Retail

Newcastle United midfielder Jack Colback has become the latest Premier League footballer to face allegations of breaching English football rules on football betting. This weekend UK news sources reported that the Football Association (FA) would investigate the footballer in relation to bets placed on the Atletico Madrid vs Bayern Munich UEFA Champions League semi-final on 27 April. At present there …

Ladbrokes leadership has been dealt a blow by shareholders regarding executive pay at its Annual General Meeting held on Thursday, where 42% of votes were cast against the operator’s remuneration report. The report detailed that Ladbrokes CEO Jim Mullen had been paid £567,000 for his first nine month’s leading the operator. Mullen’s predecessor Richard Glynn earned £730,000 in 2014, combined …

Nasdaq-listed Scientific Games Corporation has stated that integration initiatives and cost focused synergies implemented in 2015 have helped the company record an income boost of $50 million up 178% on Q1 2015’s $18 million. Updating the market on its Q1 2016 performance (period ending 31 March), Scientific Games reported growth on revenue and earnings ‘metrics, despite being impacted by unfavourable …

The UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) has published a set of new requirements to prevent crime associated with gambling. The new rules will come into force later this year and  follow a Commission consultation which took place at the end of 2015. As part of the changes, UKGC will require gambling operators to: Conduct an assessment of the risks of money …

A tough opening to its 2016 corporate performance, has seen Eastern European gambling operator Fortuna Entertainment revise its year guidance detailing an EBITDA drop ranging between 10-15%. Updating the market on its Q1 2016 (period ending 31 March), Fortuna reported a group wagering increase to €251 million (up 26% on corresponding Q1 2015) combined with Gross Win revenues of €38 …

Newcastle Racecourse management has confirmed the successful installation and trial of its new tapeta all-weather track at Gosforth Park Racecourse Following a testing undertaken by 40 horses, British Horseracing Authority (BHA) inspectors cleared the new track for sanctioned racing. The racecourse will now open in time for the first 188BET All-Weather Raceday on 17 May. a £60,000 seven race card …

Speaking to The Irish Independent newspaper, Sharon Bryne Chair of the Irish Bookmakers Association (IBA) has stated that Ireland’s retail betting sector is in dire need of strategy rethink. Since 2008 reports show that Irish retail betting shops have dropped €1 billion in revenues, representing a 30% industry decline. Furthermore, recorded wagering has fallen from €3.7 billion to €2.6 billion …

Betting technology provider Sportech has been cleared of its long running ‘Spot the Ball’ £97 million VAT repayment dispute with Her Majesty’s Revenues & Customs (HMRC). Today the UK Court of Appeal ruled unanimously in favour of Sportech’s case against HMRC which argues that the company was owed £40 million in VAT, plus added interest, on ‘Sport the Ball’ competition …

Updating the market, FTSE-listed gambling operator Paddy Power Betfair (PPB) presented its proforma basis results (merged results) for Q1 2016 (period ending March 31). The newly merged FTSE-100 enterprise (merger officially completed 2 February) reported group revenues up 16% to £339 million for its opening quarter performance. PPB governance was pleased to report Q1 2016 metric growth, despite being impacted …

Betting solutions supplier SIS has confirmed that it has entered a partnership with betting insights and intelligence provider Genius Sports for the distribution of in-play data for Spanish football. Through its new partnership with SIS, Genius Sports will be allowed to capture betting data on Spanish football matches including La Liga and further matches sanctioned by the Liga de Futbol …