Every week, CasinoBeats breaks down the numbers behind some of the industry’s most fascinating stories. Our quick trip around the globe reflects on two fines in the Netherlands, black market warnings concerning Italy, UK reforms, updates concerning Macau, Singapore and New York, a $100m gambling harm minimisation investment in Australia and much more.
2.07
LCS hit back at a €2.07m fine that was issued within the Netherlands, labelling the financial penalty as “unwarranted” and “unjustified” alongside an intention to appeal.
This followed a long protracted dispute that initially began in March 2022 when it was discovered players could access the group’s Son of Slots site
However, the company has suggested that the action taken by the Dutch gambling authority “demands our attention”, with the Ksa’s reaction described as “undeniably excessively punitive”.
43
Staying in the Netherlands, and Blue High House became the latest group to fall foul of the Dutch gambling authority, with the Kansspelautoriteit issuing an order subject to a penalty for operating in the country without a licence.
The board of directors were subsequently instructed the company to cease and desist from offering games of chance. In the event of non-compliance, a penalty of €43,000 per week, with a maximum of €129,000, will be imposed.
This stemmed from two Ksa supervisors accessing the group BetOnline brand on December 7, 9 and 10, 2021, as well as January 11, 2022. This indicated that it was possible to create a player account, make a deposit and participate in games of chance from the Netherlands.
888
BOS, the Swedish trade association for online gambling, welcomed Ministry of Justice proposals to strengthen consumer protection and heighten safety protocols regarding risky lending and over-indebtedness.
The planned changes include tightening rules around consumers being offered and given credit that they do not have the financial means to repay, in addition to establishing a debt register and potentially implementing a credit card ban.
The group noted positivity regarding all proposals in the investigation that would have a bearing on the gambling market, including rejecting a credit card ban due to “insufficient reasons” for such an introduction.
BOS represents around twenty gambling companies that are active in the Swedish gambling market, including the likes of 888, Kindred, Betsson, bet365 and LeoVegas.
25
Italy became the latest nation of focus for the European Gaming and Betting Association, with black market concerns highlighted as an example that the country’s ban on gambling advertising “is clearly favouring the black market and should be revised”.
Citing a La Gazzetta dello Sport report, it was said that Italian players wager approximately €25bn on the black market, with 75 per cent (€18.5m) done so via unlicensed entities.
As a result, the EGBA estimated that €1bn in gross gaming revenue is being lost per year, which is reported as “the combined regulated online gambling revenue of eight other EU countries”.
These are named as Croatia (€170m), Cyprus (€100m), Estonia (€150m), Latvia (€180m), Lithuania (€140m), Luxembourg (€30m), Malta (€70m) and Slovenia (€60m).
100
Betting and Gaming Council Chair Brigid Simmonds stated that third-sector gambling harm support services must be protected in reaction to the UK DCMS’ consultation for the upcoming statutory levy for research, education and treatment of gambling addiction.
Earlier this week, the UK government opened an eight-week consultation period to collect gambling stakeholders’ opinions on how the levy should be conducted, including views from the industry, clinicians, practitioners, academics, those who have experienced gambling harm and the general public.
As part of the gambling review white paper, the new RET levy proposes a one per cent fee on gross gambling yield for online operators, while traditional betting shops and casinos will pay a proposed fee of around 0.4 per cent.
It is estimated that the new levy will raise £100m for gambling research, prevention and treatment across England, Scotland and Wales, developing “a truly national approach to prevention and fund independent, high-quality research to inform policy and practice”.
31
Mansion Group informed its affiliates and media partners of the closure of all B2C operations, including its Casino.com and MansionCasino.com brands.
Mansion noted that all B2C casino brands will be permanently unavailable to all players, and affiliates were informed to proceed with closing their accounts by 31 October, in which the group will process earnings of a $10 minimum.
The operator further explained that all access to its affiliate programme will no longer be possible by the end of November.
2.8
Continued recovery across Macau, hailed as “the most important land-based market in the world”, and Singapore was a key touch point for Las Vegas Sands in its latest quarterly review, with optimism for New York success also elaborated on.
Reflecting on the operator’s performance through July 1-September 30, Robert Goldstein, Chair and CEO, stressed delight at a maintained uptick in travel and tourism spending across each region.
“We remain deeply enthusiastic about our opportunities for growth in both markets in the years ahead,” he said.
Net revenue through the quarter soared to $2.8bn (2022: $1.01bn), with significant increases felt across Macau operations, to $1.78bn (2022: $258m), and the Singapore-based Marina Bay Sands, which closed at $1bn (2022: $756m).
23
Esports Entertainment Group voiced confidence in putting recent turbulent times behind the group, as an uplift in performance, driven by a range of strategic initiatives, is sought through the remainder of the year and beyond.
Following a slew of recent troubles, the company’s latest financial update has revealed tumbling revenue, however, a significant reduction in expenses has also been reported.
Total revenue through the fiscal year ending June 30, 2023, plummeted 60.61 per cent to $23m (2022: $58.4m), however, the group’s cost of revenue also fell to $8.8m, down 64 per cent year-on-year from $24.2m.
405
New 888 CEO Per Widerström stressed an immediate focus of unlocking the company’s full potential, with “several areas” of its operations said to be showing clear signs of needing necessary improvement.
These comments came amid a third quarter trading update that confirmed recent comments emanating from the operator that the three month period had fallen below expectations.
Revenue through July to September fell ten percentage points to £405m (2022: £449.4m), which is aligned to “significant and ongoing improvements being made to the sustainability” and the quality of the mix of the business impacting performance.
18
Sky Bet became the latest operator to fall foul of ongoing Advertising Standard Authority monitoring of ads that it deems likely to have a strong appeal to under-18s.
These were identified for investigation following intelligence gathered by its Active Ad Monitoring system, which uses AI to proactively search for online ads that might break the rules.
In this latest instance, following previous action against the likes of Ladbrokes, bet365 and WIlliam Hill, the advertising watchdog raised another challenge regarding a promoted Tweet.
This contained an embedded video clip from The Overlap football podcast, which showed Gary Neville discussing which team might win the Premier League.
100
The New South Wales government outlined the initial stages of a $100m gambling harm minimisation investment, which stemmed from a fine imposed on Star Entertainment Group over one year ago.
In a move that aligned with GambleAware Week, which came to an end on Sunday 22 October, this funding is said to represent the “next important step” in an ongoing “long-term commitment”.
It is hoped that this outlay will help to further tackle money laundering, implement gaming reform and reduce the harmful impacts of gambling across communities.
