Company Reports

Casino firm Melco Resorts and Entertainment has decided to abandon its plans to boost its stake in the Australian giant Crown Resorts due to the dangerous coronavirus spreading. Earlier today, the Hong Kong-listed gambling company revealed that it is withdrawing from the AU$880-million agreement under which it would have raised its stake in Crown Resorts to almost 20%. In a statement from Lawrence Ho-controlled Melco, it was announced that the company would quit its pursuit of the initially planned investment in Australia for the second tranche of the takeover deal…

The most recent meeting at the House of Lords’ Select Committee on the Social and Economic Impact of the Gambling Industry saw some of the hottest issues regarding the UK gambling sector emerge. Apart from the presence of gambling in professional sport, aggressive gambling advertising on TV and social media and targetting underage individuals, the Committee also heard about the use of affiliates in gambling and how local gambling companies feel about the regulation of their affiliates. The talks raised some speculation that gambling operators’ affiliates could become officially subject…

British competition authorities have revealed their intention to review the merger between the two leading gambling operators Flutter Entertainment and The Stars Group. As announced by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) of the UK, the body would investigate the announced £10-billion deal and whether it would have a significant negative effect on competition in the local gambling sector. Such probes are not something new for the CMA. In fact, the action follows the last-minute intervention of the Authority into a combination deal between the food delivery platforms Takeaway.com and…

Yesterday, the bosses of the leading UK bookmakers revealed that big-spending customers described as VIP players account for up to 38% of the deposits received by their companies. The gambling operators are known to grant VIP status to their highest-spending users, with that status usually being associated with special enticements such as free cash bonuses or even free tickets for sporting events in order to make these customers bet even more. Yesterday, the bosses of the five largest gambling operators in the UK – PaddyPower Betfair, bet365, William Hill, Ladbrokes…

The leading gambling tech company on a global scale, Playtech, has revealed that its long-term contract with online gambling company Mansion has been extended for another five years. Under the extension of the deal, Playtech is to expand the reach of its collaboration with Mansion in two of the leading regulated gambling markets – Italy and the UK. As the Isle of Man-based gambling technology firm revealed, the contract has followed the recent commitment which Mansion made to a bespoke Live Casino studio space and included a special Casino tab…

Last weekend, it was announced that the Football Association of Ireland (FAI) has terminated the two-year sponsorship contract with SportPesa, a sports betting company operating across the world. The agreement has been one of the final deals reached by John Delaney before he left his position as Chief Executive Officer of the FAI in March 2019. Recently, there has bee a lot of pressure faced by anti-gambling addiction groups that have been calling for the association to take stricter measures regarding the connection between gambling and football. The increasing pressure…

In the last month, the events in the Bulgarian gambling sector have been developing rapidly and at multiple levels. Earlier in January, a bill aimed at banning private lotteries in Bulgaria has been tabled by Valeri Simeonov, a member of the National Front for Salvation Party. The proposed amendment to the Bulgarian Gambling Act of 2012 seeks to impose a government-owned monopoly on the country’s lotteries by suspending the operation of private lotteries. Under the changes that Simeonov has suggested to be made to the country’s gambling legislation, the only…

The major gambling regulatory body of the UK has joined forces with Twitter to create guidance focused on providing more qualitative help and support to people who are willing to limit the amount of gambling-related content that is displayed for them on Twitter. The latter has become the first social media platform to collaborate with the Commission on this particular initiative. The UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) yesterday issued guidance explaining the variety of ways in which the safety tools and settings of the social media platform can be adjusted within…

The stock-picking practice is normally aimed at helping investors generate higher returns in comparison to the overall market. Unfortunately, sometimes investors have the bad luck of purchasing stocks that fall short of the average returns of the market. This is what has happened to the lead generation companies with close links to the online casino and sports betting industry Catena Media and XLMedia. The trend has been continuous for several quarters, indicating some unsolved problems that the companies probably face. Shareholders of Catena Media See Massive 43% Share Price Decline…

Today, sources familiar with the matter revealed that the Australian gambling company Tabcorp is unwilling to enter the competition for becoming the next operator of the UK National Lottery and participate in the bidding process that is given a start in 2020. As Casino Guardian has already reported, the local gambling regulator – the UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) – has chosen the investment bank Rothschild to take into consideration the potential bidders interested in being the ones to receive the license to run the UK National Lottery. The current licence…