Retail

William Hill’s Australian operation was the only one that increased its operating profit in the fourth quarter, thanks to the Spring Carnival period, with a 59% jump mitigating somewhat a 13% drop in retail operating profit and a 6% dip online. It meant that the group’s Q4 operating profit as a whole dropped 7%. On a full-year basis, Group net …

The US Treasury Department has warned licensed casino operators that they must actively combat illegal sports betting. The Treasury submitted a letter to multiple gambling operator’s just weeks before the NFL Super Bowl, US sports most wagered event. “Increases in sports betting conducted on behalf of third parties are facilitating criminal activity and posing a money laundering risk to the …

Boylesports is set to take its number of Irish betting stores to over 200 after acquiring six Tully Bookmaker stores for a reported €2 million. The bookmaker announced this morning that it had agreed to purchase half of Tully Bookmakers retail betting inventory. Boylesports will redesign and redevelop the purchased bookmaker stores to bring them in-line with the company’s retail …

US racing operator Churchill Downs has announced the appointment of Mike Ziegler as its new Director of Racing. Ziegler will assume full responsibility of the senior management role on 26 January reporting to Bill Mudd the operator’s Chief Financial Officer. Ziegler will take on responsibility of the performance and business strategy of Churchill Downs US racing operations, he will further …

Sisal Group S.p.A, the Italian gaming and payment services group, have chosen international game-design studio GameART for the production of new slot games for the Italian Video Lottery Terminal (VLT) Comma 6b market. The five year contract provides for multiple slot titles to be developed on an exclusive basis for Sisal’s INGG VLT platform. GameART is a developer of slot games …

Italy’s second division, Lega Serie B, signed an agreement with Sportradar Security Services, under which the betting fraud prevention specialists will provide both education workshops and e-learning packages to all 22 club teams for this season and the next two. Under the terms of the agreement, the workshop and e-learning modules will be provided to the senior team and youth …

2014 was another successful year for the Irish bloodstock industry, with sales of €147.4 million representing double-digit growth for the fourth year in a row, according to Horse Racing Ireland’s (HRI) annual statistics. Industry highlights: Tote Ireland posted increases for the fourth consecutive year Racecourse attendances grew by 4% for the second year in succession. Commercial sponsorship, a key marker …

Figures published by the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement have shown that Atlantic City has lost nearly half its casino revenue over the past eight years. The dramatic decline has seen Atlantic City net revenues drop from $5.2 billion in 2006 to $2.74 billion in 2014, as a poor US economy combined with competition from nearby states has impacted …

Eastern European gambling and sports betting operator Olympic Entertainment Group (OEG) has reported full year 2014 net revenues of €141 million (£109 million) up 3.8% on the €136 million (£105 million) posted for 2013. The gambling operator cited that its positive performance had been driven by expansion into new markets as OEG saw a 21% €43.9 million net revenue lift …