2009 Budget brings bad news for bingo industry
April 23, 2009 by mbates
Alistair Darling unveiled the 2009 Budget yesterday and initially their were cheers from the UK Gaming Industry as campaigners for the abolishment of the ‘unfair’ VAT bingo were rewarded when the news that the participation fees for bingo would no longer be subject to VAT. However as the Government gave with one hand it quickly took with the other and then some by announcing that bingo gaming duties would rise from 15% to 22%.
As well as the rise in gaming taxes, the UK government also increased amusement machine licence duty to all categories of gaming machines which will be introduced in the Finance Bill 2009. These increases will bring in an estimated £55 million to the government off setting the £50 million it was going to lose by scrapping bingo VAT.
A spokesman for Rank, one of the largest Bingo companies said “This change has been imposed without prior indication or consultation. In Rank’s recent meetings with HM Treasury there had been no discussion of increases to taxation for bingo or poker,”
Sportech launch claim for £40m VAT repayment
April 1, 2009 by mbates
The company that took over running and rebranding of the Football Pools, Sportech PLC yesterday launched a claim with the UK Customs Office (HMRC) for overpaid VAT (Value Added Tax) payments in relation to the “Spot The Ball” game which was ran from 1979 through to 1996.
The claim is in the region of £40 million but could be higher, if successful the amount would be paid back to Sportech PLC by HMRC along with interest. Sportech are claiming that the VAT was paid in error and is therefore repayable.
The process will not be immediate and if successful in their claim it could take Sportech PLC several years to get the money refunded from HMRC.
New sponsorship deals for Wigan Warriors
March 25, 2009 by mbates
One of the UK’s largest Bingo Brands Mecca owned by the Rank Organisation have signed a shirt sponsorship deal with Rugby League side Wigan Warriors taking over from the previous shirt sponsors JJB.
A spokesman for Rank released a statement, “’MeccaBingo.com is proud to be so closely involved with Wigan Warriors as well as the sport of rugby league”
The Chief Exec of Wigan Warriors Mick Hogan said “’It is particularly pleasing to have such a well-known, national organisation in partnership with the Wigan Warriors for the 2009 season”. Tote Sport have just renewed their existing sponsorship deal with the Warriors and will continue to act as the teams betting partner.
CryptoLogic sign deal with DC Comics
February 21, 2009 by mbates
Dublin based CryptoLogic who have recently won Gambling Online Magazine’s Top Casino Software Award - for the fourth year running has today announced that is has signed a deal with DC Comics and Warner Bros. Digital Distribution that will allow it to bring popular characters from the DC Universe such as Batman, Superman and The Flash to leading casinos in the fourth quarter of 2009.
Under the recently signed agreement CryptoLogic will use characters that will include most of the members from the JLA (Justice League of America) in games created especially for them. The list of characters will include Batman, Superman, The Flash, The Green Lantern and Wonder Woman, most of the characters have had major Hollywood films in recent years or as in the case of the JLA is due to be released in 2010.
The games will targeted for an adult audience that has grown up with the properties and CryptoLogic has reported that superheroes that have been used in its existing games have proven very popular with Internet gaming operators and their players alike.
Betdirect to fully integrate into Stan James
February 5, 2009 by mbates
Betdirect the former online betting division of Littlewoods that was established in 1998 and aquired by Stan James from 32Red plc for around £5.75 million in 2007 less than have the £12.5 million that 32Red paid for it. Since Stan James aquired the company it has ran it as a seperate brand with its own call centre, web site and mobile gambling platform.
When Betdirect was acquired it was decided that it would run as a distinct brand for no more than 15 months to help maximise customer retention. The CEO of Stan James, Peter Fisher said “One of our strategic objectives is to promote and develop our single core brand of Stan James. The merger of the Betdirect business is a positive step towards achieving that objective“.
The merger will start from 4th February 2009 and will see Betdirect merge into the larger Stan James organisation. The merger will allow the company to streamline overheads and all Betdirect customers have been informed of the changeover and will still be to access a full range of sportsbook and online casino gaming products via the internet, telephone betting and mobile phone channels.
Ladbrokes comes underfire from TV watchdog
January 7, 2009 by mbates
The Advertising Standards Authority has reported that a recent series of adverts by UK sports betting company Ladbrokes for their Online Casino ladbrokescasino.com which featured characters leaping to their death broke ASA rules. The adverts according to the ASA “portrayed gambling in a context of toughness, and linked it to excessive risk taking and reckless“.
The adverts all show extreme situations, one advert showed an actor sky diving from a plane and attempting to use a crisp packet as his parachute, whilst another showed a diver attaching raw meat to his diving suit before entering shark infested water whilst dressed as a seal.
