Gaming – Page 2 – FairOdds Network

March 25, 2025

European gross gambling revenue tops €123.4 billion in 2024

Gross gambling revenue (GGR) in Europe hit €123.4 billion (£103.1 billion/$133.4 billion) in 2024, a 5% year-on-year increase, according to data from the European Gaming and Betting Association (EGBA) and H2 Gambling Capital.

Published yesterday (24 March), “European Gambling Market – Key Figures 2025 Edition” covers all European Union member states, plus the UK. It includes analysis of provisional data for both the online and land-based gambling markets during 2024.

Online drives gambling revenue growth

Growth was evident across online and land-based gambling activities, but the former saw the steepest increase in GGR. In total, provisional online GGR climbed 11.7% year-on-year to €47.9 billion, or 39% of total GGR for the year.

Gaming accounted for €24.6 billion of this figure, with €23.2 billion attributed to casino-type games, including slots. In total, online casino games drew 45% of all internet gambling GGR during 2024.

Online betting revenue topped €16.2 billion, of which..

March 25, 2025

Spain online gambling revenue hits record €1.45 billion in 2024

Online gross gambling revenue (GGR) in Spain increased by 17.6% year-on-year during 2024, driven by double-digit increases across both online casino and sports betting.

Total revenue for the 12 months to 31 December 2024 was €1.45 billion (£1.21 billion/$1.56 billion), a new record for Spain. This comfortably beats the €1.24 billion reported in online gross gambling revenue (GGR) during the previous year.

Data published yesterday (24 March), by regulator Dirección General de Ordenación del Juego (DGOJ), shows deposits for the year were 19.6% higher at €4.58 billion. Withdrawals were also up 19.7% to €3.15 billion as players won more while gambling online.

Online casino and sports betting records tumble in Spain

Breaking down each market segment, online casino was again the main source of revenue in Spain. Total GGR from this segment hit €730.7 million, up 17%, marking another new record for the country.

Slots generated the most revenue in this area at €472.2 million, up 22.8%. Liv..

March 24, 2025

iGaming Ontario reveals year-on-year growth in February

Online gambling spend and revenue in Ontario both increased year-on-year during February, according to new monthly statistics published by the Canadian province’s market regulator.

Previously, iGaming Ontario released online gambling data on a quarterly basis. However, as confirmed by the regulator in January, it has switched to monthly reports, with the February set published on 19 March.

In February, consumers spent a total of CA$7.13 billion (£3.84 billion/€4.56 billion/US$4.96 billion) on gambling. This is 26.9% higher than last year, with figures now available for each month of regulated igaming in Ontario. The province opened its legal market in April 2022.

Month-on-month, however, the February total was 9.1% behind January.

Online casino leads the way in Ontario

As for how players were gambling, $6.07 billion of all wagers were on casino-type games in February. This beat the previous year by 30.5% and represented 85% of all February bets.

On top of this, online sports bett..

March 21, 2025

State of the Union: MD governor wants betting tax increase, new AR bill, more

Welcome to iGB's State of the Union, a look at the biggest North American sports betting stories we've covered over the week and briefs on others we found interesting.

Mixed bag in Maryland

Maryland’s governor, Wes Moore, unveiled his latest budget proposal on Thursday (20 March) night and it’s not terribly favourable for the gambling industry. The proposal does not include any funding from online casino and does include a sports betting tax hike.

Moore previously floated the idea of doubling the tax rate on wagering from 15% to 30%. In his new proposal, he pitches a 20% tax rate, which is projected to bring in an additional $32 million (£24.6 million/€29.6 million) in tax revenue in FY 2026. The state is facing a $3 billion deficit.

If lawmakers follow through, Maryland would become the third state in two years to raise its betting tax. Ohio was the first when Governor Mike DeWine pushed through a bump from 10% to 20% in July 2023, six months after wagering went live. He..

March 21, 2025

Finland gambling reform bill enters parliament

Finland’s government has submitted a bill on its proposed new gambling framework to the country’s parliament, raising hopes of hitting online gambling trade body Rahapeliala Ry’s target of passing laws by mid summer.

Presented yesterday (20 March), the bill sets out a new-look gambling market for Finland. The main change in regulations would be opening up the country’s online gambling market to private operators, following in the footsteps of its Nordic peers Sweden and Denmark.

At present, Veikkaus holds a monopoly on online gambling, across lottery and online sports betting and casino games. Should the bill pass in its current form, this setup would stop by the end of 2026. Veikkaus will, however, keep exclusivity for lottery and scratchcards, as well as retail gaming machines and casino games.

Previous guidelines have said operators could apply for licences from 1 January 2026, when the new regulations officially come into effect. This would be with the view of the new-look mar..

March 20, 2025

Michigan sports betting revenue up in February despite lower handle

Gross online sports betting receipts in Michigan increased 50.8% year-on-year in February despite a reduction in player spending, while the state also reported growth within its igaming market.

Combined gross online casino and sports betting receipts in February totalled $268.5 million (£206.4 million/€246.0 million). This is 22.9% more than last year but 18.9% behind January in Michigan.

Figures published on 18 March by the Michigan Gaming Control Board also include adjusted totals for February. Total adjusted gross receipts – after promotional spending – across sports betting and igaming was $236.3 million, up 29.8% year-on-year but 17.9% less than January.

Mixed news for sports betting

Breaking down the data, sports betting gross receipts totalled $46 million, up from $30.5 million last year. Adjusted gross sports betting receipts were 110.9% more than the previous year at $27.2 million.

As for how much players spent, handle for the month was $379.8 million, some 31.6% less tha..

