Part 1: Results from the first quarter
It is hard to see why the bigger affiliates need to follow
the regulated mantra of the operators other than as a
sop to potentially nervous investors in Sweden
legislators considering restricting marketing Broader regulated market questions
channels for online gambling, our offering will A potentially contentious claim from Redeye
grow even stronger.” was that regulated and taxed markets were the
A more neutral tone came from Better
most suitable for betting. The “and taxed” part
Collective, which itself established a greater of this is significant as this would cover Germany,
presence in Sweden via the €30m Ribacka where many of the larger listed affiliates have a
acquisition in December last year, right on the presence. But, of course, the taxed element only
cusp of the market opening. covers sports and not casino.
The company said at the time of the deal
The argument cited by the team at Redeye
that it considered Sweden to be “one of the was somewhat thin. “Better Collective focus
most interesting markets for online sports on regulated markets as they provide the best
betting in Europe”, but like Catena Media it has possible environment for betting behaviour,”
clearly to date been left disappointed by the the analysts wrote. “The regulated markets are
“report of decreased activity” on the part of the also more transparent with predictable rules as
operators. This left the company summing up the well as high awareness and demand. All in all,
performance there with the word “satisfactory”. the regulated markets are less risky and better
Similarly sitting on the fence was Raketech,
which said that it has managed the transition to
structured for growth.”
The suggestion that the environment for the
a regulated market successfully due to long-term consumer is better in regulated jurisdictions
planning but that average player values have is potentially true and certainly the evidence
decreased and added that it was difficult to predict from many regulated territories is that a large
“when, and at what level, they will stabilise”. cohort of consumers would prefer to bet with
Chart 2: Catena Media share price, first half 2019
100
62.85 SEK Fri, 28 Jun
90
80
70
60
50
February 2019
April 2019
June 2019
Source: LSE via Google Finance
iGaming Business • Affiliate Monitor • August 2019
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