Central Europe – Page 14

DSWV Elects Jens Becker to its Executive Committee

December 24, 2020 Published by EuropeanGaming.eu

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The German Sports Betting Association (DSWV) has elected Jens Becker to its executive committee.

Munich lawyer Jens Becker has worked for bwin for almost two decades.

Becker succeeds Christoph Nestelberger, who, according to DSWV, resigned from his office on November 30 due to a career change.

Jens Becker is looking forward to the cooperation in the DSWV Presidium and the challenge of “developing the new regulation and making it a success.”

DSWV President Mathias Dahms welcomes Becker as “a competent and committed gaming law expert for many years.” He will enrich the Presidium with his high level of competence and extensive experience in the area of online regulation.

Bratislava Votes to Ban Gambling for Second Time

December 22, 2020 Published by EuropeanGaming.eu

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On December 17, the majority of Bratislava’s councilors have voted to ban gambling in response to an anti-gambling petition. The ban will come into effect on 1 January 2021. According to The Slovak Spectator, of the council’s 40 members 39 voted in favour of the ban whilst one abstained.

The new law does not mean that Bratislava’s casinos and gambling venues will close immediately – instead once businesses’ gaming licenses expire between 2023 and 2024 they will not be renewed.

This is the second time a gambling ban has been introduced in Slovakia, with the first attempt lasting for less than two years from 1 May 2017 to 28 December 2018.

Sale of WestSpiel Group initiated

December 19, 2020 Published by EuropeanGaming.eu

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• EU-wide procurement procedure started on 18th December 2020

• Prospective buyers can apply now

On 18th December 2020, a Europe-wide tender procedure for the sale of the shares in the WestSpiel Group was launched by Warth & Klein Grant Thornton AG Wirtschaftsprüfungsgesellschaft as the lead transaction advisor. As a state-licensed casino operator, WestSpiel Group currently has 900 employees and runs four casino locations in Aachen, Bad Oeynhausen, Dortmund-Hohensyburg and Duisburg, holding the exclusive casino monopoly in the federal state of North Rhine-Westphalia. WestSpiel Group, consisting of several legal entities, will be sold in its entirety. The shares in the WestSpiel Group are currently held by NRW.BANK, the North Rhine-Westphalian federal development bank.

Call for competition launched
The government of the federal state of North Rhine-Westphalia decided on 8 May 2018 to privatise the WestSpiel Group. The Act on the Licensing of Public Casinos in the State of North Rhine-Westphalia (‘SpielbG NRW’), which came into force on 3rd June 2020, created an essential precondition for the privatisation. For the first time since then, casinos in North Rhine-Westphalia were permitted to be operated under private ownership. Prospective buyers from Germany and abroad can now qualify for the forthcoming bidding and negotiation phase in a call for competition. The respective tender documents can be accessed via the link quoted in the contract notice as announced in the EU Official Journal (https://ted.europa.eu/udl?uri=TED:NOTICE:615286-2020:TEXT:EN:HTML&src=0) or directly via the tender marketplace NRW (Vergabemarktplatz NRW: https://www.evergabe.nrw.de/VMPSatellite/notice/CXPNYH5D573/documents).
Sound and profitable performance

The WestSpiel Group generated a gross gaming revenue of around €117.2 million in the 2019 financial year attracting around 900,000 visitors in total. This represents a significant growth of almost 27% compared to the previous year (gross gaming revenue 2018: around €92.3 million).
The group’s casinos offer around 80 gaming tables and 900 slot machines in total. The casino operated by WestSpiel Group in Duisburg is currently the most successful casino in Germany in terms of number of visits and gross gaming revenue achieved. In January 2020, the F.A.Z.-Institute nominated WestSpiel Group as Germany’s most future-proof company in the casino industry.

Excellent prospects and considerable development potential

The WestSpiel Group holds the exclusive casino monopoly in North Rhine-Westphalia, the economically strongest and most populous federal state in Germany.
Compared across Europe, the federal state of North Rhine-Westphalia is one of the six economically strongest economies, even ahead of Belgium, Poland and Sweden.

