News

The regulator has clarified its role after an increase in the number of enquiries from the public.

UK.- Britain’s Gambling Commission has clarified its position regarding the regulatory oversight of so-called free draws and prize competitions as the result of an increase in the number of enquiries from the public.

The regulator clarified that such competitions are not regulated under Britain’s 2005 Gambling Act, and as such it does not provide oversight.

The Gambling Commission warned the public that companies behind such draws and competitions “may not be subject to the same oversight as regulated providers of gambling products and may not offer the same level of consumer protection against gambling-related harm”.

It also warned that there may be no independent oversight to vouch for claims that proceeds go to any good causes.

However, the regulator noted that the legislation does provide a distinction about how free draws and prize competitions must be structured to avoid classification as a lottery service. It warned that organisers who do not meet the requirements could be operating an illegal lottery, in which case it would intervene and take action.

The regulator said it had noted an increase in the number of enquiries it received about “win a house” or “win a cash prize” competitions.

Current legislation allows free draws to be organised for commercial and private gain as long as organisers provide clear rules about how to enter for free entry and disclose any requirements needed to compete for prizes.

The UK government, which is currently reviewing the 2005 Gambling Act, has been urged to regulate prize draws in the same way as gambling. Australian lottery firm Jumbo Interactive joined calls for regulation after research showed that £117m worth of entries were paid for on credit cards in the last year.

Using credit cards to gamble was banned in April 2020, but a loophole in regulation means there are no restrictions on commercial prize draw or prize competition companies.

The government has dropped plans to reimpose a temporary online casino deposit limit at a lower level than before.

Sweden.- The Swedish government has dropped plans to reimpose a temporary deposit limit for online casino gaming.

Sweden introduced a SEK5,000 (€470) deposit limit in July 2020 due to fears the Covid-19 lockdown could cause a surge in problem gambling.

The limit finally expired in November last year, but with Covid-19 cases on the rise, the government had proposed introducing a new temporary limit at SEK4,000, less than before.

Industry groups and operators were highly critical of the proposal. The national gambling regulator, Spelinspektionen, which had criticised the original deposit limit in 2020 said it would not oppose the proposal but noted that it had yet to be proved whether the previous limit was effective.

The restriction also includes a SEK100 limit on sign-up bonuses, which are the only bonuses operators may use in Sweden.

However, the government has finally decided not to implement a new limit, which would have applied from February 7. Gustaf Hoffstedt, secretary general of industry association BOS, welcomed the decision.

He said: “The government has made a wise and well-balanced decision, partly based on the general development of the pandemic; partly, and above all, because precisely these restrictions would not achieve their purpose of protecting public health.

“We are in favour of strong regulation of the gaming market, and a prerequisite for this is that the intention with various reforms can also be expected to have the intended effect. That was not the case with Covid restrictions, and it is therefore welcome that they be withdrawn.”

Earlier this week, Sweden’s government backed minister of social securities Ardalan Shekarabi’s proposal for new safer gambling and consumer protection measures, including new limits on advertising and measures against unlicensed operators.

Under the proposals, there will be mandatory licensing of third-party games and software providers that service Swedish licensed operators and online casino games will be moderated, with the riskiest being subject to enhanced measures to protect young and vulnerable audiences.

A record month for online casino helped Italian online GGR hit the highest total since May 2021 in December, but revenue was down year-on-year.

Total GGR hit €312.0m, up from €304.2m in November. However, this total was 13.0% down from December 2020, when revenue rocketed to €359m, a total that has still not been bested.

Online casino was the main driver of the month-over-month growth, with revenue up to €165.5m, the highest monthly total of the year. No single operator dominated the online casino market, but Playtech-owned Snai took the largest share at 9.1%, ahead of soon-to-be-acquired Sisal at 8.5%. In third place was long-time market leader Pokerstars with an 8.2% share, while Lottomatica held a 7.5% market share.

Sports betting declined from November and year-on-year, to €204.8m, with both online and retail betting revenue down from the previous month. Online revenue came to €125.1m, while the retail total was €79.7m. Goldbet moved into first place in combined betting revenue, bringing in 15.4% of total GGR and 23.0% of the retail market.

