Author: Daniel Williams

In an interview with the Greenock Telegraph, Ronnie Cowan, currently serving as the Member of Parliament for Inverclyde, expressed his disapproval of the potential £10 million sponsorship deal that the Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) is reportedly planning to sign with William Hill. The issue emerged after the sponsorship arrangement between the SPFL and Cinch, a company specialising in the selling of used vehicles, fell apart last year when Cinch exercised its right to terminate the partnership prematurely. The company will officially cease being the SPFL’s sponsor once the 2023-24…

Reports have emerged that the Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) is about to sign a £10 million sponsorship deal with gambling giant William Hill. As reported by Mail Sport, the arrangement, if finalised, will see the SPFL receive £2 million from the betting company on an annual basis. This will mark a £400,000 increase from the money the SPFL received each year from its previous sponsor, the used-car service Cinch. The agreement with Cinch was made official in 2021 and was supposed to last for five years, but from the…

Victorian residents and organisations alike have been given the chance to have their say on how the state’s government and gambling regulator will continue to oversee the monitoring of gaming machines. Over a decade ago, Intralot Gaming Services Pty Ltd (IGS) was authorised by the then Minister for Gaming to develop and be the provider of a monitoring system for gaming machines. As the arrangement is set to end on August 15th, 2027, the Victorian Department of Justice and Community Safety is looking to review the said licensing agreement prior…

The Hull Crown Court has handed Hawbash Ahmed, a former problem gambler whose financial struggles led to him resorting to drug dealing, a suspended sentence of 15 months. An additional 20 days have been designated for rehabilitation. The news comes not long after researchers from New Zealand identified a correlation between substance abuse and gambling addiction. According to details published by the Hull Daily Mail newspaper, Mr Ahmed’s run-ins with the law go as far back as 2017, but the offences he was prosecuted for recently were committed in 2020.…

This Monday saw an announcement by The Star that David Foster would no longer serve as Chairman of the Board. Anne Ward has taken on the position in his stead. The Star is currently undergoing its second regulatory inquiry by the New South Wales Independent Casino Commission (NICC). The probe commenced this February and is currently led by Adam Bell SC, who was also in charge of the 2022 inquiry that ended with The Star being deemed unfit to hold an NICC licence and the company being mandated to pay…

May 1st marked the official introduction of a range of new rules that are set to improve gambling safety in the UK, as well as an official announcement that the Gambling Commission (UKGC) is planning to implement financial vulnerability checks. However, prior to making the said risk checks a permanent requirement, regulators will seek to assess whether they can be conducted in a completely frictionless manner. Trials will be conducted over the course of six months if all goes as planned. Should regulators approve the implementation of risk checks, online…

Last week, Crown Resorts CEO Ciaran Carruthers spoke with the Sydney Morning Herald on how the company was looking to ensure its commercial viability long term and how restructuring changes that could result in job cuts were being considered. As reported by the Australian Financial Review, Crown staff were officially informed earlier today that, indeed, a total of 1000 individuals will lose their job positions in Sydney, Melbourne, and Perth. Since around 20,000 people work for Crown Resorts at the time of writing, this means that 4% of its total…

William Hill has become the QIPCO Guineas Festival’s Official Betting Partner, as announced on April 24th by The Jockey Club. The event is set to take place from May 3rd to May 5th, and a total of 15 upcoming races have been sponsored by the betting giant, including but not limited to the Group Two Jockey Club Stakes and the £100,000 Heritage Handicaps. William Hill has long been one of the major partners of the UK horse racing scene, kick-starting the Arena Racing Company Grand Prix in 2007, which, at…

April 24th saw a Dáil Éireann (Irish Lower House) debate on whether the pre-watershed ban on gambling adverts included in the Gambling Regulation Bill 2022 should no longer apply to charities. As reported by the Irish Times’ Harry McGee, a full exemption was proposed by the Opposition, but this amendment was ultimately rejected via vote. Minister of State at the Department of Justice James Browne’s own proposal of enforcing a cap on the max wins of charity draws that could be promoted prior to the watershed was also defeated. This…

The New South Wales Independent Casino Commission (NICC) has deemed Crown Resorts fit to once again welcome patrons to its Sydney-based casino under an unrestricted gambling licence. This result is the outcome of a wide range of remediation measures that saw the business improve drastically in the past years. What originally led to Crown Resorts’ licensing struggles was the breaching of multiple gambling regulations. The said violations were first revealed as a result of an investigation by The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age. This prompted the regulators of Victoria, Western…