News

Italy’s igaming revenue experienced a subtle decline, with December’s revenue of €315.8m showing a 2% decrease compared to the previous month. Despite this, there was a 1.2% increase year-on-year, indicating a stable increase in the industry.

Both retail sports betting and online sports were reflected in this decline, but the remaining products picked up from the previous month.

The stand out of the sectors was casino & slots, which witnessed an impressive 17% increase by reaching €206.1m revenue in December, compared to its €176.1m revenue in November.

In terms of market share, casino & slots dominated with the largest increase in market share, and online sports betting lost almost a third of its market share from November. Meanwhile, Lottomatica/Goldbet maintained its position as the leader in the online casino industry with a 12.4% market share, while there were no significant changes in the market share of other online casinos.

Online sports betting experienced a decline in market share, leaving it with a 27.4% market share in the igaming industry. Despite this, the market shares within the industry remained relatively stable, with the majority staying in the same position. Bet365 has faced some challenges in the past few months, but they have been slowly picking up its performance and have peaked this month at 13.1% market share.

In terms of Italy’s online and retail sports betting, Lottomatica/Goldbet continued to lead the industry with a 22.1% market share. Betaland, on the other hand, dropped to the bottom with a mere 0.9% market share, pushing Multigioco up to ninth position with a 1% market share. Despite the ups and downs, the Italian igaming industry continues to thrive and looks set to achieve a significant increase in the coming years.

PokerStars remains the leader of the online poker tournaments market with a 42.87% market share, even with its 4.7% decrease. E-Play 24 had no significant movements, allowing it to be overtaken by Snai and Lottomatica, leaving E-Play 24 with the smallest market share.

Lottomatica had the greatest increase in market share, placing it just behind Snai with a 9.14% market share. From this, it is evident that Lottamatic/Goldbet is on the rise in the Poker tournament industry as well as leading the sports betting market.

The full infographic of charts is available below, including all previous results.

Ficom Leisure is a leading European corporate advisory firm specialising in all segments of the betting and gaming sector.

Ficom Leisure also provides exclusive monthly estimates on the Spanish online market in the Spain iGaming Dashboard, including operator market shares across casino, sports betting and poker. It also provides monthly estimates on several US states, including New Jersey in the New Jersey iGaming Dashboard, Pennsylvania in the Pennsylvania iGaming Dashboard and Iowa in the Iowa iGaming Dashboard.

The gambling regulator in New York, the New York State Gaming Commission, greenlighted new rules affecting sports betting marketing, promotions and advertising in the state. The announcement came Monday following a meeting of the regulator where the new rules received unanimous approval by the Commission. Now, the rules would go through a 60-day period for public comment. During that time, changes to the rules may be made and at the end of the period, the regulator would have the final word.

A major part of the changes revolves around restricting options for marketing and advertising to underage individuals. Ultimately, the new rules seek to restrict sports betting ads from being appealing in any way to people under the legal age for wagering, including children.

The announcement comes after one year and two months have passed since the launch of statewide mobile sports betting activities. Under the new rules, sports betting companies will be prohibited from advertising or promoting their services via university-owned or college-owned news outlets or assets. This means that university radios, newspapers or other communications channels owned by colleges or universities cannot be used for advertising by sports wagering operators.

Betting Ads Cannot Target Kids

Another part of the rules changes the design of the sports betting ads. This means that under the new rules, those ads cannot be designed in a way that appeals to anyone under the legal age for wagering in New York. Depicting entertaining music or cartoon characters that may seem appealing to the younger demographic is also prohibited under the new rules.

Not unexpectedly, the rules prohibit the use of brand names, trademarks and logos or messages for kids’ toys, games, clothes, or equipment that is being used by children. “To the extent that promotional products carry sports wagering messages or brand information, a sports pool licensee and its employees shall use commercially reasonable efforts to distribute such products only to those who have reached the legal age for sports wagering,” state the new rules.

Similarly, the sports betting ad rules prohibit the depiction of underage persons, as well as endorsements from underage persons. This means that the betting operators won’t be able to collaborate with kids or include endorsements from kids in their advertising materials.

