Holland Casino Main Sponsor of Classic TV Show “Wheel of Fortune”
Starting August 22, the classic TV show “Wheel of Fortune” will return to Dutch television screens. The show will be broadcasted daily by SBS6 and will be sponsored by Holland Casino.
During the first month that the show airs, special promotions will be held at all Holland Casino branches.
“I am very excited about this unique collaboration. Wheel of Fortune is exciting, accessible to a wide audience and brings out the punter in everyone,” Holland Casino Erwin van Lambaart said.
Rank Group and 888 Holdings Considering Takeover Bid on William Hill
Casino operator Rank Group and remote gaming business 888 Holdings have confirmed they are considering a joint takeover bid on UK bookmaker William Hill.
Although William Hill has said it would “listen to and consider any proposal which might be forthcoming from the consortium,” it has also questioned the rationale behind the proposed takeover. “It is not clear that a combination of William Hill with 888 and Rank will enhance William Hill's strategic positioning or deliver superior value to William Hill's strategy which is focused on increasing the Group's diversification by growing its digital and international businesses,” the company said in a statement.
The news of the takeover bid follows the sudden departure of William Hill’s chief executive James Henderson last Thursday. According to EGR Magazine, Henderson was sacked primarily for his failure to grow the bookmaker’s online business as anticipated. “At the end of the day we just have to face the fact that gambling businesses now are largely rated on their online performance and capability rather than the overall business,” William Hill Chairman Gareth Davies said.
The Implications of Brexit for the Gaming Industry Revisited
Now that the initial, binary uncertainty of ‘Leave/Remain’ has been resolved, representatives from gaming consultancy business Regulus Partners and law firm Olswang recently discussed the implications of Brexit for the gaming industry in greater detail:
“[I]t may be that much of life (and law) will feel much the same as before.
In particular, if the UK joined the European Economic Area (EEA) ‘EU directives or not, key legislative requirements of UK gambling firms on matters such as money-laundering and data protection are highly unlikely to be changed’ […] And even if the UK left the EU and did not join the EEA ‘Substantive EU law will remain on the statute books and there will be no hurry to redraft them.’”
Yet while regulatory changes are expected to be fairly minimal, the economic consequences could be much more severe:
“Inward investment would falter, with multinational companies exercising caution on major capital projects. Early high profile property asset sales in the wake of ‘Leave’ would no doubt be followed by others.
Critically for gambling companies, securing lending (already a tough beat) is only likely to get tougher. How the consumer reacts to all of this is harder to discern – but with a weaker Pound and jobs under threat in certain quarters, risk appeared to be largely on the downside.”
Fair Share Launches First Charity Lottery
Charities that wish to organize their own lottery often do not possess the knowledge, systems, time or experience to do so. Dutch lottery supplier Fair Share Nederland supports charities in this process by offering its unique white label "Lottery as a Service” concept. With this service, every charity organization is now able to have its own private lottery brand, which is fully tailored to its goals and target audience.
Fair Share Nederland completely runs the lottery on behalf of the charity on its own lottery platform. Obtaining the license, creating the lottery, marketing and sales, payments and prizes, draw and pay-outs are all taken care of by Fair Share. The charity keeps full control over its brands and customers. Half of the turnover is guaranteed to the charity organization.
The first to use this service is World Animal Protection. Fair Share created and fully operates the Wereld Dieren Loterij on their behalf.
The Fair Share team has years of experience in organizing and running lotteries. Managing Partner Michiel van Dijk: “We expect to organize several lotteries in the course of the next year as several charities have shown interest in our concept already.”
Other News
How to finance Dutch sports? The debate continues as the deals between NOC*NSF and its main sponsors are set to expire on December 31, 2016. Should there be, for instance, a separate body to market and commercially exploit elite sports?
Betsson, owner of Netherlands-facing brands Oranje Casino and Kroon Casino, has posted lower-than-expected results in the first half of 2016.
France Pari has acquired 100% of the shares in Spanish operator Suertia.
Online operator Amaya Gaming is cutting jobs to meet growth targets.
Bet365, PokerStars and Lottomatica earned top honors in Italy’s online sports betting, poker and casino markets over the first half of 2016, according to stats published by Italian gaming news agency Agimeg.it.
Following the legalization of online slots, the number of female punters in Spain has enjoyed a significant spike.
The Polish Council of Ministers approved amendments to the country’s Gambling Act. Besides already legal sports betting, the Council of Ministers has now also authorized casino and poker verticals, although online casino will be restricted to state-owned lottery operator Totalizator Sportowy.