Tag: Denmark

Denmark’s Q1 Online Gaming & Sports Betting Revenue Increases

Posted on by George Hansen
  • Land based properties in Denmark lose 10 per cent revenue
  • Online revenue soars – mobile platforms lead the way
  • Sports betting verticals post 10 per cent increase

Denmark continues to be the safest gambling market in Europe. While upholding the best practices in the industry, Denmark has also been able to drive revenue for the iGaming sector while land-based properties have seen a dip in their revenue.

Online Gambling Revenue in Denmark Climbs Up

Denmark’s iGaming sector has posted good results in Q1, 2019. The market successfully consolidated its online presence, but this came at a cost for brick-and-mortar operators which are now struggling to catch up.

The results for the quarter ending on March 31 have revealed a shift towards online gambling. Danish operators have managed to hit over DKK1.6 billion ($910 million) in the three months since the beginning of the years, which is a 4.5-per-cent improvement year-over-year.

Once again, online operators focused exclusively on sports betting which continued to lead the way, generating 619 million in the first quarter online.

This accounted for almost 40 per cent of the total amount that online gambling generated in Q1. Sports betting also marked the highest year-over-year improvement, accounting for 10.4-per-cent improvement compared to Q1, 2018.

Denmark Shifts Towards Mobile Betting

Mobile platforms have certainly seen a spike in the total use for the purposes of gambling, as betting apps accounted for 53.3 per cent of the total wagers placed in Q1, 2019. Desktop betting remained strong as well, with the total accounting for 27.3 per cent. People who opted to place a wager in person accounted for 21.9 per cent of the total, a still decent turn-up.

Denmark Q3 iGaming Results Strong Despite Mild Dip

Casinos also did well, at least the properties operating online that is. Online casinos managed to amass DKK556 million in the period. Q1 brought nearly a million more in terms of revenue. Once again, online slots remained the most lucrative segment, which has accounted for over 60 per cent of the total revenue.

The improved results come at a time when Denmark has successfully continued to enrol problem gamblers in its national self-exclusion scheme. Denmark is the only country in the European Union which enforces consumer protection practices in full.

Sweden, a new entrant in online gambling as of January 1, 2019, has already had to issue fines to prominent gaming operators and threaten with suspension of license – Betway has been among the affected parties. William Hill, another UK-based betting agency has also acquired assets in Sweden.

Sweden and Denmark remain the most challenging markets in the world of iGaming where rules need to be followed to the T lest regulators decide to issue hefty payments. The fact that revenue continues to grow while regulations tighten is a positive sign for the future of sports betting and iGaming. Meanwhile, Denmark remains one of the safest places to gamble and place sports wagers.

The biggest takeaway of the quarter was that revenue at land-based properties, restaurants and other designated areas fell by 3.6 per cent over the period while the seven land-based casinos in Denmark posted 10-per-cent worse performance over the quarter year-over-year.

George Hansen

Taking a liking to the occasional bout of slots, George used to moonlight as a roulette dealer, giving him a unique perspective into the casino world. From there he continued his journalist education and has been with us ever since a star-aligned graduation brought him and our team together.

Denmark Limits the Scope of Illegal Online Operators

Posted on by George Hansen
  • Denmark successfully narrows down scope of illegal gambling
  • Danish operators are the EU’s safest
  • Esports betting is also targeted

Denmark is a model gambling market. It’s hailed as the only place in the European Union where all standards are kept to ensure the safety and security of customers. Now, the country has announced that it has been successful in narrowing down the scope of operation of illegal actors.

Denmark Cracks Down on Illegal Gambling

Denmark has done it – cleaning its online space from illegal gaming operators, or at least coming remarkably close. Hailed as one of the only jurisdictions in the European Union where gaming laws truly consider the well-being of customers and gamers, Denmark has just reported a “limited” market for illegal online casinos.

Denmark has been recognized as a safe harbor for casino lovers with the country having been mentioned in a report by the European Gaming & Betting Association, which evaluated all EU Member States’ laws insufficient to protect their customers, bar Denmark, where safety gaming measures were working fine.

GVC Holdings and Danske Spil Renew Content Deal

Meanwhile, Denmark’s Spillemyndigheden, the gaming watch dog, has produced a new report in which it outlined the fight against illegal actors as successful due to the “continually falling numbers of such operators” (paraphrased by Casino Classic). The measures targeted:

  • Casino operators
  • Card rooms
  • Esports betting websites

In December 2018, the Spillemyndigheden initiated three separate searches trying to pinpoint the online venues of unregulated gambling websites. The tally included 742 websites that were either deemed dangerous or with not an entirely established legal status.

The watchdog admitted that the organization had intentionally broaden the search parameters to make sure that it wouldn’t miss any potentially dangerous actor. At the same time, Denmark has been adding to the numbers of legal operators.

