Betting News – Page 175

September 21, 2022

German municipalities now unable to tax betting shops

The German supreme court for administrative matters, the Federal Administrative Court, has ruled that municipalities will no longer be able to levy a betting shop tax.

A lawsuit had been originally brought about by the bookmakers that operated betting shops in the German city of Dortmund. Since 2014, the city had been levying a municipal tax based on the dimensions of the physical area of the betting shop – which was defined as areas where bets were processed and monitored. The tax was designed to be passed directly onto consumers.

However, in 2017 the Federal Administrative Court ruled that the tax could not be based on the area of the shop, leading to the city rewriting the statute as a 3% stake tax – this was in addition to the federally imposed 5% stake tax for sports betting.

Following this, the Münster Higher Administrative Court allowed an appeal about whether this tax by multiple levels of government was inadmissible due to similarities with taxes imposed under the Lottery A..

September 21, 2022

FanDuel expands responsible gambling efforts

Flutter Entertainment-owned FanDuel Group has announced a series of new responsible gambling initiatives to coincide with the American Gaming Association’s (AGA) Responsible Gaming Education Month.

The group hosted its first, business-wide “Play Well Day” where workers were invited to an employee-only event, promoting the role of staff in creating a culture that embraces safer play.

During the Play Well Day, FanDuel announced the appointment of professional boxer, mixed martial artist and wrestler Amanda Serrano as a responsible gaming ambassador.

Read the full story on iGB North America.

September 21, 2022

New Hampshire reports slight sports betting handle improvement in August

Player spending in New Hampshire improved marginally month-on-month in August, while the state experienced year-on-year growth across revenue and handle.

Consumers wagered a total of $43.4m on sports during the month, up 19.6% year-on-year and 1.6% higher than $42.7m in July of this year.

A large portion of this was spent betting online via DraftKings, with this reaching $32.9m. The remaining $10.5m was wagered at retail sportsbook locations across the state.

In terms of revenue, gross gaming revenue from sports betting for the month amounted to $4.2m.

Read the full story on iGB North America.

September 21, 2022

Colorado sports betting handle reaches $4.82bn in FY2021-22

Consumers in Colorado wagered a total of $4.82bn on sports during the US state’s 2021-22 financial year.

During the 12-month period, players in the state spent $4.78bn betting on sports over the internet, as well as $59.7m at retail sportsbook facilities across Colorado.

Basketball was the most popular sport among consumers by some margin, attracting a total of $1.20bn in wagers over the course of the year. Football bets amounted to $768.6m and baseball $506.2m, while $872.5m worth of parlay wagers were also placed.

In terms of revenue, total gross gaming revenue from sports betting was $282.6m for the financial year. The majority of this came from online, with this form of betting accounting for $279.6m, while retail revenue reached just $3.0m for the year.

Read the full story on iGB North America.

September 21, 2022

Betway fined £400,000 for marketing on “children’s webpages”

Online gaming operator Betway has been fined £408,915 ($463,178/ €467,776) by the Gambling Commission for marketing on “children’s webpages”.

The regulator determined that the Super Group-owned brand was marketing on the children’s pages of the West Ham United Football Club’s website, breaching Commission rules on socially responsible advertising.

The Commission said that the operator’s logo – which linked to its website – appeared on a page on the West Ham site which offered the option of printing off a picture of a teddy bear for children to colour in. It was visible on this page between 14 April 2020 and 6 November 2021.

Additionally, between 24 October 2021 and 15 November 2021, a similar logo that linked to Betway’s homepage was featured on the “Young Hammers at Home” page of the club’s site.

GC director of enforcement, Leanne Oxley, said the regulator had no reason to believe Betway was targeting children deliberately, but that the rule breach was still serious.

“Protecting ..

September 20, 2022

Dutch regulator issues 21st online licence

Dutch regulator de Kansspelautoriteit (KSA) has issued its 21st online gambling licence, to a business known as Smart Gaming BV.

As yet, little information has been provided about Smart Gaming, which is registered in the Dutch town of Aalsmeer.

The KSA said that it will list the domain name that the business will use as soon as this is known, but Smart Gaming has not yet submitted the domain it intends to use.

The business is the 21st operator to receive a licence to operate in the Dutch online gambling market. It follows the ComeOn Group, which announced that it would launch its flagship ComeOn brand in the Netherlands after receiving a licence last week.

Also last week, the KSA launched a gambling harm prevention research programme, developed by Hague-based health organisation ZonMw. It said that the aim of the scheme will be to gather new knowledge on the prevention and treatment of gambling addiction and gambling-related harms, so it can be formed into new treatment measures.
..

September 20, 2022

FDJ opens talks over ZEturf Group acquisition

French national lottery operator Française des Jeux (FDJ) has entered into exclusive negotiations over the acquisition of online horse racing and sports betting brand ZEturf Group.

Details of the talks or financial terms of the potential deal were not disclosed, but FDJ did state that the purchase would form part of wider plans to expand its presence in France’s online gambling market.

Founded in 2001, ZEturf employs approximately 100 staff and processed almost €800.0m (£701.6m/$802.5m) in wagers, including more than €100.0m in pool bets, in 2021.

According to FDJ, online horse racing betting accounts for more than 50% of ZEturf bets. This makes the business France’s second largest operator in this segment with a market share of around 20%.

In addition to its activities in France, ZEturf operates in the Netherlands, Belgium and Spain.

Should the acquisition proceed to the next stage, the deal would be subject to approval by competition and regulatory authorities

The talks come a..

September 16, 2022

Rumour Truss will scrap gambling review may be bad news, analyst warns

Regulus Partners analyst Dan Waugh warned against the industry celebrating rumours new prime minister Liz Truss would abandon the Gambling Act review, instead arguing the news may be “worst outcome for industry”.

A report from Guardian chief political correspondent Jessica Elgot concerning general government plans to scrap a number of legislative proposals noted “rumours” that the Gambling Act review was among the proposals that could be axed.

Long-delayed process

The Gambling Act review has been in motion since late 2020, having initially been on the Conservative Party manifesto in 2019.

However, various delays have meant that a white paper outlining the government’s wish list for reforms has still not been published.

A major factor in the repeated delays appeared to have been changes in personnel, with four different ministers having overseen the legislation since it began.

Chris Philp, who at the time was responsible for the review, said in his July resignation letter that th..

September 16, 2022

Louisiana halts five-month consecutive online sports betting handle decline in August

Consumers in Louisiana spent $112.1m (£98.3m/€112.4m) wagering on sports online during August, halting a five-month consecutive decline in handle that began in March.

Online wagers were 8.5% higher than $103.3m in July, but the August total was the second lowest full monthly amount since the state opened its regulated internet betting market in January of this year.

Revenue from online sports wagering in August reached $7.3m, down 62.0% from $19.2m in July and also the second lowest full monthly total on record.

Turning to retail and players spent $16.2m, which was 6.7% higher than $15.2m in July and the first month-on-month growth since May.

Retail revenue reached $2.2m, which was an increase of 37.5% from $1.6m in July and the highest monthly total since $2.7m was generated in May.

Looking at the market as a whole, consumers in Louisiana wagered $128.3m on sports in August, up 8.3% month-on-month, though revenue dipped 54.3% from $20.8m to $9.5m.

The Louisiana Gaming control bo..