Monthly Archives: August 2015

Online Poker Still a Possibility in Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania emerged this year as the leading candidate among states that might regulate online poker this year. As the months have worn on, the odds against Internet poker legislation passing in 2015 have lengthened, but key legislators still say that there is hope for a bill being signed into law this year. That’s according to […]

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China to host 2019 FIBA Basketball World Cup

International Basketball Federation (FIBA) has picked China as the host of the 2019 FIBA Basketball World Cup, the first time that China will host FIBA’s flagship event.

During the Host Announcement Ceremony on Friday in Tokyo Japan, FIBA announced that China won the bid to host the 2019 FIBA Basketball World Cup, beating the Philippines.

China and the Philippines, the two finalists who submitted their bids, each gave presentations during the ceremony. The board voted 14 in favor of China’s bid, with 7 backing the Philippines.

Yao Ming, the Ambassador for the China 2019  and who played at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, said that this would help China to inspire more young athletes to pick up basketball.

Pennsylvania Lottery warns about…

The Pennsylvania Lottery cautions consumers to be wary of phone calls, emails or social media messages from scam artists posing as “lottery claim agents.” “If someone tells you, out of the blue, that you’ve won a major prize and must act immediately to claim it, you should be very suspicious,” said Lottery Executive Director Drew Svitko.

SportsPesa becomes the official title sponsor of the Kenyan Premier League

Sports betting firm SportPesa has signed a deal with the Kenyan Premier League (KPL) to become the official title sponsor for the next four and a half years.

The league will now be called the SportsPesa Premier League and will run until the end of the 2019 season.

The value of the deal was not disclosed but KPL Chairman Ambrose Rachier confirmed that it would be more than the amount  of the three-year naming rights agreement that the league had with a beer brand Tusker for KES170 million ($1m).

SportPesa CEO Ronald Karauri said that the betting company’s long term plan was to improve the quality of the league and ensure that Kenya featured prominently in the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.  The sports betting company has been spreading its wings by sponsoring a number of sports events in the country and yesterday, they scored big by securing the sponsorship of the country’s top tier league.

Fresh legal battle over lottery

A high court ruled that the Department of Trade and Industry’s awarding of the lottery licence to Ithuba Holdings was invalid. Photo: Thobile Mathonsi The war over the licence to operate the national lottery is set to return to the courts after Trade and Industry Minister Rob Davies signed another contract with the winning bidder, Ithuba.

Gaming Industry News Weekly Recap – Stories You Might Have Missed

THE AMERICAS

Free of its bankrupt main unit, Caesars Entertainment posted a rare profit in Q2 while Caesars Interactive posted record revenue but Rafi Farber preached caution for Caesars investors; MGM Resorts fared better than most in Q2 while filing a lawsuit against Connecticut’s tribal casino plans; social casino games saved Zynga’s bacon (again); the Macho Sports brothers were sentenced to federal prison; the Minnesota Lottery set a date to shut down its online operations; Google began showing snippets of betting odds in search results; CBS Sports rolled out its rake-free daily fantasy sports site while RotoGrinders debuted a new daily fantasy bulk entering tool; Scientific Games revenue rose two-thirds in Q2; Bitcoin Gambling Guide’s Chris Evans examined the challenges and opportunities of Bitcoin while Tatjana Pasalic chatted up the likes of Seth Palansky and Jason Somerville in her Chats With Tats video series.

EUROPE

William Hill’s H1 profit tumbled thanks to £44m in additional UK gaming taxes; GVC Holdings raised its Bwin.party bid to £1.3b while Bwin.party scrapped its Manchester United casino app after just five months; Unibet bucked trends by posting online poker gains in Q2 and paid €59m to acquire iGame; Russian media offered conflicting reports on online poker regulation; Ireland handed out its first online betting licenses; PokerStars launched its largest ever marketing campaign while Terrence Chan campaigned to put Stars founder Isai Scheinberg in the Poker Hall of Fame; Italian firms caught up in the Betuniq crackdown threatened to sue the Malta Gaming Authority; Yahoo inked a daily fantasy sports partnership with Mondogoal; PartyPoker eliminated controversial withdrawal fees; Finnish operator Veikkaus earned 40% of its sales online; the Microgaming Poker Network welcomed Guts.com; Optimal Payments got FCA approval for its Skrill acquisition; Nichola Stott discussed the finer points of content marketing for the igaming industry; another English Premier League season loomed, prompting Coral and Betfair to seal new EPL betting partnerships while Bet-at-home signed its first Bundesliga deal.