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May was second-best month ever for US commercial gaming

The American Gaming Association (AGA) has reported that US commercial gaming revenue came to $5.03bn (£4.25bn/€5.02bn) in May, the second highest month in industry history.

This was a rise of 7.9% from May 2021, in the earlier stages of recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic.

Slots continued to generate the most gross gaming revenue (GGR) overall, at $2.94bn, down just 0.1% year-on-year.

GGR from table games amounted to $873.9m, a rise of 10.5% year-on-year, while sports betting revenue came to $487.5m- up significantly by 78.2%.

Online gaming revenue also grew, by 30.9% to $406.4m.

For the year to date, total GGR is $24.39bn, up 20.6% from the same period in 2021.

Slots revenue for the year so far increased by 11% to $14.08bn and table games revenue grew by 38.2% to $4.05bn.

Sports betting revenue for the year to date jumped by 73.5% to $2.64bn. Online gaming GGR also grew significantly to $2.03bn, up by 45.6%.

The AGA also noted that March, April and May have been the three mos..

July 12, 2022

California Democrats endorse “no” vote on online betting measure

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The California Democratic Party has recommended that those in the state vote against a proposal that would legalise online betting.

The party – which dominates California elections, having controlled both houses of the state legislature since 1996 – announced its official list of endorsements for ballot measures that will appear in the 2022 November election.

That election will include two ballot measures related to sports betting. Tribe-backed Proposition 26, titled the California Legalize Sports Betting on American Lands Initiative. would allow for retail sports betting only on tribal lands.

Read the full story on iGB North America

July 11, 2022

Dutch minister defends Curaçao reform timeline

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Dutch Minister for Legal Protection Franc Weerwind has defended the timeline towards reform of Curaçao’s gambling system, noting the progress the island is making towards implementing the reforms demanded by the Dutch government.

Although the island’s Council of Ministers recently approved new gambling legislation that would drastically overhaul gambling from Curaçao – by replacing the master licence system with a new licensing authority – Weerwind still faced questions on illegal gambling from Curaçao.

The new rules are expected to raise the bar to entry, potentially forcing some operators out of the market, though Finance Minister Javier Silvania said that operators who cannot meet the new standards would not be a great loss.

The questions came just over six months after his predecessor Sander Dekker faced similar questions about the steps the Netherlands was taking to deal with the sector.

In response, Weerwind said that the Dutch government was already working to pressure Curaç..

June 23, 2022

Kyrgyz parliament votes to legalise casinos and igaming for foreigners

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Kyrgyzstan’s legislature has voted to re-legalise land-based gambling and launch online casino for the first time, though all offerings will only be available to foreign players.

The bill “On Gambling in the Kyrgyz Republic” – passed on its third reading – would legalise a wide range of forms of gambling. As well as casinos, slot halls and retail bookmakers – which had all been legal in the past before casinos were banned in 2012 and the latter two banned in 2015 – online casino games will also be legal.

However, all gambling will only be available to foreign players.

Land-based casinos must only be set up in restaurants or hotel complexes. The restaurant must have at least 100 seats, and the hotel must have at least 20 rooms. Slot halls, meanwhile, must be separate rooms or buildings from any other type of business activity.

Casinos located in the Kyrgyz capital of Bishkek must have at least 10 gaming tables, while those elsewhere must have at least five. Slot halls must contain a..

June 20, 2022

Italy stems flow of year-to-year drops in igaming GGR

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Italian igaming revenue rose year-on-year in April for the first time since November 2021. However, this figure was down month-on-month.

Italy’s igaming market revenue declined slightly month-on-month, at €292.2m in April compared to March’s €302.4m. This meant that revenue was up year-on-year for the first time in six months, after revenue came to €288.1m in April 2021.

This decline has been mostly driven by a 6.7% fall in online sports betting, with revenue now sitting at €118.9m: its lowest level since October 2021. This was still above the €103.6m recorded in April 2021, however.

Though online casino revenue remained stable, there were some interesting movements between operators within the market.

The biggest four online casino operators by GGR all lost ground to their competitors, Sisal and Snai being the worst affected as they drop to 8.5% and 8.3% market shares respectively, while Pokerstars’ share declined to 8.8% and Lottomatica 7.3%.

In contrast, on the online sports b..

