Greek gaming operator OPAP has confirmed it will appeal a decision by the Greek Council of State to revoke its online sports betting license.
Athens-based OPAP, the Greek Organization of Football Prognostics S.A., for many years was a state-owned gaming monopoly. A private company since 2013, OPAP holds the exclusive rights to organize and manage lotteries and sports betting in Greece.
In 2014, the Hellenic Gaming Commission’s (EEEP) gave OPAP the green light to launch Pame Stoixima, its online sports betting brand. But earlier this month, the court upheld Austrian operator Goalbet’s appeal of the decision. Goalbet—one of two dozen operators granted temporary licenses in 2011 that were later revoked—said OPAP never met the conditions necessary for a Greek online sports betting license. The court agreed and said OPAP must start over, following the country’s licensing conditions.
According to iGamingBusiness.com, the loss of the license should not have a major impact on the operator’s sports betting revenue, which is dominated by retail betting. For the six months to June 30, sports betting revenue was down 5.2 percent at €191.9 million (US$210 million), with Pame Stoixima’s contribution flat year-on-year.
An OPAP spokesperson said the ruling “does not affect any land-based and retail offering of OPAP’s sports betting and lottery games, nor its online lottery games offering. The contribution of online sports betting for OPAP is very low, standing at low to mid-single digit million euros of GGR as an absolute amount or less than 1 percent of total OPAP’s GGR.”
