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The Danish Gambling Authority has appointed Anders Dorph as director to replace Morten Niels Jakobsen.

Dorph will begin his new role on 1 November, joining from the Danish Immigration Service where he served as deputy director. He replaces Morten Niels Jakobsen, who left the regulator to take over as director of the Danish Valuation Agency on 1 August.

“The Gambling Authority plays a crucial role in the work of ensuring a proper and regulated gaming market in Denmark, where players are protected against unfair and illegal gaming,” said Minister of Taxation Morten Bødskov.

“That is why I am glad that Anders Dorph has taken on the task. He has an extremely heavy professional profile with broad experience from politically led organizations and cooperation across authorities. Therefore, I look forward to benefiting from his competencies.”

Following his appointment, Dorph said: “The Gambling Authority is an exciting agency that plays an important role in regulating the gaming market. That is why I am very much looking forward to the task and the collaboration with the many talented employees in the agency.”

China’s lottery market recorded a 2 per cent increase in total lottery sales to RMB34.78bn (€4.36bn) for the month of August.

With results for the first half of the year negatively impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, August marked the second consecutive month of year-on-year growth for the lottery market.

Sales of the Sports Lottery rose 10.5 per cent to RMB21.53bn, offsetting a 9 per cent decline in Welfare Lottery sales to RMB13.25bn.

There were a total of 19 Chinese provinces that grew lottery sales compared to the same month last year, including Guangdong, Jiangsu and Yunnan.

Scientific Games Lottery
Despite the return to growth in July and August, total Chinese lottery sales for the first eight months of 2020 were 30 per cent lower than a year ago at RMB194.83bn. Welfare Lottery sales were down 31 per cent at RMB87.97bn and Sports Lottery sales were down 30 per cent at RMB106.85bn.

The Michigan Gaming Control Board (MGCB) is on track to approve its first online gaming and sports betting licensees following a public hearing Wednesday on the proposed rules for the new activities.

The MGCB opened the licensing process for the state’s commercial casinos and tribes in July, with the state’s online gaming and sports betting legislation requiring the Board to issue licenses to at least one tribal and one commercial operator ahead of the opening of the online market.

The ability to issue licenses is dependant on the proposed rules for internet gaming and internet sports betting, which will now be submitted to the Michigan Office of Administrative Hearings and Rules and the Legislative Service Bureau for final review and certification. The rules will then be submitted to the Michigan Legislature’s Joint Committee on Administrative Rules in October.

“Before online gaming can start, the agency must license applicants. The MGCB has limited ability to license before the rules go into effect. The licensing timetable also depends on the applicants and their delivery of complete and timely applications to us,” said Richard S. Kalm, executive director, MGCB. “Michigan must have at least one tribal and one commercial license approved before launch, which I hope can happen by late fall.”

With the state’s online licenses reserved for tribal operators and Detroit casinos, numerous partnerships have been agreed since the start of the year. PointsBet will be the exclusive sports betting and online gaming operator of the Lac Vieux Desert Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians, while the Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians have partnered with Flutter Entertainment’s FOX Bet.

Scientific Games has partnered with the Nottawaseppi Huron Band of Potawatomi, William Hill with the Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians, Kambi with the Pokagon Band of Potawatomi, Golden Nugget with the Keweenaw Bay Indian Community, Churchill Downs Incorporated with Hannahville Indian Community, Rush Street Interactive with the Little River Band of Ottawa Indians, DraftKings with the Bay Mills Indian Community, and FanDuel with MotorCity Casino.

Sportradar
Michigan’s land-based sports betting market opened in March of this year under legislation adopted in late 2019.

Casino supplier NetEnt has expanded its reach in Pennsylvania’s regulated iGaming market with the rollout of its games to the Poarch Band of Creek Indians’ Wind Creek casino.

NetEnt is providing its range of online slots and table games to the operator in Pennsylvania, including local top performer Divine Fortune.

“It’s an exciting time to be adding iGaming to our offering in Pennsylvania’s online arena, and with NetEnt’s portfolio of market favourite casino games we are in a strong position to quickly gain market share,” said Ken Rohman, chief marketing officer at Wind Creek Hospitality. “We look forward to working with their knowledgeable team to build on our offering and deliver a first-rate online experience to our players.”

NetEnt secured license approval in Pennsylvania in March 2019 and holds agreements to provide its content to a number of local operators, including Greenwood Gaming and Entertainment’s Parx Casino and Penn National Gaming.

“It’s a major achievement to be supporting Wind Creek in its online journey,” said Brian Kraft, NetEnt vice president commercial, Americas.

NetEnt
“The deal underlines our status as a go-to supplier in Pennsylvania both with established operators and emerging brands. Given the strong performance of our content with local players, this partnership will no doubt see Wind Creek make a big impact in the online landscape.”

Shares in NetEnt AB (STO:NET-B) were trading 2.05 per cent higher at SEK74.50 per share in Stockholm Tuesday morning.

Iowa’s licensed sportsbook operators collected total wagers of $50.3m in August, of which more than two-thirds was generated online.

Total wagers from the state’s 18 licensed sportsbooks increased by 120 per cent compared to the previous month’s $22.9m total, with online sports betting contributing $35.0m and retail sports betting $15.3m.