That combined figure narrowly edged out second-placed Snai’s 15.1%, while Sisal followed with 13.6%. Online-only brands struggled, with Bet365’s online market share dropping to just 6.7%.

Elsewhere, both tournament and cash poker revenue hit their highest levels since April 2021, with Pokerstars continuing its dominance of the vertical, while bingo recorded its highest total since May.

For 2021 as a whole, igaming revenue hit €3.46bn, up 46.1% from 2020. Casino and slot revenue was €1.77bn and sports betting revenue €1.44bn. Poker tournament revenue was €106.0m, while revenue from cash poker came to €71.2m. Bingo brought in €66.6m.

Igamingbusiness.com

Norway’s Ministry of Culture and Gender Equality has told Lottstift to create a compensation scheme for cultural organisations impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Norway.- The Norwegian gambling regulator Lottstift has been instructed by the government’s Ministry of Culture and Gender Equality, Kulturdepartementet, to create a compensation scheme for organisations in the cultural sector that have been affected by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Marianne Skjeldestad Hove, the ministry’s director of voluntary support, said Norwegian Lotteries would fund the scheme under the Foundation Authority, which supervises the statutes of state-owned enterprises for the public good.

The scheme will provide compensation to cultural organisers and subcontractors that were forced to cancel events between November 1, 2021 and February 28, 2022 as a result of Covid-19 countermeasures.

Skjeldestad Hove said: “The regulations are being worked on by the Ministry of Culture. Our goal is to help the cultural actors as soon as possible.

“We are in the process of preparing what we can before the regulations are ready, and we will have a lot of pressure to prepare for applications as soon as the regulations are in place. It is important for us to help cultural actors as quickly as possible.”

Last September, Norway sent its plans for the DNS-blocking of gambling sites targeting the Norwegian market to the European Commission (EC) for approval. The plans propose an amendment to be included in Norway’s new Gambling Act, which unified previously separate legislation.

Norway continues to enforce a dual monopoly on its licensed gambling market, run by the state-controlled Norsk Tipping and Norsk Rikstoto, and has promised tougher action on offshore operators.

Last week, Åsne Havnelid resigned as chief executive of the Norwegian gaming monopoly Norsk Tipping after six years. She will remain in the role until a successor is named.

The Ontario Government is planning to lift Covid restrictions on January 31.

Canada.- The Ontario government has announced its plans to lift Covid-19 restrictions. Casinos will be permitted to reopen at 50 per cent capacity on January 31 while sports venues can raise their capacity to 50 per cent from February 21. The government aims to remove all capacity limits by March 14.

Duncan Hannay, president and CEO of the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation (OLG), said: “OLG is happy the Province’s popular gaming facilities will once again reopen to provide world-class entertainment, dining options and other amenities to adult Ontarians in a safe and secure environment.

“In partnership with our service providers, OLG is proud to contribute to the re-opening of the economy with health and safety as a top priority.”

Proof of Covid vaccination and masks will be mandatory when entering casinos and sports venues in the province. No end date has been announced for these measures.

The Rideau Carleton Casino announced on its website that its slot games will be available 24/7, starting at 9am on January 31 as part of its first round of a phased reopening, which will also include Mr Lucky restaurant, which will open 8am to 2am.

Vaccinations must be completed 14 days prior to the date of entry, the casino added, and a QR code must be presented.

Casinos in Ontario closed on January 5 due to the rise in cases of Covid-19

New yorkers wagered more than $600m during the first nine days of regulated mobile sports. Revenue surpassed $48m.

US.- The New York State Gaming Commission has released its first batch of weekly financial figures for mobile sports betting. Together Caesars Sportsbook, DraftKings, FanDuel and Rush Street Interactive took $603.1m in wagers from the start of sports betting on January 8 until Sunday January 16. BetMGM launched January 17.

BallyBET, PointsBet, Resorts World Bet, and Wynn Interactive are still awaiting approval from the Gaming Commission to launch.

Figures released by the state commission show that gross gaming revenue for the period reached $48.1m. New York generated $24.6m in tax (the Empire State is taxed at 51 per cent).

