Trade Groups: Nordic Gambling Monopolies Won’t Last
Sweden and Denmark’s gambling trade body chiefs Gustaf Hoffstedt (BOS) and Morten Ronde (Spillebranchen) expect the gambling monopoly model, seen in Sweden, Denmark, Finland and Norway, will be eradicated in the next few years and monopoly operators will be sold to the private sector.
Both Hoffstedt and Ronde agree there is no place for a state gambling monopoly in the commercial gambling sector, as the government’s role causes major conflicts of interest.
In Denmark and Sweden, the Danske Spil and Sveska Spel monopolies have exclusivity over lottery and horse racing betting. The two do offer commercial products within their market, although in both instances the respective government still owns a majority stake in these operators.
“I don’t see why the [the state] has any role in a completely open competitive market,” Ronde told iGB. “I think it has just become a money grab and even the ministries of finance around Europe know there’s going to be an end to this model, but they’re going to milk it as long as they can.”
FDJ Completes $2.7 Billion Kindred Group Acquisition
French monopoly group La Française des Jeux (FDJ) completed its $2.7 billion acquisition of Kindred Group on Oct. 2 once investors accepted the purchase offer. When FDJ first proposed the takeover in January it said the combined group would create a ‘European gaming champion’ and the second largest gambling operator in Europe.
By Oct. 2, 195,659,291 Kindred Swedish Depository Receipts (a financial instrument representing shares in a non-Swedish company) representing 90.66 percent of its capital, were tendered. FDJ separately acquired 2,400,000 SDRs directly from investor Veralda.
FDJ will remain the core of the business, with ‘France Monopoly’ comprising lottery and point-of-sale sports betting, making up 64 percent of operations.
Kindred’s B2C offering, its Relax Gaming arm and FDJ’s sports betting, poker and ZEturf business will comprise the “Competitive online betting and gaming” group making up 30 percent of the business.
DraftKings Exits U.K. Daily Fantasy Market
DraftKings closed its U.K. daily fantasy offering Oct. 4, in an effort to “optimise its business.” Users of the app received emails notifying them the product was being pulled from the market immediately.
A DraftKings spokesperson told iGB the decision was made as part of its ongoing efforts to optimize the business. “We are grateful to all our customers across Great Britain and are committed to ensuring a smooth transition,” the spokesperson said.
The product launched in 2016 under a pool-betting license granted by the U.K. Gambling Commission. A sponsorship deal with English Premier League football club Liverpool helped to promote its entry into the market.
Various other DFS companies, including Yahoo and FanDuel pulled out of the U.K. early on and today there are few big name DFS options left.
Irish Senators Push To Reintroduce Full Ban On Bonuses
Ireland’s Gambling Regulation Bill 2022 is inching closer to becoming law and has entered the second to last “report” phase, meaning the last amendments are being considered ahead of final comments and then being put before the President.
Bonuses played a key part in the senate’s last round of debate on Oct. 2, as two independent senators called for a full ban on bonuses to be enacted, returning the bill to its original wording.
The ban was amended in May after Deputy James Browne, the bill’s lead, said it was impossible to ban all forms of gambling bonuses. From then, rules allow for operators to provide free bets to all players, but without using a targeted approach.
Championing the change was Lynn Ruane, who said parts of the bill were “unbalanced” with respect to safeguarding players and insisted the onus should be on the operator and not the customer.
Browne said he ultimately could not support the amendment.
Netherlands Channelization Is Below KSA Estimates?
The Dutch regulator (KSA) believes the country has a 95 percent channelization rate, thanks in part to strict rules around advertising. However, data on player spend and revenue suggests the rate is at 87 percent, as players spend more when using illegal sites. Channelization rate relates to how big a share legal gambling has compared against the black market, within any jurisdiction.
Two new reports analyzing the size and scope of players and revenue in the gambling sector were released by the KSA on Oct. 10. The Autumn 2024 Monitoring Report takes a look into player behaviors and using estimates from Nielsen-owned market research company GfK and H2 Capital, claims the market’s current channelization rate is between 87 percent and 95 percent, well above the 80 percent target set in 2021.
One method for channelization considers H2 capital data on revenue and player spend across both legal and illegal sites. This downgrades the rate of channelization to 87 percent. This method considers that more money is typically wagered (and lost) on the black market than the legal market.
However, data tracking player visits to legal versus illegal gambling sites, provided by market research provider GfK, estimates the channelization rate is at 95 percent, based on the share of players who only visited legal gambling websites in the first half of 2024.
“This means that those who play illegally often spend more money. This keeps the Netherlands attractive to illegal parties, an undesirable situation,” KSA chairman Michel Groothuizen said of the data.
