Led by the horse racing industry, other sports bodies globally have been establishing integrity units. As the role and prominence of integrity units in sport increases they become more expensive to maintain and the question thus arises: are they worth it?
Study shows how racing and sports integrity units can quantify their success (ARF)
The Imperial Pacific casino has been been given a six-month extension for payment of US$20 million it owes the Northern Marianas government.
CNMI casino given six month extension for payment of US$20m (RNZ)
A sanctioned Chinese casino magnate is backing the construction of a new international port on the Mekong River in Laos, adjacent to his Golden Triangle gambling and tourism complex.
Golden Triangle Casino Baron Bankrolls New Mekong River Port (The Diplomat)
Good morning.
Today we may be perceiving some light at the end of the tunnel for the Philippine gaming market, with potential moves to allow local Filipinos to gamble online to make up for plummeting revenue from the country’s legal gambling outlets. PAGCOR is seeking opportunities to raise revenue and, together with a recent report that the country’s tax regime may also be quite competitive within the region, hopes are rising for a robust recovery. Also, an alternative take on Golden Week.
There’s little current upside seen for the stock price of the sprawling Genting Group empire, with both the parent company and its Genting Malaysia unit at risk of losing their place on the benchmark FBM KLCI index. According to Maybank Research, the market capitalization of the two companies has fallen significantly due to the impact of Covid-19. Genting Malaysia is now ranked in #35 position, while Genting is at #33. They’re likely to be replaced on the index by glovemakers Supermax and Kossan, which have risen to #20 and #24 respectively. The index is scheduled for review in Nov./Dec. and any changes are likely to become effective from Dec. 21st.
The departure of James Packer from the witness chair has not marked the end for Crown Resorts’ agony at the New South Wales Independent Liquor and Gaming Authority (ILGA) inquiry. Crown Resorts director Andrew Demetriou was in the witness box on Monday, trying desperately to defend the company, but still conceding that it had a “failure of culture” on the compliance issue. Demetriou himself did not come out of the day looking very good. It was revealed that less than two years ago that he himself had raised questions about the focus on compliance at Crown–not that there was too little compliance, but that there was too much.
NUMB3RS
Before September 23, only citizens of Guangdong could get IVS visas to get to Macau – taking around ten days to get one.
For many in China, it has not been easy to get an IVS visa in time for the October Golden Week holidays, which was probably done purposefully to balance between helping Macau boost its tourists (and casino visitors) as a reward for “good” behavior (as opposed to Hong Kong) and on the other hand prevent Macau from being overrun by Mainland tourists – possibly creating a new virus hot-spot and spreading the virus all over China with the returning visitors.
In August, Macau had 200,000 visitors, this was already more than the rest of the world together saw of Mainland Chinese tourists during that month.
It is not, as some Western media have said, because the Chinese do not dare to travel. With 637 million domestic trips during Golden Week, it shows that people are not afraid to travel and most people are not too poor to do it.
DEEP DIVE: ONLINE
The Philippines market regulator may be considering regulation to allow local Filipinos to gamble online to make up for plummeting revenue from the country’s legal gambling outlets. In Q2, regulated casinos generated just $47 million, a decline of more than 95 percent from the prior year, while income from POGOs has halved to about $6 million a month. Against this backdrop, PAGCOR is seeking other opportunities to raise revenue and two major electronic games license holders have been told to expect PAGCOR rules and procedures in the near future. The option is likely to be made available to other licensed operators, including casinos and bingo operators. Suppliers are already beginning to look at market opportunities.
Mobile gaming is a huge market where technologies are ever-changing. To stand out from such competition, suppliers have to combine technology, innovation and design into products and features that can win the favour of the market.
VBET has continued to grow its partnership network, inking new deals with sportsbook platform provider BtoBet and online casino software developer SoftGamings. BtoBet has a strong focus on African markets, which dovetails with the plans of the TV games provider.
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The Bodog list of branded online casinos and sportsbooks have been pulled out of numerous Asian markets in order to respect their respective gaming regulations and to provide better protection to their players.
Bodog Pulls Out Of Asia In Order To Comply With Regulations (Legal Gambling)
BetMakers has reported cash receipts up 63 percent on previous quarter (A$3.9 million versus A$2.4 million) in a filing to the ASX. This is for the quarter ending September 30, 2020.
Q1 FY21 Quarterly Activities Report For the period ending 30 September 2020 (ASX filing)
A District Court for the NMI declared that Imperial Pacific International has no 5th Amendment right to avoid self-incrimination as she denied the firm’s request to suspend the court proceedings in the lawsuit of seven construction workers who have alleged labor and other violations.
Judge: IPI has no 5th Amendment right to self-incrimination (Marianas Variety)
The Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) has received a financial boost as it received an additional remittance from the Philippine Amusements and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR) that it hopes to use to fund the anticipated return to training by its Tokyo-bound athletes and other Olympic hopefuls.
PSC gets P25M aid from PAGCOR (PhilStar)
The Widus Group says its casino and hotel at Clark Freeport Zone in the Philippines have “gradually resumed activities” in line with the guidelines from the local government regarding prevention of Covid-19.
Widus Group says casino operating at reduced capacity (GGR Asia)
The Philippines’ gaming tax regime puts it at an advantage over some Asian peers and makes the business commercially viable, according to gaming industry consulting firm The Innovation Group.
PH tax conducive to gaming (Malaya Business Insight)
Asia Gaming Brief (AGB) is a news, market intelligence, events, and networking company focused on Asia Pacific’s rapidly expanding gaming industry.
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