BetOnSports plc Makes Progress in US Law Case

BetOnSports plc, an online sportsbetting company with a London Stock Market quote (currently suspended), has today said that it has reached agreement with a US State Court regarding its US-facing sportsbetting activities.

The outcome is that the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri has issued a Permanent Injunction relating to the US-facing businesses of BetOnSports plc. This replaces the Temporary Restraining Order issued on 17th July 2006 with which BetOnSports plc also complied by ceasing to trade in the US.

BetOnSports plc has taken the opportunity to reiterate that, although it has agreed to the Permanent Injunction, this has been done without the company admitting to or contesting any of the allegations contained within the original Complaint. The company states that it is an investment holding company and has not itself undertaken any gaming activities. Furthermore, BetOnSports plc states that most of the alleged offences in the Complaint took place before the company started to trade in July 2004.

This action is separate to, and does not affect, the pending criminal case against various BetOnSports employees. The most highly-publicised example is BetOnSports' former CEO, David Carruthers, who remains in Missouri awaiting trial with others on various counts of racketeering, fraud and tax evasion listed under a Grand Jury Indictment.

The Permanent Injunction requires BetOnSports plc to provide a toll-free telephone service informing its customers that are still owed wager monies how they should reclaim. In addition, the company is required to issue an advertisement in a major newspaper informing readers that internet gambling is illegal in the US and that they are not taking further bets from US customers.

BetOnSports plc says that it is accepting the Permanent Injunction on legal advice and that it is seen as a major step in the negotiation to settle the outstanding criminal action against the company. It also wishes to move forward and concentrate on trying to deliver some value for shareholders from its continuing Asian operations.

In regard to Asian business, this week the company sold back its Chinese-facing sportsbetting and casino business, Hooball, to its previous owners for a fraction of what they paid just six months ago. The company says that the changes in the business environment have been the cause of this loss of value.

However, BetOnSports plc stresses that its other Asian brands continue to trade normally and that the directors are continuing to assess the options for the business.

BetOnSports was one of the world's largest US and Asia-facing online gaming companies offering sportsbook, casino and poker. It has in the past been ranked the number one sportsbook by a number of leading industry organisations, including the Offshore Gaming Association and the International Sportsbook Council. In the year ended 5th February 2006, over 40,000,000 gaming bets were placed with the group as a whole with approximately 90% of all the bets received being taken over the internet.

Ed note: Non-US players can get great value at Pinnacle Sports on a host of American sports.

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