Poll: Is Eastern Europe the next big regulated opportunity?
As Romanian licensing draws closer, this week's poll asks whether operators should be pushing into the region as regulation begins to fall into place
Changes to Eastern Europe’s regulatory landscape have created an attractive yet complicated region for egaming firms to-date, but progress in the likes of Romania and Czech Republic suggests it still possesses huge potential.
Compared to Western and Northern Europe, local competition is made up of a handful of retail giants slowly shifting to online, while underlying factors such as growing mobile penetration and awareness of online betting make for a compelling business case.
Romania, Czech Republic, Poland and Bulgaria have all made strides towards a workable licensed framework, but despite regulatory progress, there are enough uncertainties surrounding taxation levels and permitted product ranges to ensure no one is getting carried away quite yet.
If tax rates are prohibitively high, as has been the case in some jurisdictions, or if former monopolies are given favourable concessions like in Hungary, heavy investment might not pay dividends.
So for this week’s poll, we ask if Eastern Europe will prove a key regulated growth opportunity for egaming firms, or whether its uncertain regulatory framework mean operators should think twice before investing in local licences.
Have your say on the right-hand side of the page.