Gaming Industry News Weekly Recap – Stories You Might Have Missed

july-18-new-weekly-recapTHE AMERICAS
The Coalition to Stop Internet Gambling hired Trent Lott as a lobbyist; Brazil took steps to legalize online sports betting; Fanduel raised an additional $275m in funding and players said they’d keep playing daily fantasy sports even if real-money sports betting was legal; New Jersey’s regulated online poker market hit a new all-time low; MGM Resorts opposed Connecticut tribes’ plan to put a casino on the Massachusetts’ border; New Jersey’s plan to expand casinos outside Atlantic City will have to wait until next year; Loto-Quebec justified its IP-blocking plan as a public health issue; Rafi Farber wondered where the synergies from the Scientific Games-Bally Technologies merger had gone and the 2015 World Series of Poker wound down after finalizing the new November Nine.

EUROPE
888 Holdings’ £898m offer to buy Bwin.party beat out GVC/Amaya’s bid; the UK’s online gambling point of consumption tax was referred to Europe’s top court but Ireland said it wouldn’t alter its own POCT plans; the European Commission asked Germany to justify its online sports betting law; 32Red acquired Roxy Palace; Betfair exited the Portuguese market while CEO Breon Corcoran collected a £10m bonus; the UK government rejected a bid to reduce fixed-odds betting terminal stakes; the UK Gambling Commission found “no evidence” of a massive online gambling black market; the Greek half of Cyprus finally approved its casino legislation; PokerStars announced online poker’s priciest online tournament buy-in; Interwetten’s profit quadrupled thanks to marketing reductions; Gamesys appointed Lee Fenton as its new CEO; Plumbee’s social casino Mirrorball Slots topped $50m in lifetime revenue; NYX Gaming launched its open gaming system on Full Tilt; Roy Keane sued Paddy Power for putting his face on a billboard; Mansion Group inked a sponsorship deal with Crystal Palace FC while Betfair signed on with Sunderland AFC; Mediarez Sports & Entertainment raised nearly $5m to ‘sportify’ poker; Stephanie Racquel discussed methods of nurturing an engaged culture in your company and Rebecaa Liggero examined the threat ad blocking poses to the online gambling industry.

ASIA
Australia cracked down on online in-play betting apps; Galaxy Macau was named the planet’s top-earning casino; Macau’s Q2 VIP numbers were ugly but Macau casino stocks rose after politicians suggested the proposed smoking ban had some wiggle room; Beijing was urged to legalize gambling on the mainland to resolve its “capital-exodus problem;” PAGCOR said the Philippines’ casino revenue was on pace to top $3b in 2015; Vietnam’s Vingroup announced an $870m casino-resort plan for Hai Phong; Crown Resorts made its final pitch for a Brisbane casino license; live dealer social casino 21Pink co-founder Calvin Ng discussed China’s mobile gaming market and SBOBet’s William Mummery discussed the importance of football sponsorships for the Asian betting market.