as $5.6 million left over from last year’s
bond bill allocation can be used for the
$9.9 million this year.”
Tatts Group Wins AUS $450 Million
Compensation from State of Victoria
Australian gaming group Tatts will be
awarded more than $451m (£249.6m) in
compensation, arising from the expiration
of its gaming operator’s licence. The pro-
vider has also reached an agreement with
the Queensland Government and Racing
Queensland (RQ) to establish a new regu-
latory framework for the operation of race
and sports wagering. The new deal will
extend Tatts’ sports wagering licence by 61
years and bring into line the race wagering
licence, both terminating on 30 June 2098.
“Retail exclusivity has been secured for a
further 30 years under each licence, un-
til 30 June 2044 … Tatts will pay the State
$150m (£83m) as a license fee, to be paid
in four equal instalments in July 2014,
2016, 2020 and 2023. In addition, RQ and
Tatts have agreed to form joint ventures in
the future on a number of initiatives that
will generate potential additional revenue
for the racing industry.”
KKCG, Emma Capital and GTECH
Seek Turkish Lottery License
A consortium of Czech investment firms
KKCG and Emma Capital, and the Ital-
ian gaming company GTECH, have filed
for a license to operate Turkey’s national
lottery, Milli Piyango. The consortium
stated in May that it intended to make a bid
and may include a Turkish partner in the
deal.
“KKCG and Emma Capital, part of
the Emma Group owned by Czech investor
Jiri Smejc, joined together with other in-
vestors last year to buy a controlling stake
in Greek betting monopoly OPAP , the first
major privatization under that country’s
international bailout plan.”
Cambodia to Change Gaming Laws
to Attract Major Casinos
Cambodian regulators are consider-
ing opening up the casino market to new
operators. Online gambling could also be
included. Gaming is highly popular all
across Asia, and thus the country has great
potential, particularly because of its lower
tax rates.
“Last year, Cambodia was visited
by 4.2 million tourists, according to in-
formation released by the state’s Ministry
of Tourism. More than 20% of these came
from the neighboring country of Vietnam.
China is the second largest source of tour-
ists, accounting for 11% of the number of
annual visitors … So far, the Economy and
Finance Ministry has awarded 56 casino
licenses for 7,660 slot machines and 2,568
gaming tables across the country. In 2013,
the state earned US$22 million from gam-
bling-related activities, which means the
local market has a significant potential.”
Proposed UK Gaming Laws Chal-
lenged by Gibraltar Betting and Gam-
ing Association
The GBGA argues that introducing laws
that require all operators to apply for a li-
cense from the UK Gambling Commission
is a breach of European law.
“The likely
impact of this legislation will be to drive
UK consumers towards unregulated or
poorly regulated operators, leaving them
exposed to unnecessary risks,”
said Peter
Howitt, the chief executive of GBGA.
Gibraltar’s government is encouraging
the challenge, concerned that the 15% tax
and new regulations could encourage UK
bookies to relocate back to Britain. PGRI
Comment: Operators based in tax havens
like Gibraltar and Malta are constantly
complaining about anything and every-
thing the member states do to regulate and
tax i-gaming. Their mission appears to be
to convince the EU Commission to force
all EU member states to de-regulate the
industry with the result that all i-gaming
revenues will flow out of the nations that
have a tax rate higher than these remote
operators deem to be acceptable, which is
about 1%.
Trinidad & Tobago Gaming
Commission to Assist Racing Industry
The regulation of the racing indus-
try, along with private betting shops, is
expected to change by the NewYear, in an
effort to revive the industry.
“In the past,
licensing of betting shops was handled by
the chief magistrate and the BLB collected
the taxes, but in future it will be under the
umbrella of the Commission. The legisla-
tion will also be expanded to provide for
the licensing of corporations as bookmak-
ers, which the existing legislation does not
provide. In such cases, due diligence will
be extended to board members, related
companies and interlocking directorships.”
USA Today Article: Online Gaming
Revenue Less Than Expected
Payment processing has been a problem
for the emergent gaming sector. Some
players have run into problems when banks
that issue credit cards have blocked at-
tempts to gamble online. Some credit card
companies have declined to allow their
cards to be used for online gaming.
“A re-
search report released by Morgan Stanley
in March estimated that about 60 percent
of online gaming transactions in New
Jersey were rejected and that about half of
those users did not make other attempts to
fund their accounts.”
PGRI Note:
This is a most informa-
tive article on the state of the U.S. internet
gambling industry. The revenues in all three
states that regulate i-gaming (New Jersey,
Delaware, Nevada) are far short of projec-
tions. And they are actually declining.
GTECH, Loto-Québec, British
Columbia Lottery to Launch Multi-
Jurisdictional Bingo
GTECH S.p.A. has announced that its
subsidiary GTECH Sweden Interactive AB
(GTECH) has entered into an agreement
with the Societé des Lotteries du Québec
(Loto-Québec) and the British Columbia
Lottery Corporation (BCLC) to provide
interactive bingo software, games, and
related services to these Canadian lotteries
through June 2018. The contract represents
North America’s first government-regu-
lated interactive bingo network. GTECH
will host from its Montreal, Canada Data
Center, while associated live chat and call
center services are based at its National
Operations Center in Toronto, Canada.
On May 14, 2014, BCLC updated and
launched new interactive bingo games on
its PlayNow.com site. Through a separate
agreement between BCLC and Manitoba
Liquor & Lotteries, PlayNow.com and its
Pulse
of the
Industry
Continued …
Public Gaming International • July/August 2014
48
