[Casinonews]

Gaming companies moving in on football sponsorship
Bookmaker Betfred has announced a three-year deal with Manchester United to become the club's official bookmaking and online gaming' partner. Liverpool based Sportech also reported that it had struck a six-figure marketing deal to become the official gaming partner of Everton FC while online gaming company 888.com has agreed to become the official sponsor of Primera Liga club Sevilla for the next two seasons.

Racecourse owner withdraws from Tote bid
Northern Racing has withdrawn its involvement with the racing consortium vying to purchase the UK government-owned Tote bookmakers. The racecourse owner gave no reason for the move.

BIL close to Clermont purchase
The investment company owned by Malaysian billionaire Quek Leng Chan, BIL International, is on the verge of purchasing the Clermont Club from Rank in a deal worth around £30 million according to The Times newspaper. The venue, located in Mayfair, London, would become the first casino to be operated under BIL's new subsidiary, BIL Gaming.

Noble application rejected
The Noble Organisation's application to convert the Palace nightclub in Blackpool has been rejected on the grounds that it would 'open the floodgates for other small casino bids'. Councillor Mary Smith said that Blackpool's development control committee needed to concentrate on the bigger picture.

Airports chaos could cost tourism £140 million
The recent airport disruptions could cost the British tourism industry one per cent of the total revenue generated by overseas visitors, according to an economist at Grant Thornton cited in the Telegraph newspaper. Maurice Fitzpatrick said that the £140 million figure seemed like a reasonable number, but could 'well be higher' if negative comments in the overseas media continued.

Senior Sportsman staff made redundant
The Sportsman has made its managing director Mark Maydon, as well as seven other senior staff, redundant ahead of an expected deal to sell the paper. Chartered accountant UHY Hacker Young, administrator for the paper, said that despite the redundancies, it was 'extremely confident' of an imminent sale.

IGH posts strong results
Interactive Gaming Holdings has reported a £928,000 pre-tax loss for the first half of 2006 on sales of £8.85 million, up from last year's figures of £321,000 and £1.66 million respectively. Chief executive John Heaton attributed the results to 'value enhancing acquisitions', and hailed it as a period of significant change for the company.

Suffolk pier removes gambling machines
Southwold Pier in Suffolk is to remove gambling machines from its arcade after its owner decided they did not fit with the resort's family image. Steven Bournes said that people looking to gamble could go to Lowestoft and Great Yarmouth.

Top Ten buys Lance Leisure
Top Ten Holdings has purchased Lance Leisure, the owner of a freehold bingo club in Mexborough, for just over £1 million. Lance Leisure will receive £844,118 in cash and 181,138 new Top Ten shares at 20p each, credited as fully paid at an issue price of 113.66p per share.

Dartford pulls out of casino bid
Dartford Council has withdrawn its application for one of the government's 16 smaller casino licenses. Council leader Jeremy Kite called the government's casino policy a 'farce' and said the development would only benefit 'rich casino bosses' and not the people of the borough.

Big Brother betting hits new record
A record £5 million has been bet across the industry on this year's UK series of Big Brother, according to Ladbrokes bookmakers. The figure equates to £56,179 being bet per 24 hours since the show started 90 days ago.

eCOGRA seal hits the century mark
Online gambling standards body eCOGRA has exceeded its target of 100 accreditations before December 2006, by signing 107 companies to its 'Play it Safe' seal. CEO Andrew Beveridge called the achievement a 'milestone' and said that it reflects the increasing demand for a standards seal for the industry.

'Surprising' demographic revealed to be top casual game buyers
The majority of people buying and playing casual puzzle, card and board games for their phones and PCs are middle-aged women, according to a new survey by RealNetworks. Senior vice-president Michael Schutzler called the results 'surprising' after it was revealed that the demographic was buying the games for themselves, rather than other members of the family.

Enterprise sells outlets to Admiral
Enterprise Inns has agreed to sell 769 of its outlets to Admiral Taverns for a reported £318.1 million. The deal sees Admiral, established as recently as 2004, increase the size of its tenanted pub estate to 1,825 - behind Punch Taverns (9,200), Enterprise Inns (7,700), Wolverhampton & Dudley (2,352), Greene King (2,200) and Mitchells & Butlers (2,200).

Betting Show expects record number of exhibitors
The Betting Show, riding a successful year in the industry that included the £1 billion World Cup extravaganza, has announced a record 65 exhibitors from across nine countries will be taking part in this years event. The show takes place across 25th and 26th October at the NEC Pavilion, Birmingham.

Carruthers out!
BetonSports former CEO David Carruthers has been released on bail after posting a $1 million bond. Under conditions of his bail, Carruthers will be electronically monitored and confined to his St Louis, Missouri residence and only allowed to leave with permission from the authorities.

U.S. online clampdown to have a long term impact on the industry
A new survey by the consulting firm MECN has revealed that 98 per cent of online gambling experts believe that the recent U.S. clampdown on the industry will have a medium to long term impact. Entitled "Future of Online Gambling after the Shockwaves", the report also found that 65 per cent of the experts interviewed believe that the stock market didn't overreact to the recent upheaval and 12 per cent thought that the arrest of David Carruthers was solely a problem of BetonSports.

Betcorp reviewing U.S. business
Betcorp has stopped taking online bets from U.S. customers via telephone and is reviewing its U.S. focused business. Colin Walker, Betcorp's CEO, said that recent events had brought some doubt into their business equation.