The Isle of Man Government has announced the launch of the Isle of Man Disruption Loan Guarantee Agreement.

The Agreement has been introduced in response to the financial challenges facing businesses as a result of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, and will see the Island’s commercial banks supporting up to £60 million of new lending, 80% of which will be underwritten by the Isle of Man Government.

Get the latest news from the BBC in the Isle of Man Local website with breaking news, sport, weather and travel from the area plus in-depth features, analysis, audio and video coverage; and catch. The Isle of Man Government has announced the launch of the Is le of Man Disruption Loan Guarantee Agreement. The Agreement has been introduced in response to the financial challenges facing businesses as a result of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, and will see the Island’s commercial banks supporting up to £60 million of new lending, 80% of which will be underwritten by the Isle of Man. 8 Gambling duty (1) A duty of excise, known as gambling duty, is payable in accordance with this Act. (2) Gambling duty is payable — (a) by an operator on the gambling yield of any gambling (whether or not that gambling is unlawful under any enactment); and (b) on. (2) Gambling duty is payable — (a) by an operator on the gambling yield of any gambling (whether or not that gambling is unlawful under any enactment); and (b) on the gross amounts charged by a betting intermediary (“commission charges”), whether by deduction from winnings or otherwise, for using facilities provided by the intermediary.

The Agreement will initially be implemented by:

• HSBC
  
• Lloyds
  
• Barclays
  
• RBS International (including NatWest and Isle of Man Bank)
  
• Conister Bank

And will support overdraft and term-lending facilities of up to £500,000 as well as asset financing facilities. The Agreement, which is for Isle of Man registered businesses with a turnover of up to £10million, will also enable eligible businesses to access six year term loans with Isle of Man Government-backed guarantees.

Features of the Agreement

• Loans of £5,000 to £500,000, for locally based businesses who would otherwise not qualify for bank support, will be extended by banks with a government guarantee in favour of the lender
• Existing debt will not be covered by the Agreement (consolidation/term - out of existing overdrafts etc.)
• No arrangement fee payable for the provision of the guarantee
• The borrower remains fully liable for the debt
• Under the Agreement, personal guarantees of any form will not be taken for facilities below £250,000
• Maximum term of loan is 6 years (For overdrafts and invoice finance facilities: up to three years and for term loans and asset finance facilities: up to six years)

Eligibility

For Isle of Man registered businesses with a turnover of up to £10m .

Excluded sectors include the following:

• Financial and insurance activities as regulated by the FSA;
• Legal activities, advocates, intellectual property management, accounting, actuarial, bookkeeping and auditing activities; tax consultancy, company secretary, management consultancy activities – who employ more than 30 people;
• Business regulated by the IOM Gambling Supervision Commission;
• Real estate (with the exception of estate agents, property management companies and construction firms)*;
• Property development;
• Public sector;
• Utilities;
• Agriculture and fisheries.

*Please note: Estate agents/property management companies and construction firms can access the Agreement only for the purposes of funding working capital requirements in terms of daily operational cash flow. The Agreement may not be used for the purposes of making repayments on other borrowings in line with the provisions of existing clause 2.2 (c) of the Guarantee Document

How to access the Agreement

To find out more about the Isle of Man Disruption Loan Guarantee Agreement, please contact your bank directly. Contact details for the banks who are offering this are listed above.

Contents

Luckbox.com is one of the UK’s foremost esports betting sites. Offering bets on all the big events in the LOL, DOTA2 and CS:GO world, Luckbox offers secure safe and legal esports betting in over 100 countries.

EsportsBets managed to get CEO Quentin Martin to talk about how esports betting is faring in the current crisis and how he sees the sector growing in the future.

Esports events have had to adapt to the social distancing measures just like everyone else. But online gaming events have the advantage of being easier to continue even in the absence of a live audience. Live streams are an integral part of the audience experience and with the restart of the Overwatch League this weekend, they are back and they are hot.

First we took a look at some of the big issues faced by esports betting operators like Luckbox.

Esports are an adult sport

Regulation is a big issue for esports betting. Luckbox is licensed by the Isle of Man (IoM) Gambling Supervision Commission and started operations in 2018.

The IoM has always been an innovative gambling regulator respected throughout the world, but many jurisdictions, especially in the US don’t allow esports betting. One big issue Martin identifies is the widely held view that esports are for kids and therefore unsuitable for betting.

Martin roundly rejects this falsehood:

“This mythology that computer gaming is for kids is an absolute myth.”

Research indicates that the average age of an esports fan in the US is 31. Martin points out that despite some top players in Fortnite and other competitions being under legal gambling age, the majority of team members in esports are legally adults.

Age is a key element in the growth of esports. In the 18-25 age group Martin says that more watch esports than play, creating huge audiences for live streams on Twitch and YouTube.

In the 25 to 35 age group the figure is about 50/50. As these people age, the audience for esports is increasing and that leads to a larger pool of adult potential esports bettors. Kids are watching esports as well as and often instead of traditional sports.

Martin says it succinctly;

“The eyeballs are going to esports”.

Iom Gaming Duty

Regulators and legislators in the US are now coming onboard with esports betting legislation expected to spread in the next few years. There is already a bill in New Jersey which is expected to pass soon.

The uplift will sustain

Esports is one of the fastest growing areas of betting. It isn’t creating a market anything like the size of the sports betting expansion in the US, but long term prospects look good. The coronavirus crisis has hit esports live events, but there are plenty of online only competition where bets are still available. Luckbox makes livestreams of the main events available through its betting site.

Iom Gambling Duty Games

Martin says that even though esports betting revenues at Luckbox have jumped 50 percent between February and March that’s only a temporary effect:

“The growth level won’t sustain, but the uplift will sustain.”

The growth trend in esports may blip during the crisis but it will return to trend. There will be some additional interest that will continue after the crisis, so perhaps some esports growth is accelerated. Luckbox is more interested in winning future market share by offering a better product. Martin proudly explains that at the time of our interview Luckbox had three times more matches available for betting than competitor Bet365.

Iom Gambling Duty Guns

Quentin Martin is a former head of social poker at PokerStars, so he knows a mass market when he sees one. The social gaming aspects of esports are one of the elements that make esports betting distinctive. That’s partly the result of the social media experience of the esports betting demographic. But esports betting companies that recognise that characteristic and include it in their product design will thrive.

Iom Gambling Duty Demo

Luckbox is riding a trend that looks set to keep growing both through and after the current crisis.