GAMING FOR AFRICA
Gaming For Africa Cape Racing Enters New Era as Kenilworth is Sold
Casino International’s Africa partner is the excellent Gaming For Africa magazine, bringing you the continent’s latest developments.
Fourteen months after the gates were sprung on South African horseracing’s largest corporate financial transaction, the Western Cape Gambling and Racing Board recently approved the acquisition of Kenilworth Racing by Hollywood Sportsbook Holdings. Hollywoodbets proudly announced this week that
Cape Racing is now a wholly owned subsidiary of South Africa’s leading sportsbook operator, and that innovation and changes in personnel, philosophy, policy and bricks and mortar, have advanced at a rapid pace following the approval of the underlying transaction by the Competition Commission in April of this year. Hollywoodbets has injected substantial
investment into the infrastructure and facilities at the flagship Hollywoodbets Kenilworth racecourse, the Hollywoodbets Durbanville country course, and in the engine room of the sport in the region, the Milnerton Training Centre on the West Coast. Hollywoodbets’ CEO, Suren Rampersadh said
that they were delighted that this very strategic acquisition for the South African horseracing and breeding industry has been given the green light. “It is well documented that Cape Racing has been in the doldrums for years. Thousands of jobs have been at risk. Stakeholders have been neglected and had become disillusioned. The renaissance of horseracing, not only in the Western Cape, but also in KwaZulu-Natal has begun. Hollywoodbets is taking this opportunity seriously and we are investing accordingly,” he added.
Mr Rampersadh continued that under the
dynamic leadership of Hollywoodbets’ partner, Greg Bortz, the transformation towards a brighter future is unfolding at warp speed, and there are encouraging signs that the confidence of all participants in this great sport has been revived. “Horseracing remains an important component of our business. Hopefully, the acquisition of Gold Circle will be successfully completed in 2024,” he concluded. The concept of a ‘coastal racing’ operator is on
the cards after the Members of Gold Circle Racing Club approved the sale of Gold Circle to Hollywoodbets on 19 September 2023. That
transaction will now be subject to approval of the Competition Commission and the KwaZulu-Natal Gaming & Betting Board. While Hollywoodbets Durbanville has fulfilled a
vital role as a support venue in the build-up to the Cape’s high-class summer racing season, the return to Hollywoodbets Kenilworth on Sunday 26 November has caused waves of excitement and unprecedented anticipation throughout the local racing community. Once the improvements have been completed, plans are well advanced to hopefully elevate Hollywoodbets Kenilworth to rank amongst the top racecourses internationally.
Megan O. Basson Named Executive Director of the International Center for Gaming Regulation
Megan O. Basson has been named executive director for the UNLV International Center for Gaming Regulation (ICGR). The center is the world’s only organization dedicated to the study of regulatory imperatives as aligned to their development for the dynamic and innovative gaming industry. “I am honored to join the team seeing as the
International Center for Gaming Regulation is a truly world renowned and one-of-a-kind center,” said Basson. “It was almost as if my educational background and experience over the past 20 years spoke directly to the requirements of this position, from having a legal background, being an admitted attorney, engaging with various
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government entities, and working within a gambling regulatory authority environment, it’s as if it was all meant for a position such as this, and for a time such as this.” “Megan is a brilliant, well-respected leader in global gambling regulation,” said Brett Abarbanel, executive director at UNLV’s International Gaming Institute. “We are thrilled to have her on board, bringing her voice and vision to ICGR’s internationally-respected work across education, research, and innovation.” Basson served more than 14 years as the head
of the Licensing Department for the Western Cape Gambling and Racing Board, where she directed all activities relating to the licensing of gambling
operations in the Western Cape Province of South Africa. Basson previously worked as a legal advisor and mediator at a legal advisory company and served as a deputy director: chief financial analyst for the Western Cape Provincial Treasury. She earned both her
B.Proc and LLB degrees from the University of the Western Cape. “We are very fortunate to have someone with
Megan’s experience and energy to lead the ICGR,” said Leah Chan Grinvald, Dean and Richard J. Morgan professor of law at the UNLV William S. Boyd School of Law. “Megan has a strong vision for the positive impact ICGR can have on UNLV and on the future of gaming regulation research.”
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