After previously intending to run the Sept. 5 Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve (G1) before a crowd in attendance, Churchill Downs announced Aug. 21 that the Derby and the surrounding week of racing next month would be run without fans.
Monthly Archives: August 2020
'Horse of a Lifetime' Battaash Brilliant in Nunthorpe
Battaash coped with driving rain and gusting wind, knuckled down resolutely to battle with Que Amoro, and headed the young pretender inside the final furlong to score the 11th group win of his career.
Got Stormy, Uni Take On Boys Again in Fourstardave
Trainer Mark Casse hopes to see Got Stormy round into form when she chases her first win of 2020 in the Aug. 21 Fourstardave Handicap (G1T). The mare faces a tall task, taking on reigning champion turf female Uni among eight rivals at Saratoga.
Cupid Colt Tops Keeneland Book 5-6 Pinhook Prospects
A colt from the first crop of Cupid offered by St George Sales, agent, is the top-priced pinhook prospect remaining to be offered in Books 5 and 6 of the Keeneland September Yearling Sale.
Aug. 21 Races at Saratoga Delayed Due to Tote Issue
Saratoga Race Course has delayed its first post for the Aug. 21 card there until to 2:10 p.m. ET due to an ongoing technical issue with AmTote, its tote system provider, the New York Racing Association announced.
United Seeks to Keep Win Streak Alive at Del Mar
LNJ Foxwoods’ United seeks to keep his 2020 spotless record intact in his fourth outing this year in the Aug. 22 Del Mar Handicap Presented by the Japan Racing Association (G2T).
Broadcaster sues Norway over online gambling ad ban
Norway’s new unified gambling law has been submitted to the European Commission (EC) for approval but a local broadcaster has mounted a legal challenge of the law’s ban on online gambling advertising.
Last week, Norway submitted its new draft gambling act to the EC for perusal to ensure it conforms to European Union edicts. The draft is therefore in a ‘standstill’ period, meaning interested parties can submit objections until November 13. If the EC finds no fault, the law will take effect on January 1, 2021.
A couple months ago, Norway’s government proposed unifying the three existing gambling laws into a single document. The intention was to shore up the Norsk Tipping (lottery, betting, casino) and Norsk Rikstoto (racing) monopolies, while giving the government greater powers to combat unauthorized competitors.
The draft law includes the right for the Lotteritilsynet regulatory body to impose “coercive” fines, either as a daily penalty or a lump sum, when it detects unauthorized activities. The regulator also reserves the right to impose coercive fines “in advance” if it feels a transgressor will likely continue to conduct themselves with no regard for Norway’s rules. Prison sentences of up to three years potentially await particularly egregious offenders.
Handicapping: Saratoga, Del Mar in Saturday Spotlight
Dave Litfin analyzes graded stakes action from across the country.
Mo Forza Slated to Return in Del Mar Mile Handicap
Grade 1 winner Mo Forza, who has not raced since an off-the-board finish in the Pegasus World Cup Turf Invitational Stakes presented by Runhappy (G1T) Jan. 25, is scheduled to make his racing return Aug. 23 in the Del Mar Mile Handicap (G2T).
Obituary: Pope Won 1962 Kentucky Derby With Decidedly
Patricia Moffat Pope, who with her husband campaigned classic winners in the United States and England, died Aug. 4 in San Francisco. She was 93.
Sistercharlie Bids for Historic Three-Peat in Diana
If Sistercharlie (IRE) is to become the first horse to win three straight runnings of the Diana Stakes (G1T) at Saratoga Race Course, she is going to have to run as well, if not better, than she did in capturing it the past two years.
Veikkaus warns of €300m profit fall as Finland mulls end of gambling monopoly
Finland’s Veikkaus gambling monopoly says it expects its 2020 profits to fall by around €300m due to COVID-19, while the country debates whether to shift to a more open online gambling market.
On Friday, Veikkaus reported that its revenue over the first half of 2020 totaled €607.2m, a drop of 28% from the first half of 2019. Profit was down more than one-third to €332.7m, prompting the company to warn that it likely won’t meet the €1b full-year profit stipulated in the 2020 state budget.
