BtoBet: Europe focused sports betting report highlights strong online growth

BtoBet’s report delves into the data of the more established continental markets, and analyses the growth of the online channel.

Press release.- Leading sportsbook supplier BtoBet has published its latest Industry Report in the betting focus series, with the latest edition focusing on the highly mature European market.

At this start of the year and after the Qatar 2022 World Cup, sports betting is at the centre of the gambling industry. The Industry Report analyses the strong shift towards local regulatory frameworks that have characterised the European betting and gambling market as governments sought to regulate the online market and leverage tax revenue from an increasingly booming industry.

With operators continuing to face increasing burdens in relation to duties and taxes as more grey markets adopt local regulatory frameworks and tax increases in more established markets show no sign of slowing down, the report delves into the data of the more established continental markets, and analyses the growth of the online channel.

The report focuses particularly on the betting data of:

• The United Kingdom
• Denmark
• France
• Italy
• The Netherlands
• Portugal
• Poland, and
• Spain

According to the document, during the past decade, the European betting and gambling market has witnessed a strong shift towards local regulatory frameworks as governments sought to regulate the online market and leverage tax revenue from an increasingly booming industry.

Whilst unregulated and illegal activity has been largely harnessed, intensified regulatory pressure and enforcement relating to anti-money laundering, responsible gambling and social responsibility practises have increasingly raised more concerns from operators, with the continent now described as overly regulated with advertising crackdowns continuing to spread across many European markets.

Furthermore, operators continue to face increasing burdens in relation to duties and taxes as more grey markets adopt local regulatory frameworks and tax increases in more established markets show no sign of slowing down.

But is the European market all doom and gloom? This report delves into the data of the more established continental markets, and analyses the growth of the online channel.

Epicentre of regulated betting and gambling activity

Over the last years, the European market has evolved in such a way that nowadays many European governments have introduced local licensing frameworks to regulate online gambling. This has de facto brought the “dot.com” grey market activity under the direct supervision of local regulators.

This shift has undeniably transformed Europe into the global focal point of locally-licensed online gambling, greatly reducing unregulated and illegal activity in the continent.

A consequence of this shift in regulatory approach has been a steady increase in transparency and disclosure with regard to jurisdictional online market data, which is collated and reported by regulatory bodies on a quarterly or annual basis.

See also: BtoBet taps Malte Hegeler to lead as VP of Product

VIXIO, a leading provider of regulatory intelligence to the gambling industry, has stated that as of 2021, a total of 22 European online gambling markets, exhibiting varying levels of maturity and year-on-year growth, had broken through the €100m barrier in terms of annual regulated online GGR.

Within this group, ten jurisdictions surpassed €500m in online market size in 2021, with Greece, the Czech Republic, Romania and Portugal breaching this threshold either in 2020 or 2021.

The accelerated shift towards the online

Statistics indicate that undeniably the online channel benefitted greatly during the pandemic, with the widespread national lockdowns and closure of land-based gambling activity resulting in an accelerated shift from the brick-and-mortar landscape to the digital realm. In fact, during 2020 and 2021, the online gambling industry grew by 21.2 per cent and 17.4 per cent, respectively.

Notwithstanding, the mobile-led online growth witnessed in some of the European markets, especially the UK and those newly regulated, has been challenged in recent years as smartphone penetration levels have somewhat plateaued and increasing regulatory challenges have impacted the channel’s growth.

The appeal of less mature emerging markets

In the meantime as core European markets – such as the UK, Sweden and Germany – face increasing regulatory challenges in the form of unfavourable tax rates and more restrictions on bonusing and advertising – less mature emerging markets offer good growth opportunities.

Published data indicates that markets that include Romania, Bulgaria, Poland, Georgia and Serbia have figured among Europe’s fastest-growing regulated online markets in recent years.

The Netherlands and Germany have also regulated the online gambling market in 2021, with the Dutch market considered as one with great potential.

BtoBet’s Europe Betting Focus is available for free and can be accessed on btobet.com. If you want to get in-depth information regarding the opportunities that characterise the European market, get in touch with their experts at [email protected].