacchinardi, owner of the century-old Bar Italia, has hosted gaming machines for more than a decade. He considered getting rid of them but says he could not afford the penalty. “I would have to pay €8,000 for every machine, and it’s too much for me,” he says. Nevertheless, upset at the sight of his customers “throwing away their money”, he refuses to change bills into coins if he knows they will be used in the machines.
But the SenzaSlot movement has made inroads, and now has the local authorities on its side. The former mayor of Pavia, Massimo Depaoli, introduced restrictions limiting when the machines can operate to eight hours a day – from 10am to 1pm and 6pm to 11pm – in an effort to reduce use by vulnerable groups such as children and older people.
The city council has also introduced a rule forbidding the opening of any new slot machines within 500 metres of a school, church or retirement community. “Unfortunately, we couldn’t touch the existing slot machines because we have to wait until the end of the contract,” says Depaoli, who stepped down last month. “But Pavia is not a very large city, so it is hard to find places that don’t fall in the restricted areas.”
The municipality has barred slot machines from premises it owns, and offered slot-free bars and cafes longer opening hours on public holidays as an incentive to make the shift.
The policies appear to be having an effect. By the end of last year, the number of gambling machines in Pavia had fallen from 642 to 547, with the per capita spend down 25% to €1,200.
The SenzaSlot activists, meanwhile, welcome the latest moves but say the wider fight is not yet won. “True, our city is trying to limit slots,” says Cassetta, “but the fact is there are plenty of towns nearby that don’t have any anti-slot regulations. People can just go there to gamble.”
April 25, 2019
Potential pitfall in new betting age verification
Strict new regulations to ensure that bookmakers verify the age of their customers to prevent underage gambling are due to be introduced on 7 May, which most punters would probably agree is a good idea and quite possibly long overdue.
However, a William Hill customer who has had an account with the firm for nearly 20 years – and so is most definitely not underage – has been in touch to highlight a potential pitfall in the new rules, which could ensnare a substantial number of punters.
On Wednesday morning, he received an email from Hills to say that his account had been frozen until he can prove that he is at least 18 years old. He cannot withdraw the funds in the account, or close it before the new rules come into force next month, but he is also unable to comply with the new regulations because Hills will accept only a passport or a driver’s licence as proof of age, and he has neither.
A recent estimate is that 24% of UK residents – about 13 million – do not have a passport, while about 10 million do not have either a full or provisional driver’s licence. While it is hard to know how many fall into both categories, the crossover is likely to be significant.
The UK, of course, does not have a mandatory ID card and if William Hill’s insistence that only a passport or driver’s licence is acceptable as proof of age is mirrored across the gambling industry, which could well be the case, the punter is unlikely to be the only long-standing customer locked out of their account on 7 May.
“The new legislation does not take effect until 7 May,” he said via email, “and no prior warning was given by Hills that my account would be frozen until receiving an email after my account was suspended.”
He adds that phone calls and “live chat” with customer services on the Hills website proved “unproductive”, and that his understanding from the Gambling Commission is that a data set that includes date of birth, address and nearly 20 years of bank details should be sufficient to comply with the new rules.
Hills have been asked to comment and hopefully a response, and perhaps some form of resolution, will be provided in due course.
However, a William Hill customer who has had an account with the firm for nearly 20 years – and so is most definitely not underage – has been in touch to highlight a potential pitfall in the new rules, which could ensnare a substantial number of punters.
On Wednesday morning, he received an email from Hills to say that his account had been frozen until he can prove that he is at least 18 years old. He cannot withdraw the funds in the account, or close it before the new rules come into force next month, but he is also unable to comply with the new regulations because Hills will accept only a passport or a driver’s licence as proof of age, and he has neither.
A recent estimate is that 24% of UK residents – about 13 million – do not have a passport, while about 10 million do not have either a full or provisional driver’s licence. While it is hard to know how many fall into both categories, the crossover is likely to be significant.
The UK, of course, does not have a mandatory ID card and if William Hill’s insistence that only a passport or driver’s licence is acceptable as proof of age is mirrored across the gambling industry, which could well be the case, the punter is unlikely to be the only long-standing customer locked out of their account on 7 May.
“The new legislation does not take effect until 7 May,” he said via email, “and no prior warning was given by Hills that my account would be frozen until receiving an email after my account was suspended.”
He adds that phone calls and “live chat” with customer services on the Hills website proved “unproductive”, and that his understanding from the Gambling Commission is that a data set that includes date of birth, address and nearly 20 years of bank details should be sufficient to comply with the new rules.
Hills have been asked to comment and hopefully a response, and perhaps some form of resolution, will be provided in due course.
March 21, 2019
Growing match-fixing probe in tennis snares more players
French police have questioned another batch of tennis players in a growing investigation into a match-fixing syndicate suspected of paying out hundreds of thousands of dollars to fix low-level matches, judicial officials said Thursday.
Seven French players were taken into custody this week and later released, taking the total number questioned in France so far to 17, the officials said. An initial batch of four players was first questioned in January . The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they aren't authorized to publicly discuss the investigation.
The probe is being led by authorities in Belgium, where the syndicate's suspected ringleader, an Armenian, is based. Belgian authorities say Grigor Sargsyan remains in custody in his home, monitored with an electronic bracelet.
Investigators say corrupted players bought off by the fixers knew Sargsyan as "Maestro". The massive scheme, organized via encrypted messaging and involving dozens of low-ranked players in small tournaments with little prize money, is believed to have spread tentacles to more than a half-dozen countries, including the United States. Belgian authorities say they've requested assistance from the FBI, as well as counterparts in Egypt, Slovakia, Bulgaria, the Netherlands and Germany.
This week's additional detentions were first reported Thursday by French sports daily L'Equipe. Officials didn't identify the players.
A Belgian investigator said five of the French players questioned so far have admitted to taking money from the syndicate to fix matches, and that one player believed to have fixed about two dozen matches confessed to police that he pocketed 30,000 euros ($ 34,000).
The probe has grown far bigger than Belgian authorities initially expected when they first swept up Sargsyan and others in a wave of arrests in June. He faces organized crime, match-fixing, money laundering and forgery charges.
The number of players suspected of involvement continues to grow. Belgian investigators, who have been pouring through phone records and other evidence, believe they have now identified 137 players suspected of fixing or attempted fixing. The syndicate allegedly paid 500 to 3,000 euros ($570 to $3,400) for fixed matches, sets or games. Police say the syndicate employed mules, people hired for a few dollars to place bets on fixed matches that were small enough to slip under the radar of gambling watchdogs.
The Belgian investigator said evidence collected so far suggests the syndicate knew other match-fixers in Spain but they weren't working together. Another investigator said several players who took money from the syndicate told the French police during questioning that they did so because prize monies at low-level tournaments are too small to pay their expenses.
Players told the police that they often saw the so-called Maestro at such tournaments, working to recruit other accomplices, and they described him as friendly and non-threatening, the investigator said.
So far, France has the biggest number of players questioned in the probe. The first four were named by investigators as Jules Okala, 21; Mick Lescure, 25; Yannick Thivant, 32; and Jerome Inzerillo, 29. None operated in the highest spheres of tennis. The career-best singles ranking of any of them was 354, reached by Inzerillo in 2012.
L'Equipe said it interviewed Inzerillo, accompanied by his lawyer, this week and that he told the newspaper that he had never been approached to fix a match.
Seven French players were taken into custody this week and later released, taking the total number questioned in France so far to 17, the officials said. An initial batch of four players was first questioned in January . The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they aren't authorized to publicly discuss the investigation.
The probe is being led by authorities in Belgium, where the syndicate's suspected ringleader, an Armenian, is based. Belgian authorities say Grigor Sargsyan remains in custody in his home, monitored with an electronic bracelet.
