Monthly Archives: March 2020

Industry announcement and partnership roundup

In the fast moving world of gambling, sometimes you might miss news that could be important to you. To make sure you’re all caught up on gaming industry news, be it online or brick and mortar, we’re rounding up the some of the announcements and partnerships from the last week that you might have missed.  

Pariplay Secures Partnership with Videoslots.com

Pariplay Ltd., a gaming technology company serving iGaming operators, land-based casinos and lotteries, has announced a new partnership with Videoslots.com, the Malta-based online casino operator that offers players an extensive catalogue of games from over 100 different suppliers. Through the partnership, Videoslots.com will gain access to Pariplay’s collection of over 100 proprietary online casino games, as well as a catalogue of third-party titles.

Salsa Technology spices up portfolio with Saucify content

UK orders betting shops, casinos to close to halt COVID-19 spread

UK betting shops and casinos have been ordered to close their doors effective immediately, part of the government’s efforts to reduce spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus.

On Friday, Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced that all ‘social venues’ – including everything from pubs, restaurants, cinemas, gyms and museums, as well as betting shops and casinos – would have to close their doors for an “initial” 14-day period, after which the government will review the situation on a monthly basis.

Prior to Johnson’s press conference, Flutter Entertainment announced that its 350-odd Paddy Power shops in the UK would close their doors Friday until the end of April. The move follows a similar move at Paddy Power’s shops in Ireland (along with rival BoyleSports).

Earlier this week, Flutter estimated that its annual earnings could fall by up to £110m if the suspension of various sports leagues and events, including this summer’s Euro 2020 tournament, continued. The company added that a suspension of racing fixtures and the closure of its UK/Irish retail shops would trim another £30m off its 2020 results.

Russian online bookie 888.ru halts activity due to dearth of sports

A Russian online sports betting operator has temporarily halted its activities due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

On Friday, Russian-licensed online bookmaker 888.ru (no relation to UK-listed online gambling operator 888 Holdings) posted a message to its website indicating that it had “temporarily suspended the acceptance of bets” due to the disruptions caused to the sporting calendar by the coronavirus pandemic.

888.ru assured its customers that their deposits were safe and withdrawal requests would be honored “without delays,” while promising to resume normal activities “as soon as the situation stabilizes.”

Russia’s sports leagues had been among the last men (and women) standing following the virus-related suspensions of most of the major global sports bodies. But that bubble burst earlier this week when local authorities announced that Russian Premier League football, as well as local basketball and hockey leagues, would cease activity until at least April 10.