The group’s position in this impressive market has been secured long-term by the amended SpielbG NRW and an exclusive 15-year concession. Furthermore, the new SpielbG NRW principally allows the future owner to also establish two further casino locations in North Rhine-Westphalia with attractive catchment areas each. The presence and availability of casinos in North Rhine-Westphalia is still relatively low for the 18 million inhabitants of the federal state when compared to other federal states. The WestSpiel Group therefore offers considerable potential for further successful growth.

A decision on what form previously unregulated, and thus illegal, online casino gaming will be developed on the basis of the 2021 State Treaty on Gambling has not been made yet. Subject to the structure under state law, WestSpiel Group therefore may have the opportunity to obtain a concession for online casino gambling which, however, has not been regulated to date.

IGT Announces Agreement to License Exclusive IP Rights for GALAXIS, SYSTEM2Go and Associated Software and Hardware to Modulus

December 18, 2020 Published by EuropeanGaming.eu

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IGT streamlines its systems product line to focus on IGT ADVANTAGE casino management system and related solutions

International Game Technology PLC today announced that its subsidiaries IGT Europe B.V., IGT Austria GmbH, and IGT Germany Gaming GmbH have entered into a strategic agreement to exclusively license the intellectual property for its GALAXIS and SYSTEM2Go casino central management systems (CMSs) to Modulus S.a.r.l.

The agreement, effective Dec. 18, 2020, permits Modulus to commercialize and distribute GALAXIS and SYSTEM2Go and IGT’s existing inventory of related legacy hardware to Modulus customers in all territories excluding North America. Modulus will also be able to develop source code for these products, and will provide ongoing maintenance services to existing GALAXIS and SYSTEM2Go customers.

“Driven by decades of IGT’s proven casino systems experience, GALAXIS and SYSTEM2Go solutions have earned a strong reputation as solutions that drive efficiencies on international customers’ gaming floors while elevating player engagement,” said Willy de Bruyn, President, Modulus. “GALAXIS’ range of flexible modules integrate effortlessly with SYSTEM2Go, an affordable and scalable CMS suited to single and multi-site gaming venues that does not require a significant IT infrastructure investment and extensive training to operate. These solutions are a significant strategic addition to our product portfolio, and SYSTEM2Go will continue to be especially transformational for smaller, cost-conscious international operators.”

“As the supplier of the industry’s most advanced systems solutions, IGT has decided to exclusively license the IP of its successful legacy GALAXIS and SYSTEM2Go solutions to Modulus to eliminate duplicative efforts and resources required for us to manage multiple sets of CMS products. This will optimize our focus on the development, deployment, and customer service activities for our innovative IGT ADVANTAGE CMS and associated products, including our industry-leading Resort Wallet and IGTPay mobile cashless solutions,” said Mark MacCombie, IGT Vice President, Sales and Operations, EMEA. “IGT and Modulus have collaborated on a robust transition plan that will ensure current GALAXIS and SYSTEM2Go customers continue to seamlessly experience the high-quality service, maintenance and support they’ve come to expect.”

The transaction is subject to customary closing conditions, including regulatory approvals.

Casinos Austria Appoints New Members to the Supervisory Board

December 18, 2020 Published by EuropeanGaming.eu

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NEW MEMBERS WERE APPOINTED TO THE SUPERVISORY BOARD AT CASINOS AUSTRIA AG ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING AND SUPERVISORY BOARD MEETING.

Reorganisation of the Supervisory Board: Wolfgang Hesoun is the new Chairman of the Supervisory Board – additional experts have been appointed
Syndicate contract brings stability to the corporate group
Player protection is to be a focus of the Supervisory Board
Implementation of extensive restructuring programme
Strengthening of distribution and online offers – fight against illegality

Reorganisation of the Supervisory Board

New members were appointed to the Supervisory Board at Casinos Austria AG Annual General Meeting and Supervisory Board Meeting.

