In addition to this, a number of leading touchscreen companies, such as TAB and funworld, have become leading suppliers to the betting industry, manufacturing touch-enabled terminals upon which punters can place bets.

With BET-solutions funworld is now a full service provider for sports betting technology and a professional partner for modern sports betting operations.

"Our reorientation as a multi product company has enabled us to intensely expand our product offering and establish ourselves in related business segments, such as the sports betting sector. We offer operators a broad product line, which provides them with substantial profits in addition to access to new markets and target groups," emphasises Josef Öhlinger, CEO funworld ag.

Betting is the oldest form of gambling but it has certainly enjoyed a 21st century makeover, thanks to the internet. Bets can be placed on almost any sporting event via a sports betting website, be it that of a recognised betting shop brand or one of the many new online bookmakers that have sprung up. In addition to this, it is possible for punters to bet against each other on a betting exchange, which follows a Nasdaq format of stocks going up and down.

Then there are the many suppliers of fixed-odds betting terminals. These can contain any type of activity where the odds can be fixed - roulette is the most popular. These machines are sited in betting shops - or casinos. Many companies, such as Inspired, have created elaborate versions using virtual racing footage. The graphics are incredibly realistic, created in the same way as Hollywood movie CGI. The horses, or vehicles are filmed and graphically re-rendered - but the outcome of every race is completely different.

The final co-existence of coin-op and betting can be found in purely amusement games, which follow a racing format. One of the most successful of these was Sega's Derby Owners Club, which saw players create their own racehorse, train and feed it and take part in races against other players and their horses.

Despite the close relationship between the two industries - it is clear that sports betting is leading the field by more than just a head. The reason for this is legislation. Where sports betting is allowed, it usually enjoys a much healthier environment in which to grow. AWP legislation has tightened the world over in the past decade. The problems encountered by governments include the fairly public locations in which AWPs are normally sited. This makes it very difficult to keep minors and problem gamblers away.

Betting terminals are sited in adult environments. People go to betting shops to bet. Whether they place their bet over the counter, or on a terminal makes very little difference. Even if they bet over the phone or online, it is possible to make some checks to ensure that they are not underage. Software can also allow self-exclusion to help problem punters from spending too much time and money on these sites.

There is also a public perception problem when it comes to fruit machines. Unfortunately, they can be perceived as grubby games in low-end drinking establishments. Slot machines in casinos, enjoy a more glamorous image. While betting is seen as a traditional pastime that can be enjoyed by people of all social classes - after all everyone has a flutter on the Grand National don't they?

The main problem facing the sports betting industry is the desire by many governments to keep the revenues for themselves. In a lot of countries, betting has traditionally been a state-run pastime. And understandably, given the amount of money that can be made from it, some of these governments are not keen on giving it up.

But whereas the coin-op industry has raised a puny fist in challenge to state monopolies in the past - and lost (remember the Läära case in Finland a decade ago) - the betting industry has much larger resources and can wheel out the big guns such as Ladbrokes and William Hill, in order to challenge the monopolies.

The biggest battles have been played out in Europe, where it can be argued that a state monopoly on sports betting runs against the free provision of goods and services laid out in the Constitution.

A Fair Play for Sports Betting campaign was recently launched by Stanleybet International. This campaign requests the European Commission to properly enforce the principle of free movement of goods and services in accordance with EU law, by referring non-compliant states to the European Court of Justice. It also asks for "fair, open and equal access" to all EU gambling markets for companies based in other EU member states. This campaign began with an open letter to Jose Manuel Barroso to bring an end to these delays.

Online sports betting is currently allowed under a licence in the UK, Malta, Madrid and the Basque region of Spain, Italy and the Czech Republic (where it is limited to a few companies). There are quite a few countries in which customers can freely play on online sports betting sites. A few more countries are thinking about providing a licence such as: France, Sweden, Ireland, Czech Republic (full licensing system), Poland, Hungary and Belgium

Last month, the two Reporting Judges of the Greek Council of State recommended that the Greek betting monopoly, OPAP S.A. be referred to the European Court of Justice.

In cases presented by two British sports betting operators, Stanleybet International and William Hill, the Reporting Judges questioned the legitimacy of the OPAP monopoly. For the first time in Greece, the Reporting Judges of its Highest Administrative Court, the Greek Council of State ("CoS"), have declared the monopoly in Greek sports-betting granted to a private entity, OPAP, as non-compliant with EU law.

Understandably, The Remote Gambling Association has welcomed this opinion. Based on precedence, the RGA expects the Council of State will follow this proposal and lodge a reference for a preliminary ruling with the ECJ.

Clive Hawkswood, Chief Executive of the RGA, commented, "The references to the ECJ from various national courts are becoming endemic across the EU and they all raise one common issue: Are restrictive national gambling legislations of EU Member States consistent with the EU Treaty?

"We believe that the vast majority of them are not and it is disappointing that the European Commission, as the designated guardian of the EU Treaty, has remained so silent on these fundamental points for the last 12 months. This is despite the fact that it has sent a Reasoned Opinion to Greece as well as to 10 other EU Member States in which it makes clear that it believes they are not compliant. The continued delay will inevitably lead to more national courts being compelled to refer cases to the ECJ.  We must ask how long this wholly unsatisfactory state of affairs will be allowed to continue?"

