Editors Letter
Editor’s letter
W
hile the industry continues to jockey
for position Stateside following the US
Supreme Court’s momentous lifting of
the US sports betting ban, away from the industry
spotlight the regulated markets across the pond have
continued to grow.
In the markets covered in this report, Spain saw a
16.5% year-on-year growth rate in the first three months of 2018, Denmark
nearly 29%. The UK, while down on the 20% growth seen in previous years,
is still growing at between 8-10% a year.
As Scott Longley points out, these are healthy numbers and with Spain
having lowered the tax on most products from 25% to 20% and with
Sweden applying an 18% tax rate when the market opens in January 2019,
“the sector would appear to be winning the argument with regard to the
equilibrium to be struck between the government coffers and the rate of
channelisation achieved in any given market. “
That said, a growing sector fuelled by marketing and ad spend
inevitably not only draws the attention of target customers but also
legislators and activists.
While in Denmark this shift has led to measures being introduced aimed
at exerting stronger controls over bonusing, in the UK this has ultimately
seen the remote gaming tax head in the opposite direction
and in Italy a blanket ban on gambling advertising introduced by the
populist government.
The lesson for the wider industry is that with responsible gaming issues
now moving the political and public agenda across Europe, the freedom to
advertise the industry currently enjoys needs to be wielded sensibly and
viewed through a far wider prism than the metric of new player sign-ups.
Stephen Carter
Editorial director, Clarion Gaming
iGaming Business Market Monitor • UK, Spain and Denmark • September 2018
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