Investigators say corrupted players bought off by the fixers knew Sargsyan as "Maestro". The massive scheme, organized via encrypted messaging and involving dozens of low-ranked players in small tournaments with little prize money, is believed to have spread tentacles to more than a half-dozen countries, including the United States. Belgian authorities say they've requested assistance from the FBI, as well as counterparts in Egypt, Slovakia, Bulgaria, the Netherlands and Germany.
This week's additional detentions were first reported Thursday by French sports daily L'Equipe. Officials didn't identify the players.
A Belgian investigator said five of the French players questioned so far have admitted to taking money from the syndicate to fix matches, and that one player believed to have fixed about two dozen matches confessed to police that he pocketed 30,000 euros ($ 34,000).
The probe has grown far bigger than Belgian authorities initially expected when they first swept up Sargsyan and others in a wave of arrests in June. He faces organized crime, match-fixing, money laundering and forgery charges.
The number of players suspected of involvement continues to grow. Belgian investigators, who have been pouring through phone records and other evidence, believe they have now identified 137 players suspected of fixing or attempted fixing. The syndicate allegedly paid 500 to 3,000 euros ($570 to $3,400) for fixed matches, sets or games. Police say the syndicate employed mules, people hired for a few dollars to place bets on fixed matches that were small enough to slip under the radar of gambling watchdogs.
The Belgian investigator said evidence collected so far suggests the syndicate knew other match-fixers in Spain but they weren't working together. Another investigator said several players who took money from the syndicate told the French police during questioning that they did so because prize monies at low-level tournaments are too small to pay their expenses.
Players told the police that they often saw the so-called Maestro at such tournaments, working to recruit other accomplices, and they described him as friendly and non-threatening, the investigator said.
So far, France has the biggest number of players questioned in the probe. The first four were named by investigators as Jules Okala, 21; Mick Lescure, 25; Yannick Thivant, 32; and Jerome Inzerillo, 29. None operated in the highest spheres of tennis. The career-best singles ranking of any of them was 354, reached by Inzerillo in 2012.
L'Equipe said it interviewed Inzerillo, accompanied by his lawyer, this week and that he told the newspaper that he had never been approached to fix a match.
March 14, 2019
Former Arsenal star Paul Merson: My life's fallen apart
Former Arsenal and Aston Villa star Paul Merson admits he's suffered a gambling addiction relapse.
In a new ITV documentary set to air next week on, the father-of-three reveals he has once again been gripped by gambling.
Speaking to producers of the show, Merson breaks down and says he is "struggling badly" with life.
He adds: "Life's fallen apart - gambling...I've just completely lost control, I've completely, again. I'm digging a hole - I can't get out of it.
"It's the worst addiction in the world."
He added: "It's so tiring it's unbelievable.
"Mentally draining, just sitting there, thinking where am I going to get more money to do this? It's like...it's literally like a crack addict. It is like a crack addict.
"Exactly like that.
"But, with crack, you couldn't spend that kind of money on crack, it's impossible. Impossible."
In a new ITV documentary set to air next week on, the father-of-three reveals he has once again been gripped by gambling.
Speaking to producers of the show, Merson breaks down and says he is "struggling badly" with life.
He adds: "Life's fallen apart - gambling...I've just completely lost control, I've completely, again. I'm digging a hole - I can't get out of it.
"It's the worst addiction in the world."
He added: "It's so tiring it's unbelievable.
"Mentally draining, just sitting there, thinking where am I going to get more money to do this? It's like...it's literally like a crack addict. It is like a crack addict.
"Exactly like that.
"But, with crack, you couldn't spend that kind of money on crack, it's impossible. Impossible."
February 21, 2019
Is it true that Indian government is planning to legalise online gambling?
Rumours are abuzz about Indian government’s plans to regulate online gambling in the country. Overall, gambling is prohibited in India, apart from a few jurisdictions. However, there have been recent staccato calls for legalisation of online gambling. In fact, there exists a few companies who make use of the grey area in the legality of online gambling in the country and offer their services in a surrogate manner.
The recent rumours find their origin in a 150-page long report addressed to the government from the Law Commission of India (LCI). In this report, the LCI recommends the legalisation of online gambling in a regulated manner because it observes that the government cannot practically prevent people from accessing online betting sites. The current law has no provision for this.
The LCI also points to the immense potential for tax revenue that the federal government could benefit from, should it choose to regulate online gambling. In recent statements, the Indian government have said that they are looking into the reports from the LCI with maximum interest.
Despite all this, the rumours are unlikely to be true in the immediate future. The current central government is nearing the end of its five-year term. The general elections will be held in May later this year. The government, which is facing a tough battle for a second term, may not risk doing anything unconventional or what can be dubbed as politically incorrect at this juncture.
The recent rumours find their origin in a 150-page long report addressed to the government from the Law Commission of India (LCI). In this report, the LCI recommends the legalisation of online gambling in a regulated manner because it observes that the government cannot practically prevent people from accessing online betting sites. The current law has no provision for this.
The LCI also points to the immense potential for tax revenue that the federal government could benefit from, should it choose to regulate online gambling. In recent statements, the Indian government have said that they are looking into the reports from the LCI with maximum interest.
Despite all this, the rumours are unlikely to be true in the immediate future. The current central government is nearing the end of its five-year term. The general elections will be held in May later this year. The government, which is facing a tough battle for a second term, may not risk doing anything unconventional or what can be dubbed as politically incorrect at this juncture.
February 05, 2019
Kambi signs deal to relaunch Mybet sportsbook in Germany
Kambi signs deal to relaunch Mybet sportsbook in Germany Kambi has today signed a deal to power the relaunch of Mybet, one of Germany’s most recognisable sports betting brands now under new ownership.
Due to the recent insolvency of its previous owner, MyBet Holding SE, Mybet was withdrawn from the market in the fall of 2018 following 15 years of operation, however, the mybet brand and digital assets have since been purchased by a new investment group.
Under the terms of today’s multi-year agreement, Kambi will provide Rhinoceros Operations Ltd, the new operator of mybet, with its complete Sportsbook and full range of managed services, enabling the company to relaunch the brand into the growing German online market.
The Mybet relaunch is scheduled to take place during H1 2019, while the contract also provides a provision for Rhinoceros Operations to launch a Kambi Sportsbook with other brands under its ownership.
Kristian Nylén, Kambi Chief Executive Officer, said: “The story of Mybet illustrates why operators cannot afford to rely purely on the strength of their brand and history in a market. Online sports bettors are increasingly promiscuous so operators must ensure they have sufficient scale in their product investments to provide exciting sports betting experiences at all times to remain competitive. Partnering with a high-quality supplier such as Kambi solves that challenge.
“We are excited by the potential of Mybet. The brand remains strong and, with the quality the Kambi Sportsbook offers, we believe Mybet can once again become a leading player in the German market and elsewhere.”
Tobias Carlsson, CEO of the Rhinoceros Group, said: “Our agreement with Kambi is one of the cornerstones on which we will build the future of a great brand. Mybet was one of the pioneers in the German sports betting field, and together with Kambi and our other partners we will do everything in our power to revive that legacy and bring players the experience they desire and deserve.”
Due to the recent insolvency of its previous owner, MyBet Holding SE, Mybet was withdrawn from the market in the fall of 2018 following 15 years of operation, however, the mybet brand and digital assets have since been purchased by a new investment group.
Under the terms of today’s multi-year agreement, Kambi will provide Rhinoceros Operations Ltd, the new operator of mybet, with its complete Sportsbook and full range of managed services, enabling the company to relaunch the brand into the growing German online market.
The Mybet relaunch is scheduled to take place during H1 2019, while the contract also provides a provision for Rhinoceros Operations to launch a Kambi Sportsbook with other brands under its ownership.
Kristian Nylén, Kambi Chief Executive Officer, said: “The story of Mybet illustrates why operators cannot afford to rely purely on the strength of their brand and history in a market. Online sports bettors are increasingly promiscuous so operators must ensure they have sufficient scale in their product investments to provide exciting sports betting experiences at all times to remain competitive. Partnering with a high-quality supplier such as Kambi solves that challenge.
