Online Safety Act could hold key to enforcement, says new report.
UK Gambling Commission takes Sorare to court on illegal gambling charge.
Australian ministers urged to look at age-restriction tech.
FanDuel says it’s “optimistic” on colab with tribes in California.
Brazilian operators voluntarily dump credit cards ahead of official moves.
Safety catch-all
Tools of the trade: The UK authorities have the opportunity via the Online Safety Act to use the tools needed to crack down on a black market that threatens to make further significant inroads, suggested a new report.
The team at consultancy firm Regulus Partners pointed out credible recent estimates that the UK black market is now generating ~£2.7bn and is “likely to grow.”
But the analysts suggested that if the government and the UK Gambling Commission use the provisions contained within the Online Safety Act legislation, which came into force earlier this year, they could potentially crack down on the existing market and limit further expansion.
Specifically, they recommended illegal gambling offerings are classified as “priority illegal content.”
Preventing black market operators from targeting consumers through social media provides a “competitive advantage” to licensed sites.
At the same time, it “removes a forum for engaged gamblers to seek ‘workarounds’” and “significantly reduces the risk of less engaged gamblers playing on black market sites by accident.”
What counts as illegal content? As set out in the online safety legislation, platforms are required to implement measures to reduce the risks their services are used for illegal offending.
ISPs need to put in place systems for removing illegal content when it does appear.
Search services have new duties to “take steps to reduce the risks users encounter illegal content via their services.”
Heard it on the grapevine: A recent report on the UK black market from Frontier Economics showed the extent to which social and online media contributed to the awareness of illegal offerings.
22% were made aware of a black market option via social media vs. 17% for licensed operators.
Online ads were also a common method of discovery (13%) as well as search engines (10%) and video streaming sites (10%).
Raft of measures: Other measures that Regulus said should be introduced or made more use of include ISP and payments enforcement, enforcement of supply-chain constraints, proper criminal enforcement and the use of a blacklist to help empower consumers.
That’s your slot: White the black market in the UK is already sizable, the Regulus team warned that the upcoming move to a £5 maximum stake limit on slots is due to have an outsized impact on future growth.
It is, the team suggested, a “good example of small volumes with potentially material black market impact.”
In 2017 slots spins over £5 comprised 1.7% of spins and 28% of slots revenue.
Slots represent ~50% of total online gambling expenditure, therefore the restrictions would impact ~14% of total UK revenue.
Social casino apps slapped
Anti-social club The UK’s advertising regulator, the ASA, took aim at paid-for gambling-like ads in a slew of rulings this week following a broad investigation into social casinos.
Several app developers were warned over paid-for TikTok ads featuring social casino games that emulated slot machines, including SpinX Games, Mobee, Dataverse, Huuuge Global, and Zeroo Gravity Games.
The ASA said the ads didn’t do enough to disguise the fact the games were not gambling products, as they only offered in-game rewards and not real money or tangible prizes, and had the potential to mislead.
Each developer was told to ensure their ads did not reappear.
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Sorare court date
See you in court: The blockchain based fantasy sports gaming operator and NFT marketplace Sorare has a court appearance set for next Friday, October 4 in Birmingham on charges of providing unlicensed gambling to UK consumers.
The case is being brought by the Gambling Commission against the France-based Sorare, which has an official partnership deal with the English Premier League.
Take your time: An investigation of Sorare was launched by the Commission three years ago in October 2021. At the time it said it was “carrying out enquiries into the company to establish whether Sorare.com requires an operating license or whether the services it provides do not constitute gambling.”
A statement from Sorare said it was “aware of the claims” made by the Gambling Commission and has instructed UK counsel to challenge them.
“We firmly deny any claims that Sorare is a gambling product under UK laws,” the statement added.
“The Commission has misunderstood our business and wrongly determined that gambling laws apply to Sorare. We cannot comment further whilst legal proceedings are underway.”
Model behavior: Weighing up the case, Stephen Ketteley, partner at law firm Wiggin, said the Sorare model that allows players to pay for NFTs “could engage gambling law if the customer can then use the collectibles as a selection mechanism for a fantasy football product and win money/money’s worth.”
“Put the whole thing together and, I expect the Commission’s argument will be, you have a pay-to-play fantasy football product which requires a license in the UK, unlike in some other places,” he added.
But he added that there are “valid counter arguments that I am sure Sorare will run.”
+More
Both of the candidates running for governor in Missouri, Lt. Gov. Mike Kehoe and Rep. Crystal Quade, have backed the sports-betting ballot initiative.
