UK

Regulus Partners observes that the UK government has remained silent on several key reviews ahead of the pending publication of its White Paper on Gambling Review recommendations… As with Monty Python’s Spanish Inquisition, it is extremely hard to know when to expect key events in the government’s review of the 2005 Gambling Act. This week’s non-barking dog was the Government …

GambleAware has published its list of corporate donors for the 12 months ending 31 March 2022, revealing that the ‘Big Four’ group of UK operators generated 89% of all contributions. The responsible and safer gambling organisation updated that Entain, Flutter Entertainment and William Hill all made donations in the millions, with total industry contributions to GambleAware reaching £34.7 million. The continued …

Better Collective AS has branded UK media reports as ‘highly speculative‘ of its’ front runner interest’ in acquiring Spotlight Sports Group for £500 million. This weekend, The Sunday Times reported that private equity fund Exponent LLP, the majority investor of Spotlight Sports since 2016, had placed its racing and betting media asset ‘under starters orders‘  for a sale to be executed in …

On Thursday night, Rangers FC qualified for the 2022 Europa League final, beating match favourites RB Leipzig 3-1 on the night (3-2 on aggregate) at Ibrox to make it through to the final against Eintracht Frankfurt in Seville on May 18. It will be the club’s first European final in 14 years, and Giovanni Van Bronckhorst’s men will be aiming …

888sport has provided another boost to its sports marketing in the UK and Ireland, renewing its regional agreement with the National Football League (NFL). The contract extension will see 888Holdings wagering brand continue as the NFL’s sports betting partner in the UK and Irish markets until 2025, with the arrangement having been in place for the past two seasons. This …

The UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) has revealed that the country’s problem gambling rate has dropped for another year to 0.2%, prompting the Betting and Gaming Council (BGC) to praise the industry’s efforts.  Issuing an update, the UKGC demonstrated that problem gambling rates had consistently fallen year-on-year from 2020 onwards, with the March 2020 figure standing at 0.6%, falling to 0.4% …

Racing Post, Banach and TXODDS’s horseracing solution, AllSported, has been taken private following what is being described as a ‘substantial investment’.  The financial injection in the former three-way venture will be used to support an ‘aggressive’ growth strategy, facilitated by the new ownership that increases agility for the one-stop platform’s product development. Taking full control over its own operations, AllSported …

Brigid Simmonds (OBE), Chair of the Betting and Gaming Council (BGC), has warned the government against radically alerting UK gambling’s RET (research, education and treatment) duties ahead of the of publication of the White Paper on industry reforms.  Writing an open editorial on Conservative Home, the central news source of the Conservative Party, Simmonds acknowledged that emotions had surpassed evidence …

The UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) has revealed that the National Lottery’s Good Causes funding in Q4 fell in comparison to the previous quarter and last year.  Publishing an update on its website, the Commission showed that the total raised for good causes in Q4 (January-March 2022), was £491.3 million. This represented a decline of 3.4% from the previous quarter and …

The board of Playtech Plc has stated confidence in achieving the group’s full-year 2022 commercial and corporate objectives following ‘an excellent start to year trading’.  Issuing a snapshot trading update, the FTSE250 gaming technology group revealed that positive Q1 trading had generated unaudited EBITDA results of more than €100 million, with the ‘run rate continuing through to April’.  Strong EBITDA …