Ultimately, the new rules seek to protect the younger demographic and ensure an effective regulatory framework that prohibits the operators from targeting or engaging with children when offering services. Besides the new rules, the Commission confirmed that there is an increased interest in the three new casino licenses for downstate venues.

GamblingNews

Gambling revenue in Lithuania grew by 18 per cent to €63.9m in the third quarter of 2022, driven by a strong performance from the online gambling sector.

Online gambling revenue increased by 31 per cent to €31.1m in Q3, with double-digit growth in all products.

Online slots revenue was up 37 per cent year-on-year at €19.7m, while online table game revenue rose by 38 per cent to €1.9m. Sports betting revenue climbed to €9.5m in the third quarter, an increase of 19 per cent versus the prior year period.

In the retail gambling sector, including lottery, third quarter revenue improved by 7 per cent to €32.7m. Slot machines in casinos and slot halls saw revenue climb 11 per cent to €12.1m, with table game revenue up 10 per cent at €4.6m.

Retail sports betting revenue showed growth of 48 per cent year-on-year to €2.7m, at a margin of 10.0 per cent (Q3 2021: 7.5 per cent), while Lottery revenue fell by 2 per cent in the quarter to €13.3m.

Total gambling revenue for the first nine months of 2022 was €179.9m, 33 per cent higher than the same period in 2021, during which the retail sector was disrupted by pandemic restrictions.

Retail gambling revenue increased by 30 per cent to €53.8m between January and September, with online gambling revenue up 38 per cent at €86.0m and lottery revenue climbing 22 per cent to €40.1m.

Sports betting handle in Wyoming increased by 117 per cent year-on-year to $13.58m in September, marking the second highest monthly handle since the regulated market opened a year ago.

The increased handle combined with a strong margin of 14.2 per cent to give the state’s four licensed operators total gross win of $1.93m, an increase of 102 per cent on September 2021 and the highest monthly performance of the year.

After permitted deductions and federal excise tax, September’s adjusted taxable revenue amounted to $1.16m.

Since the market’s launch in September 2021, DraftKings has accounted for 58 per cent of all wagers in Wyoming. BetMGM also began operating last September and has a 35 per cent share.

FanDuel was a later entrant in March of this year and has been slowly building its share of lifetime wagers. It had 6 per cent share of all wagers by September. Caesars only launched its sportsbook in August and has a share of less than 1 per cent.

In the first nine months of 2022, total betting handle amounted to $95.46m with gross win of $9.47m. Adjusted taxable revenue came to $4.71m.

GAMBLING PARTICIPATION IN BRITAIN NEARS PRE-PANDEMIC LEVELS The latest survey data from Britain’s Gambling Commission shows that overall gambling participation rates remain below pre-pandemic levels, despite increased participation in National Lottery games and betting and gaming in retail. The proportion of respondents participating in at least one form of gambling in the past four weeks to September 2022 climbed toRead more

The Argentinean province of Mendoza has approved new regulations to legalise sports betting and online gambling.

The regulations were approved by the Instituto Provincial de Juegos y Casino (IPJyC) de Mendoza and come two years after legislation was first introduced to enable online gambling by residents in Mendoza, the fourth most populated province in the country.

Published in the province’s Official Gazette late last week, Resolution 554/22 was drawn up by the Comisión de Juego en Línea del IPJyC, which highlighted the spread of gambling through mobile phones, tablets and other electronic devices.

The Commission said that the objective of the regulation is to “combat illegal gambling, protect the rights of minors, consumers and users, promote responsible gambling and prevent money laundering”.

The decree states that between two and seven operator licenses may be awarded via a public tender, which is expected to take place before the end of this year. Licenses would be valid for up to ten years.

SportingTech
The tender will prioritise companies that are already licensed to operate gaming halls in the province, with licensed sports betting and iGaming operators subject to a 12 per cent tax on gross gaming revenue.

Licensed websites must use domains ending in BET.ar.

