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The Euro 2016 final is nearly upon us, as France prepare to take on Portugal in Paris. SBC News has been keeping an eye on the best offers throughout the tournament, as bookmakers across Europe have implemented marketing strategies to acquire and retain the most customers. SBC has conducted interviews with Oddschecker, Square in the Air and BetVictor as part of our …

The British Horseracing Association (BHA) has filed a submission to the UK Competition & Markets Authority (CMA) stating that the merger of Ladbrokes and Coral could impact consumer choice in UK racing and greyhound industries. Approved by BHA CEO Nick Rust the former Managing Director of Retail Operations for Ladbrokes, the association warned the CMA that the merger could lead …

Portuguese licensed bookmaker Bet Entertainment Technologies Limited owner of bet.pt has launched its online sportsbook and igaming platform powered by sports betting technology provider SBTech. Following a review of industry services providers, Bet Entertainment chose SBTech provisions to service its bet.pt brand an approved Portuguese-language sports betting portal licensed by the Serviço de Regulação e Inspeção de Jogos do Turismo …

Betway has announced that they have entered into strategic three year partnerships with five Bundesliga 2 clubs ahead of the new football season in August. The company will be designated as the official betting partner for St. Pauli, Union Berlin, Eintracht Braunschweig, Karlsruher SC and Dynamo Dresden. Betway, the principal sponsor of West Ham United and Premier League Darts, will …

The Greyhound Board of Great Britain (GBGB) has ‘condemned’ the practices highlighted in a government report into greyhound racing in New South Wales, a state of affairs that has seen the sport banned from the Australian state. The Special Commission of Inquiry found ‘overwhelming evidence’ of systemic animal cruelty, including mass greyhound killings and live baiting – a practice that …

Following nearly two years of parliamentary debate, the Dutch Lower House has today pushed through the ‘Netherlands Online Gambling Bill’ seeking to regulate and license industry services. Dutch industry stakeholders now expect the online gambling bill to be rubber-stamped by the Dutch Senate, with online gambling regulation set to be implemented by early 2017. The online gambling bill has navigated …

Irish Snooker player Leo Fernandez has been given a 15-month ban by the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association (WPBSA) after admitting to a charge related to corruption and match-fixing. Fernandez, 40, was provisionally suspended on May 27 pending an investigation into suspicious betting patterns during his World Championship qualifying match with Gary Wilson in April. He has now admitted …

Seeking to bolster its customer retention management (CRM) operations, GVC Holdings (GVC) has confirmed Israeli user management software provider Optimove as its new network partner. Optimove a specialist in automated and tailored CRM system development, will become the core retention platform for GVC’s portfolio of betting and igaming brands (Sportingbet, bwin, Party Gaming, Foxy Bingo). GVC had a prior working …

ESSA has entered into a formal information sharing arrangement with The R&A, event organisers for The Open Championship. The agreement is a precautionary measure, with the aim of detecting and deterring any betting-related corruption at the oldest golf tournament in the world. ESSA will employ its alert and reporting system, covering regulated markets from each of its members. Considering they …

An article has already been published by SBC News about the latest gambling industry statistics, recently published by the Gambling Commission and covering the period April 2011 to March 2015 (but updated to include October 2014 to September 2015); (see http://www.sbcnews.co.uk/retail/2016/07/04/gambling-commission-reveals) However, I am going to drill down a bit deeper into those figures with a particular focus on the …