Tipico bemoans "disproportionately high" KSA fine
German sports betting giant suggests it was victim of overhauled enforcement structure despite independently geo-blocking Dutch consumers
Tipico has argued a KSA-imposed fine for illegally targeting Dutch consumers is “disproportionately high” compared to previous punishments for unlicensed operators.
The German operator was last week hit with a €531,250 penalty for offering online gambling to players in the Netherlands via the Tipico.com website without a licence.
The KSA has previously imposed comparable fines on well-known gambling operators, several of which deliberately and directly targeted Dutch consumers.
Tipico suggests it has fallen victim to the regulator’s new enforcement pledge, which was unveiled on 22 September ahead of the licensed market going live on 1 October.
“The penalties regularly ranged between €300,000 and €500,000, even though many of these providers had demonstrably aimed at acquiring customers in this market,” a Tipico spokesperson told EGR.
“Since then, the penalty range has been significantly increased by the authority, which means that the penalty now imposed on Tipico is disproportionately high compared to the other providers.”
The Malta-based operator admitted it failed initially to explicitly block offers to the Dutch region through geo-blocking, although the market had never been a key focus for the business.
Tipico suggested its high brand awareness due to the Netherlands’ proximity to Germany had led to some customers slipping through the net.
Once discovered, Tipico said it independently geo-blocked the IP of these consumers and never intended to deliberately bypass existing KSA restrictions – unlike many operators that have previously been hit with fines of similar value.
Despite its protestations, Tipico accepted the penalty. Tipico did not respond to an EGR request for comment over whether it would seek – or be allowed to seek – a licence in the Netherlands.