Canadian gambling investment firm Contagious Gaming has confirmed that it will not make a bid to acquire UK betting pools technology provider Sportech Plc. Contagious Gaming issued a corporate statement alerting markets and the media of its decision to withdraw its interest in the Liverpool based operator. Sportech also issued an announcement declaring that it had not received a proposal …

William Hill has alerted the media that it has received a substantial sized bet on Leeds actor Sam Riley becoming the eighth James Bond (Yes…SBC includes David Niven as a Bond!). The bookmaker revealed that a punter had placed a large sum backing Riley to replace Daniel Craig as 007 at 50/1. The bookmaker detailed that if the punter was …

Despite its size Taiwan is a notable force in the world of eSports. The current hope is that the country becomes the sixth nation worldwide to recognise competitive gaming as an official sport. Government officials met with board members from the Taiwan eSports sector to further discuss moves in this regard last week’s proposals. eSports would be classified as an ‘indoor …

Sportech Plc has been informed that its planned hearing of its £97 million value added tax repayment claim on its ‘Spot the Ball’ competition has been delayed. The operator was due to enter its claim hearings on 2 November, however Sportech was that due to a “lack of judicial availability”, its VAT hearing would have to be delayed. At present …

Australian betting industry veteran Michael Sullivan has announced his return to market with the launch of new bookmaker BlueBet. The former William Hill Australia Chief Executive, Sullivan told Australian business news sources that BlueBet would offer a level of customer service and personalised engagement that foreign owned bookmakers could not facilitate. Sullivan who had led Sportingbet Australia and Centrebet operations …

Rank Group subsidiary Mecca Bingo, has launched omni-channel system Playtech One across its entire product range, with a view to enhance player engagement, optimise content and bridge customer access to its games inventory. Playtech ONE’s launch across Mecca Bingo omni-channel inventory, has been supported by this year integration of Playtech’s retail server system, which services the bingo operator entire 2300 …

The UK racing levy will be referred to the UK government, as talks between the Horseracing Betting Levy Board and Bookmakers’ Committee have broken down as negotiating parties could not agree on the key terms for the funding 55th levy scheme. The breakdown in talks will see the scheme referred to John Whittingdale Minister of Culture, Media and Sport to …

Haken Hallstedt the Director General of Lotteriinspektionen, Sweden’s gambling regulator has been appointed to lead the reform of the country’s gambling framework. Hallstedt has been charged with heading up the investigative committee, which will develop and redraft gambling legislations, with a concentrated emphasis on creating regulations, protocols and standards for online gambling services. Sweden has faced increased pressure from the …

Sports betting provisions provider SIS has extended its existing partnership with the Bookmakers Afternoon Greyhound Service (BAGS), by announcing the launch of a new streaming service for international customers. SIS will been given access to live stream BAGS 30,000 greyhound races from 20 associated UK tracks. SIS will distribute the coverage and race data to international bookmakers via its betting …

Paddy Power has strengthened its marketing operations by appointing Sarah Ellis Davies as its Director of Marketing Innovations. Davies the former lead for marketing innovation of O2/Telefonica’s European and international operations, joins Paddy Power marketing under the new guidance of CMO Gav Thompson (appointed April 2015). Davies will be charged with leading Paddy Power’s marketing and brand strategies on new …