igamingbusiness . com
Questions ? Comments ? Email stephen . carter @ clariongaming . com
3
Editor ’ s Letter
Continental shift
When Sweden announced it was regulating the market starting from January 2019 , it was clear to the big operators that moving into the white market would be less profitable than remaining outside of it . But many assumed there would be a trade-off in terms of legitimacy and that ultimately it was the only choice in an environment where the government had made clear a high channelisation rate was a key priority .
However , even before Covid-19 struck , there were signs the market wasn ’ t working as it should and the knee-jerk political reaction to the pandemic has made things worse .
Given the addition of deposit limits and the misguided idea of a central state-run portal to enforce these , it ’ s unsurprising that all evidence points to a growing shift of players from the regulated market to the unregulated market .
The end result is that smaller operators are increasingly choosing to target Swedish players without gaining a licence , while bigger operators are questioning whether they ’ ve made the right choice in opting for the licensed regime . Analysts suggest this could lead to a sizeable shift away from the regulated market in the next five years , which if true , would represent a massive failure for Sweden ’ s licensing system .
Further south in Europe , similar debates are taking place in Portugal , where the latest data suggests more and more players are also moving outside the licensed system . Here , as with Sweden , politicians seem intent on using assumptions about a rise in igaming due to the pandemic to justify further clampdowns on operators , despite contradictory evidence .
There is more optimistic news from Denmark , however , where an analysis of the data from the beginning of the regulated market in 2012 until last year clearly demonstrates that the addition of online can add to a market ’ s overall size rather than simply shifting play between channels .
“ Even before Covid-19 struck , there were signs the market wasn ’ t working as it should and the knee-jerk political reaction to the pandemic has made things worse ”
Stephen Carter Editorial director , iGB