Spanish land-based operators form egaming body
Grupo Acrismatic and Top Rank Egasa Spain named as founding members of EJOA, with representatives of Cirsa and Codere appointed as heads of the operator association.
Spanish operators Codere, Cirsa, Grupo Acrismatic and Top Rank Egasa Spain have been named as founding members of a new operator group focusing on the country’s online gambling market.
Empresarios de Juego Online Asociados (EJOA), which is distinct from existing body JDigital, is expected to announce up to five further members according to reports in the Spanish press.
JDigital, set up in February this year to replace former operator association AEDAPI, has a membership largely comprised of operators and service providers whose primary focus is online, as the egaming subsidiary of Spanish ecommerce body La Asociación Española de la EconomÃa Digital (adigital). Its members include Betfair, Gtech and PokerStars, and it is headed up by Betfair Iberia general manager Sacha Michaud.
Representatives of Cirsa and Codere have been appointed to senior roles within EJOA. Cirsa’s director of corporate relations Eduardo Antoja heading up the group, with Codere director Luis Miguel Cabeza de Vaca serving as vice president.
The aim of the group is to “Maximize synergies between the two channels of game management, improved regulations and their harmonization.” Unlike JDigital which accepts service providers alongside egaming companies, EJOA membership is open to gambling operators only.
Both Codere and Cirsa were among the first wave of egaming licensees in Spain, with the latter having agreed a deal with Betware to utilise the Icelandic company’s egaming platform. Codere has been vocal in its opposition to the activities of Sportingbet’s Miapuesta brand in the Spanish market, bringing an injunction against the London-listed operator earlier this year.