Monthly Archives: July 2017

ONE Championship announces television deal with pan Latin America broadcast giant Claro Sports

26 July 2017 – Singapore:The largest sports media property in Asian history, ONE Championship™ (ONE), has just announced a blockbuster broadcast partnership with Claro Sports, a multimedia sports information platform that serves Latin America, excluding Brazil. The deal is set to allow Claro Sports access to ONE Championship content, as well as deliver live events held across Asia through its Latin American channels.

Chatri Sityodtong, Chairman and CEO of ONE Championship, stated: “ONE Championship is proud to announce its partnership with sports network, Claro Sports. Claro Sports is one of the largest platforms for sports multimedia content in Latin America with reach that spans an entire region, as well as internationally to homes across the globe. We’re excited at the possibilities this incredible opportunity presents, and we can’t wait to bring authentic martial arts action to fans in Latin America.”

Claro Sports is sports multimedia network which offers content through internet and paid television, broadcasting various programs 24 hours a day. The company was founded by Latin American billionaire entrepreneur Carlos Slim Helu and has previously acquired transmissions of Olympic Games of Sochi 2014 and the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro. Various programs on offer include world championship boxing, football, basketball, and golf, among others.

José Antonio Aboumrad, CEO of Claro Sports, stated: “This alliance with ONE Championship will allow us to expand Claro Sports content offerings for the Latin American audience, especially with a sport that each time has more and more fans.”

GoWild prepares for UK expansion after being granted a remote Gambling Operating License

The UK Gambling Commission awards GoWild a Remote Gambling Operating License, enabling GoWild to open its virtual doors to the UK gambling market

July 2017 – GoWild, a leading European online gaming operator, is pleased to announce that it has been awarded a Remote Gambling Operating License by the UK Gambling Commission.

The UK Gambling Commission is one of the most demanding regulators in the world. As part of the due diligence process in granting the license, GoWild was required to meet the governing body’s renowned standards for quality and integrity.

As the UK is one of the largest and most respected interactive gambling markets in the world, obtaining the UK license is an exceptionally welcome achievement for GoWild, and a point of great pride. It is also a marked step forward in the company’s express, overall goals of further expanding into regulated gaming markets.

Alabama the clear favorite on odds to win the 2017 SEC title

The Alabama Crimson Tide have had little competition to win the Southeastern Conference title the past three years. Their margin of victory in the SEC Championship Game has averaged 27 points during that stretch, as they went on to win the NCAA title once (2015) and also appeared in last year’s CFP National Championship Game.

Odds courtesy of OddsShark.com

With quarterback Jalen Hurts back for his sophomore season, Alabama is listed as a -150 favorite to take home a fourth consecutive SEC title this year.

Hurts played well as a true freshman in 2016 and had to deal with a new offensive coordinator against the Clemson Tigers for the national championship after Lane Kiffin bolted to take the head coaching job for the Florida Atlantic Owls.

Uruguay mulls blocking online gambling domains

Uruguay is the latest Latin American country to consider blocking the domains of internationally licensed online gambling operators.

This week, Fernando Serra, a tax advisor to Uruguay’s Ministry of Economy and Finance, told El Observador that the government was wrestling with how to tax new digital services like Netflix or Spotify. As part of that discussion, Serra said that the government was “beginning to study the possibility” of drafting legislation that would allow local authorities to block the “signals of the online game.”

Not for nothing, but Serra’s comments came just two weeks after National Party deputy Jorge Gandini publicly railed against a Uruguyan football team playing a match while wearing shirts emblazoned with online bookmaker Sportingbet’s logo. In case you hadn’t grasped this fact already, online gambling is illegal in Uruguay.

Uruguay’s increasing hostility toward international online gambling sites follows the recent announcement by Colombia’s Coljuegos gambling regulator that it had begun blocking some of the 325 domains on its online blacklist. Coljuegos president Juan Pérez Hidalgo said this week that up to 80 sites were now being given the digital heave-ho.

