Station's prospective operation signs deal

By JEFF SIMPSON
GAMING WIRE

Station Casinos' prospective Web casino operation has inked a deal with one of the top Internet service providers in the United Kingdom to showcase the Internet casino on the ISP.

The Casino Atlantis.com site of Station and Sun International Hotels will be the first Web casino with a link to BTopenworld, the United Kingdom's second-biggest ISP, according to an agreement to be announced today.

"A link to the front page of any major ISP is valuable," said Internet gambling expert Eugene Christiansen, chief executive officer of Christiansen Capital Advisors, LLC. "It's important from a marketing perspective because it allows millions of eyeballs to see your site, your logo and your name. And to a lesser extent it's important from a credibility perspective to associate with a respected ISP."

Las Vegas-based Station Casinos agreed in February to pay $5 million to Sun, owner of the Atlantis megaresort in the Bahamas, for a 50 percent stake in a Web casino site based in the semi-independent Isle of Man.

BTopenworld executives wanted to link their customers to Internet casino operators with an incentive to run a clean ship.

In order to protect their land-based casino licenses, Station Casinos and Sun need to ensure the Web casino doesn't take wagers from the United States, where the Justice Department argues the practice is illegal, or allow children to bet.

"I've been offered unbelievable deals from offshore operators, but we wanted only top quality operators with an incentive to operate properly," said John Raczka, BTopenworld senior vice president of content. "Ultimately, we're not policing the site, so we have to have confidence in our partners."

The ISP also wanted to make sure that the casino games offered are fair, bettors get paid, and that the site is entertaining, and the CasinoAtlantis.com site succeeds on all counts, Raczka said.

"My goal is not to exploit gambling to the nth degree," he added. "We want to have the best and fairest sites so our (subscribers) can be entertained."

Station Casinos' pending agreement to buy half of CasinoAtlantis.com requires Isle of Man regulatory approval. The approval could come by the end of the year, said Glenn Christenson, Station's chief financial officer.

British Telecom's BTopenworld, the United Kingdom's top broadband ISP, expects to begin linking its 2 million-plus customers to the CasinoAtlantis.com site today, Raczka said.

The deal with CasinoAtlantis.com owner Sun International Hotels and likely co-owner Station Casinos is the first of what Raczka envisions will be a group of two or three Web casinos highlighted on the BTopenworld portal.

CasinoAtlantis.com paid the ISP a fee for the right to be the first Internet casino listed as one of BTopenworld's recommended betting venues.

Raczka would not disclose the fee, but noted that BTopenworld would not receive any betting revenue from CasinoAtlantis.com.

The British portal will receive payments from CasinoAtlantis.com for BTopenworld customers who set up gambling accounts. Raczka declined to say how much his ISP would get for each customer.

In addition to offering CasinoAtlantis.com, the ISP will link with British-based sports betting, bingo and lottery sites.

"Outside of porn," Raczka said, "Games, music and betting are the Internet's three biggest revenue producing areas."

Said Sun Online Chief Executive Officer Tobin Prior said in a statement: "BTopenworld's new service will provide an excellent environment for its users to sample the trustworthy online casino offerings of two of the most progressive gaming companies in the industry. We have focused on developing a leadership position in player trust and as the only current online casino operating in the British Isles, we were a natural selection for BTopenworld."

Sun, owned by South African Sol Kerzner, won one of three Internet casino licenses granted last September by the Isle of Man, a 220-square-mile island in the Irish Sea.

Sun launched CasinoAtlantis.com in December.

Station's Christenson declined to comment on the BTopenworld deal, calling it premature to comment until Isle of Man regulators decide whether to allow Station's partnership with Sun.

If granted a license to join Sun, Station would pay the company a $5 million lump sum and would contribute 50 percent of the joint venture's additional spending.

The Sun management team already running the site would continue to operate it. Each company would place three executives on the joint venture's board of directors, Christenson said.

"We're continuing to work on a few things we want to do with the site," Christenson noted. "We need to make sure we're absolutely happy with the site. Our No. 1 priority is to make sure that we stay in compliance with Nevada gaming regulations."

E-mail this story to a friend:

Click here for a printable version of this story

Comment on this story.

BEST OF LAS VEGAS