Missouri and Texas strike out
No-gos in Missouri and Texas, Dutch/Australia ad views, UK White Paper perspective, Singapore bust-up +More
Good morning. On today’s agenda:
It appears to be no-go for sports betting in Missouri and Texas.
Ex-Holland Casino CEO lashes out at Dutch ad ban.
Australian PM schtum on ad ban.
Singapore: Billionaire Peter Lim’s ex-son-in-law banged up.
A UK White Paper perspective from Wiggin.
I can’t go for that (no can do).
NoSB
Sports betting ist kaput: OSB efforts in two key US states have hit roadblocks.
Strike one: In Missouri, the legislature has adjourned with sports-betting legislation once again stalled in the Senate. The issue is unrelated to sports betting, as a bloc of Missouri senators have decided the only way for sports betting to come to Missouri is if it’s done in conjunction with VLTs (video lottery terminals).
Strike two: In Texas, the House passed a bill that would put OSB on the 2023 ballot, but Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick has already declared the effort dead in the Senate.
Meanwhile, the resort casino push also fell short after State Rep. Charlie Geren of Fort Worth gave up on his efforts to bring a vote to the House floor.
Chris Grove, principal at Acies Investments, made the point on social media that the progress made this year in Texas “still matters, even if this (predictable) outcome isn’t what many had hoped for”.
Minnesota on the ropes: Minnesota was seen as a near-lock to legalize sports betting this year. But once again, a small group of lawmakers are holding up the process as they try to bring the state’s two commercial racetracks into the sports-betting fold.
Off the beaten tracks: A new amendment would provide the tracks with a stipend of 3% of the state tax revenue from sports betting, capped at $20m. Once the cap is reached, the two tracks would split equally $3m annually.
The problem is neither the tribes nor the tracks are in favor of the amendment.
The tribes oppose bringing the tracks into the fold, even if it’s a stipend from the state’s share of sports-betting tax revenue.
Canterbury Park doesn’t feel a 50/50 split with Running Aces is appropriate.
Running Aces wants retail betting.
The state has two weeks to work things out.
Help me North Carolina, you’re my only hope: The industry is hoping it’s three steps backward and one step forward, as North Carolina is still in the mix to expand into OSB. The state already offers retail betting.
The House, where sports betting fell short last year, passed a sports-betting bill in March.
The Senate passed a sports-betting bill last year but hasn’t shown any urgency regarding this year’s effort already passed by the House.
Earlier this year, Senate leader Phil Berger stated his belief the bill would pass, “This is something I believe has the support of the majority of both chambers. It is something the public overall supports.”
Negatively, the North Carolina Senate’s proposed budget is bereft of gambling provisions. North Carolina’s legislative session runs through to at least end-August, so sports betting could drag through the summer and into the fall.
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Betsson’s Finnish fine
Betsson has fallen foul of the authorities in Finland with an illegal gambling ad.
I feel fine: This morning, Tuesday, the Finnish National Police Board handed down a €2.4m fine and a prohibition order to Betsson for illegal gambling advertisement. Legal Gaming Attorneys suggested the move was “significant” as it marked the first time that the National Police Board has issued a prohibition order and conditional fine against an MGA licensed operator.
They also pointed out the conditional fine surpasses the previous record penalty of €800k.
“This decision has been long awaited and it seems likely that another major operator may soon face a similar, if not larger, fine.”
Dutch outburst
The impending Netherlands ad ban is stirring up more bad feeling, with the former CEO of Holland Casino the latest to weigh in on political overreach,
Get out of the way: Erwin van Lambaart, general director of Casinos Austria and former boss of the Dutch state-owned monopoly, warned against government interference in a wide-ranging interview with Meneer Casino.
The Dutch Ministry of Justice has published a regulation banning untargeted advertising for online games of chance that will come into effect on July 1.
It came following a public backlash over the number of advertisements for online gambling and betting that have appeared since legalization in October 2021.
“I would oppose the new advertising restrictions that are currently being implemented in the Netherlands,” said van Lambaart.
“This only pushes people toward illegal operators. Young adults in particular know their way around on the internet better than anyone else. They will always manage to find some kind of attractive bonus offer.”
The ban covers all advertisements in newspapers, magazines, television, radio and public spaces, such as on billboards. Other forms of untargeted advertising activities, with or without the help of third parties, are also banned.
Player haters: In his view, general deposit limits “are unwise”, and safeguards should be applied on an individual basis. “Not every player is the same and things almost always go wrong when you operate on the principle of one size fits all,” he said.
“People will find a way around such general rules and regulations.”
“I think that in the Netherlands, people are acting too drastically and emotionally when it comes to regulations. I think that the Dutch Parliament, at times, wants to micromanage too much, even when it comes to these issues, driven by emotions.”
Private investigations: Van Lambaart was also asked for his thoughts on taking Holland Casino or Nederlandse Loterij private.
Allwyn, the majority stakeholder in Casinos Austria, would be a suitable candidate as “an extremely reliable and professional company”, he said.
The Dutch Lower House will debate the future of current state holdings on June 1, with the mooted privatization of Nederlandse Loterij and Holland Casino on the agenda.
Australia ad ban silence
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese finds gambling ads during sporting events “annoying” but wouldn’t commit to a ban during a recent interview.
