Regulation round-up 29 November 2016
The biggest regulatory news from the egaming industry in the last seven days (23 November to 29 November 2016)
British online market worth £4.5bn, new figures show
Online slots generates more in revenues than sports betting, as self-exclusions top 600,000 in year
Britain’s online gambling market generated £4.5bn in gross gaming yield (GGY) across the 12 months to March 2016, making it bigger than both the retail sector and the National Lottery, new figures show.
In what was the first set of full-year numbers released by the Gambling Commission since the introduction of the Point of Consumption licensing regime in November 2014, online made up 33% of the entire gambling market.
Casino was the biggest driver of the online segment with £2.6bn of GGY, of which online slots contributed a huge £1.75bn – more than the £1.6bn of GGY generated by online sports betting across the year.
Online bingo and betting exchanges were of a similar size at £153m and £152m of GGY respectively. Meanwhile peer-to-peer poker, which was included in the casino numbers, amounted to £98.7m.
Dutch regulator opens lottery market to Lottovate
Zeal Network’s Lottovate brand has been granted a charity lottery licence by the Netherlands Gaming Authority (Kansspelautoriteit), as the market begins to open up to non-incumbents.
As first reported by Gaming in Holland, Lottovate’s licence went live last week and will run until 31 December 2016, when the market’s new licensing procedure will open up beyond its current limitations.
The award of Lottovate’s licence follows a ruling by the Court of Amsterdam in May which said there was just no justification for limiting the amount of charity lottery licences to four, which are currently held by Postcode Loterij, Nationale Postcodeloterij, BankGiro Loterij and VriendenLoterij.
Seven days in regulation:
Tabcorp to appeal Australian ad ban
Tabcorp has announced it will appeal an advertising ban handed down to the operator by the Australian Advertising Standards Bureau (ASB).
A member of the public complained that a Tabcorp TV spot “glorified gambling and gambling addiction,” a complaint which the advertising watchdog upheld.
The controversy centred over showing a man returning from a fishing trip, reminiscing in his head about the weekend watching sport and gambling.
While his girlfriend asks him about the trip, he smiles and tells her it was great without mentioning that he was gambling.
Get the latest on the soon-to-be-regulated Dutch market
The Dutch online gaming market is getting ready to open its regulated digital doors next year and operators and suppliers are currently busy preparing their market entry.
And ahead of the passing of the remote gaming bill, EGR, in partnership with Gaming in HOLLAND and SBTech, is bringing you the opportunity to hear directly from the lady overseeing the process, Netherlands Gaming Authority CEO Marja Appelman, in this not-to-be missed Breakfast Briefing.
Taking place at the Conservatorium Hotel in Amsterdam on 1 December, Appelman will take her place on a panel set to discuss various issues related to the regulatory process and detail how operators and suppliers can ensure their market entries are as smooth and successful as possible.
Subjects to be discussed include the controversial 29% tax rate, subsequent channelisation effects, the commercial viability of the market, legislation around marketing, the new lottery licence allocation policy, and many other topics.
Coral under fire for “misleading” Euro 2016 promotion
The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has reprimanded Coral for a “misleading” promotion the advertising watchdog ruled contained contradictory information.
The Euro 2016 free bet promotion, seen in the national press in June 2016, stated it was available to all new and existing Coral Connect customers in any of its retail stores.
Small print linked by an asterisk beneath the ad stated: “Available to multi-channel Connect customers in any Coral shop.”