Veikkaus noted that its land-based operations, including its own slots halls and slots in private businesses, were forced to close in mid-March and stayed closed for several months. This pushed the retail share of H1 revenue down to 55.9%, with the remainder coming via Veikkaus’ digital channels.
Veikkaus has been trying to grow its digital operations ever since it began a cull of its land-based slots business, the ubiquity of which has increasingly come under fire from the public. But the 11.8-point rise in digital market share was primarily due to the greater land-based decline, as digital casino sales were down 0.9% year-on-year.
Friday's Races at Saratoga Delayed Due to Tote Issue
Saratoga Race Course has delayed its first post for the Aug. 21 card there until to 2:10 p.m. ET due to an ongoing technical issue with AmTote, its tote system provider, the New York Racing Association announced.
Costa Rica to welcome US tourists, with a huge asterisk
Costa Rica has always been a destination hotspot for tourists from all over the world and, in particular, North America. The country receives, according to data from its tourism agency, more than two million tourists each year. In a country with a population of just over five million, the influx of individuals is considerable and is a huge source of revenue for the Central American country. 2020 has forced Costa Rica to put the brakes on a lot of its tourism initiatives because of the coronavirus, both at home and abroad, but it is finally ready to start opening its borders to U.S. tourists, as well as other certain other countries, once again. The plan, though, comes with a major caveat. Only residents of six U.S. states will be allowed to visit.
The Instituto Costarricense de Turismo (ICT, Costa Rican Institute of Tourism), issued a press release yesterday, explaining that it will now allow tourists from 44 countries to visit. As of August 1, residents of the U.K., Canada and the European Union were authorized to travel to the country, and they are now joined by Japan, Thailand, China, Australia, New Zealand and Uruguay. Anyone arriving must have medical insurance that will cover any costs associated with COVID-19 and a certificate verifying a negative coronavirus test that was administered no more than 48 hours before the trip. That certificate must be accompanied by a form that verifies the information and which the Costa Rican government has made available on its website
Costa Rica Minister of Tourism Gustavo Seguro explains, “We continue taking the first steps in the gradual opening of air borders, gradually expanding the list, reaching a figure that exceeds forty countries. Little by little, more destinations will be incorporated based on the analysis of the scenarios of the development of the pandemic and its impact at the local and international levels “
As far as those wanting to hop away from the U.S. for a bit, only residents of Connecticut, Maine, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York and Vermont are authorized for entry. Normally, getting into Costa Rica is no problem and only a passport is needed. However, for now, the ICT explains that U.S. residents will need to show a driver’s license or other government-issued identification that confirms their official state of residency. The ICT limited travel to only these six states because of the low levels of COVID-19 that have been reported.
Sportradar locks up grip on all four major US sports leagues
Despite a couple recent stumbles, DraftKings has still done really well for itself after having gone public. The sports gambling scene is picking up a lot of momentum and, within just a couple of years, will be a major component of the US commercial industry like it is in other areas of the world. It’s no surprise, then, that companies working in the sector are scrambling to get involved, and Sportradar has been busy securing deals that will allow it to be a major name for decades to come. The sports data provider now has another partnership to brag about, having hooked up with the NHL. This newest relationship means that the company is now tied, among others, to the four major sports leagues in the US – NBA, NFL, MLB and NHL.
The NHL and Sportradar had a partnership that dates back to 2015, but the new agreement takes it to a new level, allowing the company to use league data for sports gambling activity. Sportradar will have access to all league stats and can sell official league data to sportsbooks, as well as casinos. The partnership was consummated after Sportradar reportedly won a competitive bidding auction that will pave the way for the two entities to work together for the next ten years.
Sports is taking on an entirely new feel moving forward, and the NHL is running with the pack. Coming up, the league plans on putting chips in the pucks and in shoulder pads worn by the players, all of which will lead to the collection of massive amounts of data points unlike anything ever seen before. The idea is to be able to inject a new element into hockey that includes things like who is the fastest skater, who has the quickest shot and, not outside the realm of possibility, which player can slam another to the ice with more force than anyone else.
