PartyGaming in B2B Deal with UK’s Channel Five

PartyGaming plc, the B2B and B2C online gaming services provider has signed an exclusive agreement with the UK’s Channel 5 Broadcasting Ltd, under which the two parties will launch a Five-branded online bingo and casino site during the second half of 2009.

Aimed at the rapidly increasing UK online gaming market, the premium online service will be operated by PartyGaming and promoted extensively by Five. It is PartyGaming’s fourth business-to-business deal thus far in 2009.

Launched in 1997, Five is the fifth and final national terrestrial television channel to launch in the UK. Originally called Channel 5, the station re-branded itself as Five in 2002.

Five’s deal with PartyGaming is part of the company’s strategy to build its digital business and create new revenue streams online. The company has launched a video-on-demand catch-up service, Demand Five, and has begun expansion into key vertical markets with FiveFWD, an advertiser supported portal for young men that features content from two of the broadcaster’s key programme brands - The Gadget Show and Fifth Gear.

Back in the U.S. faced with declining revenues in Atlantic City and the threat posed by newly approved sports betting legislation in the neighbouring state of Delaware, New Jersey Governor Jon Corzine said that he was joining a federal lawsuit which seeks to lift the ban on sports betting in New Jersey and 45 other states.

Gov. Corzine said that Delaware’s entry into sports wagering and table games is a serious threat to the both the casino and horse racing industries in New Jersey, and cannot be allowed to press unfair advantage against New Jersey especially in the midst of the global economic crisis.

The legal action relates to the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA) which prohibits any state except Nevada, Delaware, Montana and Oregon from permitting sports betting of any kind.

Following its passage into law in 1991, the PASPA allowed all states including New Jersey a period of one year within which to pass legislation to allow sports betting, however the state failed to agree on legislation within the time period and became one of 46 states across the U.S. to be prohibited from offering sports betting to its residents.

Gov. Corzine added that the federal government’s prohibition on sports betting for some but not all states is fundamentally unfair. There should be uniformity in the application of federal law. If one state is allowed to legalise betting on sports events, all states should be allowed the same opportunity.

Gov. Corzine is joining a lawsuit initiated in March by state Senator Raymond Lesniak together with the Interactive Media Entertainment & Gaming Association (iMEGA) and a number of horse racing groups. The suit asserts that federal law unconstitutionally regulates commerce and discriminates against states were sports betting is forbidden.

According to estimates, as much as $10 billion could be bet on sports annually in New Jersey if the activity were legal and could generate $100 million in much needed tax revenues for the state.

Written for Online Keno by Joy