Betting News – Page 17 – FairOdds Network

February 14, 2025

ATG CEO urges Swedish government to lower gambling tax for betting

Hasse Lord Skarplöth, chief executive of Swedish horse racing monopoly AB Trav och Galopp (ATG), has urged the government to drop its gambling tax for betting, following disappointing results in 2024.

Looking to how ATG performed in 2024, revenue for the 12 months to 31 December 2024 amounted to SEK6.19 billion (£459 million/€551 million/$577 million). This is 2.5% above the previous year. Net gaming revenue was largely flat, up 1.7% to SEK5.36 billion.

Revenue growth was enough to push operating profit up 1.4% to SEK1.81 billion for the 12-month period. After also including financial items, pre-tax profit topped SEK1.87 billion, up 1.8% year-on-year.

In ATG’s full-year presentation, published today (14 February), Skarplöth said growth could have been much greater had it not been impacted by Sweden’s gambling tax increase, which came into force in July.

Skarplöth said the recession, high household costs and higher interest rates had also hit ATG revenue in 2024.

Skarplöth urges re..

February 14, 2025

Legal sports betting all but dead after Minnesota senate committee hearing

On Thursday (13 February) the Minnesota senate all but killed the hopes of legal sports betting.

The Minnesota committee on government and local affairs ended deadlocked, 6-6, on an industry friendly legal digital wagering bill and tabled a second. Lawmakers in the state have been trying for at least five sessions to legalise sports betting, to no avail.

The committee heard testimony on SB 757 from the gambling industry, charitable gambling, problem and responsible gambling groups and others, before a lively and passionate question-and-answer period with bill sponsor Matt Klein. Klein was peppered with questions and comments about gambling addiction, the price of entry into the market and why the state should allow betting on college sports.

His bill would have tethered 11 sports betting licences to the state’s tribes and sent 45% of tax revenue to charitable gambling. It earmarked another 15% of state tax revenue for Minnesota’s horse tracks. Those provisions solved key problems..

February 13, 2025

Ambiguity and money headline Missouri draft wagering rules

iGB obtained the draft Missouri sports betting regulations that were sent to the industry for review. Here's a look at what's inside.

The Missouri draft regulations are, for the most part, standard fare. Of note, they outline licensing fees ranging from $10,000 for official league data providers to $500,000 (£401,000/€479,000) for stand-alone mobile platforms. They also define key terms, but leave much open to interpretation.

An updated draft was sent to Governor Mike Kehoe for approval on 27 January. The Missouri Gaming Commission (MGC) is pointing to a June wagering launch date. The regulator has not publicly released the draft regulations sent to Kehoe.

After the draft regulations are signed by the governor, a 30-day public-comment period will open. Following that, the regulator may make changes based on the comments. The application process will open once the regulations are approved.

Two stand-alone licences available

The law and regulations allow for two stand-..

February 13, 2025

IBIA 2024 report flags 17% rise in suspicious betting alerts

The International Betting Integrity Association (IBIA) received 219 alerts of suspicious betting activity in 2024, a 17% rise on 2023’s figure. The report was released today (13 February).

However, despite the surge of nearly a fifth from 2023’s revised total of 187 suspicious betting alerts, the IBIA noted the figure remained 11% below the annual average of 245 observed between 2020 and 2023.

As was the case in 2023, football (75 cases) and tennis (58 cases) again led the way for the sports with the most notifications, with both attracting more alerts than in 2023. They combined for 61% of all notifications, down from 64% in 2023.

The IBIA’s alerts system contributed to 33 matches being deemed corrupted, with the association involved in the sanctioning of 17 clubs, players and officials for betting violations.

The association’s membership represents over 70 companies with an annual global betting turnover of $300 billion (£240 billion/€287.7 billion), covering 50% of all regulate..

February 13, 2025

China drives MGM Resorts to record revenue in 2024, digital up 28% as betting platform launch is imminent

MGM Resorts International posted a record $17.24 billion (£13.80 billion/€16.53 billion) in consolidated net revenue during its 2024 financial year, driven once again by growth within its China-facing business.