Despite the large number, only 22 websites were targeted specifically, with the Spillemyndigheden notifying the owners that they had violated the Danish Gambling Act. Out of these, 18 had to be blocked by their Internet Service Providers (ISPs) over a failure to respond to the regulatory body’s inquiries.

While the Danish authorities issued fewer petitions this year, they still blocked more operators than in the past, pointing to the more efficient measures taken by the government in targeting these specific bad apples.

Esports – A New Frontier

Esports betting (the act of placing money on the outcome of competitive video gaming) has also proven a divisive issue. Overall, 95 websites that haven’t quite met the criteria were identified. The main problem with these has been the offer of “skin betting”, i.e. staking in-game goods that led to a massive scandal back in 2016 and a class-action lawsuit for Valve, a game developer, who was accused of facilitating underage gambling.

In total, Denmark’s regulator accomplished the following:

  • Auditing 742 regular websites
  • Blocking 18 operators
  • Looking into 95 esports betting websites
  • Blocking 6 esports websites that didn’t comply with the Danish Gambling Act

The Spillemyndigheden issued 17 petitions to esports websites and subsequently requested that six of these are blocked. While esports betting has been gaining traction in the United States and Europe, skin gambling is completely off limits, though some operators have been using third-party services, using the argument that “they themselves didn’t touch the skins directly”.

More of a liability than a loophole, such attitude can lead to more restrictive actions from regulators in the future. The watchdog also cautioned about the rise of social gambling on popular platforms such as Facebook, which was another lucrative area for shady operators to turn a quick profit.

George Hansen

Taking a liking to the occasional bout of slots, George used to moonlight as a roulette dealer, giving him a unique perspective into the casino world. From there he continued his journalist education and has been with us ever since a star-aligned graduation brought him and our team together.

Denmark Q3 iGaming Results Strong Despite Mild Dip

Posted on by Aran Malik

Denmark’s posting a healthy growth in its online sector. According to the country’s national gaming watchdog, the Spillemyndigheden, the market has expanded by nearly 10%.

iGaming in Denmark Grows

According to Spillemyndigheden, the Danish gaming regulator, the country’s iGaming sector has grown significantly, with the market posting increased revenue for the Q3, 2018 at 9.7% higher than the same period last year. Even though there are a lot of challenges to address, such as the moribund land-based industry and gaming machines, Denmark has done well by itself, posting solid numbers.

Compared to Q3, 2017, all sectors of the industry, including betting, casino and land-based counterparts & gaming machines, marked a significant uptick, although the cumulative results were down 0.4% from August. The total numbers stood at £194 million, a not too shabby amount consistent with the results so far.

The 0.4% drop does deserve to be addressed, though. It was occasioned by the significant slow-down in the revenue generated through gaming machines, which has been falling not only in Denmark (where it went down 6.5%), but well across Europe as well. Gaming machines known as Fixed-Odds Betting Terminals (FOBTs) could disappear completely from the on-site parlors of casinos as a result of the newly-voted regulation limiting the maximum bet from £100 to £2.

Denmark Diversifies Activities, Notches Up Profit

Sports betting also saw the quarterly results jump quite tangibly. This was occasioned by the inclusion of horse racing, which has been hitherto an avoided market. After the Danske Spil monopoly fell back in 2017 and the majority of operators obtained a license as of January 2018. The competition in sports betting has been vibrant enough to occasion a steady growth, and according to experts, Denmark is far from reaching its full potential yet.

Despite the loss of interest in gaming machines, Danish are still very much keen on placing wagers on sporting events. Online casinos in particular were another source of revenue, with 19.9% increase in the quarter. Slots alone accounted for 63.1% of the total GGR during the period. The good results are also occasioned by the liberation of the Danish market, which has long been cited as one of the most restrictive alongside the Netherlands and Poland.

Competition hasn’t been able to penetrate every sector of the iGaming and betting industries in Denmark yet. Danske Spil still holds full control over lottery activities. There’s no information available with the Spillemyndigheden as of the lottery’s quarterly results, because the segment is reported on annually.

Taking a look at the numbers in 2017, though, the lottery accounted for the highest share of all gaming activities, notching up the respectable 33.7%. This was still slightly lower than the 35% posted a year before, in 2016, but all the same a reassuring number nevertheless.

Another thing that the Spillemyndigheden noted was the increased number of people who have opted for a self-exclusion scheme. Denmark hasn’t got a problem with reckless gambling behavior as in the United Kingdom and the country has been able to bring down the numbers of existing addicts by obliging operators that cater to Danish gamers to champion self-exclusion schemes and offer help lines.

Having manged to eradicate problem gambling and boost revenue, Denmark is one of the brightest example of how the iGaming sector should be run.

Aran Malik

“Magic Malik”—as we like to call him—is not only a tech whiz but a wizard when it comes to getting obscure news hot off the press so we know exactly what’s happening and can explore and report it back to our growing and loyal readerbase.