Editors Letter
Editor’s letter
W
ith the rising tide of populism putting many industries in the political
firing line, the gambling sectors in Italy and Poland are unfortunately
no exception. In Italy, the economy is showing signs of the business-
bashing policies of the ruling coalition government, having slipped into technical
recession the past two quarters. While the dot.it sector turned in an impressive
performance in 2018, GGR breaking through the €1.5bn barrier having hit the €1bn
landmark just two years previous, it will also have to contend with the small matter
of all forms of advertising coming to an end this July.
In Poland, government concerns over the proliferation of illegal gaming machines are shaping the
policy response to gambling more broadly, and we are, according to report author Scott Longley, seeing
“the controlling instinct of the ruling right-wing Law and Justice party permeate into the online world”.
With non-monopoly operators only allowed to offer sports betting taxed at an unsustainable rate of
12% of turnover, national lottery monopoly Totalizator Sportowy launched its Playtech-powered casino
offering totalcasino.pl in December. With this unlikely to capture any significant share of the dot.com
gaming market, logic would suggest a subsequent rethink of this policy by the government but no one
there is “holding their breath”, according to Longley.
A far more positive outlook is found in Denmark however, where recent growth trends continued into
the third quarter and the Danish Gambling Authority has been focusing its efforts on combatting the
remaining black market and maintaining the high degree of channelisation to dot.dk brands.
We hope you enjoy this latest edition of the Market Monitor and don’t hesitate to get in touch if you
have any comments or suggestions.
Stephen Carter
Editorial director
[email protected]
iGaming Business Market Monitor • February 2019
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