Retail

Mario Abdo Benitez, President of Paraguay has signed an executive order that will overhaul the South American nation’s land-based gambling laws. This week, Abdo Benitez fulfilled a principal mandate of the ANR Colorado (Conservative) government signing Law-6903 ‘Ley de Tragamonedas’ as a federal order to be implemented across Paraguay’s 17 provinces.    The Law’s headline directive will implement a ban on …

La Française des Jeux (FDJ) has detailed a strong start to 2022, with revenue increases recorded for both sports betting and lottery, although stake numbers for the former did decline slightly. Updating stakeholders, the French national lottery and sports wagering provider reported total revenues of €613 million, a 14% increase on the previous year’s figure (€527m), backed by a 10.2% …

GoldenRace has strengthened its presence in the Iberian gaming market via an agreement with Paston.es, a Spanish online betting and casino operator.  The virtual sports provider will supply Paston.es suite of virtual sports and games, marking the first time the operator has incorporated such products into its wider offering. GoldenRace has further detailed that it intends to support the Spanish …

Norsk Tipping, Norway’s state-backed betting and lottery monopoly, has confirmed the appointment of Thor Gjermund Eriksen as its new CEO.  A career journalist, Eriksen most recently served as Director-General of the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation (NRK), having held the position since 2013.  Although his tenure as NRK Director-General was not due to expire until 2025, Eriksen had previously detailed that he …

Rank Group Plc has downgraded its 2021/2022 full-year EBIT profit guidance from £55m-to-£65m to the lower range of £47-to-£55m – having considered  Q3 trends that detail a ‘softness in venue trading’ and ‘continued inflationary costs’.     The LSE gambling group has notified investors that it continues to monitor post-pandemic elements that are impacting the full recovery and day-to-day trading of its …

The Hong Kong Jockey Club has revealed that it is going to offer a ‘record total’ prize money and incentives of HK$1.62 billion (approximately £158.6 million) across the 2022/23 racing season. The overall purse will be bolstered by a record single-season increase of 11.5% (HK$167.2 million) and feature a range of innovations, including increases in prize money across middle-distance races …

The Scottish SPCA, one of Scotland’s leading animal welfare organisations, has called on MSPs to initiate a ban on greyhound racing in the country. In a letter to Scottish legislators, the body’s Chief Superintendent, Mike Flynn, described greyhound racing as an ‘outdated industry’ and pointed to cases of death and injury to greyhounds, as well as alleged use of steroids, …

The government of the Province of Buenos Aires has authorized the use of electronic payments, leading to casinos now being able to accept debit card use. As a response, different groups argued that this approval could lead to problem gambling issues. Through a new measure from the Provincial Institute of Lotteries and Casinos (IPLyC), the regulator of Argentina’s biggest jurisdiction …

OPAP SA has notified investors that it has divested its ‘minority interest’ in Betano, the Pan-European sportsbook subsidiary of Kaizen Gaming.  Issuing a market filing, the Athens-listed gambling group disclosed that it had sold its 36.75% stake in Betano to Rubidium Holding – a fully owned ‘indirect’ investment vehicle of Allwyn Entertainment. Deal terms will see OPAP receive an upfront …

Northern & Shell Plc, the publishing group of Richard Desmond, will appeal the UK Gambling Commission’s (UKGC) decision to award the 4th National Lottery operating contract to Allwyn Group.  According to a Financial Times report, Northern & Shell will join ousted incumbent Camelot UK in launching a High Court appeal against the UKGC’s decision to appoint Allwyn as National Lottery …