Global Sports Betting Roundup: MGM’s Global Expansion, 888 Holdings’ William Hill Takeover, France Numbers, and More

The global sports betting industry keeps churning out potentially game-changing headlines. It’s not just the players on the field making noise. This week’s industry news spans the world and includes a pair of heavyweight sports betting providers attempting to strengthen their global standing, two legal sports betting countries with their Q1 revenue reports, and a few gambling regulation stories from other countries with legal sports betting platforms.

Let’s take a peek into the headlines that grabbed our attention in this week’s Global Sports Betting Roundup.

MGM Resorts Makes Bid To Buy LeoVegas

MGM Resorts looks as though it is making good on its promise to expand globally. The U.S. gambling giant on Sunday announced through a press release that it is making a bid to purchase well-known Swedish gambling entity LeoVegas, which provides iGaming for poker, casino games, and sports betting in a number of countries around the world.

"We believe that this offer creates a compelling opportunity that allows the combined teams of MGM Resorts and LeoVegas to accelerate our global digital gaming growth and fully realize the potential of our omnichannel strategy," MGM's CEO Bill Hornbuckle said in the release.

The offer is said to be worth $607 million and is being supported by LeoVegas' board of directors.

888 Holdings Approaching Global Behemoth Status

888 Holdings is moving closer to the acquisition of William Hill's European assets. The next step in the process is gaining approval from shareholders prior to the purchase becoming official. It was announced late last week that an "Extraordinary General Meeting" will take place on May 16 where shareholders, who have not yet had their say on the transaction will get their chance to weigh in on the proposed plan.

If all goes well for the 888 Holding board of directors, the sale of William Hill's European assets could be completed sometime in the first half of this year.

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France Releases Gross Gaming Revenue Numbers for 2021

The gambling sector in France saw a slight increase in year-over-year activity in 2021. According to French gambling regulator l’Autorité Nationale des Jeux (ANJ), gross gaming revenue for the country’s gambling providers hit €10.70 billion in 2021, which represents a 7% increase from 2020's COVID-affected performance.

While certainly reasonable, 2020 failed to match the €11.10 billion the sector reported in 2019. FDJ and PMU, the two companies that hold a virtual monopoly over the French mobile gambling scene, along with the country's land-based casinos dominated the GGR revenue numbers, taking in a combined €8.60 billion.

Good and Bad News From Denmark’s Gambling Scene

A recent report from Spillemyndigheden, Denmark's gambling regulatory body revealed some good news and some bad news for the overall industry.

The good news is that activity at land-based casinos and with the country's gaming machines has been on the rise. The bad news is a drop in online casino revenues and sports betting activity.

Overall, Quarter 1 gross gaming revenues in Denmark came in at DKK 1.575 billion, a year-over-year 20% increase from the DKK 1.3 billion during Q1 of 2021. However, the gaming profits slipped from DKK 589 million in Q4 of last year to DKK 567 million in the first three months of this year. That's because of the dip in mobile betting action which dropped 2.5% year-over-year for the three-month period.

Tax Man Hits the Kenyan Market

Betting and gaming markets in Kenya will once again be faced with a 20% tax on wagering stakes, two years after the controversial levy was abandoned in 2020. The reintroduction of the controversial tax could be followed by an increase in digital tax service (DST), doubling from 1.5% right now to 3% if regulators have their way.

Kenyan authorities aren't hiding their motivation for the increased taxation. Increased revenues have been cited as the sole reason for the latest hikes.

Landmark German Court Case Could Set Dangerous Precedent

Interesting news out of Germany could wreak havoc on not only the gambling scene in that country but could also have a ripple effect across Europe. The High Court of Frankfurt has ruled that an online casino customer in that country is eligible to reclaim their losses of €12,000. The company wasn't named but was identified as a "Malta-based operator."

The period in question was 2017, years prior to the legalization of gambling in Germany, and came from a gambler that had apparent previous issues with gambling addiction.

The implications of such a lawsuit are enormous. More could follow and deal a blow to providers in not only Germany but around the EU.

Sportsbook Advertising Battle Moves Into Australia

Sports betting advertising has been a hot-button topic for the last few months in Europe with British and Danish authorities moving to limit the number of sportsbook commercials targeting youth, especially in their respective markets.

The high-profile battle against the saturation of sportsbook advertising has reached Australia where Victorian Responsible Gambling Foundation has identified an astounding 948 gambling ads appearing daily on Victoria TV in 2021. More than $287.2 million in ad buys were recorded in Victoria in 2021, up from $15.9 million in 2020.

Rules against such advertising have been in place in Australia since 2017 but a recent study shows that companies are either ignoring are finding loopholes with those rules.

Other Global Sportsbook News

The British online sports betting scene welcomed a new provider last week. British-based JeffBet gained operating licenses from both the UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) and Malta Gaming Authority (MGA). JeffBet will bring substantial sports betting menu to the British scene as well as one of the most complete lists of banking options for their customers.

JeffBet joins PickGuru and affiliate sites Bojoko and Betting.Bet as sportsbooks gaining market access in Britain in 2022.

Go+Bet will finally go live in its country of origin, Poland, after it was announced this week that the company has partnered with BetConstruct to provide what they call "a complete sports betting platform, featuring an all-inclusive operator back office and 120+ event types in Sportsbook."

Polish-based Go+Bet is expected to do well in its home market. It won’t hurt to have fellow Polish brands and respected global sports betting brands BetConstruct backing their product there.

Make sure to keep an eye on our Live Odds page throughout the week to get the best lines possible and connect with others in the SBR community on our popular sports betting forum.