Following the public tender, Mendoza will become the latest Argentinean province to launch online gambling, with Buenos Aires City and province launching their regulated iGaming markets last December, Córdoba approving regulations this year, and La Rioja also looking into regulating iGaming.

The Nebraska State Racing and Gaming Commission has approved rules governing sports betting at Nebraska racetracks.

The sports betting regulations were adopted by the Commission on Friday and remain subject to approval by state Attorney General Doug Peterson and Governor Pete Ricketts.

The regulations allow for in-person sports betting at authorised racetrack casinos in Nebraska via self-service betting terminals, designated windows within the sports betting area of a casino or cashier’s cage, and any other means approved by the Commission.

Racetrack casino operators and their sports betting partners must be licensed, either as an Authorized Gaming Operator or Sports Wagering Services Provider, with twenty-year operator licenses priced at $5.0m, payable over five years at $1.0m a year.

The regulations allow betting on professional and collegiate sports, international sporting events, professional motor races and sports drafts, individual sports awards, eSports, simulated games, and any other event approved by the Commission, excluding games involving a Nebraska instate collegiate or university team.

Betting on events in which a majority of participants are under the age of 18 will also be prohibited.

The regulations govern betting exchanges, in-play betting, parlay and proposition bets, and straight wagers, with all event categories and wagering types subject to Commission approval.

Players in Nebraska will also have the opportunity to exclude themselves from all forms of gambling through a new voluntary self-exclusion programme.

WarHorse Gaming, a division of Ho-Chunk, has already secured provisional approval as a casino operator and will operate two gaming facilities in Omaha and Lincoln, Nebraska.

Caesars Entertainment is also working to open a new Harrah’s casino, sportsbook and racetrack in Columbus, Nebraska.

Voters in Nebraska approved sports betting and casino gaming at racetracks in November 2020.

The Democratic Alliance is proposing a law to regulate online gambling.

South Africa.- The opposition Democratic Alliance has announced that it will propose legislation to regulate online gambling in South Africa. It follows a long period after initial attempts to regulate the sector over a decade ago.

South African law currently allows online gambling through licences issued by provincial authorities, but the situation is ambiguous because there is no legislative framework because the 2008 National Amendment Act never came into effect. The Democratic Alliance’s new bill now aims to introduce many of the aims of the 2008 act.

The party said its bill would regulate licensing, which would continue to be carried out by provincial authorities. It would provide for procedures for objections to licence decisions and would also regulate gambling advertising, possibly introducing restrictions. The bill would also seek to protect minors and vulnerable people and ensure compliance with the Financial Intelligence Centre Act (FICA).

The party said in a statement: ‘Online gambling is currently not regulated in South Africa. By not regulating this gambling activity, the erosion of the rule of law and criminal activity is being encouraged, while the public is not effectively protected.”

Stakeholders will be able to submit views on the bill to the speaker of the National Assembly.

Earlier this week, the auditor general’s report on South Africa’s National Lotteries Commission for the 2020/21 financial year flagged up more than R23m in irregular expenditure, leading to a qualified audit opinion about the accuracy of financial statements.

Metropolitan Gaming sells South African casino
Metropolitan Gaming has reached an agreement to sell its South African casino to a consortium controlled by Tsogo Sun. The operator bought the Emerald Resort and Casino in Vanderbijlpark from Caesars Entertainment in August 2021 along with ten venues in the UK and Egypt.

The company said it was focusing on investing and developing in its core markets of the UK and Egypt. After buying 11 casinos from Caesars in 2021, the company added London’s Park Lane Club, now the Metropolitan Park Lane, to its portfolio this June. The company said it intends to continue to expand through acquisitions and investment.

The European Gaming and Betting Association has developed guidelines to help online gambling operators comply with EU rules.

Belgium.- The European Gaming and Betting Association (EGBA) has published its first pan-European self-regulatory guidelines in a bid to strengthen the anti-money laundering (AML) efforts of online gambling operators. The EGBA guidelines introduce a set of self-regulatory standards to help operators comply with the latest EU and national anti-money laundering rules.