The William Hill sportsbook at Prairie Meadows Racetrack & Casino maintained its market leadership position with $14.2m in wagers, including $13.3m from online.

The next biggest operator was the DraftKings sportsbook at Wild Rose Jefferson with wagers of $5.5m (including $5.4m from online), ahead of William Hill/Isle Casino Hotel Waterloo’s $4.3m ($4.2m online) and Ameristar II’s $3.9m, all generated from retail.

Riverside Casino and Golf Resort collected wagers of $3.7m in August, with Diamond Jo-Worth taking $3.0m in wagers, and Isle of Capri Bettendorf booking $2.3m during the month, just ahead of Q Casino’s $2.2m.

Horseshoe Casino Council Bluffs generated wagers of $1.9m during the month, ahead of Catfish Bend Casino’s $1.4m, Grand Falls Casino Resort’s $1.3m, with Wild Rose Clinton and Hard Rock Casino both contributing $1.2m.

Rhythm City Casino, Wild Rose Emmetsburg and Lakeside Casino each generated a further $1.1m in wagers, with Diamond Jo Dubuque contributing $743,393 and Harrah’s Council Bluffs Casino & Hotel $149,249.

A total of $47.3m was paid out in player winnings in August, including $33.4m in online payouts, resulting in net receipts of $3.0m for the month, up from $2.2m in July. The state’s licensed operators paid out $202,316 to the state in taxes, compared to $151,919 last month.

China’s lottery market recovered in July as total sales increased by 10 per cent year-on-year to RMB36.15bn (€4.48bn).

With lottery sales negatively impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic throughout the first half of 2020, July marked a return to growth following a 3 per cent year-on-year decline in June.

Welfare Lottery sales climbed 3 per cent to RMB15.44bn in July, while Sports Lottery sales rose 17 per cent to RMB20.71bn.

A total of 28 Chinese provinces grew lottery sales compared to the same month last year, including Guangdong, Jiangsu and Shaanxi.

Scientific Games Lottery
For the first seven months of 2020, total lottery sales were 35 per cent lower than a year ago at RMB160.05bn, with Welfare Lottery sales down 34 per cent at RMB74.72bn and Sports Lottery sales down 36 per cent at RMB85.33bn.

The European Commission has decided to launch a formal investigation into a potential breach of state aid rules in a case involving the Belgian state and betting operator Ladbrokes.

The case was first notified to the European Commission (EC) in March 2019 and concerns the exclusive authorisation granted to Ladbrokes in 2014 to operate virtual betting games in Belgium.

The exclusive right to operate virtual betting was challenged by two rival gambling operators whose request for authorisation was denied by the Belgian Gaming Commission, which said at the time that it was reviewing the relevant gambling legislation.

Sportradar
The EC said Wednesday (Sep. 2) that it has decided to initiate a formal investigation procedure into the possible distortion of competition in the field of virtual betting in Belgium, although the basis for its decision is yet to be made public.

France’s regulated online betting and gaming market recorded a 6 per cent decline in gross gaming revenue (GGR) to €323m for the second quarter of 2020 as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Sports betting was the worst affected segment due to the suspension of major sports, with GGR falling by 56 per cent year-on-year to €94m following a 57 per cent reduction in stakes to €513m.

Horse race betting GGR rose 33 per cent to €88m, despite the cessation of French horseracing until 11 May, with bettors able to continue betting on foreign horse races, pushing total horse racing betting stakes up 35 per cent to a quarterly record €362m.

Online poker saw the biggest growth in Q2 as GGR soared 126 per cent to a record quarterly high of €142m.

Q2 AND H1 2020 GROSS GAMING REVENUE COMPARISON (€)
Q2 2020 Q2 2019 % Change H1 2020 H1 2019 % Change
Sports Betting 94m 214m (56%) 356m 436m (18%)
Horse Race Betting 88m 66m 33% 162m 133m 21%
Poker 142m 63m 126% 239m 131m 83%
TOTAL 323m 342m (6%) 758m 700m 8%
Overall total active players fell by 9 per cent to 2,019,000 during the quarter, with average spend per active player down 32 per cent at €86.

Sports betting active players fell by 36 per cent to 1,093,000 in Q2, offsetting a 2 per cent increase in horse race betting actives to 319,000 and a 68 per cent improvement in poker actives to 1,064,000.

For the first half of 2020, total GGR across the market increased by 8 per cent to €758m, despite an 18 per cent drop in sports betting GGR to €356m. Horse race betting GGR rose 21 per cent to €162m, while poker GGR increased by 83 per cent to €239m.

The provincial lottery of Rio Negro in Argentina has filed a criminal complaint against more than 100 online gambling websites following a surge in unlicensed iGaming during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Rio Negro Lottery filed the criminal complaint Friday with the province’s public prosecutor under Article 301 of the penal code, which prohibits any unauthorised gambling activity which poses a threat to public health or lottery profits.

The complaint addresses 130 unlicensed online gambling websites, with those convicted under the law facing a maximum penalty of six years imprisonment.

The lottery has also established a hotline for players to provide anonymous tips about unlicensed operators, and will conduct an extensive communications campaign in the province to raise awareness of the risks associated with illegal gambling.

Scientific Games Lottery
As part of the crackdown, one local lottery agent has been raided and shut down for its part in an illegal online gambling operation.