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CasinoWings was launched in 2015 with a vision to create a transparent and informative site with the aim of contributing to a simple and fair gambling industry.
In July 2020 the Swedish online gambling market underwent major changes as authorities imposed additional restrictions on licensees aimed at protecting players from the perceived greater risks of problem gambling during the pandemic.
These included setting a SEK5,000 monthly deposit limit for online casino and capping the amount of any bonus site can offer at SEK100. Earlier this month, these temporary controls were extended yet again, to November 2021.
Such limits, on top of those introduced upon the re-regulation of the market in 2019, were designed with responsible gambling in mind.
However, they are now having the opposite effect to that intended, by driving players to seek out the gambling experience they want from non-Swedish licensed sites, which often offer fewer player protections.
The rise in the appeal of the black market to Swedish consumers has been reflected in the rise in search volumes for terms such as “casino without Swedish licence”, with research now showing the channelisation of players within the regulated regime as lagging well behind the 90% rate targeted by the Swedish government in 2019.
A compounding factor also not always considered here is the impact of affiliates choosing to promote offshore brands over their regulated counterparts.
The Gambling Act, which restricted bonuses to one introductory incentive per player, led to many affiliates turning their attention to new markets or disappearing completely.
And as the online casino restrictions introduced under Covid-19 continue to squeeze the profits to be made from Swedish licensed sites, more affiliate businesses are opting to partner with offshore casinos.
Major brands like Cherry AB and Svenska Spel have also decreased marketing spending by about half, leading to reduced funds for their affiliate programmes.
Affiliate clampdown ahead? Affiliate sites that feature operators that are unlicensed in Sweden are also at risk of running into legal trouble if the government begins to clamp down on how these sites are advertised.
Performance marketers may have to adapt as they did before, distancing themselves from unlicensed sites and using paid advertising to bring in more site traffic.
Affiliates always need to be prepared to change strategy in the face of new regulations, but traffic drivers will always be the most important area to focus on.
Driving out offshore sites If the Swedish government wants to get serious about tackling problem gambling, they need to start educating gamblers as well as implementing restrictions. According to a recent survey by Swedish regulator Spelinspektionen, 95% of Swedish gamblers don’t even know how to check whether an operator has a licence.
Restrictions are also very difficult to implement against offshore sites, as the full Swedish law doesn’t apply to them. However, the government could work with internet service providers to potentially limit internet access to these sites. While this may seem an extreme measure, it could be enacted against websites deemed by authorities to be potentially harmful to players.
The Swedish government could also look to work with affiliates to help make offshore sites less appealing.
They could do this by ensuring affiliates only promote sites that are licensed in Sweden and educate players on the importance of transacting with sites that hold a Swedish gambling licence.
These measures could help make offshore sites less appealing to Swedish players and achieve far better results in terms of channelising players to regulated offerings than simply applying more restrictions.
So while further regulation may seem like a bad thing at this time, it could have the effect of helping to make the Swedish online gambling market safer and more respectable to players.
The maps indicate the areas that have a higher take up of gambling treatment and support, as well as the regions where there is a greater reported demand for, or awareness of, such services.
In areas where there is a reportedly higher reported demand for gambling treatment, the charity encouraged local authorities to do more to promote the existing help available through the National Gambling Treatment Service.
GambleAware noted that the maps are based on a single set of data and cannot provide an exact result, and as such advised local authorities to use the maps in conjunction with local data and information relevant to gambling harm.
“We want to assist local authorities and services in delivering the best possible treatment and support for gambling harms in their area,” GambleAware’s research, information and knowledge director Alison Clare said.
“These new interactive maps can be used to identify shortfalls between treatment and support services and prevalence of gambling participation and harms, which can be used to inform local responses.
“The existing support available through the National Gambling Treatment Service can be used to help address these shortfalls.”
The launch of the maps comes after GambleAware’s annual treatment and support survey produced a nationally representative overview of reported demand and usage of treatment and support.
Published in March, the GB Treatment & Support survey suggested a rise in the percentage of problem gamblers seeking treatment. Data from the survey was used to help create the new maps.
The survey classed 2.4% of adults as ‘problem gamblers’, defined as “gamblers who gamble with negative consequences and a possible loss of control,” a similar figure to the first edition of the survey. It also found that more of these gambler had sought help than in the previous edition.