“We are excited by the potential of Mybet. The brand remains strong and, with the quality the Kambi Sportsbook offers, we believe Mybet can once again become a leading player in the German market and elsewhere.”
Tobias Carlsson, CEO of the Rhinoceros Group, said: “Our agreement with Kambi is one of the cornerstones on which we will build the future of a great brand. Mybet was one of the pioneers in the German sports betting field, and together with Kambi and our other partners we will do everything in our power to revive that legacy and bring players the experience they desire and deserve.”
February 01, 2019
Arrest warrants out for 394 in largest online illegal betting raid in modern Turkey's history
Arrest warrants were issued for 394 people Friday in mass simultaneous operations carried out by Turkish police across the country against online betting and gambling sites operating illegally.
The Cybercrime Division Branch of the Istanbul Security Directorate launched the raids in 40 provinces to capture 394 suspects, 207 of which were in Istanbul, for violating the law on online gambling and gaming regulations. Some 5,000 police officers are taking part in the raids.
So far, cybercrime units have seized 42 million Turkish liras in cash, in addition to $94,000 and 133,000 euros. Police have said the sites generated somewhere around TL 3.5 billion. The operations against gambling rings and illegal betting outfits are still continuing.
Investigations found that 72 front companies were established in the cosmetics, logistics and food sectors to hide their betting activities relating to football matches and other sports events. As part of the probes, financial analyses were conducted on 849 people and 4,345 bank accounts affiliated with the suspects and companies. The total money traffic was found out to be TL 2.145 billion, $12.120 million, 9.366 million euros, 7 million Russian rubles and TL 1.8 million worth of gold, in addition to smaller amounts of British pounds, Swiss francs and Canadian dollars.
Police units also informed local authorities that administrative fines ranging from TL 8,500 to TL 35,000 will be issued for 455 gamblers.
Turkey struggles to crack down on illegal betting as a country where football is the nation's favorite sport and a way of earning income for gambling addicts. The country implemented a law last year to facilitate the seizure of revenues for illegal betting organizers, but the gangs managed to circumvent the strict monitoring of bank accounts. Authorities say they stepped up cooperation with banks to detect accounts used by gangs and betting.
The Cybercrime Division Branch of the Istanbul Security Directorate launched the raids in 40 provinces to capture 394 suspects, 207 of which were in Istanbul, for violating the law on online gambling and gaming regulations. Some 5,000 police officers are taking part in the raids.
So far, cybercrime units have seized 42 million Turkish liras in cash, in addition to $94,000 and 133,000 euros. Police have said the sites generated somewhere around TL 3.5 billion. The operations against gambling rings and illegal betting outfits are still continuing.
Investigations found that 72 front companies were established in the cosmetics, logistics and food sectors to hide their betting activities relating to football matches and other sports events. As part of the probes, financial analyses were conducted on 849 people and 4,345 bank accounts affiliated with the suspects and companies. The total money traffic was found out to be TL 2.145 billion, $12.120 million, 9.366 million euros, 7 million Russian rubles and TL 1.8 million worth of gold, in addition to smaller amounts of British pounds, Swiss francs and Canadian dollars.
Police units also informed local authorities that administrative fines ranging from TL 8,500 to TL 35,000 will be issued for 455 gamblers.
Turkey struggles to crack down on illegal betting as a country where football is the nation's favorite sport and a way of earning income for gambling addicts. The country implemented a law last year to facilitate the seizure of revenues for illegal betting organizers, but the gangs managed to circumvent the strict monitoring of bank accounts. Authorities say they stepped up cooperation with banks to detect accounts used by gangs and betting.
January 23, 2019
British bookies go from favourites to American outsiders
What starts in the US, the cliche goes, inevitably ends up in the UK (burger restaurants, assaulting fellow shoppers on Black Friday and syphilis are favourite examples). But the Americans are not always so keen to embrace our exports.
There are, of course, examples of Brits and our brands smashing it in the US: the broadcaster Alistair Cooke, the Beatles and (so the company’s advertising slogan told us) the industrial conglomerate Hanson, which liked to brag how it was “a company from over here that’s doing rather well over there”. But those occasional triumphs are offset with a long list of wonderful-sounding sales pitches that never quite seemed to deliver much – apart from swingeing losses.
Which brings us to the UK gambling industry, a trade that has been talking about cracking America for a period seemingly longer than Cooke’s whole career.
Apart from the odd arrest of British business folk, very little ever came of these ambitious plans. But then, last May, everything appeared to change. The value of London-listed gambling firms – including 888, Paddy Power Betfair and William Hill – collectively surged by more than £1.5bn after the US supreme court struck down a nationwide ban on sports betting that had stood for 26 years. The Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act of 1992 (Paspa) – which effectively outlawed sports betting in the US with the exception of a few states – was suddenly unconstitutional.
Gambling execs rejoiced. Cigars were lit; deals were unveiled; and share prices went briskly, er, down.
In a note by analysts at Canaccord earlier this month, as the stockbroker studied the gambling sector in a reporting season, the number-crunchers observed: “The UK sector is trading on close to a four-year valuation low, and there is a lot of bad news baked into the price.”
There are all sorts of factors playing into that, of course. There are the inevitable tax rises and regulatory changes that the industry has to contend with in Europe: but not everything is going perfectly with the American dream, either.
There, what bookies might have gained on the Paspa swings they are now fretting about losing on the Wire Act roundabout.
Earlier this month the US Department of Justice performed a U-turn by ruling that the Wire Act – which it had previously said outlawed only cross-state wire communications for sports betting – also contains “prohibitions [that] sweep beyond sports gambling”.
Heads were scratched, share prices retreated and consolidation plans were given even more of a hearing than usual.
In a note in advance of a trading statement from William Hill last week, analysts at the investment bank Berenberg said that the bookie was “now ripe to be a takeover target”, after its share price almost halved over the past year.
Hill’s has been at the forefront of efforts in the US, too, so taking a punt on the company means betting heavily that a liberalising US market will compensate for the lost revenues in its established jurisdictions, where fixed-odds betting terminals have been gelded and the bookies fear more regulation to prevent addiction.
Cooke, of course, once filed a dispatch about this. In a 2001 Letter from America, he reported: “Heartening news this week that a drug has appeared experimentally which promises, one day, to cure even compulsive gamblers.”
That day has yet to arrive. There’s a parallel in there somewhere.
There are, of course, examples of Brits and our brands smashing it in the US: the broadcaster Alistair Cooke, the Beatles and (so the company’s advertising slogan told us) the industrial conglomerate Hanson, which liked to brag how it was “a company from over here that’s doing rather well over there”. But those occasional triumphs are offset with a long list of wonderful-sounding sales pitches that never quite seemed to deliver much – apart from swingeing losses.
Which brings us to the UK gambling industry, a trade that has been talking about cracking America for a period seemingly longer than Cooke’s whole career.
Apart from the odd arrest of British business folk, very little ever came of these ambitious plans. But then, last May, everything appeared to change. The value of London-listed gambling firms – including 888, Paddy Power Betfair and William Hill – collectively surged by more than £1.5bn after the US supreme court struck down a nationwide ban on sports betting that had stood for 26 years. The Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act of 1992 (Paspa) – which effectively outlawed sports betting in the US with the exception of a few states – was suddenly unconstitutional.
Gambling execs rejoiced. Cigars were lit; deals were unveiled; and share prices went briskly, er, down.
In a note by analysts at Canaccord earlier this month, as the stockbroker studied the gambling sector in a reporting season, the number-crunchers observed: “The UK sector is trading on close to a four-year valuation low, and there is a lot of bad news baked into the price.”
There are all sorts of factors playing into that, of course. There are the inevitable tax rises and regulatory changes that the industry has to contend with in Europe: but not everything is going perfectly with the American dream, either.