March 20, 2025

Betting and igaming drive OPAP to record revenue in 2024

Greek gambling group OPAP reported a record €2.3 billion (£1.93 billion/$2.5 billion) in gross gaming revenue (GGR) during its 2024 financial year, helped by growth within both its betting and igaming segments.

Revenue for the year ending 31 December 2024 surpassed the previous year, and existing record, by 10%. Data published by OPAP yesterday (19 March) also revealed a 9.4% uplift in net gaming revenue to €1.57 billion.

OPAP reported growth in four of its five core segments, including double-digit increases in betting and igaming revenue. Lottery, still the group’s primary source of revenue, and video lottery terminals (VLTs) also saw growth, but instant and passives revenue declined.

The online segment stole the show, posting a 29.2% increase in revenue for 2024. The division is now on track to surpass VLTs as OPAP’s third-largest revenue stream. However, there was also a lot to be said for sports betting, with revenue here up 15.6% year-on-year.

OPAP CEO Jan Karas highlighted t..

March 19, 2025

Sports betting decline hits Pennsylvania gambling revenue in February

Gambling revenue in Pennsylvania declined 4.4% year-on-year in February, with the state’s sports betting market slipping to its lowest monthly revenue total in three years.

Total commercial gaming revenue in Pennsylvania hit $477.3 million (£367.9 million/€437.6 million). This was short of $499.1 million in February last year and also 9.8% behind January 2025.

Sports betting operators struggle

Breaking down data published yesterday (18 March) by the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board, the standout figure is another drop in sports betting revenue. The sector has now seen revenue decline for three consecutive months, although February’s drop is perhaps the most striking.

Gross sports betting revenue was just $7.4 million, down 75.3% and the lowest since February 2022 when a $442,847 loss was recorded. Online wagering actually generated $10.4 million in revenue, but a $2.9 million loss from the retail market led to the overall figure being lower.

The decline came despite a 14.4% incre..

March 18, 2025

New Jersey: igaming draws most gambling revenue again in February

Igaming was once again the main source of gambling revenue in New Jersey during February, while overall market revenue in the Garden State increased 5.1% year-on-year.

Total monthly revenue reached $484.8 million (£373.5 million/€444 million). This beats February 2024 but was 12.5% behind January this year, the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement (NJDGE) reports.

Growth was apparent across two of the state’s three core markets, with both igaming and sports betting seeing increases. This was only partially offset by a drop in land-based casino revenue.

Igaming revenue rises 14% in New Jersey

Starting with the primary source of revenue, igaming, revenue increased 14% year-on-year to $207.8 million. This was only the third time that igaming drew the most gambling revenue in a single month in New Jersey.

Breaking this down, $205.4 million came from “other authorised games”, including slots, up 14% from last year. The other $2.4 million was attributed to peer-to-peer poker, a ris..

March 18, 2025

Dutch trade bodies urge more advertising opportunities in new gambling policy

The Licensed Dutch Online Gambling Providers (VNLOK) and Netherlands Online Gambling Association (NOGA) trade bodies have urged the government to allow for more opportunities for gambling advertising among licensed operators, as part of recommendations for new regulations.

Tomorrow (19 March), the government will host a round-table discussion on its proposals for new gambling policy. This will feature input from various stakeholders including a number of licensed operators, trade bodies and regulator Kansspelautoriteit (KSA).

Teun Struycken, minister for legal protection in the Netherlands, revealed in December that the government was working on new policy, with hopes of having a new gambling bill in place by the end of 2025.

In their submission, the industry trade bodies VNLOK and NOGA set out several key points for the government to consider before signing off on new laws. Much of these focus on protecting players from harm and on tackling unlicensed activity.

Advertising must r..

March 13, 2025

Man charged for illegal gambling operations in UK

A Stoke-on-Trent-based man in the UK has been arrested for running an unlicensed gambling operation between October 2023 and September 2024.

Haydon Simcock of Stoke-on-Trent was arrested by Staffordshire police in September following an investigation by the UK’s Gambling Commission.

The 39-year-old was charged with providing gambling facilities to consumers across the UK without a licence between 8 October 2023 and 11 September last year. Simcock was also charged with advertising betting offers between 26 May 2023 and 1 March 2024.

The UK regulator said it led the investigation into Simcock and worked with the Staffordshire police department on the case. Simcock will appear before Birmingham Magistrates’ Court on 24 March.

Racing Post interview

In February 2024, the Racing Post publication conducted an undercover interview with a Haydon Simcock who claimed to be working for an illegal horse racing bookmaker in the UK. “The Post Bookmakers” took players’ bets via WhatsApp.

He tol..

March 13, 2025

Majority of popular illegal sites use licensed platforms in Sweden, reports ATG

New Q4 research from Aktiebolaget Trav och Galopp (ATG) has suggested 17 out of 20 popular illegal gambling sites use the same platform providers as licensed operators.

Published yesterday (12 March), an ATG-led report covering illegal gambling activity during Q4 in Sweden reported online channelisation was between 69% and 82% during the period.

This is some way below the government’s long-term target of 90%, set in 2019, when the country opened its regulated online gambling market.

Q4 figures are only marginally better than the 70% and 82% range reported by ATG for Q3.

Unlicensed website traffic up tenfold since 2019

Setting out its findings for Q4, ATG said its data suggests traffic to unlicensed sites in Sweden has increased tenfold since regulation in 2019.

As was the case in Q3, channelisation for online casino was much lower than the rate for sports betting. ATG placed casino channelisation at between 59% and 74%, while sports betting was in a range of 79% to 88%.

The ope..

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Tag: Gaming