Checked out
Evidence mounts that UK affordability checks are fuelling black market
Racing Post survey puts the spotlight on ‘gaslighting’ Gambling Commission.
Breaking: Aspire Global hit with £1.4m UKGC regulatory settlement.
In +More: Thailand nixes locals earnings requirement in casinos plan.
Florida tightens online gambling restrictions.
State-by-state: Georgia sports-betting bill shot down in committee.
The UK: Minister confirms levy, slot limits start dates.
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Going elsewhere
A better offer: Claims that affordability checks are driving bettors to black market bookmakers appear to have been boosted by the publication of a survey of horseracing bettors by the Racing Post.
The survey of nearly 10,000 of the racing trade paper’s readers found the percentage of respondents that had used a black market bookmaker had increased from 3.6% to 4.9% over the last two years.
The percentage of those who had done so as the result of affordability checks increased to 63.6% from 50.8%.
Perverse result: The results of the survey back up what the British Horseracing Authority’s director of racing Richard Wayman said recently: namely, that affordability checks were leading people to “stopping betting or placing their bets with unlicensed operators where such checks don’t take place.”
Wayman’s comments were made in the light of a BHA report that revealed betting turnover has declined by 16.5% between 2022 and 2024.
Although that decline has been attributed to various factors, the Racing Post survey squarely lands on affordability checks as being the significant factor.
The survey also said nearly 30% of respondents claimed their betting on racing had declined in the last six months.
The ratchet: Worryingly for the finances of the sport, it was the bettors who staked the most that were asked most often for financial information by operators, with around 20% of those whose average stake was £10 asked compared to over half who staked an average £100.
Finger of suspicion: Dan Waugh of gambling industry consultancy Regulus Partners said the Gambling Commission needed to take some responsibility for the increasing use of unlicensed operators.
He accused the gambling regulator of “gaslighting” licensed bookmakers by suggesting that anyone who spends over the average on gambling should be subject to affordability checks but not explicitly stating what the average actually is.
“It places operators in an invidious situation,” adding that it displayed an “indifference to the consequences of its actions.”
The skew: Waugh pointed out the sport’s finances were “skewed towards relying on high-staking punters and were therefore vulnerable to that cohort migrating to unregulated layers.”
Those high-stakes punters will be out in force next week at the Cheltenham Festival.
The sport will be keeping its fingers crossed they will be conducting their activity with licensed operators and not deciding to forgo affordability checks and use the black market.
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Aspire’s UK missteps
Nothing to aspire to: The Aristocrat-owned Aspire Global has been found by the UK Gambling Commission to have committed responsible gambling and AML failures, and will pay £1.4m to good causes as part of a regulatory settlement.
This is the second time AG Communications, the Aspire-owned operating unit that operates 58 websites in the UK, has faced a regulatory sanction after it paid £237k as part of a settlement in 2022.
John Pierce, Commission director of enforcement, said: AG’s “failure to uphold anti-money laundering standards, delays in necessary interventions and deficiencies in social responsibility measures are wholly unacceptable.”
Among the social responsibility failures, AG was found to not have had effective systems in place to prevent customers spending “significant amounts of money in a short period of time” before any assessment was made.
Specifically, the Commission said AG failed to conduct a safer gambling interaction despite one customer losing £6,000 in 48 hours.
Another customer was able to deposit and lose £7,000 in just over four hours in the early hours.
Anti-money laundering failures included not conducting Enhanced Customer Due Diligence checks when customers hit a medium, medium/high or high AML risk score.
One customer who reached the financial threshold did not have an ECDD review conducted until a week later
Grave: “Today’s outcome underscores the gravity of these breaches,” said Pierce. “This case stands as a clear warning to all operators that repeated regulatory failings will result in increasingly stringent enforcement action.”
Corporate history: Recall, Aspire Global was bought by NeoGames in 2022 before NeoGames was itself snapped up by Aristocrat in a deal completed in April last year.
+More
Thailand: The casino bill is not now expected to include stipulations regarding affordability checks and earnings limits for locals, according to the Bangkok Post. The report suggested the provision requiring Thai locals to have assets of THB50m ($1.5m) for a certain period of time to be allowed to gamble in casinos in the country is likely to be removed. Online gaming and live streaming at the casinos will also be prohibited under the bill, with the intention of stamping out proxy gambling.
