EUROPE
July 1, 2010
HOLLAND’S DE LOTTO SURVIVES CHALLENGES IN EU’S HIGH COURT
In a blow to
Europe’s online gambling operators, the EU’s highest court has upheld Dutch
laws that restrict foreign competition on the Internet.
The European Court of Justice, turning to its
landmark ruling in the 2003 Gambelli case, found against UK-based operators
Ladbrokes and Betfair, stating that while Holland’s restrictions do, on their
face, hamper the right of EU-based companies to cross borders to do business in
other Member States, they are justified if they prevent fraud and crime and
protect citizens from gambling addiction.
The court decided, also in line with Gambelli, to leave it to the
Dutch courts to ensure the country’s state-sponsored gambling monopolies uphold
those aims and that gambling licenses are awarded fairly and transparently.
Holland permits lottery and sports betting but only through De
Lotto, a non-profit that uses the income to promote sports, health and culture
in the country.
The case against Ladbrokes arose when De Lotto complained that
Ladbrokes was offering gambling over the Internet to Dutch citizens in
violation of the law.
In a related case heard simultaneously, betting exchange giant
Betfair complained that the Dutch ban on Internet gambling violated its right
to provide its services anywhere in the EU.
PIECES OF OCTAVIAN MOVE OVER TO AGI
Austrian Gaming
Industries, the international subsidiary of the Novomatic Group of Companies,
has purchased various assets of Octavian International, the UK-based games and
systems provider that went into administration in May.
AGI is adding the assets, acquired from the
administrator, KPMG, to what the company describes as other “core intellectual
properties” previously ascribed to AGI.
No purchase prices were disclosed.
“Many AGI customers
were also Octavian customers, and it is to safeguard their requirements and to
exceed their expectations that we have taken the decision to acquire these
assets and intellectual properties,” said AGI Managing Director Jens Halle. “By
extending our focus to now include system solutions we further enhance our core
business.”
AMERICANS BULLISH ON MEGA-CASINOS; LOCALS SKEPTICAL
Not everyone in an
economically hard-pressed region bordered by Slovakia, Hungary and Austria
think the development of a couple of multibillion-dollar Las Vegas-style
casinos is a good idea.
According to opponents, residents in and around the Slovak capital
of Bratislava recently gathered 110,000 signatures to force a debate in the
national parliament over plans by U.S.-based casino giant Harrah’s
Entertainment to build a €1.5 billion (US$1.85 billion) casino with a hotel, entertainment
facilities, shopping and convention and meeting facilities.
The resort would stand about 20 kilometers on
the Bratislava-Budapest highway from U.S.-based Hard Rock International’s
proposed €5 billion EuroVegas gambling and leisure
complex in Hungary.
“It will be a huge catastrophe,” one resident told
Bloomberg.
“A mega-casino doesn’t have a place in
Europe,” said Viera Kimerlingova, deputy mayor of Bratislava’s Petrzalka
district, which lies along the southern edge of the city and is one of the
capital’s poorest neighborhoods.
Others say the massive investments would be good for the
region. Eastern Europe’s economic output lags behind the European Union
average, and governments there are eager to promote tourism, jobs and investment to
help mitigate the worst economic climate since
the Iron Curtain came down 20 years ago.
Gabor Zaszlos, head of the Slovak unit of TriGranit Development
Corp., the developer for Harrah’s, said he hopes local government opposition
will wane.
“We are not giving up on this,” he said. “This is all about nerves
and endurance.”
The Americans, looking abroad to overcome a two-year slump in
consumer spending at home, remain hopeful.
“You just have to look at Eastern Europe,” said Jan Jones, senior
vice president for government relations at Harrah’s. “It has hundreds of
millions of people, but little gambling product. Their casinos are small, so we
have an opportunity.”
ALLIANCE AIDS FIFA IN BATTLE AGAINST CROOKED GAMBLING
The
European Sports Security Association has renewed a cooperation agreement with
Early Warning System, a subsidiary of international football authority FIFA, to
support the monitoring of betting activities related to the World Cup and other
FIFA tournaments.
The mission is to bolster FIFA’s efforts to identify attempted
match-fixing by linking up ESSA’s Early Warning System — a platform launched in
2005 to monitor, report and track suspicious betting activity both online and
off — with FIFA’s own Early Warning System GmbH.
FIFA implemented its system at the 2006 World Cup in Germany and
“has made great strides in preventing criminal elements from being able to
alter the outcome of football matches,” said Wolfgang Feldner, FIFA’s head of
strategy.
He added, “With its excellent reputation for monitoring betting
activity across a whole range of sports, we view our partnership with ESSA as
an important element in making sure we maintain this outstanding record.”
SCIGAMES IN NORWAY WITH NEW CONTRACT
U.S.-based
Scientific Games Corp. has been awarded a contract to provide a central system
for pari-mutuel and odds-based numbers games for Norway’s state-owned lottery
operator, Norsk Tipping.
Scientific Games will deploy its state-of-the-art Lottery Central
System technology and provide ongoing service and maintenance support for the
life of the contract, which is expected to commence in 2011 and run 12
years.
The contract was awarded through a competitive procurement
process.
“Our objective was to select a long-term partner that could build
and support a dynamic central system for the most important segment of our
business,” said Norsk Tipping CEO Torbjorn Almlid.
Michael R. Chambrello, CEO of publicly traded
Scientific Games, said the deal “solidifies our company’s position as a leader
in lottery systems development and as a provider of unparalleled customer
support.”
TST, GLI Europe and GLI Italy will work in close concert under the
management of Barow and Martin Britton, director of operations of GLI Europe
and GLI Italy.
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