Regulation round-up 1 December 2015
The biggest regulatory news from the egaming industry in the last seven days (25 November to 1 December 2015)
British online market worth £3bn
New figures from the Gambling Commission shine light on scale of recently re-regulated market
Great Britain’s online gambling industry is likely to have generated more than £3bn in revenues during its first full year since re-regulation, data released by the Gambling Commission reveals.
Figures for the five months from 1 November 2014, when the new Point of Consumption regime went live, to the end of March 2015 show total online gross gaming yield from British players totalled £1.45bn – already more than the 12 months prior to regulation which brought in £1.1bn.
Extrapolated over the full year, even in the absence of a major summer football tournament, it is likely that operators brought in revenues in excess of £3bn during the first 12 months following the introduction of PoC.
Total turnover for the five-month period was £13.8bn, putting the industry on track to turnover around £33bn for the year.
Tabcorp ups ante in in-play wagering dispute
Tabcorp has called on the Australian federal government to “eliminate any ambiguity” around in-play wagering and criticised the Australian Federal Police’s (AFP) “failure” to investigate the potential illegality of the product offered by international rivals.
The operator’s comments formed part of its submission to an ongoing review into the country’s illegal offshore wagering market and also accused authorities of not enforcing the Interactive Gambling Act (IGA).
Tabcorp argued the IGA prohibited the online in-play activity currently provided by William Hill and bet365 and accused the two firms, and also Ladbrokes who has withdrawn the product, of “flouting laws and taking advantage of slow bureaucratic processes”.
Seven days in regulation:
Regulators team-up to tackle unlicensed activity
Regulators from 20 member states of the European Economic Area have signed a landmark information sharing agreement in a bid to crackdown on unlicensed activity and develop common best practice across the continent.
The agreement, which has been established by the European Commission, also aims to reduce administrative burden for participating states and enhance consumer protection procedures.
According to the Commission, the growth of cross-border online gambling has posed new regulatory challenges which “cannot be tackled without efficient cooperation between countries”.
Dutch gaming lawyer plays down sports betting changes
Proposed restrictions on the range of permitted betting markets in the soon-to-be-regulated Dutch egaming market are unlikely to have a significant impact, a leading gaming lawyer has said.
Reports that politicians will ban a range of “micro” markets – such as double faults in tennis and cards during football games – over fears they might be manipulated by match fixers were circulated last week.
Members of the ruling coalition, the People’s Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) and Labour Party (PvdA), are understood to have been discussing the proposal and the Dutch football association has also chimed in with support for limits on certain markets.
GB regulator joins harmonisation pilot scheme
Great Britain’s Gambling Commission has teamed up with a raft of international gambling regulators in a bid to improve and harmonise procedures for the testing of online games which should reduce the time it takes operators to bring products to market.
The Commission said it had joined the multi-jurisdictional testing framework (MJTF) scheme along with regulators in the Isle of Man, Alderney and the Netherlands.
The first phase of the framework has already been drafted in a move to streamline external testing procedures and establish a single standard used across all member jurisdictions.
Slots help Spain Q3 revenues grow 36%
Revenues from Spain’s online gaming market grew 36% in the third quarter, driven by continued growth in sports betting and a raft of casino operators launching slots in the market for the first time.
The Dirección General de Ordenación del Juego (DGOJ) reported Q3 2015 gross gaming revenues rose 36% year-on-year to 84.2m with total turnover up 32% to 2.1bn.
Casino posted the largest growth during the period with GGR up 114% to 18.1m after the regulator issued 29 new slots licences during the quarter.
FanDuel and DraftKings await their fate in New York
DraftKings and FanDuel will have to wait a little longer to find out whether they will be blocked from offering contests to players in New York after a federal judge refused to give an immediate ruling.
Last week’s hearing was held on a request by New York Attorney (AG) General Eric Schneiderman for an injunction against both operators that would effectively force them to shut up shop in the state.
The hearing took place over two hours, with each side given one hour to present their case. The New York AG went first, and was followed by FanDuel and DraftKings.