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Manila Bulletin devider Philippines devider National devider Wary of game fixing, Pumaren tells Pagcor to review online sports betting firms

Wary of game fixing, Pumaren tells Pagcor to review online sports betting firms

Published Aug 15, 2023 04:11 pm

At A Glance

  • Quezon City 3rd district Rep. Franz Pumaren has asked the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (Pagcor) to review the operations of its online sports betting service providers on the issue of game fixing. 

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Quezon City 3rd district Rep. Franz Pumaren (Facebook)

 

 

 

 

 

A basketball player-turned-congressman has asked the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (Pagcor) to review the operations of its online sports betting service providers on the issue of game fixing. 

Quezon City 3rd district Rep. Franz Pumaren reckoned that, if left unaddressed, game fixing could compromise the morals and livelihood of athletes. 

Pumaren, a multi-time champion in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) as a player and in the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) as a basketball team coach, made the call to Pagcor during the agency’s budget hearing last Monday, Aug. 14 before the House Committee on Appropriations. 

“I think we will have to take a deeper look at it. As a sportsman, I know what is really happening, it is becoming a tool not only for really friendly sports betting…nagkakaroon po ng konting problema sa ganyan. We will have to review it,” Pumaren told Pagcor officials, alluding to game fixing 

The solon recalled a recent game of the PBA' D-League that had to be called off as both teams apparently refused to win. The game was featured in one of the 15 Pagcor-licensed service providers for both onsite and online sports betting. 

Pumaren said the gaming regulator should coordinate with the PBA to at least review the said D-League game. 

The 15 companies licensed to operate sports betting by Pagcor are PhilWeb Corp., Orient Capital Ventures, Jade Entertainment and Gaming Technologies, Total Gamezone Xtreme, Glowlight Corporation, Breddas Inc., Infinitech Digital Gaming Corp., Kingwin Ventures, Trojans Well Entertainment Corp., Las Casas Gaming, Sandbox Entertainment, Silver Goose 8 International, GoTech Entertainment, and One Visayas Gaming Corp. 

Pagcor Assistant Vice President Jeremy Luglug told the approprations panel that these licenses only cover local sporting events like basketball, and does not offer betting options for international sporting events. 

According to Pagcor industry statistics, gross gaming revenue—total bets minus payouts—of licensed electronic games including bingo and sports betting total P21.43 billion in the first half of the 2023, up from the P13 billion total in the same period last year that still included around P2 billion from e-sabong (electronic cockfighting) operations. 

DigiPlus Interactive Corp., the publicly-listed owner of Total Gamezone Extreme, reported to the Philippine Stock Exchange on Monday that it sustained its earnings turnaround in the first half on gains from the digital transformation that include the launch last year of BingoPlus, an online bingo game platform, and this year of ArenaPlus, a digital sportsbook which streams local and international sporting events live. 

DigiPlus said net income in the first half surged to P1.08 billion after a net loss of P256.4 million in the same period last year as revenue nearly quadrupled during the period to P8.97 billion. 

The listed gaming company said it already has a user base of over 20 million at the end of July. It is unclear what the demographics of these users are.

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