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TV
Week Logies: Underbelly Dirani Wins Logie; Dieter
Brummer Crown Casino Assault, by Greg Tingle - 2nd
May 2011
Australian's
Kerry Packer And Ita Buttrose In New Cleo TV Show,
By Greg Tingle - 6th April 2011
Crown
Casino Braces For TV Week Logies; Katy Perry On
Despite Lawsuit - 29th April 2011
News
Aussie
Gambling Firms Push Via Sports Broadcasts, by Greg
Tingle - 2nd April 2011
G'day
punters, casino and gambling millionaires and billionaires,
sports nuts, politicians, legal eagles, one and
all. Australia remains red hot territory for gambling
news. We've got Aussie sports media commentators
plugging gambling, the pro club gambling campaign
driving forward, NRL sports betting probe developments
with a link to Tasmanian "devils" and
Aussie pokies manufacture Aristocrat making a comeback,
with the pokies boss hitting his own jackpot. All
that and more. Media Man http://www.AustralianSportsEntertainment.com
and Gambling911
with your gambling, sports betting and pokies news
mix from the land of kangaroos and koalas, with
a rabid Tasmanian devil on the loose...
Gambling
Companies Push Via TV Broadcasts And News Media...
Gambling
giants have the big push on via promoting sports
betting with a volatile and quite effective
array of sweet deals with clubs,
sporting codes, television stations and a big spread
of traditional and new media
outlets.
Sports
commentators are at the front line with frequent
betting odds updates, and mid-match updates are
a field day, if you will. It's all part of the strategy
in place with bookies and big name gambling operators.
"If
you like to have a punt on rugby league, and why
wouldn't ya, the Broncos are $1.50 on TAB Sportsbet,"
former Queensland Origin great Paul Vautin told
NRL
viewers in Friday's opening-round match against
the Cowboys.
"Please
bet responsibly - we have to say that. If you race
down to the TAB at half-time, or ring TAB Sportsbet,
they are the prices at the moment."
Next
up was Network
Nine broadcaster Wally Lewis just after the
first half of the game with "TAB Sportsbet
right now, Broncos first to score in the second
half, $1.75."
Plenty
of other sports are in on the action too, with Network
Nine sports getting the nod on the most gambling
and sports betting plugs. Cricket has broadcasting
Richie Benaud discussing the odds, with a bit of
help from his fellow commentators, as part of a
cool deal with James
Packer's 50% owned Betfair.
Nine
head of sport Steve Crawley said the broadcaster's
promotion was no different from newspapers providing
odds on sports and horse races.
"We're
electronic media, so when we do that it's in-game.
I realise some people have awful problems with gambling,
but the reality is that it's getting bigger and
bigger."
It's
hot fodder in the NRL, which is sponsored by TAB
Sportsbet, has deals with "approved betting
providers" and permits clubs to have their
own gambling sponsors.
The
footy still has a scandal on the go from alleged
illegal betting surrounding last year's infamous
Canterbury Bulldogs VS North Queensland Cowboys
game.
NRL
chief exec David Gallop said corruption was one
of the biggest concerns for sporting administrators.
"The
risks in terms of penalties have to be severe,"
said Gallop, who is pushing for a specific match-fixing
offence and has warned of offenders facing life
bans.
The
AFL is also sponsored by TAB Sportsbet and betting
firms support individual clubs, including Centrebet's
deal with 2010 runner-up St Kilda for a reported
$1 million a year.
TAB
Sportsbet has deals with Seven
and Fox
Sports.
Overseas
operators such at PartyGaming
and PKR
have also leaked that they are interested in getting
into big media deals in Australia,
with an already strong internet presence.
Cricket
Australia allows Betfair
on grounds, and the National Basketball League has
a deal with Centrebet
that includes court promotions.
UFC,
boxing,
horse
racing, tennis, soccer
and even surfing
enjoy strong sports betting action in Australia,
with a number of other sports like snooker
looking to plug into the gambling
deals in Australia.
Aussie
Media and Racing King John Singleton Drives Forward
Pro Pokies Ad Push...
John
"Singo" Singleton, who happens to
love a punt himself, in the man and the brains behind
the $20 million advertising campaign by the Aussie
clubs against the Julia Gillard government's slot
machine reforms.
The
Gillard government is hell bent so it seems to implement
the "problem gambling" reforms to retain
whatever support might remain from Tasmanian "devil"
(satire) "independent" Andrew Wilkie.
Singo's
ad firm Banjo has developed a media and public relations
campaign to focus on recreational gamblers' fears
of having any government 'Big Brother' spying on
their betting habits. Yep, we kid you not. Australia's
are being spied on, and pokie palaces may turn into
one of the ultimate evil "eyes in the sky",
that may end up making Google Earth and Google Maps
look like child's play.
The
Banjo deal for a cool $20 mil, running for 2 years,
started with online video and newspaper adverts.
It will then pick up even more stream via radio,
television, billboards and even pub coasters. Australian
newspapers have already been giving the news story
strong mileage and its taking on a life of its own,
with most gamblers hating what they hear of government
'Big Brother'.
The
clubs is dead against a mandatory scheme for players
to register before playing poker machines, using
so called smartcards (not so smart say European
trials) and self-selected gambling limits (which
can be manipulated).
