Betting ON COURSE BETTING HAS FALLEN AGAIN
Investment paying off for Webis
TRADING W
Bill amendments will regulate remote bookmakers
Betting exchanges and online bookmakers will be drawn into Ireland’s regulator regime if Michael Noonan’s amendments are passed.
IRELAND T
he Irish govern- ment has moved one step closer to regulating the online betting
industry with the publica- tion of the Betting (Amend- ment) Bill 2012. Minister for finance Michael Noonan said that the Bill is designed to ensure a fair and equal treatment of all bookmak- ers and betting exchanges offering services in Ireland and will bring into the licens- ing and taxation regime all remote bookmakers and betting intermediaries. This brings in the tax changes within the Finance Act 2011, which contained the prvision for remote book- makers to pay the 1 per cent turnover tax that their land- based contemporaries are faced with, while exchanges will have to hand over 15 per
cent of their bet commission. Other good news for the LBO sector is the ability to open later and the possibility to legally take bets over the phone, so long as the value doesn’t exceed 200,000 euro or 10 per cent of the book- maker’s turnover.
The government, which wants the amendments in the next Dáil session, said that the new licensing system for remote operators will serve the important public interest in preventing crime and pro- tecting consumers against fraud and will ensure that all businesses offering betting services from Ireland or to persons in Ireland are regu- lated appropriately.
Noonan stated: “This bill will bring into place a fair and equitable licensing and regulatory regime for all bookmakers and betting
intermediaries. This bill, once enacted, will allow for the extension of betting duty to remote bookmakers and will ensure that all book- makers activities offered in the State are taxed equally. The fact that off-shore book- makers were not subject to the betting levy represented a competitive disadvantage to on-shore firms and also narrowed the State’s yield from the levy. “In addition, there is sig- nificant downstream revenue potential from investment by major firms that have expressed strong interest in Ireland as a base for their operations. Such major firms prefer to base themselves in a properly licensed and regulated regime. One leading betting exchange has already located some of its opera-
tions here creating over 75 jobs with the potential of more.” In
the meantime,
Horseracing Ireland has revealed that bookmakers’ on-course betting has con- tinued a steep five-year decline. On-course book- maker betting took the hardest fall with turnover of 39.7m euro, down 19 per cent on the same period last year, which in its turn had fallen 10 per cent on the previous year. Bookmakers’
on-
course turnover has fallen by 52 per cent from 2007 to 2011 and this could exceed 60 per cent by the end of 2012 if present trends continue. Revenues for the first six months dropped 23 per cent to 4.8m euro, with Tote Betting over the period also dropping by 1.4 per cent to 24.5m euro.
ANALYSIS
The move to regulate remote bookmakers and exchanges has been welcomed by the Irish Bookmakers
Association, but it is also the move to allow betting shops to open up after 6pm throughout the year which the
organisation believes will not only protect jobs, but create them in the LBO sector. Another interesting part of the Bill sees bookmakers at risk of losing their licence if they welch on a ‘genuine’ bet. What constitutes a genuine bet is a matter of great debate, ask IBAS, given the myriad of betting shops rules. An answer still hasn’t been
adequately found in the UK, despite gambling contracts being enforceable under law since 2005.
PMU makes betting on horses ‘trendy’ FRANCE F
rench betting operator PMU has revealed its total business for the first half of the year was up
3.9 per cent to 5.3bn euro (£4.2bn), with gross gaming revenue up 2.8 per cent to 1.3bn euro (£1.0bn). Turnover on its traditional horse betting business grew by 1.7 per cent to 5.0bn euro (£4.0bn) with total income from horse betting up 2.2 per cent to 1.3bn euro (£1.0bn). The sports betting business
jumped 76 per cent over the period, with a total of 80.6m euro (£64.0m) stakes, in particular due to major sporting events like the Euro foot- ball finals that alone generated 10m euro turnover. Recurring events, like the French Open in tennis, also registered a strong growth (+27 per cent). Poker recorded 251.3m euro (£200.0m) in stakes, which PMU
10 BettingBusinessInteractive • AUGUST 2012
said maintained its momentum with growth of 47 per cent on a stable market.
The firm commented: “Two years after the market was opened to com- petition, the results for the first half of 2012 confirm the value of PMU’s strategy of diversifying into sports betting and poker and the relevance of its repositioning as a global mul- tichannel operator.
“Business from the diversified activities represents 58 per cent of the growth in stakes and 33 per cent of the growth in gross gaming income over the first six months of the year. These activities have created a global dynamism that is benefitting all the company’s busi- ness, online and offline, in France and internationally.”
PMU said it has developed its
image as an innovative and modern company and claims to have been able to turn betting on the horses into a ‘trendy leisure activity’ in France. It added: “For more than two years now, PMU has been going through a process of transforming its business model by investing 60m euro (£47.7m), both in optimising its information system and mod- ernising and developing its sales network (1,000 additional outlets and more than 3,000 terminals deployed).
“These developments have also enabled PMU to recruit a hundred people over the period, plus jobs related to the densification of the network of sales outlets, which is making an important contribution to maintain socio-economic devel- opment regionally.”
ebis Holdings has revealed that its bet- internet sportsbook
achieved revenue growth during the second half of the financial year ended 27 May 2012. In a Trading update to the market, Webis attributed the performance to the increase
in fixed-odds
content available through the website, especially within the football product. The company said that its ‘In Play’ content has also been strengthened signifi- cantly, and accounted for 43 per cent of the fixed-odds singles turnover for the financial year. It added: “The ‘In Play’ growth helped overall fixed-odds turnover to improve over the previous year with gross margin also increasing, although this remains volatile. Given the improvement in trading, the board is now investing in the future growth of betinternet, including the recruitment of senior industry personnel and
additional product.
Activity driven by the recent European Football Champi- onships has also provided a positive start to the new financial year.” Webis’ other major opera- tion is its pari-mutuel busi- ness - European Wagering Services (EWS) which carries out most of its trading in areas of the US where pool betting is legal. The company commented: “Trading within EWS improved in the second half as payment processing became more stable. Average player numbers and volumes wagered
both
increased through the online platform and call centre. The company’s move to San Francisco,
California,
together with its possession of a US pari-mutuel licence, is assisting with discussions in a number of areas, partic- ularly in establishing a long- term payment processing solution and obtaining addi- tional racing content.” EWS is on course to launch its new ‘
WatchandWager.com’ website in the first half of the new financial year, which will provide for a significantly better user experience, with live-streaming of race video. The firm concluded: “Overall, the board is encour- aged by the recent improve- ments in EWS and betinternet’s trading and believes that both busi- nesses are well-placed to capitalise on the opportuni- ties available in the on-line gaming market.”
ACTION IMAGES / BOB MARTIN FILM
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