Market focus: Poland
A two-minute briefing on the egaming market in Poland, where Bet-at-home, BetClic, Bwin and Unibet all have major sponsorship deals...
POLAND’S ban on all gambling outside of land-based casinos was signed into law by Polish president Lech Kaczynski on 27 November.
Prime minister Donald Tusk initiated the clampdown in the wake of four senior Polish officials resigning on suspicion of being unduly influenced by gaming industry lobbyists.
Sponsorships of sports teams by bookmakers were, however, exempted from the ban on all forms of gambling-related marketing and advertising passed by the Polish Senate, after lobbying by clubs including Betclick-sponsored Lech Poznan and Bet-At-Home-sponsored Wisla Krakow from the Ekstraklasa division of Polish football.
x Population: 38 million
x Broadband penetration: 52%
x eGaming gross win 2009 forecast: 50m
x Main private operators: PokerStars, Bwin, Unibet, Full Tilt Poker, Betclick, Bet-At-Home, Expekt, Betsson, Sportingbet, Bet365, ToBet (NordicBet)
x £11m: the amount spent per year by egaming operators on sponsorship of Polish sport.
Follow us on Twitter: Twitter.com/egamingreview