Europe

SIS will expand its racing broadcast and data gathering services within Eastern Europe after confirming that it has secured new agreements with the Czech Republic’s LAB racetrack operator and Hungary’s Kincsem Park racecourse. The new partnerships will see SIS broadcast ‘at least 300 races across the year’ from LAB Czech racecourses in Prague, Most, Pardubice, and Karlovy Vary regions.  Meanwhile, …

For this month’s Better Collective Spotlight, we spoke to Christina Thomsen (pictured above), Head of Investor Relations (IR) and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) at Better Collective. We asked her about the sustainability strategy at Better Collective, the parent company behind the likes of bettingexpert.com and hltv.org, and a new commitment to supporting the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) set by the …

GVC Holdings CEO Kenneth Alexander has issued a public statement to Parliament, as sportsbooks return to trading on the majority of major sports betting markets. Writing for Politics Home, Alexander emphasised that while a post-lockdown period brings with it an opportunity to promote a wide range of betting markets, gambling companies must not become ‘complacent’ in its responsible gambling measures. …

Ahead of this week’s Royal Ascot (16-20 June), the UK Tote Group has confirmed that its Tote Superpools markets will be available for all 36 festival races. Tote Superpools offer pools that are combined with those from Hong Kong and other major racetracks, boosting prize pool liquidity for punters. The Tote has since outlined plans to expand Tote Superpools to …

The Betting and Gaming Council (BGC) will launch the betting industry’s latest charity initiative on Gold Cup Day (Thursday 18 June) at Royal Ascot. Regarded as the festival’s ‘biggest wagering day’, the BGC confirmed that 13 UK betting brands will commit to donating all win and each-way profits taken from the heritage handicap Britannia Stakes (race-start: 16:10 BST). Profits raised …

The UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) has published further data revealing that the British public has engaged less in gambling during national lockdown. The data for April was collected from the UK’s biggest operators combined with YouGov‘s ongoing ‘COVID-19 tracker’ measuring public trends and habits in lockdown. Citing general consumer trends, the UKGC underlined that lockdown ‘does not appear to have …

DCMS has confirmed that operators of UK ‘adult gaming centres’ (AGCs) in England will not be allowed to reopen their venues as anticipated on Monday 15 June.  Listed as retail venues, UK arcades had been scheduled to reopen from the start of next week alongside betting shop counterparts, a decision previously communicated by the government on the weekend of 23 …

Citing novel coronavirus impacts across its European network, Czech gambling and lottery conglomerate SAZKA Group saw its consolidated Q1 revenues decline by 11% to €405m (Q1 2019: €458m). In an overview of Q1 performance, the group cited trading under unprecedented circumstances, in which subsidiaries OPAP Greece, Casinos Austria and LOTTO Italia have been forced to suspend their entire retail presence …

Private bookmaker Fitzdares will ‘buck the trend’ by launching a new national ‘luxury brand advertising campaign’ ahead of next week’s Royal Ascot (16-20 June). Its ‘Upgrade Your Bookmaker’ campaign will appear in UK news magazines The Spectator, The Week, national daily newspapers and the Racing Post as well as on social media and aims to focus on Fitzdares’ bespoke service …