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BGC Members Make Record Horserace Betting Levy Contribution

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Betting and Gaming Council members are expected to contribute a record £105m in levy payments to the Horserace Betting Levy Board for last year, new figures reveal.

The figure, provided by the independent Horserace Betting Levy Board, is an increase of £5m on the previous year.

As a result of this record additional funding from bookmakers, the HBLB announced an increase of £3.2m in its prize money contribution for 2024 versus 2023, from £67.3m to £70.5m.

It is the third year in a row that Levy contributions have increased, from £97m in 2021/22, to £100m in 2022/2023 and now £105m in 2023/2024.

According to the Horserace Betting Levy Board, the £105m total is derived from the receipt of provisional end of year submissions from most Levy-paying bookmakers.

Michael Dugher, Betting and Gaming Council CEO and Acting Chair, said: “This record contribution to the Levy is extremely welcome news and demonstrates once again the enduring, mission critical support regulated betting provides British horseracing.

“Despite a double digit decline in horserace betting turnover over the past five years – and a double digit decline in racecourse attendances – this shows that levy contributions and prize money are both up, and it once again provides a timely reminder that racing could not survive without the record financial support that is flowing from betting.

“Our members remain committed to the long-term success of horseracing, and the huge economic contribution it makes across the country, especially in rural communities.

“Attention must now turn to how we challenge vested interests, introduce real change and reform the sport, ensuring we reverse the current decline and provide racing with a genuinely long term sustainable future.”

Horseracing is the second biggest spectator sport in the UK, second only to football, with around five million people attending approximately 1400 fixtures annually across 59 racecourses.

However, the sport has been in decline in recent years. In 2007, 17% of the population enjoyed horserace betting the previous year, but that fell to 10% in 2018, while racecourse attendances have dropped by 14% since 2019.

Meanwhile, horserace betting turnover for April to December 2023 is down 17% vs the average for the same period across the last five years.

The BGC has made significant efforts to lessen the impacts on racing as a result of the Government’s White Paper on gambling reforms, particularly on the issue of affordability.

Earlier this month the BGC announced a new voluntary industry Code on Customer Checks which raises standards, while reducing the need for requests for private financial documents.

Developed jointly with the Gambling Commission and backed by Government, this Code will operate as a voluntary interim scheme – bringing consistency across the regulated sector for operators who adopt it – until the frictionless financial risk assessments set out in the Government’s White Paper can be developed, tested and implemented.

While this Code delivers progress on resolving the issue of intrusive document checks, it does not offer a complete solution. So, the BGC and GC are now actively working on a new Code on Anti-Money Laundering checks, which also trigger requests for documents.

The BGC is currently working with the British Horseracing Authority and government to resolve a settlement on a new voluntary Levy to support horseracing.

It is estimated BGC members contribute around £350m a year to British horseracing in Levy, media rights and sponsorship deals.

Meanwhile the wider regulated betting and gaming sector supports 110,000 jobs, generates £4.2bn in tax and contributes £7.1bn to the economy.

Each month around 22.5m adults in Britain enjoy a bet, whether it’s buying a lottery ticket, having a game of bingo, visiting a casino, playing online or having a wager on football, horseracing and other sports.

The most recent NHS Health Survey for England estimated that 0.4% of the adult population are problem gamblers.

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Ixia launches $20 million global gaming venture Fund and Studio

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Ixia launches $20 million global gaming venture Fund and Studio
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Ixia Capital, a venture capital fund and studio, has launched with an investment of $20 million focused on high-growth companies across gaming, esports, digital assets, and complementary technologies.

The fund has been founded by partners with deep firsthand iGaming industry experience, enabling entrepreneurs to realise innovative ideas, technologies, and transform business models into profitable companies.

Ixia Capital is a global fund with a focus in India, Africa and UAE where the mission is to accelerate development and manage risks to help ventures succeed in specialised fields. The fund is based in the Cayman Islands, while the Ixia Studio is headquartered in the USA.