A
leak said "Clubs Australia said that gambling
revenue will drop considerably as recreational gamblers
get pissed with the government and clubs, and will
take more to online gambling "like a duck to
water". This is right on the money and cards.
The 'Big Brother' approach is a false solution -
actually, its no solution. It's a smokescreen and
spin. The public are not that stupid, they are actually
quite smart, and Labor has underestimated Australians
intelligence once again. No wonder Labor lost the
NSW state election".
Singo
and a consortium of investors, including the investment
banker Mark Carnegie, the retail king Gerry Harvey
and ex Qantas chief executive Geoff Dixon, have
purchased high-profile Sydney pubs including Kinselas,
the Bellevue Hotel and Peakhurst Inn. Singleton
also jointly owns the Hotel Steyne in Manly.
He
had a strong association with the Labor government
under Bob Hawke during the '80s and early '90s,
but last year developed ads attacking Labor on health
during the election campaign, and earlier joined
the mega push against the mining tax with a campaign
for a Perth client, tipped to be Andrew "Twiggy"
Forrest.
"The
government's belated decision to perform a cost
benefit analysis on mandatory pre-commitment is
back to front,'' a spokesman for Clubs
NSW said.
''This
sort of analysis should have been done before the
government announced it was introducing the technology.
''If
that had been done then almost certainly the Prime
Minister would never have been conned by Andrew
Wilkie into making a commitment that will devastate
the club industry.''
The
Families Minister, Jenny Macklin, said ''The government's
position is clear and has not changed.''
Police
Seek Woman Punter Re NRL Cowboys - Bulldogs Betting
Scandal...
Police
have released CCTV images of yet another punter
they want to speak to about an alleged NRL betting
scam. The images were captured at a Browns Bay betting
outlet in Auckland, New
Zealand, between 4.50pm and 5.15pm on August
20 last year - the day before the game between the
Bulldogs and North Queensland Cowboys, police advised.
The woman was described as being aged in her 20s,
with a slim build, shoulder-length hair and of Caucasian
appearance. She was wearing a dark-coloured zippered
hooded jacket, blue jeans and carrying a red handbag
and was seen pushing a young boy in a pram, police
said. She returned to the betting facility about
5.35pm on August 21. Police said in a statement
that they were not alleging she had done anything
illegal, but said investigators wanted to find out
who she was so they could speak to her. Player agent
Sam Ayoub and ex-player John Elias have been charged
in direct relation to the betting inquiry, while
now ex-Bulldogs prop Ryan Tandy has been charged
with four counts of giving false or misleading evidence
to a NSW Crime Commission hearing. Among the charges
Tandy faces is one of giving false evidence about
having placed a bet on a game between the Bulldogs
and Gold Coast, also last year. The charges against
Ayoub and Elias followed an unusual plunge on a
betting option that the first points of that game
would come from a penalty goal. Tandy was penalised
two minutes into the game for impeding Cowboys playmaker
Grant Rovelli in front of the posts. The Cowboys
were awarded a penalty, but took a tap kick instead
of kicking for goal. Tandy, 29, pleaded not guilty
to all charges during his appearance in Sydney's
Downing Centre Local Court on March 3. Meanwhile,
St George Illawarra can finally get down to concentrating
on their 2011 following Wayne Bennett's decision
to leave the club at the end of the season. The
coach's announcement has removed the largest cloud
hanging over the Dragons' premiership defence, with
the constant innuendo and rumour having played a
part in the side's sluggish start to the year. While
the issue won't be fully resolved until Bennett
reveals where he will coach next season, back-rower
Ben Creagh said news of the coach's impending departure
would at least focus the players' efforts on getting
the most out of the time he had left. While the
appointment of Bennett's right-hand man, Steve Price,
and the retention of much of the same squad for
2012 should ensure a smooth transition to the new
era, the Dragons' best chance to win another premiership
in the near future would surely be while Bennett
is the man.
Aristocrat
Boss Hits The Jackpot...
Jamie
Odell, chief exec of Aussie pokie manufacturer Aristocrat,
has hit the jackpot on an 'one armed bandit', if
you follow the lingo. Odell snatched 24% jump in
total pay to $2.5 million last year, despite Aristocrat
putting out another very average result. The chief
executive's base pay in the period increased 19%
to $1.25 million. Aristocrat's normalised profit
after tax dropped 53% in 2010. One of the resolutions
at the upcoming June AGM in Sydney to be voted on
by shareholders is a grant to Odell of 1.02 million
performance share rights as part of his long-term
incentive package. The rights, which would be granted
over a 3-year period, are performance based. If
Aristocrat happens to outperform the ASX 100 by
more than 10% cent each year, Odell will snatch
30% of the shares. He will get 70% of the shares
if he hits certain earnings targets. Will he meet
his targets and hit the Gold Mega Jackpot? Stay
tuned to find out. Aristocrat is also currently
working on a number of b2b deal with online casino
operators which are also tipped to return a healthy
jackpot to the company, as well as hours of fun
for online gamblers.
Greg
Tingle runs the Media
Man International website, he is a Special Contributor
for Gambling911.com
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