The overwhelming majority of US daily fantasy sports (DFS) players say they would continue their DFS activity even if sports betting was made legal and accessible.

Eilers Research analysts spoke to 1,420 DFS players between June 18 and July 9 to determine their DFS habits and preferences. The survey found that 98% of DFS players were male, a significantly higher percentage than the estimated 66% of males who partake in season-long fantasy sports. (Read the whole survey results here.)

The survey also found that the overwhelming majority (91.6%) of DFS players are Caucasian. A majority (51%) of players are between the ages of 25-35 years and 59% of players have an average annual household income of $75k or higher.

Slightly less than two-thirds (62%) of DFS players had been playing daily contests for less than two years. Football was the preferred DFS option, followed by baseball, basketball, golf, hockey and NASCAR, with soccer and mixed martial arts bringing up the rear.

The European Union’s top court will consider the legality of the UK’s online gambling point-of-consumption tax (POCT).

The UK implemented its 15% POCT last December, shortly after the Gibraltar Betting and Gaming Association (GBGA) launched a preemptive legal challenge. The GBGA believes the POCT discriminates against Gibraltar-licensed UK-facing operators and was primarily intended to boost the UK government’s tax coffers, rather than to protect UK punters from alleged harm.

On Tuesday, the UK’s High Court sided with the GBGA, announcing that it was sending the case to the Court of Justice for the European Union (CJEU). The High Court said the case raised a number of issues related to European Union law that would be best decided by the CJEU.

In issuing the High Court’s ruling, Lord Justice Charles agreed with the GBGA that the POCT was potentially in violation of Article 56 of the Treaty of the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU), which prohibits restrictions on the movement of goods and services between EU member states, unless said restrictions are intended to protect consumers.

Gamesys Group founder and CEO Noel Hayden has been appointed executive chairman following Intertain’s £425.8m acquisition of Gamesys’ bingo brands in April.

Hayden will continue to lead the company’s vision, R&D and innovation agenda, have the final call on new product lines and oversee all corporate development.

Hayden founded Gamesys in 2001 and his achievements include launching Facebook’s first real money gambling app in 2012 and acquiring Virgin Games in 2013.

Gamesys’ CEO role will be filled by COO Lee Fenton, who joined Gamesys in 2008 following management roles at 20th Century Fox and Vodafone, while Robeson Reeves will take up the COO role.

The city of Boston said that interviews with at least five people suggested that Wynn Resorts was aware that a convicted felon had a stake in the land it acquired to build a casino.

In a recent court filing on Thursday, the city argued for casting a wider net for gathering evidences in the civil lawsuit it filed against Massachusetts Gaming Commission (MGC). The city said that the witnesses told the gaming commission investigators that Wynn representatives were informed of or discussed Charles Lightbody’s ownership stake before acquiring the 30-acre property on the Everett waterfront across from Boston.

Lightbody, a convicted felon with reputed ties to gangsters, was one of four members of FBT Everett Realty, a trust that paid $8m for the waterfront property in 2009.

An interview with Stephen Tocco, Wynn’s political consultant, showed that Everett Mayor Carlo DeMaria had mentioned Lightbody in a conversation prior to Wynn purchasing the land.

The SBC Betting on Football Conference is back for its second year and will be held at the Emirates, home of Arsenal FC, on September 9.

Football remains the world’s most bet-on sport and any sportsbook knows that the key to having a successful sports betting operation is to understand the nuances of the sport, on and off the pitch.

Organized by SBC, Betting on Football is a one-day conference that aims to tackle key subjects about the sport that will enable bookmakers to reach their desired goals. The event explores the key aspects of the betting industry’s relationship with the most popular sport in the world—football.

The event will be attended by stakeholders from football clubs, media rights Agencies, marketers, operators and suppliers. This is the best place to engage, network, discover best practice and to do business. The evening networking drinks are sponsored by TXODDS.

Fanduel, one of the two major players in the growing daily fantasy sports industry, has raised $275m  in its latest funding, which values the company “well north of $1b.”

The round was led by existing investor Kohlberg Kravis Roberts (KKR) along with new investors Google Capital and Time Warner Investments. Existing investors NBC Sports Ventures, Comcast Ventures Shamrock Capital, Bullpen Capital, Pentech Ventures, and Piton Capital were also involved.

Fanduel Chief Executive Nigel Eccles told The New York Times that although the company has raised $70m in round of funding last year, the company still attracts potential backers.

“KKR, one of the biggest alternative investment firms on Wall Street, expressed interest in leading a new round of financing, and the investment round came together quickly,” said Eccles.

So far, not so good. The last time I covered Scientific Games/Bally was almost a year ago in September. There, I had said

Behind all the fluffy positive language of the press releases announcing this merger, a cursory look at the bottom lines and balance sheets of both companies betrays that this will most likely be a disaster. It makes me wonder if the whole deal was indeed initiated by a bag lady.

Scientific had anticipated cost synergies of about $250M. Let’s look at what’s happened as of the latest report for Q1 2015, the first full quarter since the merger was completed. Expenses for the combined company increased by 60% since Q1 2014, though revenue increased by 70%, so there is at least some efficiency gained here. The absolute numbers give a better idea. Expenses increased by $240M, while revenue increased by $270.6M. That puts net gain at just over $30M. The problem is debt. The cost of the merger was much greater, and the cost of servicing it more than eats out the $30M gain last quarter.

Debt service costs increased by 243% year over year. Once again, absolute numbers show more of what’s going on. As of last quarter, Scientific is paying $116M more in interest expense for that $30M gain. You don’t need to know integral calculus to understand that this doesn’t make sense long term. And it doesn’t look like it will get any better. The combined company has a debt to equity level of nearly 600%. Scientific/Bally have willingly enslaved themselves to JPMorgan, Bank of America, and Deutsche Bank, the three megabanks who helped financed this deal. (Which, by the way, was financed with other people’s demand deposits. It’s deals like this that, when the business cycle turns, cause systemic instability if debt cannot be serviced anymore and depositors want their money back.)