Executive summary
Executive summary
This edition of Market Monitor looks at three markets in varying stages
of their regulatory journeys – UK online bingo, Sweden and Germany.
A mixed picture for online bingo in the
UK suppliers is the relatively lacklustre revenues being
The UK’s online bingo market is one market where commercial sector. While the ex-monopolies
regulatory and tax decisions have clearly had an will likely be happy with their current market
impact in recent years. Yet it is also a market that dominance, the statements from the various listed
shows how any specific jolt can affect operators to entities engaged in the Swedish market once again
different degrees. paint a mixed picture. Already we’ve seen some
The statistics from the Gambling Commission
generated, particularly by the now-regulated
notable warnings from chief executives about the
tell only a partial story and the figures provided by authorities potentially stifling the market at early in
the leaders of the market suggest that the varying its development, which runs counter to their stated
approaches taken in product and marketing are aim of maximum channelisation.
offering a nuanced picture.
In fact, the tale of online bingo in the UK shows
An uneasy wait in Germany
that it is often the actions of the authorities that While Germany might not be exactly at the
help define the winners and losers in any sector. opposite end of the regulatory scale, it certainly
The most recent M&A from the sector – JPJ’s sale
sits uneasily somewhere between regulated and
of Mandalay to 888 and Rank’s Stride Gaming deal unregulated. It remains unclear if, when and how
– also suggests the market is still in the process the country might move to a clearer status.
of forming, or perhaps reforming. As with other
What appears to be true, however, is that the
online gambling markets, most of the available current status quo must come to an end within
information comes from the top end of the market. the next two years after the various state ministers
This suggests that while online bingo remains agreed in March to move towards ratifying a new
healthy, there is likely to be more consolidation to interstate Treaty.
come as some of the smaller players struggle to
maintain a sustainable foothold.
However, this left a lot of the major decisions
– such as which products to regulate and under
what conditions – open for more debate. Some
Sweden gets off to a slow start are hopeful, notably politicians in Schleswig-
A similar theme is coming from some quarters Holstein and some legal experts, who have
in Sweden, where the new market has had posited that the market could be fully regulated,
anything but a seamless transition from grey to with gaming included alongside sports betting,
regulated. Warnings and fines by the regulator by mid-2021.
with regard to marketing activities, in particular the
This would bring an end to one of the longest
controversial new-customer-only bonus rule, have sagas in European gaming regulation history
been accompanied by worries being expressed by and would be good news for some of the major
politicians over the amount of marketing evident in operators, including GVC and Bet-at-home, which,
the first three months. as this report shows, are still making hay while the
What has also clearly unnerved operators and
relatively unregulated sun shines.
iGaming Business Market Monitor • UK bingo market, Sweden and Germany • June 2019
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