Among mobile operators in New York, Caesars took the most bets at $257.6m ($22.7m in revenue), followed by Flutter Entertainment-owned FanDuel at $200.3m ($14.1m in revenue); DraftKings at $134.7m ($10.9m in revenue) and BetRivers, operated by Rush Street Interactive, at $10.6m ($446,696 in revenue).

As reported by Focus Gaming News last week, in the first week after New York launched sports betting, 1.2m accounts were created across the five sportsbooks in the state, with 878,000 unique players.

GeoComply revealed that only 9.3 per cent of New York players placed bets previously in New Jersey, with 87.8 per cent of players being brand new to regulated online sports betting. Some 17.9m geolocation transactions were registered last weekend, surpassing transactions during the launch weekend

he European Parliament has approved a negotiating position on the Digital Services Act.

Switzerland.- European Lotteries (EL) has welcomed the European Parliament’s adoption of a negotiating position on the Digital Services Act (DSA).

MEPs approved the act’s provisions by 530 votes to 78, with 80 abstentions. The legislation now progresses to negotiation with the European Commission and Council of Europe at the so-called ‘trilogues’ stage.

EL, which provided input on the legislation, says the act would strengthen consumer protection measures as well as measures against illegal online gambling.

The DSA was first proposed by the European Commission in December 2020. It aims to protect digital rights and tackle illegal content, products, services, including illegal online gambling, to increase the transparency of algorithms and to manage content moderation.

New provisions introduced by the European Parliament include measures that aim to create greater transparency and informed choice plus the prohibition of targeting or amplification techniques involving the data of minors and other special categories for displaying advertising.

EL Secretary General Arjan van ‘t Veer said: “EL Members strongly believe in a high level of consumer protection and are fully committed to the fight against illegal online gambling.

“The DSA foresees a number of new provisions that could be beneficial to this end. EL hopes that these will be at the disposal of its Members, most notably an improved notice-and-action mechanism, the concept of trusted flaggers and enhanced consumer protection and know-your-business-customer requirements.”

DSA input from European Lotteries
In October, EL requested the European Parliament eliminate explicit mentions of online betting services, saying that references in the context of freedom of establishment were inaccurate, implying that “national regulations on illegal content in the gambling sector are often not in compliance with EU law”.

Van ‘t Veer said: “EL welcomes the support by MEPs, in particular by Rapporteur Christel Schaldemose to improve the European Commission’s proposal to create a safer digital space for everyone. This marks a milestone update in the regulation of the internet in the EU.”

The European Gaming and Betting Association has also been involved in the debate on the legislation, stressing the importance of consistency with the EU’s existing legal framework for online business laws on data, consumer protections and platform laws.

Spain’s Ministry of Consumer Affairs says it is carrying out “exhaustive monitoring” of loot boxes, P2E games and NFTs.

Spain.- Spain’s Ministry of Consumer Affairs says it intends to open a dialogue with the aim of regulating loot boxes, play-to-earn (P2E) games and crypto games.

The announcement comes after Spain’s National Securities Market Commission (CNMV) published rules for the advertising of crypto assets that affect influencers, streamers and content creators.

The ministry said it is carrying out “very exhaustive monitoring of this entire series of phenomena” but did not go into more detail. However, minister Albero Garzón is known to have been working on the regulation of loot boxes for months, following a consultation last year.

Legislation would follow the lead of Belgium, which passed regulations that prohibit the acquisition of FIFA points in Ultimate Team mode in EA’s series of games.

Garzón already announced in November that the ministry had identified up to four types of loot boxes and that not all can be addressed in the amendments to Spain’s gaming legislation that are expected in upcoming weeks.

The ministry said in a statement: “Work is being done on a modification of the Gambling Regulation Law, but it is still early to anticipate the details on the formulas chosen to incorporate this type of element into the Spanish legal system.

“It must be taken into account that there are products that are very different from each other and that there are many sectors that will be affected by this regulation.”

The ministry said it understands that the most prudent approach is “first open dialogue processes” with the relevant sectors.

South Korea has also taken action on the matter, working on legislation that would allow NFTs to be taxed. It already de facto considers crypto games illegal.