Ladbrokes is looking to get the decision overturned and said the ASA of “ruling against using humour in gambling advertisements“. Ladbrokes have claimed that their was just one complaint from a member of the public regarding the adverts.
The Managing Director of Ladbrokes Remote Betting and Gaming John O’Reilly said; “Ladbrokes fully supports the code of practice relating to gambling advertising but this ruling is an example of political correctness going too far. We believe the ads are compliant as they are humorous and show people in fantastical situations to which no one would aspire. Consumers know that you cannot jump from a plane using a 30g pack of crisps as a parachute!”
Although the ASA found the adverts were “humorous“, “unrealistic“, and were in effect “cautionary tales“, the allegation was upheld that they breached the CAP (Broadcast) TV Advertising Standards Code by linking gambling to toughness, risk taking and reckless behaviour.
The series adverts were among the finalists at the Cannes International Advertising Awards and was a London International Awards Silver Winner. The three adverts all used a documentary style to show fantastical situations where the characters undertake strange acts to “quench their thrill buds“
William Hill sponsor ITV1 daytime show
January 6, 2009 by mbates
The UK Company William Hill has announced a sponsorship deal for its online Bingo with the ITV1 daytime show “The Real Deal”. The deal will initially start from the Monday 5th January for four months in what William Hill hopes will raise brand awareness of its Bingo division.
Lili Huang speaking on behalf of William Hill said “For an initial foray in to actual programme sponsorship, we were very pleased with the response from the Spin Star association. We’re delighted to have this opportunity of sponsoring the Real Deal, because the programme has the potential for a far bigger audience with its current scheduling.”
The Real Deal is hosted by David Dickinson who made his name on the BBC1 show Bargain Hunt. The programme will air on ITV1 Monday to Friday from 2pm – 3pm and features members of the public taking items for auction assisted by Dickinson.
Gibraltar wins tax case against European Commission
December 23, 2008 by mbates
The British overseas territory of Gibraltar has won its appeal against an earlier ruling the European Commission after a period of four years and will now be allowed to carry on charging much lower rates of corporate tax than the United Kingdom that has allowed companies to benefit enormously.
Gibraltar is currently the base for many leading gambling operations including PartyGaming, 888 Holdings and Carmen Media who amongst others employ around just over ten percent of the populations 28,800 citizens Peter Caruana, Chief Minister of Gibraltar, went on record that if the case had been lost, it would have resulted “in the bulk, if not all, of the finance centre and gambling companies leaving Gibraltar” with “the loss of thousands of jobs throughout our economy.”
Netplay TV acquire license for 24 hour Freeview channel
December 15, 2008 by mbates
Netplay TV has become the first interactive gaming company to secure a dedicated channel on Freeview. It will commence broadcasting its services that include Supercasino.com and Live Bingo from 8th January 2009. The announcement was made today that Netplay TV had acquired a license to operate a 24 hour channel, the news created a rush for shares in the company who saw an initial rise in their stock of just under 9%.
Freeview is currently available to over 15 million households in the United Kingdom making it the largest digital TV platform in the UK, since it started broadcasting over 27 million Freeview boxes have been sold.
The Chief Executive Officer of Netplay TV Martin Higginson said “‘This is a major milestone for our business. Freeview is the largest digital TV platform in the UK with over 15.3 million homes using the service. To secure a dedicated channel to broadcast our services is a real achievement for the whole team. We will now be able to drive people to our Freeview channel 48 and thus build loyalty in this destination.”
The license granted to Netplay TV has now given the company the ability to be available on three of the four digital TV platforms, Sky, Freeview and Freesat giving it a potential audience of 23 million homes in the UK.
Gala reports losses but shows growth
December 9, 2008 by mbates
Gala Coral has reported losses of £403 million for the year ended September 2008. The figure is almost treble that of the previous financial year. Gala Coral currently operates just under 1600 Coral Betting shops, 162 Bingo Clubs and 29 casinos as well as its online portfolio, employing over 20,000 members of staff.
The company received an cash injection of £124 from its private equity backers Permira, Cinven and Candover, this did little to reduce the pre tax losses of £397m for the year. The breakdown of the losses has been made up of write downs and redundancy costs created when the company closed around 10% of its bingo clubs and casinos earlier in the year.
Galas unexpected difficulties stem from the a long line of tax and regulatory changes that have hit the casino and bingo industries including the recent smoking ban in public places and the amount of £500 jackpot machines permitted in an establishment.
Despite this the new Gala Coral Chief Executive Dominic Harrison reports that trading in the first nine weeks was ahead of the previous year in all divisions despite the current economic situation Coral showed growth of 17%.
