Europe/Middle East/Africa
May 1, 2009
GERMAN COURT UPHOLDS BETTING MONOPOLY
In a blow to the EU’s online free-marketeers, Germany’s Oddset sports-betting
monopoly was upheld in an interim ruling by the country’s Federal
Constitutional Court.
The court rejected
the request of a betting shop operator for an emergency ruling, saying a
“preliminary” assessment doesn’t indicate the monopoly is unconstitutional. The
plaintiff had asked to be allowed to accept bets while a lawsuit against the
monopoly restrictions is pending in a lower court. The state of Lower Saxony ordered him in 2005 to stop taking bets
offered by a Malta-based gambling company.
“The new
sports-betting rules have mended the deficits of the old monopoly,” the court
declared, adding that the monopoly is constructed in a “consistent manner both
in terms of law and fact to prevent gambling addiction.”
The impact of the
ruling — typical of the conflicting and sometimes contradictory rulings issued
by national courts in the ongoing battle between protectionist governments and
pro-market advocates and their supporters in the European Commission — was uncertain.
The same court in 2006 struck down the old monopoly, saying the rules were
inconsistent. Germany’s
16 states then agreed on a new interstate treaty that restored the monopoly and
banned foreign sites at the beginning of 2008.
A decision in the Lower Saxony suit was still pending last month in the
country’s Federal Administrative Court.
SIX FOOTBALLERS CHARGED IN UK BETTING SCANDAL
An
investigation in Britain
has led to charges against five football players who allegedly bet thousands of
pounds on matches involving their teams.
The Football
Association, the sport’s governing body, had not brought match-fixing charges
against the League Two players, but they could face lengthy suspensions and
possibly lifetime bans if they are found guilty, according to a report in The
Independent.
Five players were
charged in connection with the 2007-08 season-ending match between Accrington and Bury. Four of the Accrington
players allegedly bet on their club to lose. A Bury player allegedly bet on his
club to win, which it did, 2-0.
The FA was alerted
after bookmakers in the northwest reported unusual betting patterns leading up
to the match, with higher than usual amounts being staked in particular areas
of the country.
Two of the players
also face charges in connection with other matches.
A sixth player, who
was on Accrington’s roster at the time of the
Bury game, was charged with failure to provide the FA with information
requested during the investigation.
INTRALOT FLOURISHES IN ’08: REVENUES TOP €1 BILLION
Intralot
reported adjusted pre-tax earnings of €218.5 million
for 2008 on a 28.9 percent increase in revenues to €1.07 billion.
Revenues for the parent company of the Greece-based
lottery giant were up 12.5 percent to €198.1
million, resulting in €27.7 million in
EBITDA.
The company said its
board of directors would propose a dividend at the annual meeting this month of
€0.22 per share, double the interim dividend paid
in late 2008.
“In this very tough
environment Intralot managed to grow its top line, which was due to the
investments the company has made in the previous years and the promising
prospects of the gaming industry in general,” said CEO Constantinos
Antonopoulos. “We believe that this crisis will create new opportunities in the
gaming industry as governments are looking for ways to fund their budget
deficits and to contract illegal gaming.”
The company had €305.4 million in cash at the end of the year.
Long- and short-term debt totaled €507.2 million.
POKER IN PORTUGAL GETS BIG TV BOOST
The Poker Channel has sealed new distribution
agreements in Portugal
with MEO and the largest digital cable network operator in the country,
ZON.
Broadcasts will be
available 24 hours a day to subscribers of both networks and will include: a
“how-to” called Cash Game Master Class, the high-stakes Pokerheaven European
Cash Game with featured professionals including World Series of Poker winner
Peter Eastgate and action from the WSOP and the World Poker Tour.
Earlier this year The Poker Channel expanded
into Eastern Europe, launching in Poland with the Vectra Group. It is
now available in 18 European markets and claims almost 1 million unique viewers
per month across the continent.
FRENCH PORTAL LAUNCHES IN BRITAIN WITH ÉLAN
One of France’s
leading casino and hotel operators is rolling out a massive advertising and
marketing campaign in the UK
to promote its new online gambling portal.
Lucien Barrière’s elegant Deauville
casino is the model for the three-dimensional Web offering, LeCroupier.com,
which allows players to adopt virtual characters for themselves from avatars
available in the site’s “Dressing Room” before trying their luck at table games
and slots designed as replicas of those on offer at the famed resort on the English Channel.
According to a report in iGaming Business, Lucien
Barrière has budgeted a seven-figure sum to promote the site in the UK and has
hired Skywrite Communications to head up the effort, which includes print,
outdoor and online media.
The print campaign has targeted The Metro, a
free newspaper distributed on public transportation routes, and Esquire, GQ, OK
and Heat, among others. Outdoor advertising was scheduled to begin last month
at major train stations such as London
Victoria, Birmingham New Street and Glasgow
Central.
PARTNERSHIP DISSOLVED BUT CASINO PLAN STILL A GO AT LONDON’S HIPPODROME
The
father-and-son team of Simon and Jerry Thomas have bought out their partners in
a US$21.8 million scheme to convert central London’s historic Hippodrome into a
casino.
Gaming Industry Media, citing a story in Property Week,
said the Thomases bought out United Leisure Gaming Ltd. for an undisclosed sum
and are determined to complete the casino.
“Having successfully
developed the project to this stage as part of a consortium, and achieved all
the necessary permits and licenses, my father and I decided that we would like
to see through the redevelopment as the sole operator and launch what is
destined to become one of Europe’s top entertainment venues,” said Simon
Thomas, who formerly owned Beacon Bingo.
The Grade II-listed
building, located on Leicester
Square, will contain slot machines, table games, a
poker room, a bar and a restaurant that will carry the brand of celebrity chef
Gordon Ramsay. Construction is scheduled to begin this summer, coinciding with
the planned launch of a Hippodrome online casino. The land-based casino is
expected to open its doors early in 2011.
The Hippodrome dates
back to 1900 and originally housed circus and variety acts. In its many incarnations
since, it has been a music hall, a cabaret-style restaurant and a nightclub.
Currently, it is rented for corporate events.
Did you enjoy this article? Click here to subscribe to the magazine.