It’s a family affair: A blackout has been floated by the opposition, who said “footy time is family time”, as a probe into the matter continues. Opposition leader Peter Dutton used his recent Budget reply speech to call for a ban on sports-betting advertising during broadcasts and for an hour each side of a sporting game.
He was backed by the Greens and independents in a statement that the “bombardment” of gaming advertisements took the “joy” out of televised sports.
“I don’t want to pre-empt the review which is under way. But on a personal level, I find them annoying,” Albanese told Guardian Australia.
Australian analysts believe some form of restriction is inevitable given the level of backlash.
Industry lobbying has been fierce, however, and commercial television reps have said broadcasters could lose hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue.
High horse: Albanese retorted that Dutton’s words were surprising given the Coalition “did nothing for nine years on any of those issues”.
“We’ve been in government for a year and we’ve got a review… that we initiated after we’ve already changed the advertising guidelines and strengthened them regarding any advertising for gambling,” Albanese said.
Recently, the government banned credit cards for online wagering and has capped gambling-like activity in video games.
Singaporean fracas
One of billionaire Peter Lim’s former sons-in-law has been jailed for two years and 10 months for involvement in an illegal gambling syndicate.
One bad apple: Kho Bin Kai, the ex-husband of socialite Kim Lim, Peter's daughter, was also fined S$40,000 ($30,000) after pleading guilty to three charges under Singapore’s Remote Gambling Act.
The case has attracted attention in Asia due to Kho’s high-profile family connections.
Lim is a distinguished businessman across various industries, owns Spanish La Liga club Valencia and has stakes in iconic F1 carmaker McLaren.
Daughter Kim Lim is a well-known socialite and entrepreneur, and her high-profile wedding to Kho was covered widely in 2016.
The couple divorced in 2020 after Kho’s criminal activity came to light, when it emerged he became involved in an illegal gambling syndicate the year the pair married.
Bin caught scheming: Kho, a 32-year-old Singaporean, became an illegal football betting agent in 2012 and it went downhill from there.
In 2016, he joined the illegal online business of a Malaysian known as ‘Ah Leong’ and ran several black market sites, skimming off a 10% commission.
He also took 90% of the centralized pot for all tickets on an outlawed website.
The court heard he later took on other master agent accounts for illegal gambling sites and used the money to buy luxury items including a diamond-encrusted Rolex.
He was first arrested in July 2019 during a police sting that took down multiple offshore sites.
UK White Paper viewpoint
Following the UK government’s Gambling Act review, the team at Wiggin suggests that it remains to be seen whether the “incessant” drumbeats of opposition to gambling will subside.
Crowd pleaser: Reviewing what was said by the White Paper, the betting and gaming team at UK legal firm Wiggin said that some of the proposals contained within it, notably what it had to say about affordability measures, will “sate to a material degree” the collection of journalists, lobbyists and social media activists ”styled by some in the industry as the ‘anti-gambling lobby’”.
But they added that the industry should welcome the fact that “some of these initiatives” will help the sector move away from a “period of media attacks and regulatory uncertainty to one of clarity of regulatory expectation and long-term sustainability”.
They noted that the financial risk checks proposed entail a “lighter touch” than what was being proposed by campaigners.
While financial vulnerability checks are among the proposals, the Wiggin team suggested the government has “backed away” from the more intrusive checks on the financial circumstances of the “ordinary punter”.
Trust the process: The team also pointed out how the process around the White Paper gave an insight into how regulatory change will be implemented from this point. “Much has been made of the purported lack of powers that the Commission has in regulating the industry,” they added.
“It has now become clear that the 2005 Act does, in fact, bestow upon the Commission significant powers to effect regulatory change of its own volition, quite apart from the further, extensive powers delegated to ministers and exercisable by statutory instrument,” they said.
“The changes called for in the White Paper are stated as generally requiring secondary legislative change or to be brought in via ‘Commission powers’.”
Boy in da corner: The hope, suggested the Wiggin team, is that by virtue of the DCMS setting out its stall in such a manner, the Commission will “cease to feel backed into a corner and pro-actively re-engage on a collaborative basis with those that it regulates on the back of the Government mandate”.
“We have already witnessed a recent change in tone from Commission officials in our role as advisors to the industry, which should be welcomed,” they added.
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Career paths
Entain: Robert Hoskin is stepping down as chief governance officer, with his role subsumed by Simon Zinger, general counsel of the group, which counts Ladbrokes, BetMGM and PartyPoker in its stable.
The firm said it is shuffling certain responsibilities, in particular regulatory affairs given its “focus on regulated or regulating markets”.
Originally company secretary and group director of legal, regulatory and secretariat, Hoskin was promoted to chief governance officer in October 2020 and joined the board in 2021.
Sports integrity notebook
Lower league: The English FA has charged a League One player of recently relegated Accrington Stanley with breaching its betting rules. Mitch Clark is accused of placing 312 bets on matches between 8 February 2022 and 10 March 2023.
This is in breach of FA rules on betting, which bans any player, match official and coach from level eight and upwards in the English football pyramid from placing bets on any games.
The FA charged Clark with misconduct, giving the defender until 17 May to issue a response.
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