On Thursday (9th July) I am moderating a panel session at the Gaming Executive Summit in Madrid. The panel is looking at the relationship between the sports industry and betting, or specifically "exploring how a harmonised marriage between gaming companies and the sports industry can be created". This seems to suggest a bit of disharmony but in reality the two sectors work very well together. You can see it in the recent shirt sponsorship deals by gaming companies (now accounting for 25% shirt sponsors in the premier league. There is at least one more on the way).

If there is to be a point of contention it might be how the emerging gaming legislation in France might work. There is much lobbying behind the scenes and there is an ongoing debate on taxation levels. Gambling Compliance as always, is on top of the story:

A leading French sports body, the Comité National Olympique et Sportif Français (CNOSF), has called for the proposed revenue contribution from sports betting to be nearly doubled from 1 percent to 1.8 percent. The European Commission has, in its comments on the content of the proposed legislation,already expressed its concernsover the idea that a compulsory levy be payable by bookmakers to sports bodies in France. But that has not stopped Denis Masseglia, president of the Comité National Olympique et Sportif Français (CNOSF), suggesting that a percentage of 1.8 percent, and not the proposed 1 percent, will be required to compensate for a loss of income from the reduced turnover generated by Française des Jeux that will inevitably result from an opening up of parts of the gaming market to competition.

We might also throw in match fixing, video streaming, piracy and anything else that comes form the floor. It should be a great session. Have a look at the panellists and more on the official website. 

The Gaming Executive Summit 2009

Update on Friday, July 10, 2009 at 3:05PM by Brian MacSweeney

The panel was really interesting. Andrea Gaudenzi from BWIN talked about their sponsorship of Real Madrid and AC Milan. They also laid on a great dinner in the President's suite at the Bernabeu. However, he never mentioned anything about BWIN buying Newcastle United. It's just non-stop glamour...