Poll: Did we expect too much from Spain?
Is the withdrawal of multiple poker operators a sign of expectations being too high to begin with?
Following last week’s revelations that multiple dot.es licensees are set to withdraw their online poker offerings from the market, the industry has reached a stage where questions are beginning to be asked about where Spain’s egaming market stands several months after its opening.
Those poised to exit the jurisdiction, believed to sit on the Microgaming and/or Ongame networks, have sparked comparisons with difficulties in France where liquidity is shared between a minority of larger operators with the remainder fighting over the crumbs.
Some 53 operators secured licences last summer, with large foreign operators such as bet365 and PokerStars joined by local land-based operators such as Cirsa making the move online.
Perhaps warnings over the migration of player accounts could have been better enforced in order to prevent existing online companies stealing a march over local competitors with concerns emerging last August following eGR’s discovery that a number of local operators had failed to fully launch their Spanish-facing offerings.
The issues to date, while concerning, are hardly out of keeping with developments in other European dot.country jurisdictions, at least as far as poker is concerned.
After the launch of cash poker offered a fillip in Italy the market recently fell for the first time since the new regulations, while in France the continued decline of the poker market has led to multiple operators withdrawing their offering, while the vertical experienced a 5% GGR decline last year.
Last week saw Jean-François Vilotte, president of French regulator ARJEL, call for pooled poker liquidity across dot.country territories in Europe. If and when this is realised, could we see the Spanish market begin to fulfil its early promise or is it still a case of expecting too much?
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