OtherLevels and Amplero announce major partnership

OtherLevels Holdings Limited (ASX: OLV) (“OtherLevels”) has announced that it has partnered with Amplero, a leader in leveraging artificial intelligence marketing to maximize customer lifetime value and loyalty. The two companies announced that:

– The joint Amplero / OtherLevels solution is operational with a major global social casino operator;

– OtherLevels has exclusive rights to resell and market the Amplero solution within the U.K. and EMEA to the licenced real-money wagering and lottery markets;

– Both companies agreed to further technical integration;

SkyCity gets go-ahead for $330m upgrade of Adelaide casino

Australian and New Zealand casino operator SkyCity Entertainment Group has good news about its Adelaide casino and bad news regarding its Darwin property.

On Wednesday, SkyCity announced that it had signed a development agreement with the South Australia government that will allow the company to proceed with a A$330m (US $262m) expansion of SkyCity Adelaide Casino that will make the venue “the most luxurious hotel” in the city.

The upgrade includes a boutique all-suite 123-room hotel, a 30% increase in gaming product including four new VIP gaming rooms (natch), along with new restaurants, bars and a 750-person event space for banquets and such. Construction on the project will get underway early next year, with completion estimated by Q3 2020.

While SkyCity believes the “key value driver” of the project is a “significant expected increase in gaming activity,” the company clarified that its so-called ‘international business’ (aka Chinese gambling whales) would remain “an important part of the offering, but less of a focus given greater exposure to external factors.”

Charges dropped against 30 alleged Manila casino kidnappers

Philippine authorities have dismissed charges against 30 foreign nationals suspected of belonging to a kidnapping gang that preyed on casino gamblers.

Last week, Philippine National Police (PNP) and Bureau of Immigration (BI) agents arrested 44 foreign nationals in a series of raids that led to the rescue of Wu Yan, a Singaporean woman who’d been abducted from the Solaire Resort and Casino and held against her will in a Manila hotel room.

On Tuesday, the Philippine Department of Justice dismissed charges against 30 of the detained foreigners – mostly Chinese nationals – citing insufficient evidence to proceed with the prosecution. Part of the DOJ’s reasoning stemmed from Wu Yan’s inability to identify any of the 30 foreigners as having participated in her abduction and detention.

A resolution approved by Acting Prosecutor General Jorge Catalan Jr. stated that “not an iota of evidence was presented to show that [the 30 foreigners] conspired with the alleged kidnappers of complainant Wu Yan.” This absence of evidence connecting the individuals with the crime “indubitably will result to the dismissal of the complaint” against them.

Commission urges Massachusetts to hold off online poker, casino legalization … for now

Massachusetts should legalize daily fantasy sports but hold off on legalizing online poker and casino gambling, according to the recommendations of a special commission.

On Tuesday, State House New Service reported that the Special Commission on Online Gaming, Fantasy Sports Gaming and Daily Fantasy Sports had submitted a draft report to the legislature, which had tasked the Commission with determining how the state should handle the potential expansion of legal online gaming.

The report recommends “legalizing DFS as a subset of online gaming and enacting legislation that would put into law the proposed regulatory, governance and taxation system” needed to oversee DFS activity.

However, the report doesn’t recommend legalizing “more expansive online gaming at present,” dashing the hopes of the state’s online poker and casino fans. The report claims the state should wait until the two in-development resort casinos – MGM Springfield and Wynn Boston Harbor – open to the public so that their impact can be judged.

Philippine online gambling not yet PAGCOR’s main cash cow

The Philippines’ gaming regulator/casino operator reported a one-quarter rise in profits in the first half of 2017.

Figures released this week by the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR) show its revenue from gaming operations rising 8.4% year-on-year to P28.3b (US $558.6m) in the six months ending June 30, while profit jumped 24.9% to P3b ($60.2m). PAGCOR’s mandatory contributions to the Philippine government treasury totaled P13.4b in H1, also up 8.4% year-on-year.

The year-on-year revenue rise was slower in Q2, rising 1.4% year-on-year to P14.2b, due in part to the temporary closure of gaming operations at the Resorts World Manila casino following the horrific attack by a lone gunman in June that resulted in the deaths of 37 individuals.

PAGCOR is in the process of transitioning to a purely regulatory role, but in the meantime, its casino operations reported table game revenue of P5.2b, slots winnings of P6.1b, while electronic bingo added P4.4b. Income from PAGCOR-licensed private casinos was just under P9.5b.