However, legislation remains behind developments such as platforms like Decentraland, Axie Infinity or The Sandbox, metaverses that have seen “real estate” operations and other transactions.

Parx Casino has gained a licence for its Shippensburg Township facility.

The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board approved a licence for a subsidiary of Greenwood Gaming and Entertainment to build the Parx facility in Shippensburg Township, Cumberland County.

US.- The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board has voted unanimously to award a licence to Parx Casino operator Greenwood Gaming & Entertainment to construct a Category 4 casino in Shippensburg Township, Cumberland County. The operator will build the state’s fourth mini-casino.

The 73,000-square-foot casino, which will occupy about half the former big-box store, will be a scaled-down version of Parx’s casino in Bensalem, the state’s top casino by revenue.

A $65m construction project will begin next month, and the facility is scheduled to open in November, John Dixon, Greenwood’s chief operating officer, told the gaming board during a hearing in Harrisburg. The casino will contain 500 slot machines and electronic table games such as blackjack, baccarat, and roulette, but only with remote dealers. The Bensalem flagship casino has more than 3,000 slots.

The award concludes a process that began on February 22, 2018 when Greenwood Gaming and Entertainment won an auction held by the gaming board with a $8.1m bid for the Category 4 licence. The company filed an application with the board later that year to locate a newly constructed facility just off Exit 27 of Route 81 but later amended the application to place the casino at a former Lowe’s Home Supply store in the Shippen Town Center in the same municipality.

The board conducted an in-depth background investigation of the application along with the collection of public input from citizens, community groups and public officials at hearings held in Shippensburg Township on March 25, 2019, and then on May 20, 2021 following the applicant’s change of location of the proposed casino.

Prior to its vote, the Board held a final licensing hearing in which representatives of GW Cumberland were questioned by members about the project.

A Category 4 Slot Machine License permits the operation of between 300 and 750 slot machines. The operator can also request permission to initially operate up to 30 table games for an additional fee of $2.5m, with the capability of adding an additional 10 tables games after its first year of operation. That table games certificate was also approved today by the Board at its public meeting.

The facility, which will be non-smoking, expects to create 175 construction jobs. When the venue opens its doors, Parx Casino Shippensburg expects to have more than 125 full-time equivalent permanent jobs. The casino also plans to offer sports wagering in the future.

The BGC believes affordability checks should only target those who are most at risk.

The Betting and Gaming Council has described a new survey as a “wake up call” for British legislators. 

UK.- While the British gaming industry continues to await the government’s white paper on gambling legislation, the Betting and Gaming Council (BGC) has raised concerns about a recent survey in which gamblers expressed a strong rejection of affordability checks.

The YouGov poll found that 58 per cent of respondents were opposed to affordability checks, which are being considered by the UK government as part of its review of the 2005 Gambling Act. 

Meanwhile, 59 per cent believed that government-imposed probing of customer finances before being able to place bets would lead to “a large or substantial risk” of customers shifting to the black market. Just over half of respondents believed this would lead to a rise in problem gambling. 

Only 16 per cent of bettors said they would welcome affordability checks. The BGC described the results as a “wake up call” for the government. 

CEO Michael Dugher said: “We strongly support the Gambling Review as a once in a generation opportunity to raise standards and promote safer gambling. Ministers have said it will be an evidence-led process, and these findings are a wake-up call showing the potential dangers of introducing blanket affordability checks on anyone who likes a flutter.”

The industry standards body is in favour of enhancing affordability checks targeted at those who are most at risk and not at all bettors.

Dugher insisted that the government must “strike the right balance” between the protection of vulnerable players and ensuring that the “overwhelming majority” of bettors are not pushed towards the black market.

He said: “We believe that technology should be used to identify those showing signs of problem gambling so that swift interventions can take place. According to the Gambling Commission, the rate of problem gambling fell from 0.6 per cent to 0.3 per cent in the 12 months to September last year. But one problem gambler is one too many.

“Any changes introduced by the government must be balanced so that they rightly protect the vulnerable while not driving the vast majority who bet safely and responsibly towards the unsafe black market online, where there are none of the safer gambling measures which are used by BGC members.”