The EGBA guidelines propose best practice industry standards, which it says online gambling operators should apply across their EU and EEA operations. The guidelines apply a risk-based approach and include sector-specific guidance to support a high standard of compliance with EU, national and supranational AML rules.

While the guidelines are intended to complement and strengthen existing AML rules, they have also been developed with consideration towards the EU’s upcoming new rules on AML. EGBA members will be required to submit yearly reports to the EGBA summarising their progress in implementing the guidelines.

The EGBA says the guidelines include, amongst others, practical guidance on:

How to conduct customer and business risk assessments.
Customer Due Diligence and improving cooperation during the process.
Suspicious Transaction Reporting requirements.
The relationship between AML and safer gambling.
Record-keeping requirements.
The EGBA has invited interested stakeholders to submit feedback on the guidelines by October 13, following which it will publish a finalised version. The guidelines may be amended in the future to ensure they remain up to date with the latest industry best practices. The EGBA has invited companies that are not members to join the initiative.

Dr Ekaterina Hartmann, director of legal and regulatory affairs at the EGBA, said: “We’re pleased to present the first ever pan-European industry standards on anti-money laundering for Europe’s online gambling sector. Preventing online gambling from being used to hide the proceeds of crime is an important test for Europe’s gambling operators – but there’s currently very little sector-specific guidance to help operators in their compliance efforts.

“We hope these guidelines will fill this gap and lay strong foundations for the sector to achieve the highest possible standards in AML compliance. It’s important to gather expertise across the sector and we invite stakeholder feedback on the guidelines to ensure that, together, the sector can contribute positively and proactively to Europe’s fight against money laundering.”

Earlier this year, the EGBA called on operators to increase cross-border collaboration to head off the danger of stricter regulation of the sector. It says operators across Europe need to work together to improve how they’re represented in society.

The body says that only through closer collaboration across borders can operators ensure the industry is better organised, more responsible and better represented across the entire continent. It sees this as an essential goal for a sustainable industry and to avoid the risk of “ever stricter regulation” that will impact the ability to do business.

The EGBA also reported positive feedback from the first independent monitoring of its pan-European responsible advertising code. The monitoring was conducted by the European Advertising Standards Alliance (EASA), a Brussels-based association that represents European self-regulatory organisations for advertising.

As part of its on-going commitment to ensure that ICE London continues to meet the needs of the international gambling industry in all of its forms, organisers Clarion Gaming are running a total of eight visitor focus groups during September.

Press release.- The research programme conducted with an invited sample of first-time visitors to the 2022 edition of ICE London, will be completed by the end of the month and the insight shared with the development, content and marketing teams responsible for the delivery of ICE 2023 which takes place across 7-9 February at ExCeL London.

Over 200 first-time ICE attendees have agreed to share their insight and experiences in the moderated sessions which are scheduled to last 60-minutes. Each focus group has its own dedicated topic with participants selected based on a range of criteria including geography and specialist interest. The eight topics comprise: Gambling’s Emerging Markets, Content and Game Development, Payments, Mature Markets, North America, Gambling Industry Start-Ups, Sports Betting and Adtech/Martech.

Stuart Hunter, managing director, Clarion Gaming underlined the brand’s key objectives of meeting the business needs of visitors and ensuring the ICE proposition remains fresh and topical. He stated: “Industry professionals attend in-person events for a number of reasons but the events that are regarded as ‘must attend’ are those that deliver business solutions and, in the process, help enterprises of every size from start-ups to global brands to plan for the future.

“As part of this process, we are providing a curated platform to listen to and learn from our stakeholders posing questions such as what markets should ICE focus on next in terms of bringing regulators and policy-makers to London.

“We want to explore additional ways in which we can deploy the ICE brand to help solve challenges in both new and mature markets, how we can help further support start-ups on their journey, what our research groups believe we should be showcasing in areas such as payments technology, cashless solutions, game content, sports betting, advertising, marketing and much more. We will also include some moderated questions on perceptions of the ICE brand and their experience as first-time attendees.”

“I am extremely grateful to the 200+ industry professionals who have agreed to participate and whose insight will play such a key role in helping us to ensure that ICE remains a world-class event for the world industry.”