The Polish bookmaking industry has urged the government to support the sector in saving ‘thousands of jobs’ in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. Bukmacherzyrazem – the Employers and Employees of the Bookmakers Companies Association – warns of widespread closure of betting shops across Poland, which will have a knock-on effect on the Polish economy.  The trade association has requested that …

The British Horseracing Authority (BHA) has committed to supporting the racing industry during the UK lockdown, after agreeing an ‘emergency financial plan to cut its costs to the industry by up to a million pounds a month’. Under the plan, agreed by the BHA Board, nearly 80% of staff will be temporarily stood down from work using the government’s Coronavirus …

Addressing the shortfall in live sports, Sportradar has confirmed the launch of its AI-driven Simulated Reality, which will be made available to customers within its existing portfolio of events. Launching on 3 April, it is hoped that the Simulated Reality product will deliver ‘a sports betting experience which is as close to real life as possible’. Carsten Koerl, CEO of …

Following the cancellation of next week’s Randox Health Grand National due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, ITV Racing has confirmed that it will broadcast a virtual simulation of the race. The race, which will be broadcast at 17:00 on 4 April, will include the 40 runners who would have been most likely to take part using CGI technology and special …

With the suspension of almost all live racing worldwide, Sports Information Services (SIS) has confirmed that it will be closing down ‘all non-essential services and to furlough a significant number of staff effective immediately’. The racing content and data services provider has explained that the decision has been made to ‘protect its long-term future’. Richard Ames, CEO of SIS, said: …

Arena Racing Company (ARC) has revealed that it will offer financial support to greyhound trainers based at its five stadia during the period of suspension for racing. Following the suspension of greyhound racing due to the COVID-19 pandemic, ARC will offer £5 per dog per week to trainers from Belle Vue, Newcastle, Nottingham, Perry Barr and Sunderland. The funds will …

Research commissioned by industry charity GambleAware has led to a number of recommendations as to how operators can reduce the risk of gambling-related harms. The programme of research was conducted by two separate consortia, led by Ipsos MORI and the Institute for Social Marketing at the University of Stirling. The research found that ‘regular exposure to gambling promotions can change …

Developing markets platform provider BtoBet has recommended that Colombian operators should begin to ‘move towards an evermore digital betting experience’ in a bid to diversify their offerings. As revealed in its ‘Colombia Shifting from Retail to Online’ report, only 9.4% of total gaming revenues for the first half of 2019 were generated by the online gaming sector, despite the market …

BetConstruct has strengthened its portfolio of partnerships after confirming a new deal with sports betting supplier Wiseodds. The agreement makes BetConstruct the first partner to integrate the Wiseodds peer-to-peer betting product onto its platform. Aris Gabrielyan, Head of Regional Business Development at BetConstruct, said. “Wiseodds has launched a game-changing and risk-free product that combines elements of sports betting and poker, …