Signed in April by Arizona Governor Doug Ducey, House Bill 2772 formalized an amended compact that set out measures allowing consumers to bet on sports at tribal casinos and sites owned by major league sports teams in Arizona.
An existing tribal-state gaming compact was due to expire in the next few years, with Ducey saying at the time of the signing that the amended agreement would “modernize” gambling in the state.
Shortly after the signing, the Arizona Department of Gaming (ADG) began drafting rulesfor the launch of fantasy competitions and sports wagering in the state, though the bill still required final approval from the DoI.
With the DoI having given the green light to the bill, this now clears the way for the roll out of legal sports betting in Arizona.
Stephen joined GiG in 2019 as Director of Data, he has over nine years of experience of working within data, specialising in building warehouses, using managed services and Big Data and AI. He is a certified AWS solutions architect and throughout his career Stephen has worked closely with brand operations, affiliates, poker managers, casino and sports and CRM managers working with the likes of NetRefer, 3BetGaming, Betsson AB and Cerberus Technology.
As regulations related to player protection become more and more stringent, operators are increasingly finding they are being required to provide real-time insights to meet the requirements of regulators.
To help them meet this demand, GiG’s real-time data platform has recently incorporated responsible gambling features that allow operators to better predict and act on problem gambling.
With GiG’s new player safety services, if a user demonstrates patterns of problem gambling, the platform will notify an operator immediately.
To do this the data platform relies heavily on machine learning, explains GiG’s director of data Stephen Borg. “Machine learning on top of a streaming foundation is what enables predictability when it matters. Rather than using information that is stale, we wanted to provide insights when it matters the most. It’s no use knowing that a customer is displaying signs of problem gambling a day after the event has already taken place.”
The specific actions taken will depend on the situation and the partner’s individual approach. For example, the operator may opt to send an automated communication to users or take some other action, depending on their processes and the requirements of the regulators. “You want to ensure that you are providing technology that offers options aligned to where your company wants to be,” says Borg.
In the short term, the platform helps customers feel supported and allows operators to maintain a customer-centric approach; in the long term, it helps operators avoid penalties and in the worst case, potential licence suspensions.
“When you have a data platform with a strong foundation, it is possible to continue innovating and adding features to support our partners’ challenges.” Borg continues.
The player safety features sits on top of a governance framework within the data platform supported with rich documentation, a glossary of key performance indicators together with assurance of data integrity and consistency. Essentially, he says, real-time data cannot be managed effectively without a proper system of governance in place. The platform helps operators develop well thought-out policies and procedures based on the real-time insights they receive.
“One of the challenges that we wanted to overcome with real-time data is around governance. We want to help partners be proactive through valuable insights. We aim to help them work out exactly how to use real-time data,” says Borg.
Access all areas
One of the challenges of some software solutions is that they are not widely accessible, however Borg says the overarching aim of GiG’s real-time data platform was to make a single product that could be used across an entire organisation.
“Rather than going into multiple systems, we wanted to create a single portal where both tech and non-tech people can access data in a simple way,” says Borg.
Because the insights are accessible to different team members, there is more scope for shared understanding of the data within an operator’s business.
To design this accessible experience, GiG carried out research internally at first, before moving on to multiple focus groups. These groups provided insights on what people in different roles wanted to get out of real-time data technology.
“It isn’t a case of one-size-fits-all, but rather, we had a screen for everyone – executives, finance, acquisition and retention professionals, marketing – and worked to create an engaging exercise that helps to align the features with their different objectives.”
Borg highlighted the internal mechanics driving the data platform and the importance of having a shared mindset. This sense of a strong company culture and shared vision enabled GiG to establish defined goals and work towards them with clarity of intention.
“It was very important that the entire team had the same mindset and understood what we were trying to build – the objectives and the strategy of what we’re trying to achieve,” Borg elaborates.
The investment of research and training was key for the project’s success. Raising awareness and having a strong team of data experts paved the way for delivering a product tailored to the iGaming markets needs. Ultimately company culture and having a team with the right mindset was the key pillar of success for the data platform, as it is for any new product.
Focus on flexibility
Another key area of focus for the data platform’s design was flexibility. The platform has been built with a flexible approach so that it can be tailored to operators specific data needs.
