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XLMedia bids farewell to North America
XLMedia has entered into a conditional agreement to sell its North American business assets to Sportradar in a deal valued at $30m. This will be split between an initial payment of $20m and up to $10m depending on performance. This agreement is expected to be finalised on 7 November.
In March this year, the affiliate sold off its European and Canadian assets to Gambling.com Group for $42.5m. If this sale goes through, then XLMedia will become a cash shell as it diverts operations and focuses entirely on distributing its proceedings and assets before winding down business.
Las Vegas welcomes a new project from MGM Resorts and Marriott International
The longstanding partnership between MGM Resorts International and Marriott International has created the foundation for a new property in Las Vegas, or at least, new in name. The Mandalay Bay Campus is operated by MGM Resorts; but as part of this new project, it will be rebranded into W Las Vegas as part of the W Hotels brand within the Marriott Bonvoy.
The property has previously hosted shows including Mamma Mia!, The Lion King and Michael Jackson: One during its time under MGM Resorts management. The transformation is expected to be completed by the end of the calendar year.
The Gambling Commission bites back
This week, the Chief Executive of the Gambling Commission, Andrew Rhodes, detailed the latest strategy the UK has taken to curb illegal gambling. Since April, over 78,000 URLs have been flagged to Google through an initiative between regulators, operators, payment and data providers, as well as internet search companies.
This led to 50,000 search results being removed, 255 websites being taken down, 750 disruption and Cease and Desist orders being given out – with the latter counting 259 sent to operators and 189 to advertisers.
ACR Poker raises $20,000 for United Breast Cancer Foundation
The latest charity poker tournament from ACR Poker has managed to raise $20,000 as part of Breast Cancer Awareness Month. The money will be given to the United Breast Cancer Foundation (UBCF), which helps with medical, housing and insurance expenses for individuals and families affected by breast cancer through the UBCF Individual Grant Program.
The event was hosted by professional poker players Katie Lindsay and Ebony Kennedy, along with ACR Team Online member Svitlana ‘Svetarik’ Dryha. More than 638 individuals participated in the two events.
Happy anniversary to Casino Guru’s Complaint Resolution Center!
This week marks the five-year anniversary of the Casino Guru Complaint Resolution Center, which supports players with issues arising from the online gambling industry. Since 2019, the centre has handled over 42,000 problems and recovered more than $33m for players. This is an average of 23 complaints resolved and $18,072 returned daily.
The team is comprised of 15 Resolvers and 6 First Response agents and the largest single complaint amounts to $1.99m and took two months to resolve. In the last two years, the centre has reported that the daily average amount of disputes has doubled and for the past 14 months, the number of complaints has been more than 1,000 per month.
