Gaming stocks take $1.10 billion hit |
Online gambling at a glance Fears of a crackdown on online gambling in the United States knocked another 600 million pounds ($1.10 billion) off United Kingdom gaming stocks on Tuesday after the FBI moved to shut down the U.S. operations of BETonSPORTS. Here are some key facts about the online gambling industry and the top U.K.-listed online gaming companies: — Market size: The annual turnover of the gaming industry is estimated at nearly $100 million, with online gambling sites generating $12 billion in 2005. Some 8 million U.S. residents placed bets on the Web, making up about half the market. Worldwide revenue from online gambling is expected to hit $24.5 billion by 2010, according to estimates from Christiansen Capital Advisors, an industry consulting group. — The law: In the U.S., a 1961 law forbids interstate telephone betting which the Justice Department says also applies to the Internet but Americans bet via access to thousands of foreign Web sites. Earlier this month, the House of Representatives passed a Bill to block most forms of Internet gambling. Gambling sites have not been allowed to operate from the United Kingdom and most are based in offshore jurisdictions like Gibraltar, Cyprus, Antigua and Costa Rica. But that will change from mid-2007, when the independent Gambling Commission will start regulating British companies which run gaming sites. The ‘Big Three’ UK-listed firms — PartyGaming (Market capitalization, $7.5 billion on July 17): PartyGaming, which is based in Gibraltar, gets 90 percent of its revenue from poker and recorded $978 million in sales in 2005, most of it in the United States. — Sportingbet (Market capitalization, $2.2 billion): Britain’s second-biggest online gaming group, it has a portfolio which includes the world’s number four poker site, Paradise Poker. Sportingbet revenue was $2.7 billion for the year ended July 2005, 91 percent from sports betting. — 888 (Market capitalization, $1.2 billion): 888 is over 90 percent controlled by two Israeli families and run by Gibraltar-based Cassava, which also operates fellow online casinos Pacific Poker and Reef Club Casino. In 2005, 55 percent of its $475 million revenues came from the U.S. 888 has a 65:35 split between casino and poker. — Reuters RETURN TO MAIN STORY |