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NEWS IN BRIEF
Online growth puts Italian sports betting in the black
The Italian online sports betting market has seen a 9.7% year-on-year increase in amounts staked, regulator AAMS has announced in its full-year figures for 2012. The level of growth – up from €1.13bn 2011 to €1.23bn – helped to drag the country’s overall sports betting market into the black, growing by 2.37% following flat year-onyear growth from land-based sports betting. Overall amounts staked on sports in 2012 came in at €3.94bn, compared to €3.85bn in 2011.
RANK GROUP “REVIEWS” LOSS MAKING BLUE SQUARE
The Rank Group will “undertake a review” of its Blue Square Bet sports betting business following a sustained period of losses and is “unlikely to continue in its current form”, a source at the company told eGR. In a surprise three-line statement to the stock market and staff, Rank Group said that while carrying out the Blue Square review it would focus its resources on “further developing Grosvenor Casino and Mecca as multi-channel brands meeting customer needs in gaming-based entertainment via venues, online and through mobile devices”. A source told eGR that Blue Square has continually been under review but that late last year Rank Group’s senior management team made a concerted effort to take the loss making business to break-
Unpro?table sports betting legacy brand Blue Square sees sustained losses
even point. However, the action plan was “unsuccessful”, the source explained. “We are going to sit down and work out what the options are”, the source added. “But it is unlikely to continue in its current form and we will take the next two months to decide what to do.” The source said there are three basic options open to the management team when deciding Blue Square’s fate; closing it down, selling it to a third party, or selling it to a third party and white labelling back the sports betting brand in order to continue to serve its customers. “As the business is structured at the moment, it is not going to make a pro?t and it has a very high cost base,” said the source. The ?rm has around 60 permanent staff including managing director Mark A Jones and a number of outsourced employees.
FDJ breaks €12bn turnover mark in 2012
France’s former monopoly, la Française des Jeux (FDJ), has broken the €12bn turnover mark for the first time, up 6.1% last year compared to 2011, the company has announced. The country’s national lottery provider saw the bulk of its revenues generated ???????????????????????????????
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