GVC Holdings Director of Regulatory Affairs Martin Lycka explains how 2020 events have handed the industry a crisis agenda that incumbents must accept and match with responsibility and good faith… The stakes have never been placed this high on operator conduct. ______________________ Sunday morning – end of winter. With the NHL and the NBA regular seasons entering their final quarter, …
Read More »Contributor
COVID-19: How the virus is impacting sports events across the globe
As the world comes to terms with the continually evolving threat of COVID-19, SBC focuses on how the outbreak is having a significant impact on sporting events across the globe. Football Following the UK Government’s decision not to ban major gatherings, in spite of much criticism, the English Premier League seemed intent on continuing to play out the fixture list …
Read More »Martin Lycka: Liberalism versus conservatism played out in German law
GVC’s Director of Regulatory Affairs Martin Lycka revisits the online gambling laws in Germany and sees what the ‘sixteen kings’ have in store for the industry. ____________________ Habemus State Treaty. After years of thick black smoke, white billow has spewed out from the tiny little chimney perched on the roof of the German Gambling Chapel. The sixteen cardinals dispatched by …
Read More »Winning Post: UK gambling sleep walks into a review of stakes & prizes
Regulus Partners analyses the events of what could become a defining week for UK gambling, as an under-pressure Gambling Commission commits to a review of stakes and prizes, whilst the conservative government appoints its eighth DCMS leader. _______________________ When the story of the prohibition of gambling in Great Britain comes to be written, this week’s events in Parliament may well …
Read More »Martin Lycka: Gambling and its Dutchman’s curse
In the latest of a series of columns examining international gambling legislation, GVC Holdings Director of Regulatory Affairs Martin Lycka retraces the industry’s arduous history with Dutch politics and policies… _________________ The year was 1964. The Beatles dominated the charts, Sidney Poitier became the first Afro American actor to have won an Oscar and a Czechoslovak gymnast Vera Caslavska enchanted the world …
Read More »Martin Lycka: Gamblng advertising – Here be monsters!
In the latest of a series of columns on international gambling legislation, GVC Holdings Director of Regulatory Affairs Martin Lycka dips into the rich history of Greek mythology to put the industry’s challenges this year into some sort of context. A spectre is haunting gambling Europe – the spectre of a ban on gambling related advertising. It came from Italy …
Read More »Martin Lycka: My letter to Gambling Santa
In the latest of a series of columns on international gambling legislation, GVC Holdings Director of Regulatory Affairs Martin Lycka pens a letter to the Santa of Gambling and hopes that, for a change. the industry is on the ‘good’ list. Dear Gambling Santa, My name is Martin and I am probably a little too old to write to you. …
Read More »bet365 results – in numbers
Today saw the release of the financial results for bet365, comfortably perceived as the leader in online betting and gambling in the industry and winner of SBC’s Sportsbook of the Year award for the last five years. The report covers the 53 weeks to 31 March 2019 and so takes in figures from the 2018 World Cup in Russia. As befits …
Read More »Martin Lycka: What Would Pelé Do?
In the fifth of a series of columns on international gambling legislation, GVC Holdings Director of Regulatory Affairs Martin Lycka wonders what might Pelé and his footballing band of brothers think about Brazilian sports betting regulation. In an exclusive fictitious interview, we have asked Brazil’s all-time leading goal scorers for their views on the regulatory works the Brazilian government has …
Read More »Martin Lycka: Us versus Them – psychology of gambling regulation
In the fourth of a series of columns on international gambling legislation, GVC Holdings Director of Regulatory Affairs Martin Lycka debates the antagonistic relationship that can develop between the regulator and the industry. __________________ Operators v. Regulators, undoubtedly a top billing in the industry nowadays. Just pause and think how many times in recent past you have bumped into an …
Read More »