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Market Monitor Executive summary
Executive summary
WELCOME
TWIN REVIEWS LOOM LARGE IN THE UK
The market once deemed as the poster child for free online gambling markets has taken on a different hue in the past couple of years . A vociferous anti-gambling lobby has pushed various issues around online play to the top of the political agenda , forcing both the UK Gambling Commission and the government to announce significant consultations and reviews .
Of most immediate concern is the potential for the Commission to introduce spending caps while measures to restrict stakes , speed of play and the advertising and marketing of online gaming are all up for discussion . And all of this is set against a mixed picture of gambling during the pandemic . While fears over an increase in problem gambling during lockdown failed to materialise , the industry cannot rely on arguments about evidence-based policy when the narrative is running so fiercely against level-headed decision-making . The fluctuations in the fortunes of betting and gaming during the lockdown make visibility over revenues tough but on balance it looks like the market is still growing – just . Whether that remains the case might be in the hands of the regulator and the government .
Even in the best-case scenarios , the sector will emerge from the twin reviews in a very different state to the beginning of 2020 . Whether or not the transformation is truly damaging to the future of the sector will depend on how good the industry is at stating its case in the consultations . It is fair to say that on past performance , the chances of a decent outcome are slim .
ANOTHER DELAY IN THE NETHERLANDS
In January the Dutch gambling authority announced a further one-month delay to the legislation for the new online gambling market coming into force . The new April date necessarily means the market opening has also been pushed back a month to October , though this will hardly change the plans of any operators looking to enter the field . How competitive the market will be at launch is open to debate .
The 32-month cooling-off period that applies to operators that have previously been active in the grey market means the Netherlands will see a staggered rollout of marketing and advertising , a possibility that is raising concerns over the reaction of the wider public to the blitz . Lessons with regard to an adverse consumer reaction to gambling advertising have had to be learnt and relearnt across Europe – whether the Netherlands follows the same pattern of relaxation followed by a subsequent tightening will be informative . iGB Market Monitor