“If the implementation of new technology takes too long and is too complex, it can hinder an operator’s entire strategy. We set out a clear roadmap with our partners so we know what they want to get out of their data platform and when they want to get it,” says Borg.
“We do provide transactional data to our partners, but they might also have proprietary analytics which they want to keep in-house, and this is possible via the platform. It is also flexible enough to allow partners to pull out data sets they may have from other businesses and join these together to measure the success of their brand.”
While the most recent addition to the platform may have been responsible gambling, player safety is just one of the features GiG plans to have incorporated into the platform going forward. Looking to the future, Borg reveals that GiG plans to expand its features with a focus on AML, and to continue building on the sustainability area of the product.
“It’s important for us to help our partners succeed with our technology. Predictability is essential on the data front, and equally in what we can provide to our partners. We believe in the technology and our priority is working to meet all of our partners’ data needs.”
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The growth of igaming has been turbocharged by the Covid-19 pandemic. The performance of igaming in states such as Pennsylvania and New Jersey has proved to be a lifeline to these states and the operators, providing some revenue while land-based casinos have been closed or severely restricted in their operations.
The recent addition of Michigan, where tribes are engaged in igaming, has also brought to the fore the often-voiced concern, especially notable among tribal casino operators, that online has the potential to negatively impact brick-and-mortar revenue.
Paul Girvan
Given the reliance of tribes on land-based gaming revenue to fund for many of the tribal programs that have done so much to improve the lot of tribal communities this is understandable. But what does the early evidence from these states say about this concern?
Much of the data in this report has been widely reported and is not “breaking news”. We are, however, looking at this data through a wider lens, and in doing so we attempt to highlight the inherent implications for states and commercial and tribal casino operators.
Pennsylvania:
The two charts below present data on gross gaming revenue for online and land-based casinos in Pennsylvania. Prior to the pandemic, online gaming had been undergoing a slow but steady growth reaching a high of $32m – or 10.5% of total gaming revenue – in January 2020.
With land-based casinos closed in April, online gaming revenue shot up to over $60m in May. Thereafter land-based casinos reopened, albeit with severe restrictions and limitations on operations.
Between July and October land-based revenue recovered, but under operating restrictions averaged only 81% of the same period in 2019. At the same time igaming revenue doubled from its pre-pandemic high to an average of more than $61m between July to September 2020, accounting for 21% of total gaming revenues.
With intensified operating restrictions imposed in December, land-based revenue collapsed to little more than $60m. iGaming revenue increased to $90m in October 2020, increasing further to $115m by December.
The first quarter of 2021 saw land-based revenue rebound as Covid-19 restrictions were eased. By March 2021, they were at 97% of their February 2020 (pre-pandemic) numbers, even with some Covid-19 measures still in place. Online revenue increased more than fivefold over the same period, exceeding $123m in March 2021.
As a result, total gaming revenue exceeded February 2020 by over 30%, even with some restrictions still in place. By March of 2021, online revenue accounted for over 30% of the state’s total, up from 10% or less pre pandemic.
Taxes
Taxes to the state of Pennsylvania follow a similar pattern given similar tax rates in both sectors. In March 2021, 32% of taxes realised by the state were from online gaming, with all that increase attributable to online gaming.
New Jersey:
Revenue
New Jersey’s land-based gaming revenue rebounded after the shutdown of April, May and June of 2020, even with Covid-19 restrictions in place. This continued through October 2020. The winter months of November through February saw a decline but not markedly less than is typical, before an increase was recorded in March this year.
Online revenue, which had hovered around 20% of the state’s total prior to the Covid-19 lockdown ,increased dramatically during the April-June lockdown, rising from an average of $53m per month in January and February, to $84m when brick-and-mortar gaming was shuttered – a 56% increase.
As land-based casinos reopened, online gaming revenue continued to increase, achieving an average monthly total of more than $95m in the period July 2020 to March this year. Online, which had accounted for approximately 20% of total gaming revenue prior to lockdown, is now hovering between 38% and 40% of New Jersey’s total.
Taxes
Taxes have followed a similar pattern, but because online tax rates are greater than those for land-based, igaming now contributes more tax revenue to New Jersey than the brick-and-mortar industry.
8% Landbased Gaming Tax
15% Internet Tax
8.5% Retail Sports Book Tax
13% Internet Sports Betting Tax
Prior to lockdown, online casinos accounted for approximately 30% of total gaming taxes. Over the last six months, these offerings have contributed on average over 50% of the state’s gaming tax take.