At Casinos Austria AG, Wolfgang Hesoun, a top Austrian manager, took the helm as the new Chairman of the Supervisory Board. His currently sole Vice Chairman is SAZKA Group CEO Robert Chvatal, who has chaired the Board since Walter Rothensteiner’s departure.

ÖBAG Director and former PwC CEO Christine Catasta and compliance and player protection expert Erika Stark-Rittenauer were appointed to the Supervisory Board. Gerhild Hofer and Thomas Polzer are leaving the committee.

“I am delighted that we were able to secure an experienced top manager as President of the Supervisory Board, and that person is Wolfgang Hesoun. Our current personnel decisions show that after a challenging period, we are embarking on a new chapter for the company, one in which the Managing Board, the employees, the Supervisory Board and the owners work together to create a positive future for the company,” says ÖBAG Managing Board member Thomas Schmid.

Syndicate contract brings stability to the company

The basis for the changes in membership of the Boards is the syndicate contract between the SAZKA Group (majority owner) and the state-owned holding company ÖBAG. This contract was recently approved by the EU Competition Commission. “The syndicate contract between the two main owners amicably regulates the strategic development and alignment of the corporate group. Our shared vision and long-term strategy provide the stability that the company needs. This is particularly important in the current difficult situation as well as with regard to the challenges facing the corporate group in the near future. In particular, the two main owners will make a substantial contribution to strengthening distribution and building up new online services, as well as driving forward the urgently needed fight against illegality,” SAZKA CEO Robert Chvatal says about the new cooperation between the owners.

Player protection is to be a focus of the Supervisory Board

Player protection and handling gambling responsibly has always been a central issue within the Casinos Austria/Österreichische Lotterien Group. In future, the Supervisory Board will provide tangible support for the company’s efforts in this crucial area. “Casinos and lotteries bear great social responsibility in the gaming sector. As a core shareholder, it is of particular interest to ÖBAG that our shareholdings continue to expand their pioneering role in the area of player protection in Europe. With Erika Stark-Rittenauer, we on the Supervisory Board can provide valuable input in this regard,” Schmid says with respect to the future focus.

Implementation of the restructuring programme

The report on the ReFIT restructuring programme was discussed at length in today’s meetings. Following intensive negotiations, a comprehensive package was put together in a very short time, and most of it has already been implemented. These far-reaching measures will save 50 million euros in the long run and reduce the number of employees by around 500 FTEs across the entire Group. The fact that almost the entire personnel reduction could be carried out in the form of amicable separations and accompanied by corresponding social plans, new collective agreements and company agreements was noted as a positive aspect. This was possible because an amount in the high double-digit millions was spent on the design of these separation packages. Far-reaching internal restructuring has made processes much more efficient and made it possible to focus on new entrepreneurial tasks. This has created a basis for the long-term security of the corporate group.

VDAI Names Lars Rogge as its New Chairman

December 16, 2020 Published by EuropeanGaming.eu

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German AWP Industry Association Verband der Deutschen Automatenindutrie (VDAI) has appointed Lars Rogge as its chairman with effect from 1 January 2021.

Rogge is currently the managing director of German AWP manufacturer Bally Wulff. He will leave Bally Wulff on December 31.

“Lars is a proven industry and association expert. In view of his decades of experience at all levels of the industry and in his work in various association committees, I am sure that he will shape the work of the association in a future-proof manner in a rapidly-changing environment,” Manfred Stoffers, managing member of the VDAI board, said.

“Lars Rogge is the ideal person for this position. With his creative drive and his experience in dialogue with politics as well as within the vending machine industry, Lars is a widely valued representative of the companies organised in the VDAI and their interests,” Dr Daniel Henzgen, managing member of the VDAI board and member of the management of Löwen Entertainment, said.

“It takes strength for change and the courage to innovate – the machine industry has demonstrated both in the past as well as its willingness to act responsibly in society,” Rogge said.

New German Regulations Give Much Focus on Age Verification

December 8, 2020 Published by EuropeanGaming.eu

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The progress of legalising online gaming across Germany has been patchy, but there was a breakthrough on 12 March 2020 when the latest GlüNeuRStV was approved by the German heads of state. It acts as a compromise between states wanting the market to be open and those wanting gambling to be more restricted.

