Like you, we at K&L Gates have noted the current and anticipated exponential growth in betting and gaming revenues and the variety of media which can provide betting and gaming opportunities for the global population.  Much of the commercial exploitation is underpinned by legal regulation on an international basis.

To help meet the challenge of betting and gaming business maximizing the opportunities and revenues available, we have established a team of lawyers throughout our internationally located offices who have experience addressing the diverse commercial and legal issues facing the betting and gaming sector.

Companies in the betting and gaming sector, as well as those who provide support to the gaming industry, require consistent and seamless legal help across different jurisdictions from lawyers who understand the complexity of the business.  We can provide that seamless and consistent service.

Between our offices we have counseled and advised on every aspect of betting and gaming, whether provided at physical locations or on media platforms. 

Our experience includes counseling and advising:

• Gaming enterprises and others seeking to enter emerging markets in the United States following efforts in a number of jurisdictions to liberalize the regulation of gaming.
  
  
• Casinos and related entities with respect to employment and labor matters and associated litigation.
  
  
• Technology companies serving and associated with gaming enterprises on intellectual property matters. 
  
  
• Gaming enterprises and others on issues concerning gaming by Indian Tribes and, in particular, the requirements of the United States statute known as the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act. 
  
  
• Intellectual property issues relating to all aspects of betting and gaming, including patents for table games and electronic and Internet-based games, hardware such as printers and gaming machines, security systems such as location devices, and gaming networks, and trademarks for games, Internet gaming services, and betting-related services.  
  
  
• Obtaining the first gaming license approved by the State of Nevada for an African American licensee on behalf of Robert L. Johnson, Chairman and CEO of BET Holdings, Inc.
  
  
• Advising leading Internet companies based in the U.S. regarding compliance with sweepstakes compliance matters.
  
  
• Betting shop owners on the acquisition and sale of betting shops for leading operators in the U.K., and other aspects of their betting operation.  This included a successful appeal in the Court of Appeal in England to an arbitrator's award relating to our client bookmaker refusing to pay winners on a purported bet on grounds including security concerns and bona fides of the bet.
  
  
• Casino operators such as the U.K. joint venture of Gala Group (one of the U.K.'s largest casino operators) and Harrahs (one of the U.S.'s largest casino operators).
  
  
• Pools betting businesses, particularly Sportech Plc/Littlewoods Leisure as the principal corporate advisers, including corporate, commercial, betting and gaming regulatory advice.  We advised Sportech Plc when it acquired Littlewoods Leisure from the Littlewoods organization.  Littlewoods Leisure comprises Littlewoods Pools, Littlewoods Lotteries and the telephone and Internet bookmaker, Littlewoods Betdirect.  We also acquired the Zetters football pool business for them, bringing the football pools market in the U.K. to just the 2 players (Sportech and Vernons).  These transactions involved detailed understanding of the betting and gaming regulatory framework and the underlying business to address particular industries' specific questions. 
  
  
• Sports rights owners and venue owners, such as:
  
  
  • Arena Leisure Plc, a U.K.-listed company and one of the largest racecourse owners in the U.K., on its original reverse takeover by the shareholders of Lingfield Park and on the subsequent acquisitions of its various racecourses.  We advised Arena in relation to the establishment of the U.K.'s first "racino" at Wolverhampton racecourse, a race-themed casino intended to take advantage of the anticipated relaxation of the law relating to casinos.  This has given us a unique insight into the commercial framework, property, planning and regulatory issues for such deals.
    
    
  • National Greyhound Racing Club, the U.K. regulator of greyhound racing, on all matters including strategic issues regarding its relationship with bookmakers.  In particular, we advise on the ownership and exploitation of the national form database and associated database rights for greyhound racing and on the related software used by tracks to relay the form data used by betting shops. 
    
    
• Spreadbetting - particularly Sporting Index Holdings Ltd., one of the leading U.K. providers of spreadbetting on a variety of matters including on-line betting and competition issues.
  
  
• Strategic U.S. and cross-border acquisition and licensing support; including U.K-based Digital Bridges Limited’s recent acquisition of intellectual property assets from a U.S. game developer.
  
  
• Technology - including Boss Media, a Swedish listed company that develops/licenses casino software.
  
  
• Betting Exchanges - particularly providers of technology for on-line betting and gaming facilities, including the Trading Exchange plc, a U.K. listed company.
  
  
• On-line games - a technology provider and several developers of on-line poker and casino games.
  
  
• Marketing and advertising - issues relating to betting and gaming including Ask Jeeves and CNBC (Europe).
  
  
• On-line and mobile operators - as part of our general specialist technology and commercial work for clients, such as AOL, Orange and T-Mobile, we have assisted on betting-related issues.