Add mobile sports betting, and the online sector has grown to account for over 60% of New Jersey gaming taxes.
The following table presents the relative contribution of each segment of the gaming industry to gaming taxes in New Jersey. It is notable for those looking at the recent wave of sports betting legalisation across the US that retail sports betting is a very minor generator of taxes compared to online sportsbooks.
Retail betting contributes less than 1% of total gaming taxes, compared to between 10% and 12% for online wagering.
Michigan:
Michigan launched online gaming in late January 2021. By March, total online GGR increased to $88.7m, with 42% of that originating from tribal operators concentrated primarily in the northern tier of the state.
Tribal revenue started slower, but since January has begun to close the gap with the three commercial casinos in Detroit, even with most of the larger downstate tribal casinos still to launch their online offerings.
Tribal land-based gaming revenue is not published, so the focus is on the Detroit casinos when it comes to the relationship between land-based and online.
As chart below shows, online has increased over the last three months even at a time when Detroit’s three casinos have seen revenue tick upwards.
Of the Detroit casinos, MGM Grand is the clear leader, followed by MotorCity, with Greektown a distant third.
Looking exclusively at online tribal performance, Bay Mills (and its partner DraftKings) is the clear leader of the pack in the first quarter of the year.
Michigan Active Online Gaming Ventures
Casino
Partner
Live Date
MGM Detroit
BetMGM
22-Jan
MotorCity
FanDuel
22-Jan
Greektown
Barstool
1-Feb
Bay Mills
DraftKings
22-Jan
Grand Traverse Band
William Hill
22-Jan
Hannahville
TwinSpires
22-Jan
Keweenaw Bay
Golden Nugget
22-Jan
Little River Band
BetRivers
22-Jan
Little Traverse Bay
PokerStars
29-Jan
Four Winds
Four Winds
15-Feb
Sault Ste. Marie
Wynn
22-Jan
Conclusions
While the online gaming markets are still developing, especially so in the case of Michigan, some early conclusions can be reached.
Online gaming can provide a significant source of gaming revenue for operators, and significantly, for states in terms of taxes.
Retail sports betting is not a significant source of revenue either for the operator or for the state. What retail sports betting does is it “activates” the casino floor, bringing people to the casino that otherwise may not have visited. It is likely that a casino would see more revenue from casino play from these sports betting customers than it does from actual sports betting. Therefore in-person sportsbooks are more akin to a casino amenity than a major generator of revenue.
Online sports betting generates substantially more revenue for both the operator and the state. In the case of New Jersey, online generates at least 16 times more tax revenue than retail wagering. This is partly due to the higher tax rate that can be sustained by online sports betting versus retail, but also to the volume of revenue.
These early numbers strongly suggests that online gaming, at least at the macro level of a state, does not negatively impact on land-based gaming revenue. In fact, the limited evidence available suggests that land-based revenue continue to grow with the advent of online gaming.
For operators of land-based casinos the implications are clear:
Brick-and-mortar revenue appears to be largely unaffected negatively by online gaming.
Programs and promotions that help to encourage online players (both casino and sports betting) to visit land-based casinos are of immense value. These will help grow land-based revenue, and will likely determine the future success of properties, by converting online customers into in-person players. The world will continue its relentless march towards digital interactions and land-based operators must adapt to remain relevant.
While retail sports betting is a viable and valued casino “amenity” it is not a major revenue stream. Online sports betting, on the other hand, is.
Online gaming offers operators a hedge against major market disruptions such as Covid-19.
For states looking to replenish tax coffers after the Covid-19 pandemic online gaming is a viable and additive source of tax revenue that will not negatively impact land-based tax receipts – this applies equally to online sports betting. The recent rush to legalise retail sports betting, while providing a welcome additional amenity to existing casinos, is not likely to generate significant tax revenue.
Paul Girvan is chief executive of PKC Gaming & Leisure Consultancy. He has been involved in the US gaming industry since its development beyond Atlantic City and Las Vegas, conducting project-specific and statewide analyses for governments, tribes and commercial casino operators. Girvan has conducted numerous nationwide and state level analyses on igaming and its legislative development. He is also the author of the ICE 365 Tribal Gaming Report.
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