This treaty will open up the online market to all products and verticals, specifically poker and virtual slots, with the legislation set to come into force on 1 July 2021. It will, therefore, significantly liberalise the market, subject to strict conditions concerning player protection.

Ahead of July 2021, a transition period was agreed to enable all existing operators and the German Länder to adapt to the new legal framework. This period began on 15 October 2020 and will be used to clarify existing and forthcoming mandates, including those on age verification. However, it’s important to note the industry must comply with the new laws as of 15 October (with a few exceptions deferred to 15 December).

Age verification has been a hot topic in Germany since an investigation by the Bavarian Consumer Centre highlighted the ease at which under-18s could access five major online gambling sites. To get a license in Germany under the new regime, online gambling operators will need to demonstrate a robust age verification solution.

The risks of failure to demonstrate a system of age and identity verification, are significant. It will likely result in a licence application being rejected. For current operators in the German market, it could lead to the revocation of their license and fines of up to €500,000.

Genius Sports Group secures exclusive 10-year official data and streaming partnership with Polish basketball

November 28, 2020 Published by EuropeanGaming.eu

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Genius Sports Group granted the exclusive rights to distribute live data and video from Polish basketball to its global network of sportsbook partners

The Polish Basketball League (PLK) and Polish Basketball Association (PZK) have selected Genius Sports Group as their Official Data & Streaming Partner in a 10-year exclusive partnership.

As the premier technology partner in world basketball, Genius Sports Group will continue to provide Polish basketball with its leading data collection, management and distribution solutions. FIBA LiveStats will capture advanced play-by-play statistics including shot, four and turnover locations at eight competitions and more than 1,800 games per season.

FIBA LiveStats GameCentres will help both the PLK and PZK connect with their fans at each stage of hundreds of games per year. Fans will be brought closer to the action, analysing head-to-head records, full box score statistics and team and player shot charts.

From the 2021/22 season onwards, both the PLK and PZK will be able to implement Genius Sports’ cutting-edge live streaming solutions, delivering live broadcasts, data-driven graphics and highlights to fans worldwide. GeniusLive and GeniusLive+ are powering live streaming solutions for leagues and federations at all levels of world sport, delivering vital visibility and new revenue opportunities.

Radosław Piesiewicz, President of the Polish Basketball Association and Polish Basketball League, said: “Signing a long-term contract with such an important partner as Genius Sports will allow us to take another big step forward for the development of Polish basketball. Apart from cooperation with other basketball federations, Genius Sports cooperates with the NBA and the World Basketball Federation (FIBA).

“For the first time, Genius Sports will have the exclusive rights to distribute live date and video from all Polish basketball games. I am convinced that such 10-year cooperation will allow us to promote our leagues outside Poland, providing a platform for faster and even better development of our leagues.”

Jonny Katanchian, Head of Commercial Partnerships – EMEA at Genius Sports, said: “Long-term, trusted partnerships like this are pivotal to driving the development and global expansion of basketball leagues and federations. FIBA LiveStats will continue to power a world-class data ecosystem while our streaming solutions and global distribution networks will transform how Polish basketball engages new audiences around the world.”

On October 27, 2020, GSG entered into a business combination agreement with dMY Technology Group II, Inc. (NYSE: DMYD.U, DMYD and DMYD.TS) to drive its expansion as a leading provider of official data and technology powering the global sports, betting and media ecosystem. Upon the closing of the transaction, the combined company expects its ordinary shares and warrants to trade on the NYSE under the symbols “GENI” and “GENI WS”, respectively.

Striking new partnership between Endorphina and EGT Digital

November 27, 2020 Published by EuropeanGaming.eu

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Endorphina is at it again by kicking off another partnership. We’ve just heard the news that Endorphina has just partnered with EGT Digital, a leading Bulgarian-based company providing extremely flexible betting and gaming solutions across Europe.