There, what bookies might have gained on the Paspa swings they are now fretting about losing on the Wire Act roundabout.
Earlier this month the US Department of Justice performed a U-turn by ruling that the Wire Act – which it had previously said outlawed only cross-state wire communications for sports betting – also contains “prohibitions [that] sweep beyond sports gambling”.
Heads were scratched, share prices retreated and consolidation plans were given even more of a hearing than usual.
In a note in advance of a trading statement from William Hill last week, analysts at the investment bank Berenberg said that the bookie was “now ripe to be a takeover target”, after its share price almost halved over the past year.
Hill’s has been at the forefront of efforts in the US, too, so taking a punt on the company means betting heavily that a liberalising US market will compensate for the lost revenues in its established jurisdictions, where fixed-odds betting terminals have been gelded and the bookies fear more regulation to prevent addiction.
Cooke, of course, once filed a dispatch about this. In a 2001 Letter from America, he reported: “Heartening news this week that a drug has appeared experimentally which promises, one day, to cure even compulsive gamblers.”
That day has yet to arrive. There’s a parallel in there somewhere.
January 11, 2019
Italy sees rise in sports betting revenue in 2018
Italy’s sports betting market witnessed a 10.5 per cent growth in revenue in 2018 compared to that of 2017.
The regulatory body of Italy, Agenzia delle Dogane e dei Monopoli (ADM), released the results, reporting that the industry generated €1.4 billion in 2018.
ADM also reports that betting turnover for last year reached the €10.9 billion mark, approximately €1 billion higher than 2017. The land-based sector also increased its revenue by 7 per cent in 2018 to €840 million.
While online betting registered a 16 per cent increase over 2017 to €643 million, it is a shy growth when compared to 2017’s total increase figure of 44.5 per cent, and in a year that did not have major sports tournaments such as the FIFA World Cup.
December’s results did not help the full number for 2018, as sports revenue decreased 55 per cent year-on-year to €96.4 million. Both the land-based and online verticals experienced a decline, the latter to €47 million or a 43 per cent decrease.
The regulatory body of Italy, Agenzia delle Dogane e dei Monopoli (ADM), released the results, reporting that the industry generated €1.4 billion in 2018.
ADM also reports that betting turnover for last year reached the €10.9 billion mark, approximately €1 billion higher than 2017. The land-based sector also increased its revenue by 7 per cent in 2018 to €840 million.
While online betting registered a 16 per cent increase over 2017 to €643 million, it is a shy growth when compared to 2017’s total increase figure of 44.5 per cent, and in a year that did not have major sports tournaments such as the FIFA World Cup.
December’s results did not help the full number for 2018, as sports revenue decreased 55 per cent year-on-year to €96.4 million. Both the land-based and online verticals experienced a decline, the latter to €47 million or a 43 per cent decrease.
January 07, 2019
Inside the secret fight against match-fixing in football
An African referee is identified as vulnerable to corruption. He’s persuaded to ensure that a World Cup qualifier has at least three goals. With half-time approaching, it’s still 0-0 and the official gets twitchy. A cross hits a defender on the knee. He awards a penalty for handball. Despite uproarious protests, the spot-kick is converted. The game ends 2-1.
A European club win the first leg of a Champions League match by a large margin. With their progress assured, it’s arranged for them to concede late in the second fixture. With three minutes left, their defence switches off. A ball is punted upfield and a forward heads it goalward. The goalkeeper barely attempts a save.
Fixers arrange for a group of English sixth-tier players to join a club on the other side of the world. Unquestioningly accepted by the new employers, a previously solid side suddenly start losing, and heavily. A young goalkeeper in central Europe is befriended by a rich man. He gets him into clubs, gets him girls and treats him like a rock star. A family debt is soon paid off. Later, he asks him to concede a goal in a friendly game. Who would that harm? This is then used as leverage against him to commit more significant on-field fraud.
There are numerous ways to fix a match. Some are simple, others are sophisticated and barely believable. But when the true beauty of sport is its unpredictability, how on earth is it possible to prove if odd behaviour is down to human error or something a lot more sinister? How can all the above scenarios get busted? Just follow the money.
You’ve probably never heard of Sportradar, and despite the company kindly agreeing to a feature in FourFourTwo, it’s quite happy that way. We’ve stopped by its London offices – it has 34 worldwide, with 1,900 employees – under the condition that we don’t disclose the location, or use any real names.
If this seems like the paranoia of a counter-intelligence unit, that’s because it is. As the world’s foremost experts in betting-related fraud and sports corruption, Sportradar is not mucking around. The people they’re battling against include many international mafias, who often see gambling as a good way to launder money. Death threats were issued to UEFA inspectors in February after the exposure of Albanian outfit Skenderbeu’s involvement in fixing, and a member of the Nepal side appeared to threaten Sportradar’s team after players were put on trial for throwing a match.
Some of the figures involved in the worldwide gambling industry are gobsmacking: an estimated €1.5 trillion a year, with a game like the Champions League final attracting around €1 billion in bets (with 70% of this punting going on in Asia, much of it being unregulated, such figures can never be exact).
As our Sportradar spokesman Ian (not his real name) explains to us: “People don’t realise how big the international market is, and there’s no real way of knowing how big exactly. But it’s a crap-ton of money.”
So how do you go about monitoring such an unwieldy beast? Data, data and more data. Sportradar was started in 2001 by Carsten Koerl (his real name), a German entrepreneur who helped to establish online betting company Bwin.
Koerl recognised that internet gambling would produce a plethora of new bookmakers, but that many would lack the expertise to set odds accurately. A reputable service provider would be needed, and this was Betradar – the part of Sportradar that sells industry-leading information to turf accountants worldwide.
The ‘integrity services’ part arrived in 2005 as a by-product. “Whatever you need to operate a bookie, we can deliver,” says Ian. “But as part of our relationship with the betting industry, we get their information back. It soon became clear that by using this, we can see when bookmakers move away from the rest of the market. It always happens for a reason.”
What many casual punters might not realise is that while odds partly reflect how likely something is to happen, they also reflect bookmakers balancing risk. So if a big amount of money comes in on Crewe to beat Exeter, operators may compensate by offering more attractive odds on Exeter to beat Crewe, to cover potential losses. By the same reasoning, if a fixing group are betting big on a late goal being scored with a certain operator, that bookie will alter its odds to reflect this.
“If one bookmaker is getting a lot of money on something that nobody else is, there can be many innocent reasons,” says Ian. “Maybe they’ve got some injury information earlier than everyone else or they’ve got an excellent analyst – or maybe the bookie’s got it wrong that day, so they realise their mistake and adjust.”
But if one of the 550-plus online gambling companies that Sportradar work with suddenly offers prices that deviate wildly, it can be a smoking gun for match-fixing. “If a lot of people bet on something with unnatural confidence, it could be because someone’s engineered the result.”
The company therefore developed the Fraud Detection System (FDS) – an algorithm that scans 280,000 competitive fixtures annually across 17 sports looking for anomalies. “The algorithms don’t ask questions, they create alerts,” says Ian. “So we need a second stage, called qualitative analysis. This is our team of more than 100 experts. They work 24/7. As soon as an alert pops up, they have 72 hours to determine whether it is a legitimate or suspicious betting pattern.”
The number crunchers carry out their research, chatting to a network of bookmakers and journalists if required. “Maybe our person out there on the ground knows that it was the captain’s birthday so everyone got drunk,” says Ian. “We look at all options. You can’t just say: ‘This is fixing’. You’d be destroying reputations. We’re not a machine gun, we’re a sniper rifle. When we shoot, we get it right. We always start with the betting patterns, but it takes more than that to be credible.”
Sportradar only escalates an incident when it is 100% sure of foul play. To date, this has included 3,800 sports fixtures. The figure has climbed from 146 in 2009 to 650 last year.
