NEWS / THE BRIEFING /
NEWS DIGEST
THIS MONTH’S TOP STORIES INCLUDING FULL TILT SPORTSBOOK
PROGRESS AND PADDY POWER’S SOCIAL SPORTS BETTING APP
US HOPES GROW
After a period of frustration
for operators concerning
poker market saturation and
lack of growth in New Jersey
and Nevada, some better news
emerged from the US at the start
of June. California, the gamechanging market due to its size,
appears to be making progress
towards legalising online poker
as the state’s major stakeholders
move towards consensus.
A group containing 13 of
California’s most influential tribes
revealed a single streamlined
internet poker bill that was later
introduced to the legislator. Under
the Bill, online poker licences would
only be issued to entities currently
eligible to offer land-based realmoney gaming in the state,
specifically the card rooms and
tribes. One-off licence fees would
be set at US$5m with the upfront
cost credited against future tax
payments, which have been set at
5% of gross gaming revenue.
Meanwhile, another attractive
state also edged towards
progress with a second bill
proposing the regulation of
online poker expected to be
introduced in Pennsylvania
in June. Two bills are now
circulating with both proposing
that online licences should be
awarded to the state’s existing
land-based casino operators with
licence fees set at US$5m each
and taxes at 14% of GGR.
COSTA LOT
Costa Bingo owner Mandalay
Media was sold to the Torontobased Intertain Group on 4 June
in a deal that could be worth
up to £60m. The deal marks
Intertain’s first serious foray into
the online bingo market and
came just months after Mandalay
14
brands Bingo Costa launched
multi-million pound advertising
campaigns to grow market share.
If completed, Intertain will gain a
foothold in the online UK bingo
market, which along with sports
betting had been a long-term
target for the company.
Elsewhere Betfred is hoping
to build on its successful ‘You’ll
love a bit of Betfred’ campaign by
embarking on a £5m marketing
push for the next domestic
football season in August. The
operator is to review its existing
advertising with its current
agency BJL asked to re-pitch for
the multi-channel contract.
In France Winamax revealed
it has launched a sports betting
product on its poker site ahead of
the World Cup. The operator first
revealed its intention to diversify
into sports betting in April, and
subsequently received a five-year
sports betting licence from the
French regulator in May.
FACING FACTS
Those who doubted the
potential of real-money
gambling on Facebook were
patting themselves on the back
at the end of May when Gamesys
removed its Bingo & Slots
Friendzy app after two years
on the platform. The product
was the first to be released on
the social network in a groundbreaking deal in August 2012.
Gamesys had previously hinted
that the products weren’t yet
performing as it had hoped,
and its removal seemed to
confirm this. Facebook also
announced that its head of realmoney gaming Will Collins had
left the company, with head
of EMEA gaming sales Tarquin
Henderson taking on the role
with immediate effect.
E CITY
IN TH
BETFAIR (BET.L)
2014 X HIGH 1150 x LOW 948
Betfair published a strong set of annual
results this month that saw its share price
reach a high of 1040p. The firm still has a
buy rating with a number of analysts who
are backing its international expansion and
sportsbook growth to drive revenues up
despite the introduction of PoC tax.
BWIN.PARTY (BPTY)
2014 X HIGH 129 x LOW 110
Bwin.party co-founder Manfred Bodner
left the board in May and a deal struck
with activist investor Jason Ader over his
directorial nominations saw the share price
fall from 128p on 14 May to 114p a week
later. The addition of PXP Solutions to its
B2B payments arm calmed investor nerves.
LADBROKES (LAD)
2014 X HIGH 179 x LOW 129
CEO Richard Glynn said the operator has
put the “building blocks” for growth in
place. Investors will hope that’s the case
after the firm reported a near 18% fall in
like-for-lik H