This partnership holds a lot of promise for both parties. For Endorphina, this partnership will further expand their games into the LatAm market as well as throughout Europe. As for EGT Digital, they can look forward to truly satisfying their players by offering such a range of trendy and hit games from Endorphina.

Alexander Botov, CEO EGT Digital, shares about the partnership:

“We are very excited to partner with such a reliable company like Endorphina. It is always nice to work with business-oriented professionals. We truly believe our clients will benefit from this partnership. Our main goal is to provide our customers only high-quality content and Endorphina will help us tremendously in this endeavour. As I mentioned, this partnership reflects our desire to collaborate with companies that share our vision and understanding of the industry. In the dynamic business environment in which we operate, satisfying customer needs is our mission. With the integration of Endorphina’s games, we are one step closer to the goal. Beyond a shadow of a doubt this deal marks the start of long and productive commercial relationship.”

Sales Director at Endorphina, Kirill Miroshnichenko, also shares:

“I’m so proud to announce our partnership with such a well-known company in the iGaming industry. EGT Digital is starting a new project and we are taking part in it. Now EGT Digital partners can add our full portfolio into their projects. I would like to thank you Hristofor and Alexander for both of your professional approach and smooth integration. EGT Digital, welcome to our family!”

CEO of Endorphina, Jan Urbanec, adds:

“We consider EGT group one of the pioneers in the business. So it is an honor to partner up with the digital part of such a well-respected enterprise. Endorphina pledges to provide great content for players. The ability of EGT Digital to effectively distribute and deliver will be a killer combination for the international market.
We strongly believe that this cooperation will bring prestige, success and financial benefits to both parties. Games like Bufallo 50 and the Chance Machine series running with EGT Digital partners will make sure of that.”

Entropiq Partners with PUMA

November 26, 2020 Published by EuropeanGaming.eu

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Entropiq, one of the rapidly-growing esports organisations, has entered into a new partnership with global sportswear brand PUMA.

The German company, which specialises in sportswear design and manufacturing, becomes Entropiq’s exclusive merchandising partner. From jerseys to shirts and hats, the apparel will be available for purchase on Queens.cz.

“In the last few months, we were in touch with several global brands, and after considerations and mutual agreement, we decided to sign with PUMA. I am delighted that we will be able to provide our players and fans with merchandising of the highest quality,” Ondřej Drebota, Managing Director of Entropiq, said.

“While the fans’ interest in buying our merchandise has been imminent ever since our organization entered the esports realm, we understood the importance of the decision. It is a privilege to join forces with such a renowned brand, which provides sportswear for the Czech national football team and several first division clubs,” Drebota added.

“PUMA follows the global trend of connection between sports and esports. We believe that, in today’s world, sports and esports are closely linked entities with many common features. I am very pleased that we can start our collaboration with esports organization Entropiq and together become a part of the gaming community on the Czech-Slovak as well as international stage,” Jan Sochor, Area General Manager Eastern Europe, PUMA, said.

“Esports events may take many hours, and it is important to feel comfortable while playing. All of us in the team were thrilled to hear that PUMA would be our new partner and provide our sportswear. The timing of the announcement just ahead of the Czech National Championship makes the partnership even more exciting,” Entropiq’s PUBG player Filip “RedgieBeardo” Tutko revealed.

“I am happy that Entropiq signed with PUMA, the designer of the national football team. It is a great connection, which ticks all the boxes,” Entropiq Ambassador Vladimír Šmicer said.

Tag: Central Europe

DSWV Elects Jens Becker to its Executive Committee

Bratislava Votes to Ban Gambling for Second Time

Sale of WestSpiel Group initiated

IGT Announces Agreement to License Exclusive IP Rights for GALAXIS, SYSTEM2Go and Associated Software and Hardware to Modulus

Casinos Austria Appoints New Members to the Supervisory Board

VDAI Names Lars Rogge as its New Chairman

New German Regulations Give Much Focus on Age Verification

Genius Sports Group secures exclusive 10-year official data and streaming partnership with Polish basketball

Striking new partnership between Endorphina and EGT Digital

Entropiq Partners with PUMA

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