Gathering steam
Anti-sweeps move has the momentum in New York
Expressway: Rapid-fire sweepstakes ban accelerates in New York.
In +More: Denmark sees uptick in black market prosecutions.
New Zealand: TAB bid for iCasino license rejected by government.
Stats your lot: UKGC accused of go-slow on stats misuse.
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Expressway
Life in the fast lane: New York, sluggish with most other gambling matters, is racing to ban online sweepstakes. The Senate Racing, Gaming and Wagering Committee passed SB 5935 on Tuesday, sending it to the Senate floor for a final vote with nary a peep.
Introduced by Sen. Joseph Addabbo, the proposals take aim at free-to-play online sweepstakes that simulate casino gaming, including poker, slots and sports betting.
Penalties range from $10,000 to $100,000 per violation, with potential loss of licensing.
In the line of fire: Financial institutions, payment processors, geolocation providers and others in the sweepstakes support ecosystem also face punishment if found to be enabling operators.
Enforcement falls to the Gaming Commission, state police and the Attorney General’s office.
Same old song: Addabbo said the nascent sector evades consumer protection laws, responsible gaming measures and anti-money laundering rules.
A companion bill from New York Assemblymember Carrie Woerner is also in the works with the same aims.
Despite the Empire State’s estimated $2bn+ sports-betting market, online casino gaming remains illegal and legislators are doing little to change that.
Other states advancing bans on social sweeps include Maryland, Connecticut, Florida, Mississippi, New Jersey and Nevada (see ‘State by state’ below).
There’s no need for speed: The Social and Promotional Games Association (SPGA) wasted no time in blasting the move as “rushed” and “misguided,” with potential for economic fallout.
“This bill mischaracterizes sweepstakes and threatens legitimate businesses with harmful regulation,” the SPGA said.
“By attacking this widely accepted business model, the bill jeopardizes businesses operating within clear legal boundaries.”
Unsafe harbor: The group warned that criminalizing innovation sends a chilling message to tech entrepreneurs and could damage New York’s standing as a harbor for innovation.
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+More
Australia’s Victoria Parliament is to debate mandated carded play across all casinos and gaming venues. A trial will begin at 40 venues, with a full rollout to 26,000 pub and club machines by 2027.
Stricter money laundering enforcement at licensed casinos in Sydney is driving a rise in illegal gaming operations, according to a report cited by Inside Asian Gaming.
The Danish Gambling Authority’s annual report on the country’s black market is out. The regulator said it blocked 162 websites last year, more than 100 up on the total from 2023. However, it added that the uptick was down to its broader mandate rather than a sign underground operators were winning the fight.
State by state
Another sports-betting bill has been filed in the Minnesota House, joining sister legislation in the Senate, which stalled last month. The bill proposes a 22% tax on online sports-betting revenue, with all 11 state tribes eligible to offer wagering. A portion of tax revenue would support charitable gaming and horseracing.
Nevada is gearing to toughen penalties for illegal online gambling with a new bill, SB 256, which targets offshore sites and sweepstakes casinos. The bill, discussed in the Senate Judiciary Committee, would expand enforcement powers to prosecute operators outside the Silver State.
Texas: The $83.5m prize from a winning lottery ticket purchased via DraftKings’ lottery courier service is to be withheld until the investigation on the part of the authorities is completed. The Texas Rangers were ordered to investigate the win by Gov. Greg Abbot. The state’s lottery commission subsequently banned lottery courier services.
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Rejected
TAB in the back: The New Zealand government has refused to budge on the current laws that forbid the country’s TAB from being able to offer iCasino.
Documents obtained by Radio New Zealand (RNZ) suggested the government has also rejected a NZ$150m ($86.6m) offer from the TAB to allow it to participate in the free market.
The New Zealand government announced a liberalization of the iCasino market last year and plans to issue up to 15 licenses.
Not happening: Talking to the station, Internal Affairs minister Brooke van Velden said in response to the TAB offer “not under my watch.”
Van Velden added that she doesn’t believe the government “should be involved in casino gambling.”
"I look at the government trying to address the core services that people need in their lives and providing an online service for casino games is not what I think the government should be involved in."
Racing minister Winston Peters also reiterated the government stance, saying to RNZ that he had “received correspondence” regarding the TAB’s proposal, but he would not change the law to allow the TAB to run an online casino.
“Casino products are fundamentally different to wagering products and the minister has advised TAB NZ of his expectation that it retains its focus on sports and racing,” he told the station.
At a loss: The news will come as a further blow to Entain, which in June 2023 signed a 25-year services agreement with TAB NZ.
That deal saw Entain assume responsibilities for the TAB NZ wagering and trackside media businesses. It also receives a service fee for TAB’s retail operations.
However, the correspondence seen by RNZ suggested the TAB is losing money on the deal, saying in an email to Van Velden that it was hemorrhaging $200m a year to overseas operators.
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Inaction stations
Stats enough: The UK Gambling Commission has “stopped taking action” to discourage the misuse of statistics, according to recent disclosures made under a Freedom of Information Act submitted by Regulus Partners.
Between December 16 last year and February 14 this year, the UK’s gambling regulator wrote to just two bodies – The Daily Telegraph and trade publication Coinslot – to ask for articles to be corrected.
This is despite receiving notification of at least 18 instances of misuse by media organisations, campaign groups and politicians in that period, said the Regulus team.
Lack of commitment: Recall, the Gambling Commission had previously committed to taking action against organisations misusing official statistics as part of its attempt to assuage concerns about the publication of its own controversial Gambling Survey for Great Britain (GSGB).
According to analysis by Regulus Partners, the Commission has been advised of more than 60 instances of misuse since the release of the GSGB.
But, said Regulus, it appears to have taken no action in around two-thirds of cases.
“Where the regulator has sent corrective emails, they have been ignored by all but a handful of recipients,” the team said in a note to clients.
“The suggestion that the Commission has effectively stopped challenging misuse is damaging to public trust for two reasons,” said Regulus’ Dan Waugh.
“First, it suggests that the Commission considers it acceptable to break its promises (it also reneged on a commitment to only proceed with the GSGB if it could successfully address issues of sample bias).”
“Second, it reveals an absence of consistency or impartiality in how it deals with misuse – writing to The Telegraph but not to The Times or the BBC; admonishing gambling trade media but failing to take action against a single parliamentarian.”
Waste of energy: Waugh pointed out the Commission appears to have “expended more energy” on attempting to discourage use of the old gold standard of NHS stats in favor of its more contentious GSGB figures.
“One of the Gambling Commission’s stated objectives in embarking on the GSGB was to improve trust in official statistics,” he added.
Instead, he said, the project has been “characterised by broken promises, the suppression of evidence, repeated criticism of the NHS and half-hearted efforts to prevent misuse.”
“If the Commission wants to rebuild trust, it needs to learn to keep its promises,” he added.
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