News In Brief: July 29-August 2, 2024

Ukraine’s gambling regulator is taking measures to block illegal gambling apps available on Apple’s digital marketplace, as part of the country’s wider enforcement efforts driven by new tough anti-illegal gambling laws.

The Ukrainian Gambling and Lottery Regulator Commission (KRAIL) has been working with US tech giant Apple, which has already blocked 50 mobile apps on its App Store digital platform in Ukraine, with assistance from the Ministry of Digital Transformation.

KRAIL expressed its gratitude to Apple for its support in countering the spread of illegal gambling.

Action to remove the apps follows a presidential decree put into effect on April 20, 2024, titled “Regarding Countering the Negative Consequences of Gambling on the Internet”.

On May 20, 2024, the Cabinet of Ministers passed a resolution on "Some issues of countering the negative consequences of gambling on the Internet", which includes a host of provisions including introducing mandatory breaks for players and blocking access to illegal websites.

Since April, KRAIL has issued several fines for illegal gambling advertising and has been working with social media platforms such as Meta to block access to illegal gambling content available in Ukraine. 

Separately, between April and June 2024 the National Center for Operational and Technical Management of Telecommunications Networks issued orders to block access to more than 2,700 domain names and their subdomains.

The UK’s advertising watchdog has banned William Hill's internet-sponsored searches for not clearly stating that the bonus offer it was promoting was not available to consumers making deposits using Apple Pay.

The two ads for William Hill were seen on April 2024, according to the Advertising Standards Authority’s (ASA) decision published on July 31. 

The ads received a complaint regarding the restriction on the use of Apple Pay as it was seen as a significant condition of the promotion that had been omitted from the first advert. 

A warning about the use of Apple Pay was included in the second advert, but the complaint argued it was not prominently displayed. The full terms and conditions were listed in small print further down the page.

As a result, the complainant successfully challenged the adverts on the grounds they were misleading, and the ASA determined the promotion breached the CAP Code.

The ASA banned the ads and told William Hill that future marketing must include “all significant conditions, where the omission of those conditions, or their positioning in an insufficiently prominent place, was likely to mislead.”

In a separate ruling today, a complaint against the Entain-owned Coral bookmaker brand was not upheld.

A complainant had alleged that the ads, shown via digital screens on the side of vans that were driving to different locations near the Cheltenham racing event, had been seen too close to schools.

The ad regulator said Coral had taken appropriate measures to ensure that under-18s were less likely to see the ads.

Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey signed a new state budget into law on Monday (July 29) that includes the authorization of online lottery games.

The new law will permit the Massachusetts Lottery to offer online games to players over the age of 21, a higher threshold than the 18 year old minimum age to purchase tickets at brick and mortar locations.

The provision was one that the Lottery had lobbied for in recent years, particularly as mobile sports betting was legalized in 2021.

“We thank Governor Healey for her support of online Lottery and approving it in the final FY25 budget,” said Deborah Goldberg, state treasurer and chair of the Massachusetts State Lottery Commission. “This will allow the Lottery to keep pace with its competition and reach newer audiences.”

The Lottery said in a statement that it will conduct a request for response to find a vendor to operate the online lottery games, and that it anticipates launching the online platform in about 16 months.

"Our team is excited to implement an online lottery," said Mark William Bracken, the Lottery’s executive director. “We are ready and prepared to offer our players a modern lottery experience in a safe and accessible environment. 

“At the same time, the Lottery is unwavering in its commitment to our dedicated retail partners who have helped us become the most successful lottery in the country."

The developing controversy over blocking websites in Brazil’s state of Rio de Janeiro continued on Friday night (July 26), as a judge told national telecommunications agency Anatel that it had five days to account for its compliance. 

Anatel was previously ordered to notify internet providers that all sports-betting websites without a licence from local authority LOTERJ should be blocked. 

On Friday, the judge, Pablo Zuniga, said he had verified evidence that blocking had been more punishing than intended, affecting operators who were in compliance with LOTERJ and blocked access to their sites from outside of the state of Rio de Janeiro. 

Anatel previously warned when the order was first issued that technical compliance would be difficult if not impossible. 

AT&T Brazil also said weeks ago that it would be impossible to block ISPs only within Rio de Janeiro. 

Zuniga, wrote in his Friday decision that "Anatel is hereby warned that compliance with the court decision must be limited to its exact terms and may not go beyond the limits of the State of Rio de Janeiro".

