Wakes up, smells coffee
UK minister recognises white label contradictions
BC.GAME‘s continued football sponsorship catches eye of government.
In +More: IGT game rigged claims, BC.GAME saga rumbles on.
iGaming, sports-betting tax rate hikes included in Michigan bills.
Estranged wife claims DraftKings turned her ex into a gambling addict.
Dutch slot halls operator cites higher taxes for outlet closures.
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Twycross purposes
Kick start: The BC.GAME furore (see +More for the latest shenanigans) has maybe caught the eye of the UK government, given the comments from new gambling minister Baroness Twycross at the GambleAware conference last week.
Talking on the subject of gambling advertising, Twycross noted she was “aware of the increasing prevalence” of ‘white label’ operators using football in this country to advertise to consumers outside of the UK.
“I am engaging with the Gambling Commission and industry to gather further evidence of their prevalence and impact. If further action is needed, we will take it,” she added.
The rules of the game: Notably, BC.GAME continued to advertise on the shirts of English Premier League club Leicester City this past weekend despite having handed back its UK license last month. It also engaged in pitchside advertising.
According to the UK regulations, gambling operators that wish to advertise their services to overseas operators can do so as long as they do not take any UK custom.
Whether the UK consumers understand such nuances is up for debate.
White riot: Melanie Ellis, partner at Northridge, said on LinkedIn that it was “not clear” what the government could do in relation to white labels and advertising. “Requiring all advertisers to hold their own licence could mean the end of white label arrangements,” she added.
“More specific and rigorous due diligence requirements on white label partners could be on the agenda, however.”
BC.GAME had a white label relationship with Isle of Man provider TGP Europe, which itself has been caught up in controversy this year.
The minister said in her speech that the government was concerned about the volume of gambling advertising. “Gambling operators may feel that their own messaging and volume of ads are appropriate,” she said.
“But the issue of what is appropriate needs to be looked at in aggregate, not operator by operator.”
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+More
The bonus wheel on IGT’s Wheel of Fortune game is rigged and defrauding casino players, a new class action lawsuit claims, per the Las Vegas Review-Journal. Also named for running the game are MGM Resorts, Bally’s, Penn Entertainment, Red Rock Resorts’ Station Casinos and Boyd Gaming.
Crypto casino BC.GAME has returned its license to the Curaçao regulator in protest over a lack of protection for operators, preferring instead to move to the, er, government of the Autonomous Island of Anjouan.
The suspension of The Star Gold Coast’s casino license has been paused until March 31, 2025, giving the Queensland government more time to decide on whether to kick the operator out.
Brazil: The authorities have moved to put into place restrictions on the advertising of gambling ahead of market launch on January 1.
These include restrictions on advertising on channels where the majority of viewers are minors, ads that use images of children, the need for all websites to display age restriction symbols and messaging and the banning of sponsorship of children’s teams and events.
Sweden: The government should move forward with the sale of state-owned gambling operator Svenska Spel, according to Gustaf Hoffstedt, secretary general of the Sweden Trade Association for Online Gambling.
In a newspaper op-ed Hoffstedt claimed the government cannot effectively regulate the gaming market while also acting as an operator.
Michigan tax threat
A couple of acres: Two prefiled bills in Michigan outline increases to tax rates for iGaming and sports betting. Senate Bill 1193, sponsored by Democrat state senators Sam Singh and Jeremy Moss, would raise the sports-betting tax rate based on a sliding scale of revenue.
The accompanying Senate Bill 1194 is also sponsored by Singh and Moss. It outlines a tiered increase in iGaming tax rates based on adjusted gross revenue, with firms raking $12m or more subject to increases of up to 29%.
Both bills are being reviewed by the Senate Committee on Government Operations for further scrutiny.
Go your own way: In contrast, Ohio officials are mulling whether to halve the tax rate on online sports betting from 20% to 10%.
The association for US state regulators recently called for rates between 15% and 25% for states considering legalization in 2025.
Blame game
Trouble ’n’ strife: DraftKings is being sued by the estranged wife of a man who took $1m from his family’s savings to support his gambling habit.
The Indie scoop claims the sportsbook knew Lisa D’Alessandro’s husband was a problem gambler and turned him into a full-blown addict.
The husband, identified in court filings as his DraftKings username ‘Mdallo1990’, gambled up to $3,775 a month when he began using the platform in 2020.
By 2023, he was wagering $125,000 a month, and eventually lost around $1m with money from maxed-out credit cards and children’s savings accounts, the complaint states.
D’Alessandro claims the sportsbook flagged Mdallo as a lucrative prospect via data analytics and invited him to join a ‘VIP Private Group’ where he was assigned a team of personal assistant hosts.
According to the complaint, four VIP hosts spoke with Mdallo almost daily by text, telephone or email. They gave him free bets and credits to cover his losses, and gifts and trophies “for depositing money and gambling at levels far beyond his means.”
That guy: D’Alessandro’s lawyer Matthew Litt also represented a former Jacksonville Jaguars employee who was jailed for stealing more than $22m of the NFL team’s money and blowing it on FanDuel.
Amit Patel claimed FanDuel had fed his addiction with “relentless financial incentives, lavish trips, event tickets and other gifts” to keep betting.
D’Alessandro’s suit accuses DraftKings of accepting stolen money and violations of consumer fraud legislation.
The operator did not comment on the story. However, an anonymous source 😉told the paper “legitimate companies do not knowingly encourage problem gambling.”
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Dutch disease
Take a hike: The proposed gambling tax hike in the Netherlands from 30.5% to 37.8% by 2026 has been cited as the primary reason for the closure of over a quarter of the land-based gaming venues owned by JVH Gaming & Entertainment.
The slot halls market leader will slash the number of outlets from 87 to 64.
JVH CEO Eric Olders said the increase in gambling taxes “only adds” to the rising costs experienced in the last few years. This includes rising rents, energy costs, higher interest rates and increased regulatory burdens.
“This is no longer sustainable for many gambling operators in the Netherlands,” said Olders.
“Unfortunately, this includes a considerable number of our venues.”
He predicted that others in the sector would be “forced to make tough choices” and either restructure or go out of business entirely.
Exit stage left: Indeed, there have been moves elsewhere in the gaming sector to rightsize businesses ahead of the tax rises, which will be implemented in stages over the next two years. Holland Casino recently announced the closure of its Zandvoort venue, for instance.
Meanwhile, in the online arena, there have been a number of high-profile exits, including Flutter Entertainment’s Tombola and LiveScore Bet.
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