This rise reflects more games being surveyed rather than an increase in criminality: Ian estimates that 0.5% to 1% of the matches they monitor are affected. As a result, Sportradar reports have been used in 36 criminal convictions and 251 sporting sanctions (suspensions, bans and fines) to date, with more on the docket.
Sportradar’s experience has provided a unique insight into how fixing works. “It’s not generally some guy bowling up and saying, ‘Here’s 50k, please lose 5-0’,” adds Ian. “Fixers usually groom players and officials. They take time, do them favours and entertain them. Then they’ll call in the favours. And once you do something for them they say: ‘You’ve just fixed a match for me, now you’re my bitch’. Prostitutes or drugs can be used as leverage, while older players are sometimes used to influence and recruit younger ones.”
Often at the core of these shady dealings are large criminal groups. “The Balkan, Italian and Asian mafia are involved,” explains Ian. “The owners of clubs can also be criminals. They tell players: ‘Unfortunately you’re going to lose today’. In some places, players don’t ask questions if they value their kneecaps.”
Fixers can even arrange fixtures. Notorious Singaporean super-fixer Wilson Raj Perumal organised numerous friendlies, for which he would pick the referee. “There’s a preponderance of rigged friendlies, because there’s nothing on the line and participants are more willing to agree,” says Ian. Referees are a common target. “They control the result pretty closely, especially if the fixers are betting on total goals. You don’t care who scores them, you just care that there are three or four. So you dish out some penalties.”
This proved the undoing of Ghana’s Joseph Lamptey, who was caught trying to influence goals scored in a World Cup qualifier between South Africa and Senegal last year. His decision to blow for a penalty after the ball hit Senegal defender Kalidou Koulibaly on the knee was ridiculous, but it’s the kind of blunder referees often make. It was the algorithm that caught him. FIFA – a Sportradar partner – decided to replay a World Cup qualifier due to fixing for the first time, and Lamptey was banned for life.
Perumal’s syndicate was involved in the 2013 Southern Stars scandal. Four players and a coach from the Melbourne club were convicted, along with a Malaysian fixer. English players were involved in play so obviously suspect that their opponents regularly questioned what was happening.
“I was panicking, getting a call when we were losing 2-0 and the boss saying this better f**king happen,” defender Reiss Noel told police about one game. “I felt threatened as we weren’t getting the goals required.” Sportradar’s algorithm had again alerted the authorities, and Noel and a team-mate, goalkeeper Joe Woolley, were banned for life by FIFA after admitting helping to fix matches.
“These guys weren’t exactly brain surgeons,” says Ian. “Police were at the game, and you’ve got a fixer on the phone actually speaking to one player, and him then saying to the goalkeeper: ‘We need to let another in’. Sometimes the footage you watch of keepers jumping the wrong way is almost comical.”
However, there’s also a degree of cat-and-mouse between Sportradar and criminals that wouldn’t look out of place in The Wire. “A few years ago someone realised you don’t even need to manipulate a performance to fix a match – you can just manipulate the concept of a performance,” explains Ian. This led to the extraordinary phenomenon of ‘ghost games’, in which entire matches were faked.
“In order for bookmakers to cover football, they simply need data on what is happening. So it was created from nothing – they sent through details about imaginary goals being scored after they had bet on them.”
Among the games that never kicked off included Maldives Under-21s against Turkmenistan Under-21s from 2012, and Portugal’s Freamunde against Spain’s Ponferradina in 2014. “People innovate – it’s like doping,” says Ian. “We’ve also had some fixers trying not to disrupt the odds by spreading a bet across lots of bookies. But our system now aggregates, so we can catch those spikes, too.”
Sportradar can’t take down the mafia, but it's working with people who can. After the Southern Stars scandal was exposed in conjunction with Australian police forces, more law enforcement agencies got involved: Europol are partners and Interpol are close collaborators.
“The floodgates opened, because forces realised that our system isn’t witchcraft,” says Ian. Sportradar now helps to educate police worldwide, free of charge. It has even developed the system to the point where it identified a way to single out specific individual bets that disrupt odds, so law enforcers can follow up those accounts.
A number of countries are also setting up national platforms to fight the problem and share their resources, with Sportradar offering crucial insight once again. Making major arrests will always be complicated, though. The evidence required for criminal convictions (‘beyond reasonable doubt’) is greater than that needed for sporting sanctions (‘to comfortable satisfaction’).
“Sports organisations can ban people but they can’t put them in prison,” says Ian. “Our FDS is good at pinpointing who’s executing a fix, but the problem is they’re footsoldiers – a 17-year-old kid who made a mistake and can’t get out of the web he’s in. We want the puppetmasters.”
As a result, Sportradar now has a specialist group, set up by a former British military counter-intelligence operative, attempting to join the dots in these international crimes. The more information they share, the more criminal cases they can get across the line. This means careful vetting of who works for Sportradar, too.
“We need to check the background of employees,” says Ian. “We need to be wary if someone seems lenient. None of our analysts are allowed to bet, and our level of encryption is extremely high. All our servers are in-house, we have no information on the cloud and we’re quiet on social media. We know we’re causing a headache for people who could make a lot of money, so we might be targeted.”
The big question many football supporters might want to ask, alas, remains unanswered. How much match-fixing takes place in - for example - the Premier League?
“Worth a try,” laughs Ian. “Sadly, I can’t talk about any specific league.” He will discuss the game’s relative vulnerability, however. “It is quite difficult to fix. Something like tennis is easier. There, you can even have a match that’s arranged, but somehow appears fair to the players. We agree that I’ll win the first set, you win the second set, and then we play for real in the third. It’s still the best man wins, and we both get to bet.”
While there’s a different algorithm for the Premier League as opposed to the Croatian third division, to reflect profile and bet spend, we shouldn't assume that the biggest names are not involved. “Rich people can have gambling debts and can be sleeping with the wrong people,” says Ian. “They can be vulnerable. It may be easier to fix a badminton match, but how much liquidity is in the badminton market? Not much. Football has plenty of liquidity.”
It’s almost time to leave Sportradar’s nerve centre when an alert pops up: there’s some suspicious activity in a southern European clash. Our analyst – let’s call him Bob – guides us through several screens. An Asian betting company is offering bafflingly low odds on there being another goal scored, despite it being the 88th minute of the match. Some wild punts are clearly being made. The fix is in, we decide, and watch the closing moments play out on a digital screen. But nothing happens. Bob concludes that this is likely to end up designated as a ‘failed fix’ – a possible dodgy deal that didn’t work. Paperwork will be filed.
A former professional gambler, Bob got into this gig after frequently getting foiled by some of the dubious odds movements he now fights. “I enjoy getting to see it all,” he says. And he still goes home to watch football after work.
Ian admits his work can leave him “disenchanted”, though. “The point of sport is the unpredictability of a result, and the honesty of the battle,” he says. “But this is the world we live in.” Until things change radically, Sportradar will keep following the money.
A European club win the first leg of a Champions League match by a large margin. With their progress assured, it’s arranged for them to concede late in the second fixture. With three minutes left, their defence switches off. A ball is punted upfield and a forward heads it goalward. The goalkeeper barely attempts a save.
Fixers arrange for a group of English sixth-tier players to join a club on the other side of the world. Unquestioningly accepted by the new employers, a previously solid side suddenly start losing, and heavily. A young goalkeeper in central Europe is befriended by a rich man. He gets him into clubs, gets him girls and treats him like a rock star. A family debt is soon paid off. Later, he asks him to concede a goal in a friendly game. Who would that harm? This is then used as leverage against him to commit more significant on-field fraud.
There are numerous ways to fix a match. Some are simple, others are sophisticated and barely believable. But when the true beauty of sport is its unpredictability, how on earth is it possible to prove if odd behaviour is down to human error or something a lot more sinister? How can all the above scenarios get busted? Just follow the money.