June 17, 2022

Low betting margins continue to hinder Spanish industry in Q1

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Gambling revenue in Spain was down year-on-year again in Q1 of 2022, due to continued anaemic sports betting margins.

According to data from regulator the Dirección General de Ordenación del Juego (DGOJ), gross gaming revenue was down by 14.8% to €204.4m. However this marked a 16.3% quarter-on-quarter increase.

Revenue fell despite an increase in stakes, which grew 5.3% year-on-year to €7.41bn, a new record high. Deposits, meanwhile, grew by 4.3% year-on-year – or 7.1% quarter-on quarter – to €769.8m.
A similar trend emerged in 2021, when revenue was down despite a significant increase in stakes.

Breaking down revenue by vertical, sports betting revenue continued to be low at €65.2m, a 40.9% fall from Q1 2021, but up 49.1% from Q4 of that year.

Sports betting stakes remained high at €3.06bn, up 10.6% year-on-year, as it had done in H2 2021. This suggests a sports betting margin of just 2.1%. Margins were low across all sports, but lowest in horse racing at 1.4%.

House-banked casi..

June 15, 2022

Early takeaways from Ontario igaming

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With the first regulated igaming market to open to non-monopoly operators launching in a province with nearly 40% of the Canadian population, Ontario was always going to be an enticing prospect. Geoffrey Smorong provides analysis of the opening two months for iGB Affiliate.

On 4 April, the first Canadian province went live with a regulated igaming market for private operators, as Ontario officially opened its door to non-government operated online casinos and sportsbooks.

Ontario boasts a population of nearly 15 million, making it one of the largest new North American markets for regulated online gaming. The Ontario iGaming market will likely be a sizable one financially, as it’s expected to generate gross revenues of CA$989m by the end of this year and CA$1.86bn by 2026, according to VIXIO.

A couple of months have now passed, making this an ideal time to assess how the launch of the expanded igaming market in Ontario has gone so far.

Early engagement

The Ontario igaming marke..

June 14, 2022

Rhodes reveals Gambling Commission plans to “ramp up” enforcement

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Gambling Commission chief executive officer, Andrew Rhodes says the regulator will escalate penalties for failings, adopt more “prescriptive” approach to customer interaction and “ramp up” enforcement if industry continues to fail to live up to the Commission’s standards.

Rhodes made the remarks at the Westminster Media Forum Regulation Conference, where he spoke on the current state of the landscape in the industry ahead of the release of the Gambling Act review white paper. Rhodes hinted that the contents of the white paper should not necessarily be a surprise to anyone paying attention to the GC’s public comments.

“On behalf of the Gambling Commission, without waiting for what the white paper may bring, I can give you an overview on what we think needs to happen to make gambling in Great Britain as fair and safe as it can be, and what our next steps are to achieving that,” said Rhodes.

However, the regulator also said again that the regulator will not wait for the review to chan..

May 16, 2022

Minnesota tribal sports betting bill passed by House

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A bill that would allow online sports betting to be governed by Minnesota’s 11 federally recognised Native American tribes has been passed by the state’s House.

House Bill 778 was passed after its third reading on May 12, following an amendment. It was first introduced on February 4 2021, initially allowing both tribal and commercial betting.

It was adopted by the Committee for Finance and Policy in March this year, along with House Bill 167, which initially focused on sentencing hearings. Both bills were amended to permit sports betting to be operated by the state’s tribes.

Read the full story on iGB North America.

May 11, 2022

GiG: Media rules supreme, but platform potential grows

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Another record peak for Gaming Innovation Group’s (GiG) media division was the highlight of the supplier’s first quarter results, but the platform arm is poised for a potentially transformational year.

Gaming Innovation Group reported revenue of €19.1m for the three months to 31 March, representing its second consecutive record-breaking quarter.

Key to this was the ongoing performance of its media arm, which reported a 40.0% year-on-year jump in revenue to €14.1m for the first quarter of the year. The affiliate business, chief executive Richard Brown explains, took a massive leap forward with player intake hitting a record 69,800 for Q1, and intake from its paid campaigns up 160% year-over-year.

“We’ve been launching quietly in a number of markets,” he explains. “Over 12 to 18 months, we launch, analyse and optimise. Once we’ve managed to ascertain the optimum return on investment we ramp up marketing spend.”

Richard Brown, GiG CEO

While there has been a marginal decline in pla..

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