Morris Mohawk Gaming Group
Encyclopedia
The Morris Mohawk Gaming Group (MMGG) is an online gambling company best known for its “Bodog
”-branded website, www.bodog.eu. The MMGG site maintains an online sports and racebook, an online casino and an online poker room.
A private company, the MMGG is headquartered in the Mohawk Territory of Kahnawake in Quebec
, Canada
– part of the seven communities that make up the Mohawk Nation. The MMGG operates pursuant to a remote gaming license issued by the Kahnawake Gaming Commission
, and is authorized by that license to offer gaming services worldwide.
The MMGG is led by its CEO Alwyn Morris
, a member of the Mohawk nation in Kahnawake, and recipient of Order of Canada
, the highest order that can be bestowed upon a Canadian civilian.
According to a 2009 interview with CEO Alwyn Morris, following the passage of anti-online gambling legislation by the U.S. Congress in 2006, the original, Antigua-based Bodog gaming enterprise resolved to withdraw from the U.S. market. Seizing upon the opportunity, the MMGG then approached Bodog and negotiated an exclusive license to use the brand for the purposes of marketing the MMGG's online gaming services within that region.
Canada's Macleans magazine, in a 2007 article and interview with CEO Morris, spoke to Morris regarding the decision to license the Bodog brand and operate the MMGG's online site from Kahnawake, characterizing the decision as wading "into the heart of a billion-dollar legal standoff" and while it was "a business that Ottawa considers patently illegal", concluded that "for now, though, the legal threat from Quebec and Canada seems to be as empty as can be."
In April 2009, the Morris Mohawk Gaming Group, though not a party to the litigation, settled the case with 1st Technology, acquired all of the seized domains, and returned its website to the original www.bodog.com domain.
On May 23, 2011 the group announced its intention to allow its license agreement with BodogBrand.com for the Bodog.com domain to expire and that it had migrated its services to www.Bodog.eu. Alwyn Morris commented on the transition to the new domain, indicating that that the .EU domain would "appeal more directly to the new markets we plan to enter".
Bodog
Bodog is an online entertainment brand launched in 1994 by Calvin Ayre.Originally the company traded at but the brand was later divested and intellectual property rights were assigned to and consolidated in BodogBrand.com...
”-branded website, www.bodog.eu. The MMGG site maintains an online sports and racebook, an online casino and an online poker room.
A private company, the MMGG is headquartered in the Mohawk Territory of Kahnawake in Quebec
Quebec
Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
– part of the seven communities that make up the Mohawk Nation. The MMGG operates pursuant to a remote gaming license issued by the Kahnawake Gaming Commission
Kahnawake Gaming Commission
The Kahnawake Gaming Commission is a gaming regulatory body that licenses and regulates a large number of online casinos, online poker rooms and online sportsbook sites, as well as three land-based poker rooms that are situated within the Mohawk Territory of Kahnawake.The Commission was first...
, and is authorized by that license to offer gaming services worldwide.
The MMGG is led by its CEO Alwyn Morris
Alwyn Morris
Alwyn Morris, CM is a Canadian sprint kayaker who competed in the 1980s. Competing in two Summer Olympics, he won two medals at Los Angeles in 1984 with a gold in the K-2 1000 m and a bronze in the K-2 500 m events....
, a member of the Mohawk nation in Kahnawake, and recipient of Order of Canada
Order of Canada
The Order of Canada is a Canadian national order, admission into which is, within the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, the second highest honour for merit...
, the highest order that can be bestowed upon a Canadian civilian.
According to a 2009 interview with CEO Alwyn Morris, following the passage of anti-online gambling legislation by the U.S. Congress in 2006, the original, Antigua-based Bodog gaming enterprise resolved to withdraw from the U.S. market. Seizing upon the opportunity, the MMGG then approached Bodog and negotiated an exclusive license to use the brand for the purposes of marketing the MMGG's online gaming services within that region.
Canada's Macleans magazine, in a 2007 article and interview with CEO Morris, spoke to Morris regarding the decision to license the Bodog brand and operate the MMGG's online site from Kahnawake, characterizing the decision as wading "into the heart of a billion-dollar legal standoff" and while it was "a business that Ottawa considers patently illegal", concluded that "for now, though, the legal threat from Quebec and Canada seems to be as empty as can be."
Domain Names
The MMGG originally licensed the www.bodog.com domain from Bodog as an element of their brand license arrangements, but this domain name was seized in September 2007 during a patent dispute between one of Bodog’s domain management suppliers and a company named 1st Technology LLC.In April 2009, the Morris Mohawk Gaming Group, though not a party to the litigation, settled the case with 1st Technology, acquired all of the seized domains, and returned its website to the original www.bodog.com domain.
On May 23, 2011 the group announced its intention to allow its license agreement with BodogBrand.com for the Bodog.com domain to expire and that it had migrated its services to www.Bodog.eu. Alwyn Morris commented on the transition to the new domain, indicating that that the .EU domain would "appeal more directly to the new markets we plan to enter".