Regulation round-up 3 April 2012
The biggest regulatory news from the egaming industry in the last seven days (28 March to 3 April 2012).
Betclic to withdraw from Portugal
Operator to end sponsorship deals with 28 out of 32 professional football teams in the market after court ruling.
Betclic Everest Group has confirmed it will pull out of the Portuguese market with immediate effect following a court decision in favour of the country’s gambling monopoly Santa Casa di Misericórdia de Lisboa.
The operator said it would cease operations in the market and end sponsorship deals with all its current partners after the state monopoly alleged it was operating illegally. As a result Betclic is now liable for a 50,000 fine for each breach of the country’s egaming regulations according to Portuguese newspaper Publico.
The operator was one of the most prolific backers of teams in a number of sports in the country, sponsoring 28 out of the 32 football teams in the Portuguese professional league as well as two basketball and two handball teams, and one futsal and one hockey team.
Santa Casa had its licence to exclusively offer lottery and sports betting in the market extended to cover online in 2003, ultimately making it illegal for all other operators to egaming services in the market. This follows a similar ruling which saw bwin.party ordered to cease all advertising and sponsorship activities in the market in January this year, throwing the operator’s 4m deal to sponsor the Portuguese League Cup into doubt.
Seven days in regulation:
OPAP to expand into regulated markets following JV
OPAP will expand into other European regulated markets following the confirmation of a proposed joint venture that will see it offer online games for the first time later this year.
The Greek monopoly, which currently only offers land-based products within the EU member state, announced this week it was in discussions with three possible joint venture partners to develop online games.
One of GTech G2, Playtech, and Intralot will provide technology and marketing services to OPAP, and according to a company spokesman, could aid its expansion into other regulated or soon-to-be regulating territories by providing international licences and access into new markets as part of the deal.
Sportingbet makes final payment in DoJ settlement
Sportingbet has made a final payment of US$6m to the US Justice Department (DoJ), as per a settlement reached in 2010 over alleged illegal internet gambling. With the announcement of the final payment, Sportingbet also declared that it was reviewing opportunities to re-enter the market.
In exchange for a settlement payment of US$33m, the DoJ had agreed not to prosecute the operator and its units for any crimes “ apart from tax violations “ concerning activity with US customers from 1998 to 2006.
Opinion: Spain – the path to regulation is far from smooth
Following the general election in late November last year it seemed as though recent changes in the Spanish government would not affect the online gaming application process. Everybody expected the existing policies to be applied smoothly and without any surprises until licences were supposed to be granted in mid-April. What a difference a few months can make in politics.
The departure two weeks ago of Juan Carlos Alfonso, the principal regulator in charge of co-ordinating the process, has overlapped with some important news which for will almost certainly affect all licence applicants and their strategies for a regulated national online gaming market in Spain.
New operators added to Belgian blacklist
The Belgian Gaming Commission (BGC) has added an additional 10 operators to its egaming blacklist, bringing the total number of banned operators to 20, while two additional companies have been awarded licences to operate in the market.
Winamax is the latest high-profile company to be blacklisted alongside the likes of Goldenpalace.com and Oranjecasino.com. These sites join the likes of 888, Everest Poker and Titan Poker on the list alongside Chiligaming, which is thought to be in discussions with the BGC to have its name removed from the blacklist after shutting off its services to Belgian customers.
iMEGA “not inclined to pursue” Kentucky case
Lobby group Interactive Media and Gaming Association (iMEGA) is unlikely to proceed with its legal opposition to Kentucky lawmakers over the seizure of 132 egaming-related domain names, director Joe Brennan Jr. has confirmed to eGaming Review.
“The argument has moved on,” Brennan explained, after a seizure order was issued for 132 of 141 targeted domains by Judge Thomas Wingate.
WMS applies for Nevada licence
WMS Gaming has announced it has submitted an application to the Nevada State Gaming Control Board (GCB) for an interactive gaming licence.
The Illinois-based company has been providing slot machines, video terminals and game software for casino operators – both land-based and online – since 1999. It recently launched a social casino, Lucky Cruise, on Facebook while its UK-facing brand Jackpot Party has launched a number of online slots in recent months.
France Pari granted fixed-odds betting licence
France Pari has been granted an extension to its licence by French regulator ARJEL, allowing it to offer fixed-odds and live betting.
Sportsbet, Betfair told to pay NSW racing fee
Racing New South Wales (NSW) will be able to charge private operators a rights fee to use its race field information, an Australian High Court has ruled.