The fast food chain Jack In The Box Inc. announced today that it has suffered a loss of $2.3 million as a result of online gambling. This is the first time that the company has revealed such information and it is unclear exactly how much of this was from illegal activities as opposed to legal ones.
The disclosure comes as part of a broader financial report in which the company also revealed that its net income for the year was down by 5 percent, to $27.5 million. This followed a previous announcement that its CEO, Lillian Duda, would be retiring from her post later this year.
Jack In The Box may have been specifically targeted by online gamblers because of its large size; other chains, such as Taco Bell, may not have been as profitable to gamble on. Alternatively, the company may have been specifically targeted because of lax security measures with respect to its online presence.
It is now clear that companies need to be more vigilant in protecting their online assets and ensuring that their payment systems are secure. Otherwise they may find themselves at a disadvantage when it comes to safeguarding their profits and avoiding losses.
In a stunning development, Jack In The Box Inc. has disclosed that it has lost over $100 million in online gambling activities. This revelation comes as a surprise to many, given that the company had only disclosed some $2 million in losses back in February of this year.
At that time, the company reported that its Jack In The Box and Qdoba Mexican Eats brands had incurred combined losses of $2 million on gambling activities conducted through their websites. In its latest disclosure, Jack In The Box said that it now knows it has actually lost “in excess of $100 million” on Internet gambling activities.
The company didn’t offer any explanation for the dramatic increase in its online gambling losses, but said that it is currently working with third-party forensic accountants to try to determine what happened. It also said it plans to take unspecified “legal and financial actions” to try to recoup at least some of the money that was lost.
Jack In The Box isn’t the only restaurant chain to have been hurt by online gambling losses. Earlier this year, Buffalo Wild Wings disclosed that it had lost over $1 million on such activities. And just last week, Dave & Buster’s Entertainment reported that its profits for the first quarter of this year were down 24 percent partially because of increased costs associated with legal online gambling activity.
It remains to be seen whether any other restaurant chains will follow suit and disclose similar losses in their upcoming quarterly reports. But one thing is clear: with legalized online gambling now available in several states, restaurant chains are going to have to start taking this form of wagering more seriously – and start taking steps to protect themselves from potential losses.
If the U.S. Supreme Court rules in favor of New Jersey and allows sports betting nationwide, Jack In The Box restaurants could lose millions more in revenue.
The company already reported $15 million in lost sales last year due to legalized gambling in Nevada, Delaware, and New Jersey. That accounts for 2 percent of Jack In The Box’s annual revenue.
If the high court rules that the federal law banning sports betting is unconstitutional, experts say Jack In The Box could lose an additional $50 million per year.
The chain has about 2,200 restaurants in 21 states.
Jack in the Box, a fast food chain with over 2,200 locations in the United States, has announced that it suffered significant losses in its third quarter fiscal 2018 due to online gambling. The company reported a net loss of $31.4 million for the quarter, compared to net income of $27.5 million for the same period last year.
Much of the company’s losses came from its investments in Jack in the Box Japan Co., Ltd., which operates a chain of quick-service restaurants that specializes in Japanese cuisine. Jack in the Box Japan began accepting bets on soccer games in July, and saw its sales plummet as a result.
Jack in the Box is not alone; many restaurant chains are feeling the impact of legalized gambling. Earlier this year, McDonald’s announced that it was selling its majority stake in Tsunami Fleet Corporation, a Japanese operator of fast food restaurants and pachinko parlors. In its most recent earnings report, McDonald’s said that its profits had declined due to “the challenging environment around consumer dining out.”
The negative effect of gambling on restaurant sales is not limited to Japan; it has been seen all over the world. In Australia, for example, a study by Monash University found that casino-based entertainment venues have caused per-capita spending on food away from home to decrease by 5%. And a report by PricewaterhouseCoopers found that, in Europe, gambling expenditures have led to reduced spending on restaurants, hotels, and other forms of leisure travel.
So far, there is no evidence that legalizing gambling has had a positive effect on the economy as a whole. To the contrary, it seems clear that gambling is having a negative impact on businesses that rely on discretionary spending by consumers. Policymakers should take this into account before deciding whether or not to legalize online gambling
Jack in the Box, a leading fast food chain found itself in a difficult position after its systems were hacked, exposing customer data to potential theft. But that was only the beginning of the company’s troubles.
Unknown to Jack in the Box at the time, their systems had also been used to process payments for online gambling sites. This led to tens of millions of dollars being lost to online casinos.
The hackers responsible for the breach have yet to be identified, and as a result, Jack in the Box is facing numerous lawsuits from customers who had their data stolen. The company is also being sued by online casinos who claim they were not properly notified about the breach.
In addition to all this, Jack in the Box’s stock prices have taken a hit since news of the hack broke, and it is expected that they will continue to do so until the full extent of the damage is known.