Portugal’s gambling regulator has endorsed the use of the increasingly popular online “cash out” or “crash games” for several operators.

The Portuguese Tourism Gaming Commission (SRIJ) decided in a meeting held on July 19, according to its announcement on July 24.

Solverde – Sociedade de Investimentos Turísticos da Costa Verde, under the Casino Solverde brand, and Kaizen Gaming International, under the Betano brand, have both been endorsed by the regulator. 

Approval of the popular online game where players place bets on the outcome of a multiplier that rises until it suddenly ends follows the publication of specific instructions by the SRIJ in October 2023.

The instructions are designed to define a set of procedures that allow the standardisation of the information that gambling operators must report on when operating different types of games, such as the gross gambling yield of a product and other related data.

With scrutiny continuing to increase from U.S. regulators, offshore gaming operator Bovada added two new jurisdictions where players cannot wager.

The operator added Connecticut and the District of Columbia to its list of restricted states Monday (July 29), bringing the total to ten U.S. jurisdictions where the company does not offer wagering.

Last month, the Connecticut Department of Consumer Protection’s Gaming Division sent the operator a letter ordering them to cease offering gaming in the state, where sports betting and online casinos are both regulated.

The state followed in the footsteps of several others who have notified the popular offshore operator that it is not permitted to operate in the state, including Michigan and West Virginia.

Bovada has also ceased operations in those states and prohibits play in Nevada, New Jersey, New York, Maryland, Delaware, and Colorado.

In the nation’s capital, the move comes just weeks after the district’s new competitive mobile sports-betting market has launched, although regulated operators still face additional hurdles in the form of federal lands where mobile betting is not permitted.

Apollo Global Management will acquire International Game Technology’s (IGT) gaming business and Everi Holdings in a deal with a combined value of $6.3bn, taking the place of the companies’ previously announced merger.

The private equity firm’s newly formed company Apollo Funds will acquire IGT and Everi in an all-cash transaction. The deal will see Apollo spin off IGT’s gaming business and merge it with Everi under one combined business.

Everi shareholders will receive $14.25 per share in cash, representing a 56 percent premium over Everi’s closing share price on Thursday (July 25), while IGT will receive $4.05bn in cash. IGT expects significant portions of the cash proceeds to be used to repay debt and to be returned to shareholders.

The deal announced Friday (July 26) comes with a merger of the two businesses already in progress. In February, IGT announced plans to merge the Global Gaming and PlayDigital businesses with Everi to create a “comprehensive and diverse” global enterprise.

“We strongly believe in the value proposition of the combination and are confident these complementary gaming platforms will be even better positioned under private ownership to capture the opportunities ahead to grow and create value,” Daniel Cohn, a partner at Apollo, said in a statement. 

IGT CEO Vince Sadusky will oversee the separation of IGT Gaming and support the transition through the completion of the transaction. Post-closing, Sadusky will remain as chief executive of the lottery-focused company under a new name and stock ticker symbol.

Playgon Games confirmed Friday (July 26) that it has suspended all live dealer games produced at its Las Vegas studio after receiving a cease-and-desist letter from the Nevada Gaming Control Board (NGCB).

In a statement, Playgon said it has operated with the highest standards of legal and regulatory compliance and will continue to do so as it moves forward. Prior to commencing operations, it initiated a thorough legal review conducted by a leading specialist in Nevada gaming law, the company said.

“We are deeply disappointed by the NGCB’s sudden decision, particularly give our history of operation and compliance in Nevada,” said Darcy Krogh, CEO of Playgon Games.

“The limited time frame provided by the NGCB has left us with no viable option to contest the order or seek a resolution without total disruption to our business for an extended period, so we are forced to pursue other options for a studio location,” Krogh said.

The NGCB issued the cease-and-desist order dated July 18, after finding the company, through an affiliate, had been producing unlicensed live dealer content in Las Vegas.

Playgon confirmed it had hired additional gaming attorneys in Nevada to address the NGCB’s order, who advised that challenging the order would be “complex and unlikely to succeed in a timely manner.”

“Management and the board is conducting a review and assessment, and the company will provide further updates as the materialize,” the company said.

Playgon said it is actively exploring all available options to ensure minimal disruption to their services, including accelerating its plans to expand studio operations to other jurisdictions.