What seems likely, is that once one jurisdiction folds under legal pressure, the rest will topple like a deck of cards and the sports betting industry will explode. Certainly, the business in countries that allow sports betting is booming. The betting companies established in Spain do not seem to be feeling the credit crunch at all.

Sports betting news in brief

The sports betting house Begawin has recently started offering its services in Spain, via the website www.begawin.com. The company holds a licence in the Republic of Malta. In addition to on-line betting and gaming, Begawin is offering the possibility of placing bets from a mobile phone once the application available on its website has been downloaded.

The Spanish firm International Mobile Sportsbook Company (IMSC) has also created a platform for placing bets from a mobile phone. Operating under the trade name of Bettymovil, its objective is to expand into other European countries later. IMSC is in partnership with Movistar, with whom it has underwritten a commercial agreement. Bettymovil has been more than 18 months in development, the greatest difficulty being that of obtaining a standard application for advanced systems that is compatible with the mobile operating systems that exist at the present time, of which there are more than 20, yet at the same time one that places no technical limitation on the number of users.

Denmark's live sports and data specialists, Enetpulse made its ICEi debut and showed its Fantasy Gaming and XML sport data services at the Earls Court show.

Enetpulse's high-end, fully managed Fantasy Gaming engine has been engineered to deliver a wide range of topical games and features, state-of-the-art graphics, smooth gameplay, strong loyalty and excellent conversion rates. The engine not only caters for Premier League and Champions League football but also the likes of Tennis, F1 Motor Racing, Ice Hockey and Handball.

Khalid Ali was recently appointed Secretary General of the European Sports Security Association (ESSA). A non-profit organisation, ESSA was formed by the leading online gaming operators in Europe. The organisation, which includes the likes of Bwin, Sporting Bet, Party Gaming and Unibet, monitors and conveys information on irregular betting to sports regulators.

Leading mobile gambling company Mfuse launched three classic casino games on its mobile platform at the London show. The move comes after we realised, being integrated heavily into the back-end of our existing clients, it made sense for us to offer mobile casino games. The new casino games are very much plug-and-play solutions; we can very quickly get clients up and running without the headache of re-integrating into a new back-end. Mfuse's stable of successful, effective mobile gaming relationships includes the likes of Ladbrokes, Wiliam Hill, Bet365, and Paddy Power.

Leading full service mobile gaming solutions provider Spin3 (www.spin3.com), powered by Microgaming, the world's largest online gaming software provider, has launched Royal Derby, an innovative virtual horse racing mobile gambling game.

Royal Derby is a virtual horse racing game where players exercise their skills to pick a winner using a variety of race scenarios - including the form of the horse and jockey, ground conditions and the weather. No two races are ever the same, with the odds and potential winnings for each of the race's six horses determined by the unique scenarios generated for each race. Royal Derby replicates the thrill and complexities of horse racing with rich animation and audio effects, and is one of most sophisticated mobile gambling games available today.

Kiron Interactive, the specialist virtual sports software developer, showed its new suite of virtual sports products for the betting and casino industries at the IGE. Having established itself in 2001 as a pioneer in the virtual racing industry with its Turfmaster virtual racing skill game, Kiron has entered the retail betting and casino markets with three virtual sports products, virtual horse racing, virtual greyhound racing and virtual harness racing.

Kiron is offering virtual sports content to bookmakers via broadcast or streaming or alternatively by rendering the content directly within a betting shop environment. The products are also to be offered on stand alone gaming machines for deployment in betting shops and casinos, as well as on a multi-station basis.

Inspired Gaming Group, a leading player in the Open Server-Based Gaming (Open SBG^TM) market, has signed a deal with Gala Coral to supply its Virtual Racing Platinum product across the entire Gala Coral estate of nearly 2,000 outlets. Inspired's Virtual Racing Platinum is the next generation in virtual racing and boasts a host of graphical improvements, such as a choice of weather variations - from snow to sunshine or even night-time - improved horse animation, photo realistic back plates and dynamic advertising hoardings. The way the horses or dogs interact has also been revolutionised, making it one of the most technologically advanced virtual racing product on the market.

Cirsa is preparing its entrance into the world of Internet betting after reaching an agreement with PartyGaming, the major British company specializing in online gaming, whose registered office is in Gibraltar. The two companies have signed an agreement to work together for three years in the search for and development of opportunities for Internet gaming in the Spanish speaking countries.

A spokesman for Cirsa indicates that this is an agreement made ‘'in order to explore" the company's entry into this sector, where one of the main obstacles is the legal confusion regulating this activity. The online betting sites that it is possible to access from Spain are, thanks to the existing legal vacuum, located abroad.

In spite of that, it is estimated that the Internet sites already attract bets amounting to one billion euros, some 3% of the money that the Spanish spend on gaming every year. Through this agreement, Cirsa will extend its presence in the gaming sector, by uniting the online activity with its present businesses of operating amusement machines, betting shops, bingo halls and casinos. Sources consulted indicate that the agreement will be developed through the implementation of Internet portals on the part of Cirsa, for players in Spain and Latin America, to which PartyGaming will contribute its technology and its online games. Jim Ryan, CEO of the company, said: "We believe that the combination of Cirsa's assets with our experience in online gaming will open up a great opportunity for both companies, especially in the Spanish speaking world".

Printer friendly version

Email this article to a friend

Bookmark this

---