You’ve probably never heard of Sportradar, and despite the company kindly agreeing to a feature in FourFourTwo, it’s quite happy that way. We’ve stopped by its London offices – it has 34 worldwide, with 1,900 employees – under the condition that we don’t disclose the location, or use any real names.
If this seems like the paranoia of a counter-intelligence unit, that’s because it is. As the world’s foremost experts in betting-related fraud and sports corruption, Sportradar is not mucking around. The people they’re battling against include many international mafias, who often see gambling as a good way to launder money. Death threats were issued to UEFA inspectors in February after the exposure of Albanian outfit Skenderbeu’s involvement in fixing, and a member of the Nepal side appeared to threaten Sportradar’s team after players were put on trial for throwing a match.
Some of the figures involved in the worldwide gambling industry are gobsmacking: an estimated €1.5 trillion a year, with a game like the Champions League final attracting around €1 billion in bets (with 70% of this punting going on in Asia, much of it being unregulated, such figures can never be exact).
As our Sportradar spokesman Ian (not his real name) explains to us: “People don’t realise how big the international market is, and there’s no real way of knowing how big exactly. But it’s a crap-ton of money.”
So how do you go about monitoring such an unwieldy beast? Data, data and more data. Sportradar was started in 2001 by Carsten Koerl (his real name), a German entrepreneur who helped to establish online betting company Bwin.
Koerl recognised that internet gambling would produce a plethora of new bookmakers, but that many would lack the expertise to set odds accurately. A reputable service provider would be needed, and this was Betradar – the part of Sportradar that sells industry-leading information to turf accountants worldwide.
The ‘integrity services’ part arrived in 2005 as a by-product. “Whatever you need to operate a bookie, we can deliver,” says Ian. “But as part of our relationship with the betting industry, we get their information back. It soon became clear that by using this, we can see when bookmakers move away from the rest of the market. It always happens for a reason.”
What many casual punters might not realise is that while odds partly reflect how likely something is to happen, they also reflect bookmakers balancing risk. So if a big amount of money comes in on Crewe to beat Exeter, operators may compensate by offering more attractive odds on Exeter to beat Crewe, to cover potential losses. By the same reasoning, if a fixing group are betting big on a late goal being scored with a certain operator, that bookie will alter its odds to reflect this.
“If one bookmaker is getting a lot of money on something that nobody else is, there can be many innocent reasons,” says Ian. “Maybe they’ve got some injury information earlier than everyone else or they’ve got an excellent analyst – or maybe the bookie’s got it wrong that day, so they realise their mistake and adjust.”
But if one of the 550-plus online gambling companies that Sportradar work with suddenly offers prices that deviate wildly, it can be a smoking gun for match-fixing. “If a lot of people bet on something with unnatural confidence, it could be because someone’s engineered the result.”
The company therefore developed the Fraud Detection System (FDS) – an algorithm that scans 280,000 competitive fixtures annually across 17 sports looking for anomalies. “The algorithms don’t ask questions, they create alerts,” says Ian. “So we need a second stage, called qualitative analysis. This is our team of more than 100 experts. They work 24/7. As soon as an alert pops up, they have 72 hours to determine whether it is a legitimate or suspicious betting pattern.”
The number crunchers carry out their research, chatting to a network of bookmakers and journalists if required. “Maybe our person out there on the ground knows that it was the captain’s birthday so everyone got drunk,” says Ian. “We look at all options. You can’t just say: ‘This is fixing’. You’d be destroying reputations. We’re not a machine gun, we’re a sniper rifle. When we shoot, we get it right. We always start with the betting patterns, but it takes more than that to be credible.”
Sportradar only escalates an incident when it is 100% sure of foul play. To date, this has included 3,800 sports fixtures. The figure has climbed from 146 in 2009 to 650 last year.
This rise reflects more games being surveyed rather than an increase in criminality: Ian estimates that 0.5% to 1% of the matches they monitor are affected. As a result, Sportradar reports have been used in 36 criminal convictions and 251 sporting sanctions (suspensions, bans and fines) to date, with more on the docket.
Sportradar’s experience has provided a unique insight into how fixing works. “It’s not generally some guy bowling up and saying, ‘Here’s 50k, please lose 5-0’,” adds Ian. “Fixers usually groom players and officials. They take time, do them favours and entertain them. Then they’ll call in the favours. And once you do something for them they say: ‘You’ve just fixed a match for me, now you’re my bitch’. Prostitutes or drugs can be used as leverage, while older players are sometimes used to influence and recruit younger ones.”
Often at the core of these shady dealings are large criminal groups. “The Balkan, Italian and Asian mafia are involved,” explains Ian. “The owners of clubs can also be criminals. They tell players: ‘Unfortunately you’re going to lose today’. In some places, players don’t ask questions if they value their kneecaps.”
Fixers can even arrange fixtures. Notorious Singaporean super-fixer Wilson Raj Perumal organised numerous friendlies, for which he would pick the referee. “There’s a preponderance of rigged friendlies, because there’s nothing on the line and participants are more willing to agree,” says Ian. Referees are a common target. “They control the result pretty closely, especially if the fixers are betting on total goals. You don’t care who scores them, you just care that there are three or four. So you dish out some penalties.”
This proved the undoing of Ghana’s Joseph Lamptey, who was caught trying to influence goals scored in a World Cup qualifier between South Africa and Senegal last year. His decision to blow for a penalty after the ball hit Senegal defender Kalidou Koulibaly on the knee was ridiculous, but it’s the kind of blunder referees often make. It was the algorithm that caught him. FIFA – a Sportradar partner – decided to replay a World Cup qualifier due to fixing for the first time, and Lamptey was banned for life.
Perumal’s syndicate was involved in the 2013 Southern Stars scandal. Four players and a coach from the Melbourne club were convicted, along with a Malaysian fixer. English players were involved in play so obviously suspect that their opponents regularly questioned what was happening.
“I was panicking, getting a call when we were losing 2-0 and the boss saying this better f**king happen,” defender Reiss Noel told police about one game. “I felt threatened as we weren’t getting the goals required.” Sportradar’s algorithm had again alerted the authorities, and Noel and a team-mate, goalkeeper Joe Woolley, were banned for life by FIFA after admitting helping to fix matches.
“These guys weren’t exactly brain surgeons,” says Ian. “Police were at the game, and you’ve got a fixer on the phone actually speaking to one player, and him then saying to the goalkeeper: ‘We need to let another in’. Sometimes the footage you watch of keepers jumping the wrong way is almost comical.”
However, there’s also a degree of cat-and-mouse between Sportradar and criminals that wouldn’t look out of place in The Wire. “A few years ago someone realised you don’t even need to manipulate a performance to fix a match – you can just manipulate the concept of a performance,” explains Ian. This led to the extraordinary phenomenon of ‘ghost games’, in which entire matches were faked.
“In order for bookmakers to cover football, they simply need data on what is happening. So it was created from nothing – they sent through details about imaginary goals being scored after they had bet on them.”
Among the games that never kicked off included Maldives Under-21s against Turkmenistan Under-21s from 2012, and Portugal’s Freamunde against Spain’s Ponferradina in 2014. “People innovate – it’s like doping,” says Ian. “We’ve also had some fixers trying not to disrupt the odds by spreading a bet across lots of bookies. But our system now aggregates, so we can catch those spikes, too.”
Sportradar can’t take down the mafia, but it's working with people who can. After the Southern Stars scandal was exposed in conjunction with Australian police forces, more law enforcement agencies got involved: Europol are partners and Interpol are close collaborators.
“The floodgates opened, because forces realised that our system isn’t witchcraft,” says Ian. Sportradar now helps to educate police worldwide, free of charge. It has even developed the system to the point where it identified a way to single out specific individual bets that disrupt odds, so law enforcers can follow up those accounts.