Total revenue for 2024 surpassed the $16.16 billion reported during the previous year by 6.7%. It is also the highest annual amount ever posted by MGM, the operator confirmed yesterday (12 February).

Revenue was flat across two of MGM’s four core divisions – Las Vegas Strip Resorts and Regional Operations. However, significant growth in China, accompanied by a similar increase in digital revenue, pushed the yearly total up.

“We are proud to report the best full-year consolidated net revenues in the history of the company,” CEO Bill Hornbuckle said. “This was driven by a record performance from MGM China. We’re also encouraged by the strong demand we’re seeing in the business so far in 2025, which positions us well for continued growth.”

MGM China revenue rises 27.6%

The sta..

February 13, 2025

Texas sports betting constitutional amendment filed

Texas representative Sam Harless filed the first gambling bill of the session on Wednesday (12 February). The constitutional amendment would send the decision to legalise sports betting to state voters in November.

HJR 134 appears to call only for retail sports betting, although it does not explicitly prohibit digital wagering. It would allow for professional sports teams, PGA Tour stops and Class I racetracks to become licensed. The proposal requires that any potential licensees be in existence as of 1 January 2025. Licensees would be able to work with management service providers to operate sportsbooks.

There is no framework in the constitutional amendment and the language is vague:

The constitutional amendment authorising the legislature to legalise wagering in this state on certain sporting events.

Other state legislatures, including Louisiana and Maryland, have gone down similar pathways. Should voters approve in Texas as they did in those states, the legislature would then..

February 12, 2025

Trump nominates Kalshi board member as CFTC chief

Quintenz, who previously served as a commissioner for the CFTC under Trump, also spent time on the board of Kalshi.

Another day, another round of Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) news, with the big story coming via President Donald Trump, who has nominated Brian Quintenz to become chairman.

“It is my great honour to be nominated by President Trump as the next chairman of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, where I had served as a commissioner in his last administration,” Quintenz said in a statement posted on X. “The CFTC plays a critical role in maintaining robust hedging and price discovery markets that are the envy of the globe. The agency is also well poised to ensure the USA leads the world in blockchain technology and innovation. I look forward to working with President Trump’s incredible financial regulatory team.”

News of Quintenz being nominated was first reported by Bloomberg Tuesday night. Currently serving as acting chairman is Caroline Pham.

Quintez ha..

February 12, 2025

Tennessee sports betting handle dips month-on-month in January

Player spending on sports betting in Tennessee declined month-on-month in January, although the amount wagered is the fourth highest since the state launched its legal market in November 2020.

Gross wagers in Tennessee in January hit $549.0 million (£442.7 million/€530.4 million). This is 17.4% above last year but 4.1% behind the $572.7 million wagered in December.

The monthly record for gross sports wagers in Tennessee stands at $598.6 million, which was set in November 2024. January’s total is 8.3% shy of this figure.

Data from the Tennessee Sports Wagering Council shows after adjustments of $5.3 million, gross handle for the month was $543.6 million. This beats the previous year by 16.7% but falls 4.6% short of December.

In terms of tax, privilege tax for the opening month of the year topped $10.0 million.

The council does not disclose what the reported “adjustments” are in its monthly report, nor does it publish a breakdown of activity by operator or sport. Operator revenue is..

February 12, 2025

Stake to cease UK operations amid Gambling Commission investigation

Stake will exit the UK market next month amid a Gambling Commission investigation into social media advertising from the operator.

The Gambling Commission made the announcement today (12 February) with TGP Europe Limited (TGP), which operates Stake in the UK on a white-label basis, stating they will shut the site down.

The Gambling Commission has launched an investigation into a video distributed widely on social media that displayed Stake’s logo. The video featured an adult entertainment actress outside Nottingham Trent University.

After meeting with the Commission, TGP said it will immediately stop accepting new registrations to Stake’s UK platform and will remove any redirection links to the main Stake website. TGP will complete a full shutdown of the site by 11 March.

TGP has already faced regulatory scrutiny in the UK after being fined £316,250 (€379,430/$393,951) by the Gambling Commission in April 2023 for anti-money laundering (AML) and social responsibility failures.

“Whe..