Illegal Greece Bigger than the Licensed One

Mon, Jun 16, 2014

Licensed gambling in Greece is down 35 percent the last five years, and may now be smaller than the unregulated market, says the country’s top regulator. He estimates the legal market generated about €5.5 billion in turnover last year. Unlicensed machine games and online gambling generated around €6 billion, possibly more.

The head of the Hellenic Gaming Commission says revenues generated by illegal gambling in Greece are probably greater than those in the licensed sector.

Evgenios Giannakopoulos explains this by pointing to a dramatic decline in turnover in the legal market over the last five years, from €8.7 billion in 2009 to €5.5 billion in 2013, a drop-off of 35 percent.

Gross profits likewise were down over the same period, from €2.5 billion in 2009 to €1.5 billion.

At the same time, he estimates there are between 60,000 and 100,000 gaming machines operating at unlicensed locations and generating turnover he estimates at €4 billion-€5 billion, with gross profits around €1.5 billion. Unregulated online gambling contributes another estimated €1 billion in turnover, he said.

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