Every week, CasinoBeats breaks down the numbers behind some of the industry’s most fascinating stories. Our latest headline reflection features record numbers from Safer Gambling Week, the Q3 performance of Catena Media and criticism of the UK government’s casino ‘stealth tax’.
70
Coming off the back of Safer Gambling Week, the Betting & Gaming Council has revealed that impressions for responsible gambling promotions increased by 70 per cent compared to 2022.
According to the UK gambling trade body, social media impressions across Facebook, Instagram and Twitter/X for Safer Gambling Week promotions came in at over 50 million between November 13-19.
BGC Chief Executive Michael Dugher commented: “This year’s Safer Gambling Week campaign has proved another huge success, achieving new records for promoting the safer gambling tools available to customers and signposting the help and support available to those who need it.
“It is proven that the success of the campaign leads to increased use of popular safer gambling tools – like time-outs and deposit limits – that only exist in the regulated industry.
“The record numbers for both impressions and website visits show that the industry has never been more committed to ensuring the many millions who enjoy a regular flutter continue to do so in a safe and responsible environment.”
585
Entain has agreed to a £585m settlement with the Crown Prosecution Service after being subject to a bribery investigation, stemming from its previous Turkish business.
Paying the settlement to HMRC, the owner of Ladbrokes and Coral noted that it has since transformed as a company, regarding the case as a legacy issue as the illegal activity took place before its 2020 rebrand when it traded as GVC Holdings.
The original HMRC investigation commenced in 2019, over Entain’s former subsidiary, Headlong – sold in 2017 – and its online gambling activities in Turkey.
Chairman Barry Gibson stated: “This legacy issue pertains to a business divested by a past management team six years prior. The company has undergone significant changes since then, and the DPA process has underscored the profound evolution from the GVC of the past to today’s Entain.
“We remain focused on advancing our operations exclusively within regulated markets and are acknowledged as a leading, responsible entity with unparalleled corporate governance across our business.”
Entain is poised to seek final judicial approval for the DPA on December 5.
5
The UK government’s Autumn Statement in regard to budgeting has faced criticism from the BGC, referring to a ‘stealth tax on land-based casinos’.
The trade body emphasised that the lack of attention paid to inflation when it comes to the casino sector is essentially creating a £5m annual tax increase across BGC land-based casino members.
Specifically, the body highlighted the Gaming Duty Bands applied to UK casinos, which have been frozen again and will not rise with inflation, increasing the economic strain for casinos.
According to the BGC, the freeze on Gaming Duty Bands is expected to cost casinos £25m over the next five years.
BGC CEO, Michael Dugher, said: “Freezing Gaming Duty Bands is a stealth tax which has the potential to slow recovery and weaken future growth. Removing it would have provided a welcome boost for the land-based casino sector at a crucial time.
“Instead, the decision to maintain the status quo represents a missed opportunity for companies ready and able to generate jobs and investment across the country.”
50.7
Germany’s two trade bodies for its online casino and sports betting sectors, DOCV and DSWV, have supported a study suggesting that just half – 50.7 per cent – of the nation’s gamblers are using licenced operators.
Conducted by economist Günther Schnabl at the University of Leipzig with data from market research company Nielsen Media, the study looked at online activities of approximately 25,000 consumers in Germany, recording visits and engagements with over 700 gambling domains.
The report detailed a significant shift towards unlicensed EU (28.9%) and offshore (19.9%) operators observed since January 2019.
In response to said study, Germany’s regulator – the GGL – suggested that any data collections based on the nation’s black market gambling are ‘currently contentious’.
Reaffirming confidence in its ability to regulate the nation, the group stated: “The GGL firmly rejects criticisms from the industry that the GGL’s approach to collecting data from the illegal online gambling market is based on a static model that does not take market changes into account.”
“Collecting data on illegal online gambling is complex due to the ever-changing nature of the black market. All collected data is estimative, capturing a snapshot of the market at a specific time.”
The regulator reinforced its assessment that the market value of illegal value stands between €300m-500m, around 2 per cent to 4 per cent of the current legal market’s size, while estimating the number of websites offering illegal online gambling stands somewhere between 800 and 900 sites.
15.9
Catena Media reported a Q3 group revenue decline as the company transitioned some of its North American contracts from cost-per-acquisition contracts to revenue share.
The company declared a group revenue from continued operations of €15.9m, a 28 per cent drop year-over-year compared to the €21.9m reported during Q3 2023.
Catena Media attributed the drop in revenue “primarily reflecting a strategic transition of some contracts in North America from CPA to revenue share”.
Per vertical, casino operations brought in €10.1m, a 23 per cent YoY decline (2022: €13.2m), while sports operations came in at €5.7m, down 34 per cent (2022: €8.7m).
North American operations comprised 84 per cent of group revenue during the quarter, while the Rest of world stood at 16 per cent. CPA made up 81 per cent of group revenue in Q3, followed by revenue share at 17 per cent and fixed at two per cent.
25
Long-term Bragg shareholder Raper Capital has encouraged the B2B igaming group to engage in a full sale of the company, following a stock price drop of 25 per cent since the transition from Oryx Gaming to Bragg five years ago.
The probe came as Raper reported that although Bragg’s revenues have quadrupled since the transition, from €26m to €97m, the stock price has not reflected such growth, with Founder Jeremey Raper stating that entities managed by the investment fund are willing to purchase 375,000 shares.
In a letter to Bragg CEO Matevz Mazij, Raper wrote: “A sale of the company should deliver a gargantuan premium, and certainty of value. As such, it is evidently clear that a third-party sale of the business is the only way to crystallise a proper return for the underlying business value that you, and legacy management, have created.
“I believe most other minority shareholders would not only support this initiative but indeed agree with my contention that such an initiative is the last, best course available to the company.”
“By calling for a sale of the company now, I only seek to preserve, and finally unlock, that latent value for the benefit of all stakeholders.”
