Asia

Alibaba Group, Asia’s biggest online retailer, has agreed to buy a majority stake in Hong Kong-listed lottery technology provider AGTech Holdings for HK 2.4 billion ($308 million). The deal which will be processed through Alibaba investment subsidiary, Ali Fortune Holdings will see the retailer enter the rapidly growing Chinese lottery sector. Issuing a public filing with the Hong Kong Stock …

New York listed Chinese sports lottery operator 500.com has posted its third consecutive no-revenue quarter for Q4 2015. The troubled lottery operator continues to be impacted by its ‘temporary’ lottery services suspension imposed by China’s Ministry of Finance (first sanctioned in February 2015) As a result of the suspension, the operator posted Q4 revenues of RMB 0.7 million ($0.1 million), …

Leading global gaming technology group Novomatic, and Len Ainsworth, founder and majority shareholder of Ainsworth Game Technology (AGT), have announced that they have signed a purchase agreement for the shares of Len Ainsworth in AGT. The 92-year-old gaming veteran will retain his role as chairman, and Novomatic expects to keep the stake at about 53 per cent and retain Ainsworth’s ASX listing. …

It has been revealed that Call of Duty is giving its legions of amateur esports gaming fans an opportunity to reach the game’s professional esports world championship thanks to the creation of a new league.  The new Challenge division will be a tier below the game’s Pro Division. Those who shine in the league will gain the chance to take on pro gamers in promotion-relegation …

During the final quarter of 2015, ESSA’s alert system identified 35 sporting events that were reported to the relevant regulatory body as being suspicious, with 24 (69%) of the cases from Tennis and 8 (23%) from Football events. The role of ESSA is to provide an early warning system with the specific aim of detecting and deterring the corruption of …

Scottish club Celtic are ready to announce Dafabet as their new primary shirt sponsor. In what could be the biggest sponsor deal in Scottish Football, the betting company are looking to replace Magners for the 2016-17 season. As reported in Soccerex, Celtic are looking to secure a long-term deal to replace outgoing shirt sponsor Magners. Dafabet is Asia’s number one …

Asian gambling investment firm MelcoLot Ltd has ended its Tbilisi (Georgia) casino project plans. Issuing a short statement leisure operator Melco International Developments (owner of MelcoLot), declared that it had failed to reach terms with land developers Dhabi Group Georgia.   “Although every effort has been made to negotiate on the casino lease terms, the parties are unable to reach …

India is the latest country to announce its commitment to the esports industry following the launch of the Indian Gaming League (IGL) this week.  Siddhanth Valecha, IGL spokesperson said of the news: “We want to revive the gaming culture in India. We interacted with India’s gaming community before launching the league, and we received a tremendous response.” He added: “In …

The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) has announced that it has extended its partnership agreement with sports data supplier Sportradar. Signing the agreement both organisations stated that they were committed to strengthening their fight against match-fixing in Asia. Sportradar will continue to assist the Asian football governing body, providing the organisation with match analysis and data. The partnership will additionally see …

SportQuake has today announced the opening of new Hong Kong and Beijing offices as part of their expansion into the China market. The growth represents another milestone for SportQuake in a year that marks its 10-year anniversary since being founded by Matt House, the former Tottenham Hotspur Commercial Director. The agency has delivered over £150 million worth of partnerships between sports rights owners …