Brazil taxes sports, 888 has a new boss, Glitnor moves on PlayStar

The past several days brought us a number of pleasant surprises. For one, Glitnor Group dug deeper into the market in the United States, with the company confirming that it intends to acquire over time a 37.5% stake in PlayStar.

Glitnor Group owns a number of prominent B2C and B2B brands, including Swintt and LuckyCasino, and it has been actively seeking to increase its presence in iGaming, and especially in North America. The investment is negotiated through the Group’s vessel, Glitnor Ventures, and the announcement was revealed at the beginning of the week.

Brazil and Philippines Make Waves in Gambling

Meanwhile in the Philippines, the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCO), which both operates gambling establishments and is the country’s regulator, announced plans to introduce its own dedicated online casino brand.

Casino Filipino is expected to launch at some point in 2024, PAGCOR Chairman Alejandro Tengco confirmed, with the website aiming to secure a global footprint. This is an interesting development given the fraught context in which it is happening. Interactive gambling was embraced by the country during the pandemic, when the sector provided relief to the strained health system.

However, there have been continuous calls to privatize PAGCOR to arguably guarantee better revenue and results. Despite all of this, the regulator seems determined to realize its latest project which involves an interactive gambling brand of its own.

Speaking of interesting developments, we could not overlook one of the major events of the week – Brazil’s announcement that it has settled on a 18% tax rate for gambling companies – with a caveat.

The caveat comes from the fact that the tax frame is introduced by President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva’s office, but in order to stick, it would need to be approved by Congress, which must happen in the next four months. The industry has already responded to the announcement of the tax, with some legal experts arguing that the actual tax rate on companies would be 30%.

Meanwhile, sports bettors have not been spared. Any winnings above $445 will have a 30% tax levy, which is done to strengthen state coffers. Despite these measures, some of which not to everyone’s taste, the news that Brazil finally has a regulated sports betting industry has been generally well-received.

People and Companies on the Move

888 Holdings’ search for a new person at the helm is finally over as Per Widerström has been confirmed as the group’s new Chief Executive Officer. This ends the seven-month hunt by the company to find a fitting person to take over the reins for Lord Mendelsohn who had to temporarily serve as Executive Chair after the abrupt departure of Itai Pazner in January.

888 Holdings faced a series of challenges in the Middle East and saw many of its higher-ups leave in the wake of the problem. Not least, the company had to break off negotiations with FS Gaming over an open investigation into the investor and the people who would have assumed leadership positions within 888.

FanDuel, in the meantime, has strengthened its responsible gambling know-how and acumen with the addition of Alison Kutler, who stepped in the role of Vice President, Sustainability & Responsible Gaming. Kutler will work on various initiatives within FanDuel’s ecosystem, including Responsible Gambling training and product development teams.

She will also oversee FanDuel’s advocacy teams and work across all verticals that the company is represented in, including Casino, Sportsbook, Retail, Daily Fantasy Sports, and Racing.

BetDEX Exchange, a company that utilizes decentralized technology to deliver cutting-edge betting solutions, has confirmed that it is launching in Ireland owing to an intermediary license obtained in Ireland.

BetDEX Labs, the company that owns BetDEX, celebrated the success of the latest license acquisition. Nigel Eccles, Chairman and Co-Founder, said that Ireland has been a leader in innovation and the adoption of cutting-edge technology, which is precisely what brought BetDEX Exchange to the country.

Through the company’s arrival, the region can be introduced to the power and benefits of web3 betting and tech. All of BetDEX Exchanges’ outcomes can be verified via public smart contracts.

As to sports betting, the industry has been paying closer attention to the ongoing scandal in the National Football League (NFL), one of the premier sports competitions in the world. The league issued a new suspension to a player alleged to have participated in sports betting against league policies.

Denver Broncos defensive lineman Eyioma Uwazurike has been suspended and he won’t be reinstated until 2024. The organization has been trying to improve its communication with player athletes as well as staff and educate them on how to avoid similar situations in future.

The Voice of the Industry

In this week’s conversations with industry leaders, we sat down with a number of prominent experts. Dmytro Taran, Slotegrator’s COO, has spoken at length about the importance of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in iGaming and offered actionable examples in his insightful opinion piece published on our website.

Taran spoke of the technology’s ability to cope with vast troves of data and arrive at beneficial business solutions that also help in crucial areas of the industry such as responsible gambling, fraud prevention, and marketing. He is writing this at a time when other companies, such as SOFTSWISS, are already making very strong inroads through AI.

Another highlight of the industry chatter this week involved Casino Guru Strategy Lead, Peter Ješko. He spoke about the recent rebranding of Casino Guru’s decision to rebrand its Safety Index, and why this was necessary. Ješko dives deeply into how the solution works and how it helps guide consumers to make better-informed choices when looking for an online casino brand.

Gamdom Founder Felix Roemer recently sat down with us for an interview and walked us through the company’s operations. Gamdom is foremost focusing on using blockchain to guarantee the fairness of outcomes and create powerful experiences for its fans. He spoke about the importance of remaining open to the industry’s ever-changing landscape to ensure that business meets respective standards and exceeds them.

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