France’s upcoming hosting of the 2023 Rugby World Cup has prompted l’Autorité Nationale des Jeux (ANJ) to refresh its nationwide safer gambling campaign. The tagline, “Rugby has its codes, so does betting,” will be front and center for the ANJ, France’s unified gambling authority, during rugby union’s premier tournament taking place across France from 8 September to 28 October. For …

The UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) has published further specific details on concerns related to the “misuse of statistics”  as relayed by CEO Andrew Rhodes to Dame Caroline Dinenage, the Chair, Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee on 29 August. Micheal Dugher (CEO, Betting and Gaming Council – BGC), Wes Himes (Executive Director for Standards and Innovation, BGC) and Will Prochaska …

UK gaming and amusement trade body Bacta has completed its strategic reorganisation, announcing the members elected to its new National Council.  The National Council, revamped as part of a ‘head-to-toe restructure’ of Bacta, will be led by amusement and gaming machine veteran John Bollom as National President, and Scottish representative Joseph Cullis as Vice-President.  Representing gaming machine manufacturers and distributors, …

Betsson AB has bolstered its M&A options by completing a senior unsecured bond issuance of €75m. The €75m bond is authorised under a larger framework, which provides Betsson access to capital of up to €250m. The transaction is set at a three-year tenor, with the bond’s maturity date scheduled for September 2026. The interest rate is based on EURIBOR for …

Playtech Plc has reaffirmed all financial year targets as group trading outperforms all corporate expectations, despite operating profits being dragged by tax impairments.  Posting its Interim 2023 results, Playtech declared a record H1 2023 performance with Adjusted EBITDA increasing by 10% to €219.9m (H1 2022: 199.1m) and total group revenue up by 8% to €859.6m (€792.3m). However, period trading saw …

Esports Entertainment Group Inc (EEG) has confirmed the promotion of Michael Villani to Chief Financial Officer (CFO), effective from 29 August. Villani served as the interim CFO of EEG following the departure of Damian Mathews in January. Prior to this interim appointment, Villani had served as the financial controller for the Nasdaq-listed firm. EEG highlighted Villani’s credentials, noting his nine-year …

Gluecksspiel (GGL), the Federal Authority of German Gambling, will host its first “joint exchange meeting of state coordinators” in Halle. The meeting will convene representatives from Germany’s 16 Federal States (Bundesländer). They will share their specific experiences and challenges in prevention work in the online gambling sector since the inception of the Fourth Interstate Gambling regime (GlüNeuRStv) on 1 July …

Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, President of Kazakhstan, has ordered government departments to draft plans on imposing new gambling restrictions.  Astana news sources report that President Tokayev has highlighted the dangers of gambling addiction to department leaders at a Security Council meeting. According to Tokayev, “gambling addiction has increased over recent years and has affected many families in the country”. He pointed specifically …

Veikkaus, Finland’s gambling and lotteries monopoly, has initiated a ‘transformation programme’ to brace itself for a significant ‘system change’ in Finnish gambling. The company anticipates that proceedings will commence this fall. Earlier this year, the Finnish government confirmed its intention to terminate Veikkaus’ monopoly privileges by 2026. This move is part of a broader strategy to restructure Finland’s gambling market. …