A number of countries are also setting up national platforms to fight the problem and share their resources, with Sportradar offering crucial insight once again. Making major arrests will always be complicated, though. The evidence required for criminal convictions (‘beyond reasonable doubt’) is greater than that needed for sporting sanctions (‘to comfortable satisfaction’).
“Sports organisations can ban people but they can’t put them in prison,” says Ian. “Our FDS is good at pinpointing who’s executing a fix, but the problem is they’re footsoldiers – a 17-year-old kid who made a mistake and can’t get out of the web he’s in. We want the puppetmasters.”
As a result, Sportradar now has a specialist group, set up by a former British military counter-intelligence operative, attempting to join the dots in these international crimes. The more information they share, the more criminal cases they can get across the line. This means careful vetting of who works for Sportradar, too.
“We need to check the background of employees,” says Ian. “We need to be wary if someone seems lenient. None of our analysts are allowed to bet, and our level of encryption is extremely high. All our servers are in-house, we have no information on the cloud and we’re quiet on social media. We know we’re causing a headache for people who could make a lot of money, so we might be targeted.”
The big question many football supporters might want to ask, alas, remains unanswered. How much match-fixing takes place in - for example - the Premier League?
“Worth a try,” laughs Ian. “Sadly, I can’t talk about any specific league.” He will discuss the game’s relative vulnerability, however. “It is quite difficult to fix. Something like tennis is easier. There, you can even have a match that’s arranged, but somehow appears fair to the players. We agree that I’ll win the first set, you win the second set, and then we play for real in the third. It’s still the best man wins, and we both get to bet.”
While there’s a different algorithm for the Premier League as opposed to the Croatian third division, to reflect profile and bet spend, we shouldn't assume that the biggest names are not involved. “Rich people can have gambling debts and can be sleeping with the wrong people,” says Ian. “They can be vulnerable. It may be easier to fix a badminton match, but how much liquidity is in the badminton market? Not much. Football has plenty of liquidity.”
It’s almost time to leave Sportradar’s nerve centre when an alert pops up: there’s some suspicious activity in a southern European clash. Our analyst – let’s call him Bob – guides us through several screens. An Asian betting company is offering bafflingly low odds on there being another goal scored, despite it being the 88th minute of the match. Some wild punts are clearly being made. The fix is in, we decide, and watch the closing moments play out on a digital screen. But nothing happens. Bob concludes that this is likely to end up designated as a ‘failed fix’ – a possible dodgy deal that didn’t work. Paperwork will be filed.
A former professional gambler, Bob got into this gig after frequently getting foiled by some of the dubious odds movements he now fights. “I enjoy getting to see it all,” he says. And he still goes home to watch football after work.
Ian admits his work can leave him “disenchanted”, though. “The point of sport is the unpredictability of a result, and the honesty of the battle,” he says. “But this is the world we live in.” Until things change radically, Sportradar will keep following the money.
January 06, 2019
YouTube stars promoted gambling to kids. Now they have to answer to their peers.
Popular YouTubers like Jake Paul and Bryan “RiceGum” Le promoted a shady gambling website to their millions of subscribers, many of whom are children. And now they’re in the middle of a debate about the ethics and the responsibility that come with legions of young, highly impressionable superfans.
On December 30, Jake Paul, the younger brother of Logan Paul, who made headlines around this time last year for videotaping a suicide victim, published a video that looked exactly like many others on YouTube: a bait-y thumbnail (Paul’s stupefied expression surrounded by cutouts of objects, numbers, and random punctuation marks) with a comically hyperbolic title: “I Spent $5,000 ON MYSTERY BOXES & You WONT Believe What I Got (insane).”
The difference is that the video is an ad, which Paul disclosed in the video’s description, for Mystery Brand, a website where users pay different amounts of money — anywhere from a few bucks to $299 — to open digital boxes. There are “hypebeast” boxes, gaming boxes, boxes that only contain different types of watches, and even holiday-themed boxes, which might be filled with a 27-inch iMac, a Chanel purse, Off-White sneakers, or a Supreme jacket. More likely though, you’ll end up with a fidget spinner, or in the case of the Chanel box, which costs $99 to open, a vial of Chanel nail polish (retail price: $28).
A Daily Beast report Wednesday stated that some boxes claimed to include items like Lamborghini sports cars, Ferraris, and “The Most Expensive Los Angeles Realty $250,000,000” (which was actually a photo of a Bel Air mansion listed for $188 million that is not owned by Mystery Brand and therefore was not its to give away), though these items no longer appear to be available in any of the boxes currently on the site.
Even on a surface level, it’s pretty clear that Mystery Brand is shady — and that, along with the fact that many of the creators promoting it have an audience largely made up of children, is why many, many YouTubers have formed a chorus of criticism against Paul, RiceGum, and others.
According to its terms and conditions, Mystery Brand seems to be operated out of Poland. (“These terms are interpreted and are subject to the jurisdiction and the laws of Poland.”) And use of the website is “strictly prohibited for persons under 13 or persons not reached the age of majority.” It also says that those under “the age of majority” may not be eligible to receive the prizes they’ve won.
Elsewhere, however, it states that any user may not receive the items they’ve won, and according to reports, that’s exactly what’s happened. Multiple Reddit threads devoted to demystifying Mystery Brand show customers claiming that products have taken months to ship, if they ever do at all; that tracking numbers don’t work; or that they were forced to pay upward of $40 for shipping.
But there are infinite retail scams on the internet for YouTubers to promote. The problem for many is that despite YouTube’s strict gambling policies (advertisements may not promote gambling in areas where it is illegal, nor to minors), it doesn’t seem to classify Mystery Brand’s digital betting game as gambling. And Jake Paul, for instance, has gone on the record to say that his target audience is children between the ages of 8 and 16.
YouTube, meanwhile, is mostly concerned with creators clearly labeling their content as sponsored — which both Jake Paul and RiceGum did. The company gave the following statement to Vox:
It’s unclear whether or not the Federal Trade Commission, which sets regulations for sponsored content and advertising, is concerned with YouTubers promoting gambling websites to minors — an inquiry from Vox to the FTC came back with an automatic reply that the organization was closed due to the partial government shutdown.
RiceGum, for his part, did apologize in a video after YouTube’s most-subscribed star, PewDiePie, and Ethan Klein of h3h3 Productions called him out in their own videos covering the drama (although not before complaining that other YouTubers with largely young followings — the channel Reaction Zoom, Zane Hijazi, and Guava Juice among them — also promoted Mystery Brand within the last few months).
The YouTubers criticizing these channels’ promotion of Mystery Brand have focused both on the scamminess of the website itself as well as the responsibility that comes with having millions of young followers — both topics that have been lightning rods in YouTube drama over the past few years. PewDiePie in particular has been criticized for amplifying anti-Semitic rhetoric to his own young audience.
With fewer ad dollars floating around YouTube, some creators have turned to shadier dealings, like in the case of the recent controversy surrounding beauty bloggers being paid by cosmetics companies to post negative reviews about rival brands’ products. And it’s nothing compared to the debate about what duty the biggest YouTuber in the world has in making sure his content doesn’t encourage teenagers to view beliefs embraced by the alt-right as hilarious satire.
But the rewards for YouTubers who promote sites like Mystery Brand are too high for many of them to pass up. Creators like PewDiePie and Keemstar have both confirmed that they’d turned down huge sums of money to promote Mystery Brand or similar sites; Keemstar, for instance, said on Twitter he was offered $100,000 to promote it, while in his apology video Ricegum implied that his fee was much higher.
The experience of using Mystery Brand — the big bet, the thrill of opening a box, and the payoff of actually seeing the prizes IRL — has all the ingredients of a successful YouTube video.
Not only is it a form of digital unboxing, one of the site’s most lucrative tropes, but the idea of the surprise box stems from gaming culture, where players pay money to open loot boxes full of skins, weapons, and other virtual swag. (Loot boxes, incidentally, were the subject of their own Mystery Brand-like scandal in 2016, when the popular Twitch streamer James “Phantoml0rd” Varga promoted a website where users could gamble for weapon skins in the game Counter-Strike: Global Offensive and was banned after he was accused of secretly owning it.)