Hare today: UK culture minister Lisa Nandy said the government had “absolutely no plans” to extend a greyhound racing ban announced in Wales to the rest of the country. Recall, last week the Welsh devolved government’s Labour deputy first minister Huw Irranca-Davies announced a ban, pointing to a 35,000 signature petition on the issue. But Nandy subsequently told MPs she appreciates the “joy” greyhound racing brings and its “economic contribution”.
DraftKings has agreed to a settlement to the class action related to its short-lived NFT venture, which was shuttered last summer due to uncertainty over the status of the format at the SEC. The $10m settlement, if approved, would end the suit, which was filed in 2023 and argued its Marketplace and Reignmakers offerings were indeed NFTs.
BetMGM and parent MGM Resorts are expanding their responsible gambling initiatives with a donation of $180,000 to the Kindbridge Research Institute to support studies on sports-betting impact and the expansion of its Behavioral Health referral program. The operators will also be enhancing their RG information via integrating GameSense messaging.
Florida bills
Word up: Florida lawmakers have introduced two new bills that would tighten the state’s gambling restrictions, with implications for sweepstakes casinos, online gaming and live poker operations. HB 953 (Rep. Webster Barnaby) and SB 1404 (Sen. Corey Simon) propose broadening Florida’s definition of internet wagering.
The bills redefine “internet gambling” to include any online game awarding money or prizes by chance, even if skill is a factor.
Clean sweep: The result would outlaw sweepstakes casinos and gray market sports betting while reinforcing the Seminole Tribe’s gaming exclusivity in the Sunshine State.
Individuals caught gambling on unauthorized sites could face misdemeanor charges, while operators, suppliers and payment processors could be subject to felony penalties.
Earlier this year, legal experts noted how an ongoing civil case in Florida highlighted gaps in the state’s legislation surrounding sweepstakes, and how lobbying was almost certainly going ahead to update the rulebook.
Shut up and take my money: The Social and Promotional Games Association (SPGA) has strongly opposed the proposals, arguing they overreach and mischaracterize sweepstakes gaming.
The group warned the laws could impact major companies that use sweepstakes in marketing and also cost the state lost tax revenue at a time it is staring at a projected budget deficit of around $7bn.
Just criminal: Calling the proposals “misguided,” the SPGA said they threatened “significant unintended consequences” that could make criminals out of major companies that regularly use sweepstakes promotions, such as Coinbase and Starbucks.
The lobby group added this would also impact thousands of small businesses that rely on sweepstakes and similar marketing tools to “survive and thrive.”
The SPGA is urging lawmakers to engage with industry stakeholders “before advancing legislation that would harm” legal business practices.
State-by-state
Half steppin’: One of Georgia’s sports-betting bills, SR 131, is dead after a state Senate committee voted it down 9-2. Unfortunately for the other bill SB 208 – which wouldn’t require a constitutional amendment – it has to go before the same panel.
Where my homies at: South Carolina’s online sports betting hopes are circling the drain as pre-filed bills HB 3625 and HJR 3353 have yet to receive committee hearings. Gov. Henry McMaster remains opposed to gaming expansion, and industry watchers believe there is no chance of movement this year.
Who put a quarter in: New Jersey Sen. John McKeon has backed Gov. Phil Murphy’s plan to hike online sports-betting and iCasino taxes to 25%, arguing operators don’t pay their “fair share.”
Spoiling: Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt has vowed to veto any bill granting tribes a monopoly on sports betting, pushing instead for a broader free-market approach.
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UK confirmation
Setting the date: The UK minister with responsibility for gambling has confirmed the date for the launch of the UK’s statutory gambling levy on April 6 and also stated the new £5 limit on online slot play will come into force three days later.
Baroness Fiona Twycross announced the dates during a speech at the Betting and Gaming Council AGM last week.
The new tax is set at between 0.1% and 1.1% depending on the GGR of the operator and what form of gambling it offers.
A pat on the back: In announcing the date for the launch of the new levy, Twycross acknowledged the work of the sector previously with its voluntary efforts and said she welcomed the BGC’s commitment to maintaining these efforts during the transition period.
Twycross noted the government was “working at pace” with the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities, NHS England, UK Research and Innovation, and with partners in Scotland and Wales, to “build robust foundations for the future system.”
“It is crucial we put the right commissioning, accountability and governance arrangements in place,” she told the BGC audience.
On the new slots limits, Twycross noted that while the £5 per spin maximum for adults would come into force in early April, the new £2 upper limit regime for under-25s wouldn’t be up and running until May 21.
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Mar 12-13: Next: NYC 25, RG Hub, New York
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