Retail

UK race track operator Arena Racing Company (ARC) has announced a £600,000 investment in Uttoxeter Racecourse, to modernise its restaurant and hospitality facilities. The new restaurant facility will replace the current Silks Restaurant which ARC hopes to cater 300 guests on race days. Uttoxeter Racecourse will further improve its corporate facilities, with a view to becoming a key venue for Staffordshire …

Australian Football League (AFL) clubs are turning their backs on betting sponsorships by signing up to the Victorian Responsible Gambling Foundation’s ‘Gambling’s Not a Game’ program. The program which has gained significant political support, aims to remove betting advertising from AFL grounds. AFL Clubs Hawthorn, Collingwood, North Melbourne, Melbourne Victory, St. Kilde, Essendon, and the Western Bulldogs have announced that …

Bookmakers are predicting a two-way shoot-out between acclaimed Hawaiian novelist Hanya Yanagihara’s “A Little Life” and Derby’s Sunjeev Sahota’s “The Year of the Runaways” to win today’s 2015 Man Booker Prize. Yanagihara’s “A Little Life” at present leads the market at 5/6, and has been the leading contender since the July longlist announcement. The Hawaiian novelist whose book has been …

Eighteen cases of suspicious betting patterns were detected in the third quarter of 2015 by the sports betting integrity association, ESSA, which represents many of the world’s largest regulated betting operators. Whilst these figures represents a slight fall from those detected by ESSA in Q1 (24 cases) and Q2 (23 cases), it highlights the continuing threat to sport, consumers and …

The Netherlands’ Council of Ministers has given the go-ahead for national lottery operators Staatsloterij and Sichting Nationale Sporttotlisator (SNS) to merge. The planned merger comes as both operators implemented cost saving strategies in 2015, due to continued declines in ticket sales. Dutch Secretary of State for Finance Eric Wiebes with the support of his office personally supported the move, stating that it …

It appears that Sportech Plc are prepared to play the waiting game by allowing Canadian gambling investment firm Contagious Gaming a second deal extension, to its proposed 18 August takeover inquiry. Yet to receive a definitive offer, Sportech governance had given Contagious Gaming a 9 October ‘Put up or shut up’ (PUSU) deadline. However it appears that the Canadian outfit …

totejackpot operator totepool has announced some changes that are being made to the bet from next week in order to reinvigorate the format and produce some juicy high jackpots for the product. Instead of limiting the totejackpot to a single meeting, from Tuesday 13 October the bet will have the freedom to take its six legs from more than one …

Listed bookmaker Ladbrokes has signed a £1.35 billion facility with a syndicate of relationship banks to provide committed financing for its proposed merger with Coral. The deal means that Coral’s existing debt of £1.4 billion won’t be carried over to the new group. The new facility has three tranches and will be available for drawing subject to completion of the …

Continuing its senior management restructure under new CEO Jim Mullen, Ladbrokes has announced the appointment of Kristof Fahy as Chief Marketing Officer (CMO). The former William Hill CMO (2010 – 2015), re-joins the betting industry having led Telegraph Media Group marketing for the past six months. Kristof will lead all brand and marketing initiatives for Ladbrokes retail and digital divisions …

Betting provisions supplier SIS  has bolstered its marketing department with two strategic hires. Experienced insight professional, Simon Free, has joined the company as Insights Manager. He will work across key company verticals to ensure that SIS’ product offering is informed by customer and consumer needs. Simon’s previous experience includes working within the consumer research team at Sky Bet, and six years …