This latest arrangement will prove very beneficial to Sportradar with its plans to go public. It announced last month that it was working on a deal with a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) for a reverse takeover – similar to how DraftKings went public – and the relationship the company has with the four major US sports organizations, as well as all its other agreements, will give it a substantial boost.
The NFL has a new advisory committee to address COVID-19 issues
The countdown to the 2020 NFL season, hopefully, continues on schedule, and the first game will be held on September 10 if everything goes according to plan. For that to happen, the league has put together a special committee to oversee its response to issues that may arise from the COVID-19 pandemic, calling upon the assistance of individuals intimately familiar with football, but who are no longer part of the league. Their goal is to help the NFL throughout the season as it looks to prevent any major coronavirus-caused catastrophes like those seen in MLB.
According to different sources, the NFL’s advisory committee will be working hand-in-hand with commissioner Roger Goodell to address any issue that comes up as the year progresses. The group includes former cornerback Champ Bailey, former receiver Isaac Bruce, former GM Charley Casserly, former head coach Tom Coughlin, former head coach Marvin Lewis, former safety Troy Polamalu, former GM Bill Polian and former GM Rick Smith.
Notably, the committee doesn’t include any health officials, a point that draws a little unwanted attention to the group. While all of the members of the committee have extensive football experience, the coronavirus warrants participation by at least one or two members of the health community, and the absence of these would seem to indicate that the group will often have to seek outside opinions before certain decisions can be made, which might slow down the implementation of any policies or procedures.
The idea behind the committee’s creation is to give the commissioner assistance in making decisions related to scheduling, seeding and more. However, each has a component directly linked to COVID-19 that cannot be ignored. The members selected for inclusion needed to be external to current league or team operations in order to avoid any possible appearance of conflict of interest and propel a sense of fairness across the board in all decisions the committee makes.
Just 2 casino licenses could give New York $1 billion, says lawmaker
New York State is going to miss around $13 billion from its budget because of the coronavirus pandemic, according to some estimates. That’s not a figure easy to recuperate, and the prolonged stoppage of gambling at the state’s four casinos means the venues won’t be able to provide any relief. Casino employees took to the state Capitol yesterday to drive the point home, although, even if casinos began to welcome gamblers starting tomorrow, there would be a long road ahead for the state to be financially stable once again. A New York politician thinks he has the solution, and it’s one he believes would give the state $1 billion before the end of the year. It would only require issuing two casino licenses, but there’s a huge hole in his plan.
New York Senator James Skoufis wants the state to expedite plans to expand its gambling options, which were approved by residents seven years ago. Seven commercial casinos were authorized that year, of which four are already in place in upstate New York. All four are still closed, per Governor Andrew Cuomo’s orders, and authorizing two of the remaining three would provide a much-needed windfall to the state, according to Skoufis.
He explained in a virtual town hall this week, “The proposal would be to accelerate the license to 2020 or early 2021, and so, we would get those two $500 million one-shots: a billion dollars between the two licenses. The casinos themselves, their openings, would not be accelerated. They would still open, as the schedule stands now, in 2023. But we would accelerate the licensing payments that are associated.”
When gambling expansion was approved, New York decided to deposit functioning casinos in the upstate area, putting a moratorium on all other possibilities until 2023. There have been a number of attempts at getting the state to change its mind, and they all have fallen flat. While Skoufis has a solid idea for letting the state capture a significant amount of money, it’s hard to imagine a company willing to fork over $500 million without being able to start earning it back immediately.
Illegal gambling ops with ties to Macau busted in China
It’s no secret that China isn’t a big fan of gambling. The country’s leaders have made it their mission to squash anything tied to casinos and has even set up a tattle line that allows people to report suspected violators in exchange for rewards of up to $7,000. The efforts seem to be paying off, as law enforcement recently arrested around 118 people for their involvement in illegal gaming activity in the city of Nantong. That was only the beginning, though, and, according to GGRAsia, police conducted more raids this week, arresting 50 people in the Jiangsu province for illegal gambling. Some reportedly were linked to Macau’s junket market.