Similarly, those who promoted Mystery Brand have been widely suspected to have enjoyed false odds — many YouTubers have come to the conclusion that Mystery Brand knows exactly when someone like Paul or RiceGum is playing so that they’ll end up with one of its high-quality prizes.
“They’re just desperate for money and views,” YouTube creator Antonio Chavez told The Verge. “The channels have been going down for a while now, as far as analytics go. Their channels are big channels still, but they’re used to this kind of money — maybe six figure sponsorships all the time — and when they see that going down, they’ll take any kind of sponsorship.”
YouTube stresses that the responsibility for transparency in advertising lies with the creator, but some have criticized the company for allowing users to be misled. One artist whose avatar artwork was stolen by Mystery Brand told The Verge that “It’s amazing that YouTube can defend it at all. It’s the same as, ‘All the evidence might point to Russian collusion but let’s give them the benefit of the doubt.’”
Mystery Brand is what happens when a bunch of YouTube trends converge: a decrease in ad dollars, thereby encouraging creators to take on paid promotions no matter how sketchy; the dopamine rush of the unboxing video; and enough controversy for every YouTube creator to publish their own reaction video. And if it’s like most YouTube drama, the betting odds are high that it’s just getting started.
On December 30, Jake Paul, the younger brother of Logan Paul, who made headlines around this time last year for videotaping a suicide victim, published a video that looked exactly like many others on YouTube: a bait-y thumbnail (Paul’s stupefied expression surrounded by cutouts of objects, numbers, and random punctuation marks) with a comically hyperbolic title: “I Spent $5,000 ON MYSTERY BOXES & You WONT Believe What I Got (insane).”
The difference is that the video is an ad, which Paul disclosed in the video’s description, for Mystery Brand, a website where users pay different amounts of money — anywhere from a few bucks to $299 — to open digital boxes. There are “hypebeast” boxes, gaming boxes, boxes that only contain different types of watches, and even holiday-themed boxes, which might be filled with a 27-inch iMac, a Chanel purse, Off-White sneakers, or a Supreme jacket. More likely though, you’ll end up with a fidget spinner, or in the case of the Chanel box, which costs $99 to open, a vial of Chanel nail polish (retail price: $28).
A Daily Beast report Wednesday stated that some boxes claimed to include items like Lamborghini sports cars, Ferraris, and “The Most Expensive Los Angeles Realty $250,000,000” (which was actually a photo of a Bel Air mansion listed for $188 million that is not owned by Mystery Brand and therefore was not its to give away), though these items no longer appear to be available in any of the boxes currently on the site.
Even on a surface level, it’s pretty clear that Mystery Brand is shady — and that, along with the fact that many of the creators promoting it have an audience largely made up of children, is why many, many YouTubers have formed a chorus of criticism against Paul, RiceGum, and others.
According to its terms and conditions, Mystery Brand seems to be operated out of Poland. (“These terms are interpreted and are subject to the jurisdiction and the laws of Poland.”) And use of the website is “strictly prohibited for persons under 13 or persons not reached the age of majority.” It also says that those under “the age of majority” may not be eligible to receive the prizes they’ve won.
Elsewhere, however, it states that any user may not receive the items they’ve won, and according to reports, that’s exactly what’s happened. Multiple Reddit threads devoted to demystifying Mystery Brand show customers claiming that products have taken months to ship, if they ever do at all; that tracking numbers don’t work; or that they were forced to pay upward of $40 for shipping.
But there are infinite retail scams on the internet for YouTubers to promote. The problem for many is that despite YouTube’s strict gambling policies (advertisements may not promote gambling in areas where it is illegal, nor to minors), it doesn’t seem to classify Mystery Brand’s digital betting game as gambling. And Jake Paul, for instance, has gone on the record to say that his target audience is children between the ages of 8 and 16.
YouTube, meanwhile, is mostly concerned with creators clearly labeling their content as sponsored — which both Jake Paul and RiceGum did. The company gave the following statement to Vox:
YouTube believes that creators should be transparent with their audiences if their content includes paid promotion of any kind. Our policies make it clear that YouTube creators are responsible for ensuring their content complies with local laws, regulations and YouTube Community Guidelines. If content is found to violate these policies, we take action to ensure the integrity of our platform, which can include removing content.
It’s unclear whether or not the Federal Trade Commission, which sets regulations for sponsored content and advertising, is concerned with YouTubers promoting gambling websites to minors — an inquiry from Vox to the FTC came back with an automatic reply that the organization was closed due to the partial government shutdown.
RiceGum, for his part, did apologize in a video after YouTube’s most-subscribed star, PewDiePie, and Ethan Klein of h3h3 Productions called him out in their own videos covering the drama (although not before complaining that other YouTubers with largely young followings — the channel Reaction Zoom, Zane Hijazi, and Guava Juice among them — also promoted Mystery Brand within the last few months).
The YouTubers criticizing these channels’ promotion of Mystery Brand have focused both on the scamminess of the website itself as well as the responsibility that comes with having millions of young followers — both topics that have been lightning rods in YouTube drama over the past few years. PewDiePie in particular has been criticized for amplifying anti-Semitic rhetoric to his own young audience.
With fewer ad dollars floating around YouTube, some creators have turned to shadier dealings, like in the case of the recent controversy surrounding beauty bloggers being paid by cosmetics companies to post negative reviews about rival brands’ products. And it’s nothing compared to the debate about what duty the biggest YouTuber in the world has in making sure his content doesn’t encourage teenagers to view beliefs embraced by the alt-right as hilarious satire.
But the rewards for YouTubers who promote sites like Mystery Brand are too high for many of them to pass up. Creators like PewDiePie and Keemstar have both confirmed that they’d turned down huge sums of money to promote Mystery Brand or similar sites; Keemstar, for instance, said on Twitter he was offered $100,000 to promote it, while in his apology video Ricegum implied that his fee was much higher.
The experience of using Mystery Brand — the big bet, the thrill of opening a box, and the payoff of actually seeing the prizes IRL — has all the ingredients of a successful YouTube video.
Not only is it a form of digital unboxing, one of the site’s most lucrative tropes, but the idea of the surprise box stems from gaming culture, where players pay money to open loot boxes full of skins, weapons, and other virtual swag. (Loot boxes, incidentally, were the subject of their own Mystery Brand-like scandal in 2016, when the popular Twitch streamer James “Phantoml0rd” Varga promoted a website where users could gamble for weapon skins in the game Counter-Strike: Global Offensive and was banned after he was accused of secretly owning it.)
Similarly, those who promoted Mystery Brand have been widely suspected to have enjoyed false odds — many YouTubers have come to the conclusion that Mystery Brand knows exactly when someone like Paul or RiceGum is playing so that they’ll end up with one of its high-quality prizes.
“They’re just desperate for money and views,” YouTube creator Antonio Chavez told The Verge. “The channels have been going down for a while now, as far as analytics go. Their channels are big channels still, but they’re used to this kind of money — maybe six figure sponsorships all the time — and when they see that going down, they’ll take any kind of sponsorship.”
YouTube stresses that the responsibility for transparency in advertising lies with the creator, but some have criticized the company for allowing users to be misled. One artist whose avatar artwork was stolen by Mystery Brand told The Verge that “It’s amazing that YouTube can defend it at all. It’s the same as, ‘All the evidence might point to Russian collusion but let’s give them the benefit of the doubt.’”
Mystery Brand is what happens when a bunch of YouTube trends converge: a decrease in ad dollars, thereby encouraging creators to take on paid promotions no matter how sketchy; the dopamine rush of the unboxing video; and enough controversy for every YouTube creator to publish their own reaction video. And if it’s like most YouTube drama, the betting odds are high that it’s just getting started.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)