Island life: RI’s iCasino lifeline
Hearing today to determine legislative fate, Dutch fines and ad bans, Board changes at GREF, White Paper ombudsman +More
Good morning. On today’s agenda:
Can Rhode Island salvage 2023 for iCasino advocates?
The Netherlands hands out more penalties.
And the Dutch regulator warns on the upcoming ad ban.
New faces at GREF.
The issues around the forming of a gambling ombudsman in the UK.
It came in a flash, it came out of nowhere.
Salvage job
Several candidates failed to legalize online casino gambling in 2023, but a true dark horse emerged in April with a bill to legalize online casinos in Rhode Island.
Today’s the day: That bill, S 948, passed the Rhode Island Senate last week in a 30-4 vote and now heads to the House of Representatives. A House hearing is scheduled for today, with the Rhode Island legislature set to adjourn at the end of the month.
The bill gives Bally’s, which operates Rhode Island’s two casinos, a monopoly on online casinos, matching its sports-betting monopoly. However, that exclusivity comes at a price, as Rhode Island uses a revenue-sharing arrangement.
A bigger piece of the pie: The state receives 51% of sports-betting revenue, with 32% going to the platform provider and just 17% to the casino. Online casino gambling would use a similar revenue share model:
After an amendment to ensure tax revenue to the state, Rhode Island will receive 61% of online slot revenue and 15.5% of online table game revenue.
The towns of Tiverton and Lincoln receive 1.45% of slot revenue and 1% of table game revenue.
The remainder – 37.55% of slot revenue and 83.5% of table game revenue – is split between the platform vendor and vendor.
35% of table game revenue goes to the platform vendor and 48.5% to the vendor.
22.45% of online slot revenue goes to the platform vendor and 15% to the vendor.
The initial revenue split was 50% on online slots and 18% on table games.
Constitutional or no: The bill received a few other amendments before passage, most notably the legal age to gamble online was raised from 18 to 21.
In an effort to avoid a voter referendum, live dealer games must be simulcast from the Bally’s casinos in Tiverton and Lincoln.
As the legislation heads over to the RI House, the big question will revolve around the referendum question and whether online casinos, even if servers and live-dealer games are housed at the casinos, constitutes an expansion of gambling.
US notebook
Vermont: Gov. Phil Scott is likely to sign HB 127 by the end of this week, according to LegalSportsReport. Scott’s press secretary told the site that the governor would sign the bill as soon as he receives it.
HB 127 authorizes two to six online sportsbooks at an initial fee of $500,000 per license.
Licensees will operate under revenue-share agreements with the Department of Liquor and Lottery and pay a GGR tax of at least 20%.
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Dutch penalties
They can’t say they weren’t warned.
Not winning: The Netherlands regulator Kansspelautoriteit has handed Costa Rican-based Winning Poker Network an order subject to periodic fines of €25,000, up to maximum of €75,000, before enforcement action intensifies.
GoldWin, also warned by the regulator for a similar offense of pitching to Dutch customers without a license via its platform on westcasino.com, has been fined €239,000 ($258,000).
Stop right there: WPN, which offers online games via its americascardroom.eu domain, was told to quit targeting Dutch customers or face the music.
“The original website americascardroom.eu was no longer accessible from the Netherlands, but a new account could easily be created on another website of the same provider, truepoker.eu,” the KSA said. “This made it possible to play on that website from the Netherlands.”
A further investigation is now underway.
The KSA said it is satisfied GoldWin has now put measures in place to stop a repeat.
“It must pay off for providers of games of chance to offer their games legally,” said KSA chair René Jansen.
“That is only possible if we take the wind out of illegal supply. We are fully committed to stopping these practices.”
Ad break
The chair of the Netherlands regulator advises operators to be “over-cautious” when navigating the impending ad ban.
Watching and waiting: Kansspelautoriteit’s chair René Jansen told the Gaming in Holland Conference last Thursday that initially the regulator will “monitor how the new rules work out in practice” before investigating breaches.
He said the July 1 untargeted ban on advertising across TV and radio broadcasts, billboards and other public spaces is “uncharted” territory for the regulator, which will have to, “like the industry, find our way in this”.
Operators who are “not sure” whether 95% of the viewers of their online advertising are adults over 24 years of age should “opt not to show the advertising at all”.
“My most important appeal at this point in time: find a way, but don’t seek the boundaries,” Jansen said.
Tight fit: Separately, the KSA is preparing to publish its investigation into duty of care practices, expected this summer.
“The results of the investigation may very well lead to a tightening of the rules, such as our own KSA policy rules,” Jansen said. “We may also decide to advise the Minister to tighten regulations.”
GREF appointments
It’s all change at the Gambling Regulators European Forum (GREF), with a new board and chair appointed.
French regulator l’Autorité nationale des jeux (ANJ) chair Isabelle Falque-Pierrotin takes up the role at GREF, while Anders Dorph of the Danish regulator, Spillemyndigheden, has become vice-chair.
Tim Miller of the UK Gambling Commission is the new GREF treasurer.
Sarah Kelly of the Alderney Gambling Control Commission is GREF secretary, while a representative from each of the Belgian, Norwegian and Maltese regulators have become ordinary members of the association.
The GREF board’s first assessment of its activities will take place at the next annual conference in Malta in May 2024.
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White Paper perspectives
Harris Hagan looks at the proposals for a gambling ombudsman.
All-seeing eye: Bahar Alaeddini, partner at specialist gambling law firm Harris Hagan, suggested the concept of an ombudsman as set out by the government is a “good one”, but there are a number of issues that could derail the plans, including possible consumer confusion over a plethora of alternative dispute resolution (ADR) providers.
Among the issues identified by Alaeddini is the ombudsman's remit – with the UKGC and the government apparently at odds on this one – through to definitions, the chain of referrals, time limits on complaints and the issue of independence.
She pointed out that IBAS is the front-runner for the role because it is the largest ADR provider in the space, accounting for ~80% of all disputes.
“This is certainly a jolly good start, but only about 20% of their 860 complaints dealt with in the last year were social responsibility-related, so a steep learning curve still lies ahead, despite advance planning,” Alaeddini added.
Jump the gun: Indeed, IBAS has already put forward its case for why it should get the ombudsman nod when it revealed a roadmap in August last year.
Next steps: Alaeddini said that, with the appointment process expected to begin in summer 2023, the industry awaits the formation (or transformation) of the ombudsman to see how the scheme can be navigated.
“Delay will only serve to antagonize the anti-gambling lobby and displease the government, increasing the possibility of a statutory ombudsman,” she concluded.
European notebook
France: Speaking of ombudsman, the third annual ombudsman activity report from gambling regulator ANJ revealed 1,373 requests for mediation last year, a decline of 10.8%. Of the requests, 90% were related to sports betting.
Germany: The German Sports Betting Association has said that an increase in self-exclusion registrations since 2020 is a result of better player protection. The number of players listed in the system increased from 47,000 in 2020 to 192,600 as of last month.
Ireland: BoyleSports has allegedly breached the industry-wide ban on gambling advertising during a broadcast of the recent English FA Cup Final. According to the Business Post, the firm bought halftime ad spots despite signing up to a code of conduct that states no ads are permitted for the five minutes before or after live sports.
Sports-betting integrity notebook
NFL: Former Patriots’ and Bucs’ quarterback Tom Brady has been hired by the National Football League to help dissuade players from violating the league’s betting policies. Brady has done an intro to a video outlining the policy for NFL players, sources reported.
The policy prohibits them from gambling on anything related to the NFL or placing bets while at their team facilities.
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