The operations were allegedly uncovered by two reporters working undercover to sniff out the activity. One posed as a junket representative and the other as a gambler, and recorded their findings while unraveling the intricacies of the illegal casinos. The undercover exposé was the result of a story published by The Beijing News, which had revealed that abandoned factories and empty houses in cities across the Jiangsu province were being used as pop-up casinos.
After compiling the information, the journalists handed over the data to police, who then moved in to break up four underground casinos in Suzhou and Wuxi. Of the 50 taken into custody, some were tied to Macau’s junket segment and two were said to be the leaders of the operations. They had reportedly been setting up and tearing down their casinos in different areas on almost a regular basis in an effort to try to avoid detection.
The casinos, according to the reporters, were offering high-stakes baccarat. They were able to attract their deep-pocketed clients because some of those involved worked for Macau junkets, and these were able to recruit the gamblers to the new, temporary gambling halls. There was no word on which junkets may be involved or if they were still active in Macau.
Japanese lawmaker who took bribes in casino deal arrested again
The plans to bring gambling to Japan through integrated resorts (IR) has faced a number of obstacles, including the crushing blow delivered by the coronavirus pandemic. As devastating as this has been to the casino timeline, though, the embarrassment caused to the country by a politician has been equally problematic, giving opponents the ability to smirk as they utter “told you so” regarding the corruption gambling would bring. Tsukasa Akimoto, a member of Japan’s House of Representatives, has previously been brought up on charges of accepting bribes from a Chinese gaming operator looking to get in on the action. He has now been arrested once again – his third arrest since last December. He apparently hasn’t learned his lesson about following the law, and is facing charges of violating Japan’s Act for Punishment of Organized Crimes.
Akimoto, a former junior member of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), was found to have accepted bribes from 500.com in exchange for helping the company get a leg up on the competition as Japan’s IR project started to develop. He had been directly involved with the project, putting him in a great position to be able to peddle his influence. It now appears, according to the Tokyo District Public Prosecutors Office, that he has tried to pay off individuals in exchange for providing false testimony in the case. Along with Akimoto, Akihito Awaji, one of his supporters, is also reported to have tried to pay for testimony, and was arrested earlier this month.
Apparently, all the money Akimoto earned since being elected a national politician in 2004, coupled with the $34,000 he is said to have received from 500.com, hasn’t been enough to keep him solvent. He held a fundraiser at the end of last month in an effort to gather money and try to rejoin the LDP. It isn’t clear how much he may have been able to collect.
The IR scene in Japan is facing more opposition than ever before, fueled by COVID-19 and the unethical activities of one man. Neither can be said to weigh heavier than the other, as they both are causing considerable damage to the government and the IR plans. The coronavirus, in particular, has forced the government to refocus its attention on stabilizing the country, which has forced delays in developing the IR Basic Policy that will be used by the industry to establish its specifications. This, in turn, has led to local governments that had hoped to get involved to delay their plans, as well.
Rightlander’s Ian Simms on the role of affiliate marketing during Covid-19
Affiliate marketers continue to play a vital role in the growth of the online gaming industry and their importance has been magnified with the social distancing restrictions of 2020. Rightlander founder Ian Simms sat down with our own Becky Liggero Fontana to give some insight on how new regulations are influencing the role of affiliates in online gaming.
Simms was quick to point out that certain territories in Europe have differing views on the role of bonuses and the restrictions surrounding them. “Certain jurisdictions like the U.K. and Sweden have been very quick to say how they think things should be,” he said. “We have had places like Spain and Italy have pre-empted that a long time ago with bonus restrictions in Sweden as well obviously with only one bonus.”
The Rightlander founder has never been a fan of bonuses, “I’ve always thought that they were a bit of an Achilles heel for the industry.” But he pointed out no one within the industry has produced a viable alternative because of the worry over the competition: