Daniel Abt just singlehandedly put the eSports industry on its butt. With the coronavirus pandemic causing sports to take an unexpected break, eSports has picked up substantially, and car races have been front and center as a popular option. Instead of getting behind a real steering wheel of a real car on a real track, professional drivers get behind a virtual wheel to participate in a race that has almost all the same bells and whistles as the real thing. There are some interesting results at times, such as when NASCAR driver Denny Hamlin experienced “technical difficulties” during a race (if you can define a 7-year-old turning off the game mid-play as technical difficulties), but, in general, things have been running well. That is, until now. Abt, who drives for Audi’s Formula 1 team (hopefully, “drove” will be used in the near future) in the real world, participated in a recent Formula E race in the virtual world, but didn’t actually take the wheel – he let a stand-in run the show for him. 

This past Saturday, Abt handed the keys over to Lorenz Herzing, a professional gamer out of Germany, who ran inconspicuously as Abt in the Berlin Tempelhof race. The cheating was uncovered during the race and an investigation was able to determine that Abt’s IP address was not the source of the action. Stoffel Vandoorne, another pro Formula E driver, spotted some anomalies during the race, as well, saying on his Twitch account after the competition was over, “Really not happy here because that was not Daniel driving the car himself. Really ridiculous — I’m questioning if it was really Daniel in the car.”

As a result, Abt was disqualified and was fined 10,000 ($10,900), which has to be paid to a charitable group. With a little luck, Audi will decide to part ways with him, as well. Hoerzing was also punished, kicked out of the event’s competition organized for sim-racers. Abt would issue a statement later, saying, “I would like to apologize to Formula E, all of the fans, my team, and my fellow drivers for having called in outside help during the race on Saturday. I didn’t take it as seriously as I should have. I’m especially sorry about this because I know how much work has gone into this project on the part of the Formula E organization. I am aware that my offence has a bitter aftertaste, but it was never meant with any bad intention.”

How he can say it was without “bad intention” is anyone’s guess. It was cheating and he knew it was cheating going in – certainly a 27-year-old understands what fraud is. Because of his actions, Abt has given carte blanche to every gambling opponent in the world to step forward and say, “I told you so.” He has given eSports opponents a solid foundation to argue against eSports legalization. He has also made it much more difficult for the eSports industry to be taken seriously. I can’t wait to see what he has planned for an encore. 

When most people think about technological innovation, Costa Rica doesn’t typically come to mind. Most tech advances are most often associated with countries like Germany, the U.S., Japan and others that have large caches of resources from which they can pull. However, Costa Rica is gaining ground as a tech powerhouse – not so much for its abundance of resources, but because it is becoming the ideal location for companies looking for a location that offers cheaper labor and lower taxes that can help them improve their bottom lines. 

There are more than 3,400 manufacturing companies in Costa Rica, the majority of which target the medical device market. According to statistics, there are now nine times as many life-sciences multinational companies operating within the country’s borders than what was found ten years ago, and the medical device segment is leading the way. One of the leaders in the space is Boston Scientific, which operates two manufacturing facilities in the country. The company’s VP of global technology, Randy Schiestl, has previously asserted, “Costa Rica has proven to be a compelling, performance-driven location for Boston Scientific. Key drivers for our success at two major sites in Costa Rica include highly committed, multi-disciplined local talent; cross-divisional engagement; growth into R&D, process development and lab competencies; and our close working relationship with CINDE (the Spanish acronym for the Costa Rican Investment Promotion Agency), academia, and the government of Costa Rica.”

Boston Scientific isn’t alone – Pfizer, Phillips, Microvention-Terumo also call Costa Rica home. Hewlett Packard has long been a part of Costa Rica’s landscape, with the company asserting, “Costa Rica’s human talent has become a key element for HPE’s strategy. From here, we work in developing new products and services, allowing the company to advance one foot ahead in the sector.” These companies are responsible for about 26% of the country’s exports, and the number continues to rise. 

Entertainment media is also quickly becoming a hot commodity in the country, primarily through the gambling space. For example, Ezugi, which manufactures products that are found on some online casino platforms like Betway, is based in Costa Rica. With the continued interest in online gambling currently being seen, other companies are going to waste no time trying to grab a piece of the $50-billion industry. 

With casino regulators in Greece awarding Mohegan Gaming & Entertainment (MGE) the rights to build a $9-billion casino resort in the country, it would seem prudent to ensure that the company has the funds in place to back up the project. Hard Rock International (HRI) tried, unsuccessfully, to demonstrate that MGE might not have the financial support it needed to move forward with the development, but gaming authorities in the country wouldn’t listen. Since then, MGE has had to acknowledge that it was getting behind in its financial responsibilities, and is apparently really desperate for a quick injection of cash. It is now seeking a short-term, $100-million loan as it struggles to pay its bills. 

MGE already missed an April deadline for the payment of $19.7 million in interest on an existing line of credit. Now, according to Bloomberg News, the company has brought in investment bank Rothschild to act as financial advisers in order to broker a new “rescue loan,” which is reportedly being led by Credit Suisse Group AG. Rothschild could also be involved in helping MGE alter existing loan agreements and credits in order to improve its overall financial health. 

The $100 million it seeks could give the lender a nice windfall, provided MGE doesn’t face any more financial uncertainty. The company is reportedly willing to go up to a yield of 14% on the credit facility, which would mature in October of next year. Earning $14 million in a year and a half, if Credit Suisse is confident enough in MGE’s ability to repay the loan, makes this a very enticing offer. 

The money is reportedly needed to help MGE cover the losses incurred by the coronavirus. However, not everyone is ready to accept MGE’s assertion that it will be enough to allow for a rebound. Some investors have already put up resistance to the company’s efforts to seek financial assistance earlier this month, showing concern that MGE won’t be able to cover its additional debt. That delayed its ability to bring up to date its financial commitments (it was finally able to make the outstanding interest payment for $19.7 million), and the situation is apparently now becoming more critical. 

The biggest game of the Bundesliga season takes place on Tuesday evening as Borussia Dortmund host Bayern Munich in a clash which could go a long way to deciding who wins the title.

With current champions Bayern Munich four points clear of their rivals, they know that a win away at their closest rivals would put them seven points clear with just six games remaining. Given how recent games have gone in the Bundesliga for Bayern, it would be an almost insurmountable lead for Dortmund to chase down.

So, can Dortmund win against their fiercest rivals, and the current seven-time consecutive Bundesliga champions at Signal Iduna Park without their famous fans? The ‘yellow wall’ of fans that won’t be there could be felt very keenly by a side who need all the inspiration they can get to triumph.

Munich are favourites going into the game, a shade under evens at around 10/11 generally, with Dortmund available at 5/2 or 13/5 across the board. The draw is around 10/3, and to us, that looks the best straight bet you can make. A stalemate is a great result for Munich and keeps their rivals at more than arm’s length, given them a four-point cushion heading into the final six games, five of which should be easy enough to win.

No one could have predicted that a microscopic bug would ever be more powerful than the entire global sports community, but the coronavirus has proven to be an adversary of unlimited strength. All companies that were entrenched in the gaming and sports worlds are finding it difficult to survive as everyone is forced to stay indoors, but, fortunately, there is some relief coming as major sports leagues start to announce their return to the field. While sports media companies welcome the news and are looking forward to getting back into the action, others used the downtime to create novel solutions to keep operations going. Bleacher Report was one of these and the sports broadcaster has seen overwhelming success with a novel initiative that is going to rewrite the sports media playbook.

Without warning this past March, virtually all sports suddenly went dark as leagues implemented policies to help control the spread of the coronavirus. From literally one day to the next, sports broadcasters suddenly found themselves precariously dangling from the edge of a cliff, with virtually all revenue sources cut off. Bleacher Report has been the exception, though, and has already had over one billion views of its video offerings this month – the third month in a row that it has topped the ten-figure mark.

Ready to capitalize on the popularity, the sports media outlet is going to bring a new feature to its app. It is beginning to test the use of livestreaming, with the first test having been run in conjunction with the NFL Draft last month. That already proved to be highly successful, with hosts Adam Lefkoe, Connor Rogers and Matt Miller leading to 12 million video plays of the three days of draft action. To put things in perspective, this represents a 300% increase over what had been seen for the 2019 NFL Draft.

Livestreaming was on Bleacher Report’s radar, but not for such a sudden rollout. The company has been working on a new production studio in New York that would be operated by around 70 employees, but the studio was forced to take a break, just like everyone else, because of COVID-19. With the presence of the pandemic, the company wasn’t willing to let a good idea go to waste, and figured out how to make the live broadcasts possible remotely.

Last week, the Fontana Leisure Parks & Casino in the Philippines found itself at the center of unwanted attention when it was revealed that a villa on the property was being used as a makeshift, and illegal, hospital for coronavirus patients. Two individuals were arrested in conjunction with the facility, which reportedly catered to Chinese nationals, and the news was received as nothing more than standard operating procedures for Jack Lam, the enigmatic and controversial individual who has, on more than one occasion, found his name associated with activity that didn’t appear to be on the right side of the law. The Fontana has now spoken up about the ordeal, asserting that the entire story was blown out of proportion and that it had nothing to do with the alleged hospital. 

The Fontana was forced to be shut down following the arrest of the two operators of the clinic, 45-year-old Hu Ling, who owned the facility, and Lee Seung-Hyun, a 38-year-old pharmacist. In communication it had with Inside Asian Gaming, the property asserted that it had “absolutely no involvement or participation in alleged illegal operations,” adding that the villa in question was considered a private residential villa that was under the exclusive control of Shidaikeji Technology Corporation (STC), a company that, according to the Clark Development Group, provides support services to Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGO). 

STC sent a letter to Fontana that was designed to explain what was going on in the villa. Included in the correspondence, the company stated, Because of the crisis, we have been forced to use our villa to respond to our employees’ own needs. However, we are not operating a COVID-19 clinic in the villa.” The statement seems to contradict what was uncovered when the villa was raided, as investigators found seven beds, a number of trash cans full of syringes, different medicines and medical supplies. 

Despite the presence of the hospital equipment, the two individuals said to be running the operations were released the same day they were arrested and are currently not facing any charges. This is because the medicines found have to be tested by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), which had been involved in the raid, to determine what they are. The FDA hasn’t been able to allocate the necessary resources yet, but is expected to complete its investigation soon. 

One of Asia’s richest men, and a pioneer of the Macau casino industry, has died. Stanley Ho reportedly passed away at the age of 98 on May 26, according to multiple sources. He passed away at the Hong Kong Sanatorium Hospital in Hong Kong.

Ho was an integral figure in Macau becoming a gambling Mecca, leading SJM Holdings to be a powerhouse in the industry. At its peak, his gambling empire was reportedly paying half of the tax receipts earned by Macau. He’s estimated to have been worth $6 billion at the time of his passing.

The continued operation of that gambling empire isn’t at risk with his passing; he passed along the responsibility to others long ago. He leaves behind 4 “wives” and 16 known children. His daughter, Daisy Ho Chiu Fung, is the current Chairman and Executive Director of SJM.

Stanley stepped away from SJM in June 2018, giving up control as many had started to worry that his failing health might be an issue. While Daisy was put in control at the time, Pansy Ho has at times battled her for the family’s casino empire.

Ireland’s retail bookmakers plan to reopen their shops in the final week of June, despite local racing’s plans to reopen three weeks earlier.

This past weekend, the Irish Bookmakers Association (IBA) announced that an agreement has been reached to reopen 755 of the nation’s 814 betting shops on June 29. The timing coincides with the third phase of the Irish government’s plan to restart its economy in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Ireland shut most of its betting shops in mid-March in a bid to minimize further spread of the coronavirus, but the IBA stated at the time that the shutdown was intended to last only two weeks, not the three-plus months that it’s currently slated to last.

Irish racing plans to resume its operations on a ‘behind closed doors’ basis at certain centrally-located racecourses on June 8 – coinciding with phase two of the government’s recovery roadmap – with the Irish Derby hoping to stick to its current June 27 target. If so, it means Irish bookmakers will miss out on one of the bigger paydays on their traditional calendar.

Missing your friends playing poker at your home game on a Friday night? It’s a common enough feeling during the Coronavirus crisis, but while the options have been limited to Zoom conference calls, playing online poker or attending the few casinos that are open and shuffling up behind Perspex screens, players have missed the interactive spirit of the game.

A new choice is available to social gamers courtesy of FlowPlay, who have launched ‘Live Game Night’, a new online game video service that offers a more realistic experience which according to its makers will make you feel like you’re sitting at the same table not just sitting on your phone hoping that the blurring you see in your opponent’s eyes isn’t just a dropped WiFi signal.

FlowPlay have previously served both customers and business with free-to-play mobile experiences, but at present, Live Game Night is only available for desktop players. Still, to see all your buddies in all their glory, that might be the easiest way with multiple screens on view on yours. With an extensive multiplayer infrastructure, industry-leading monetization rates and proven track record, FlowPlay believe they are the best company to bring Live Game night to social poker players and other gamers looking for a new game to enjoy.

FlowPlay’s Chief Executive Officer, Derrick Morton, has spoken of the benefits of social gaming in these particular times.

This is a guest contribution by Nigel Hall. If you would like to submit a contribution please contact Bill Beatty for submission details. Thank you.

On May 7th 2019, the U.K. Gambling Commission announced that all affiliate websites and online casinos could only offer a free play slot to a user from the U.K. once their age had been verified by a 3rd party.

This was overwhelmingly well received throughout the iGaming industry, as the safeguarding of children within the U.K. against gambling is extremely important, especially with the advancements that we have seen in technology over the last decade or so.

In fact a recent report revealed that a staggering 53% of children in the U.K. own a mobile phone by the time they are seven years old. Even more startling is that by age eleven, 9 out of 10 children will indeed have their own device.