Underdog is returning to Kansas under a peer-to-peer format called Champions that includes Pick’em and draft contests. Underdog called it quits in Kansas last September after receiving a cease-and-desist letter from the Kansas Racing and Gaming Commission.
BetBlocker has launched a Portuguese version of its blocking software to help expand its outreach to native Portuguese speakers ahead of the launch of Brazil’s regulated market.
The majority of registrants with the UK’s national online gambling self-exclusion service GamStop said it helped them achieve the results they wanted. According to a survey from Ipsos, 78% of registrants reached a desired result from the service and 75% said they felt more in control since registering.
France’s gambling regulator L’Autorité Nationale des Jeux has announced a tie up with UNAF, France’s national union of family associations. The partnership will work to tackle underage gambling.
Golden Matrix Group subsidiary Meridianbet is partnering with US sports integrity experts Compliance 360. The agreement comes as Meridianbet’s Brazilian subsidiary, Meridian Gaming Brasil, targets the Brazilian market.
The owner of social media account Luxurybingods has been fined by the Dutch gambling regulator for organizing bingo games without a license. Investigators from the KSA visited the Harbour Club in Eindhoven in March this year and observed Luxurybingods bingo taking place.
Senior Compliance Manager – Cyprus
Director of Integrity & Compliance – São Paulo
Responsible Gaming Manager – Malta
FanDuel Cali dreams
Californication: FanDuel is optimistic that regulated sports betting will be achieved in California “at some point” via a deal with the tribal gaming interests in the state, according to CEO Amy Howe.
Speaking during parent company Flutter’s investor meeting on Wednesday, Howe said the company had “regrouped” since the ballot effort lost by a large margin in late 2022.
Part of that regrouping includes the appointment in late February this year of ex-National Indian Gaming Commission chair E. Sequoyah Simermeyer as its VP of strategic relations.
The move was widely interpreted as being designed to act as a bridge with the tribal community.
At the investor meeting, Howe said sports betting would happen “with and through the tribes, which is obviously a very different approach than we took in ’22.” But she added that FanDuel was “ not going to try to put a date on that”, whether it's 2026 or 2028.
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Oz ad ban developments
What about this one: An 11th hour lobbying push by industry figures is trying to persuade the Australian government to consider strengthening age verification measures on websites rather than introducing a total ban on online advertising.
The Guardian reported sources pushing for similar technology limits as have been imposed on social media, combined with frequency caps for online ads.
Recall, the Labor government is apparently readying a full online ad ban, an embargo during children’s programming, during live sports broadcasts and an hour either side and with some limits in general TV programming.
However, player harm reform advocates say the proposals are “inadequate” and they believe the government will delay action until after the finals of two of the country’s most popular sporting codes, the AFL and NRL.
Alba and Costello: That proposal has been described as “manifestly inadequate” by harm reduction advocates, including Alliance for Gambling Reform boss Tim Costello, who said he was worried the Albanese government would “squib” what he called a once-in-a-lifetime chance to reform the sector.
“They continue to fail to explain why we’ve got the greatest gambling losses in the world, but keep fiddling at the edges to keep the sporting codes and media outlets onside,” he said.
Card surrender
Card declined: Ahead of the proposed official ban on the use of credit cards in the regulated markets space, the Brazilian Institute of Responsible Gaming has announced that its members have made the decision to voluntarily cease allowing deposits via credit card.
IBJR members make up ~70% of the current market in Brazil.
Announcing the move on LinkedIn, the IBJR said the move was made in conjunction with the Ministry of Finance and was in line with its focus on promoting safer gambling practices.
It added that credit cards accounted for 0.5% of deposits made by customers.
The IBJR said its members were “entirely willing to contribute solutions that address both the government’s concerns and society’s demands.”
It said it was meeting with various ministries to discuss measures necessary to “mitigate the possible adverse effects of gaming and betting activity.”
“Our goal is to ensure that the sector is regulated in a fair and balanced manner, ensuring consumer protection and market integrity, without compromising its development,” it added.
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Events calendar
Event highlight: GGL co-chair Ronald Benter will be the headline speaker at the 2024 Gaming in Germany Conference on Tuesday, November 5, 2024, at the five-star Hotel Adlon Kempinski in Berlin. In addition to the main stage program, the event will feature several highly practical breakout sessions on topics such as KYC, AML, limit increase and marketing compliance.
Oct 7-10: G2E, Las Vegas
Nov 5: Gaming in Germany, Berlin
Dec 2-4: Thai Entertainment Complex Summit, Bangkok
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