Denmark awards licence extensions
25 operators have one-year licences extended until 2018 " 888 most notable absentee.
The Danish Gambling Authority (DGA) has announced that a total of 25 operators have had one-year licences extended to allow the companies to offer their services in the market for five years.
Of the 25 licensees, 20 are foreign egaming operators, while 5 are Danish businesses, and 9 local brands have been handed income-restricted approval. This means that companies with gross gaming revenue of less than 1m Danish Kroner (DKK) do not have to pay the full licence fee.
When the market officially opened in December 2011, 38 companies were awarded operating licences, while seven local businesses were given income-restricted approval. It is not clear which companies have withdrawn from the market, with 32 full licensees and 8 income-restricted still listed on the official DGA site.
888, which also withdrew from France late last year, and Entraction, which was shut down in December 2012, less than two years after it was acquired by IGT for £70m, are the two most notable absentees from the official list, while Nordicbet, which was acquired by Betsson in April 2012, is still listed as a stand-alone licensee.
Following the announcement of the licence extensions, the DGA has also issued an update on measures in place to block unlicensed sites from the Danish market. In June 12 operators, including Betclic Everest subsidiary Bet-at-home and 7 Playtech-powered sites, were blocked by internet service provider 3, while a further 8 companies were banned in November.
The DGA has also launched a ‘whistleblower’ service for citizens and businesses to report illegal operators in the market.
Commenting on the fight against unlicensed sites, Tina R. Olsen, head of the authority’s law department, said: “The extent of the illegal websites in Denmark is estimated to be relatively limited.
“The blocking of the 20 illegal websites illustrates that the Gaming Authority has a special focus on its obligation to oversee the gaming market and ensure that both consumers and legitimate gambling operators in the Danish market protected.”
While the opening of the Danish egaming market has been viewed as largely successful, the territory experienced a slight decline in the third quarter of 2012, with a 8.5% quarter-on-quarter drop in gross gaming revenue for poker and casino hitting overall revenues. Despite this, egaming is expected to contribute full-year revenues of DKK1.94bn to overall GGR of DKK7.5bn for the market.
Meanwhile, the Swedish government today gave the strongest indication yet that it will look to introduce new gambling legislation, pledging to publish a number of proposals by May this year.