Chris Christie was in the news last week because of a radio interview he did regarding New Jersey sports betting, as they’ve made the decision to try and legalize the activity. Sitting in as a special co-host on the Boomer and Carton in the Morning show in New York City, Christie suggested that it was ridiculous that only Nevada is allowed to offer single game sports betting and that the law should be changed to treat all states equally. Not surprisingly Christie disagreed with the lower federal court ruling in March where a judge sided with the sports leagues and…

The Asahi Shimbun – With the sumo world being rocked a few years ago by a bout-throwing scandal, Japanese soccer officials are trying to maintain the clean image of their sport by heading off any attempts by gamblers to fix J.League games or contests involving Japanese referees. In November, three Japanese were chosen to referee the final of an association cup tournament in Thailand on the basis of having been given high marks for fairness. On the night before the match, the three had completed their training session and were in transit between a shopping center and the hotel they…

iGaming Business – The Hong Kong Jockey Club has posted record turnover of HK$94.37 billion (€9.27 billion/$12.16 billion) for the 12 months until June 30 – a 12.3% year-on-year increase. Following confused reports of the club’s financial results by some media outlets, the Hong Kong operator confirmed its figures to iGaming Business. The club said that race betting duty payments grew by 12.1% to HK$11.11 billion, the highest figure for 13 years, although net margin on racing, at HK$4.12 billion, was short of the record of HK$4.50 billion in the 1999-2000 year. Total racecourse attendance of more than two million…

Sun Times – A few years ago, online gambling all but put bookies out of business. But today, in Chicago, bookies are embracing the technology that almost made them extinct. For example: BetChicago312.com is similar to mainstream gambling sites like Sportsbook or Bovada (formerly BoDog), except that placing a bet requires a password and having an existing member vouch for you. ‘‘It’s a tightly knit network with some professionals,’’ says John, an online gambler who asked to have his name withheld in fear of retaliation. John estimates that 600 to 1,000 members gamble through BetChicago312. And with the NFL season…

SBR – British bookmaker WilliamHill (SBR rating A) has finalised their acquisition of Spanish-facing betting company Miapuesta. WillHill took advantage of a six-month call option it held in its pocket following the initial agreement with Miapuesta’s parent company Sportingbet (SBR rating D+), which SBR reported on earlier in the year. WillHill had the benefit of a relatively quick approval by SportingBet shareholders in the deal, as reported by SBR in February. The total WillHill acquisition of SportingBet was worth up to a total of $716.4 million. WilliamHill intends to totally rebrand the Spanish business and is keen on improving their…

iGaming Business – Deutsche Telekom confirmed that it had applied for one of the 20 online sports betting licences that will be made available by the authorities in Germany and is looking at acquiring Deutsche Sportwetten, a subsidiary of Casino Austria. The German telecoms group told Reuters that the process was at a very early stage and it was “not yet certain whether that (it) will turn into an operating business”. The German telecoms giant was allowed to operator and offer online betting products by its board members and shareholders in 2012 and has submitted the application to the Interior…