Ixia Capital CEO and Venture Partner Mona Motwani, said: “It’s a proud moment for us to officially launch Ixia Capital. Our mission is partnering with driven entrepreneurs to equip them with resources, expertise, exposure and capital that allow them to build the best ideas into great companies. Through this hands-on approach, Ixia is all about accelerating ideas and mitigating risks.”

Ixia Studio, the venture studio arm of Ixia Capital, is in the process of launching six disruptive projects – FasFas Games, a Sports NFT Trading Exchange, a Gaming Loyalty Reward Platform, Sports Investment Thought Leadership Platform, and a Sports Coverage and Games Engagement App. The role of the Studio is to provide funding, resources, and operational support to help entrepreneurs build and scale companies.

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SPOTLIGHT SPORTS GROUP AGREES NEW DEAL WITH HONG KONG JOCKEY CLUB

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SPOTLIGHT SPORTS GROUP AGREES NEW DEAL WITH HONG KONG JOCKEY CLUB
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Spotlight Sports Group (SSG), a world-leading technology, content, and media company specialising in sports betting, has signed a deal to extend a multi-year agreement with the Hong Kong Jockey Club (HKJC).

The long-term partnership, powered by the Racing Post, will promote Hong Kong racing to a worldwide audience through the provision of full racecards for the Hong Kong Jockey Club meetings at Sha Tin and Happy Valley, editorial and tipping content. The partnership will also enable free-to-view live streams and replays of all Hong Kong racing via Racing Post digital platforms.

The collaboration also sees the promotion of the HKJC’s World Pool initiative, specifically with editorial, tipping and signposting of World Pool meetings. Spotlight Sports Group is delighted to have this agreement in place before Royal Ascot, a meeting that not only features high-class horse racing, but five days of World Pool betting.

James Fitzpatrick, Account Director for B2B Content Services at Spotlight Sports Group, said: “The Hong Kong Jockey Club is one of our key partners and I’m delighted we will be continuing our relationship. Extending this deal ahead of Royal Ascot will allow us to continue to promote World Pool days to a global audience during one of the biggest international meetings of the year.”

The view was shared by Michael Fitzsimons, Executive Director, Wagering Products of the HKJC: “The HKJC and Racing Post are two of the most powerful and respected brands in the horse racing industry and we can see many great opportunities to work together to achieve our goals and longer-term vision throughout the life of the agreement.”

 Spotlight Sports Group aims to support the global betting, horse racing and fantasy sports industries.

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EGT’s Gods & Kings Link with first installation in Bulgaria

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EGT’s Gods & Kings Link with first installation in Bulgaria
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EGT’s jackpot Gods & Kings Link made its debut in Bulgaria. The first local gaming establishment to install the product is the largest casino in the country GoldenEye, located in Svilengrad.

“We are very happy to once again have the opportunity to support our partners from GoldenEye by providing them with one of the latest developments from our slot portfolio,” commented Biserka Draganova, Sales Manager for the Balkans and Egypt at EGT. “The fact that out of a total of 500 machines in the casino, 320 are EGT’s is a testament to the great confidence they have in us, and I believe that Gods & Kings Link will show the excellent results expected from it.”

The product is currently available on several cabinets of the G 50 J2 St model, and will be installed on more by the end of June. Gods & Kings Link has 4 levels of jackpot: Minor and Mini, that are fixed for each machine and Grand and Major, which are progressive and can be won with every bet made on any of the 4 games Rise of Ra, Olympus Glory, Ape of luck and Glorious Alexander. The Grand and Major levels are common with EGT’s bestseller jackpot Bell Link, thus creating even greater chances for wealth.

Gods & Kings Link has definitely caught the attention of our customers and in the short period of time we’ve been offering it, we’ve seen a lot of interest in it,” said Mert Caliskan, Casino Operation Director. “The titles in the mix are extremely interesting and provide lots of bonuses and fun during play. This in combination with the possibility of getting even bigger winnings thanks to the connection to Bell Link, which is very popular in our casino, is a guarantee that this will be another very successful EGT product.”

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