Europe is one of the leading markets for gambling providers and land-based casinos. With casino games being a part of national culture, it is impossible to forbid the market.
Gambling has been a part of European culture and entertainment for more than 500 years β no government can ban it. Moreover, too strict regulations often lead to a grey market appearance β you can easily track this tendency in Norway, where only one local casino exists.
Thus, Europe chose an opposite strategy and, surprisingly, succeeded. See what is special in the European gambling market and why it is a prominent example of perfect balancing.
European Gambling Market: Overall Picture
Whether you plan to play casino games in EU or just examine the sphere, you should know these tendencies:
- The most successful betting and gambling markets are now implemented in the UK, Italy, and Germany. Being centers of European gambling long ago, they also catch the online gambling spheres. All of them implemented strict regulations for local providers.
- Meanwhile, online gambling is of the highest popularity in Sweden. Almost 80% of gambling activities here are held online.
- Despite the high popularity of casinos, the most popular gambling activity (surprisingly) is sports betting.
What makes the European market so successful, though? And why, with such popularity of gambling, it showed fewer problems of gambling addiction than third-world countries? The secret is an approach to gambling regulations.
Best Practices: How Separate Countries Regulate Gambling Companies
European countries have no overall law concerning online casinos and sports betting. Different regions implement their own practices, which are more or less successful. See the prominent examples of what countries should and should not do.
Why the UK Stays the Best Example of Gambling Regulation
The UK Gambling Commission strictly regulates local gambling activities and registered operators. However, the laws are soft enough for reliable operators to register their companies here. The idea of the government is to create a reliable gambling atmosphere for local players. The UK casinos follow strict rules of fair play, wagering requirements, and other principles of clear gambling. As a result, the local population prefers them to international companies, not regulated by the state. The diversity of games and mobile options also contributes to this choice.
As for responsible gambling practices, the country leads a massive informational campaign to raise the localsβ awareness of responsible gaming and betting. GamStop program β a self-excluding project, shows positive results as well.
How Sweden Promoted Local Casinos and Success
The next prominent example is Sweden, which has a promotional campaign for local providers. The country, experiencing problems with irresponsible gaming, introduced the following idea. First, the state introduced a clear process of licensing for local operators. Beneficial both for casino operators and gamblers, it attracted many new companies. After that, the country started a massive promotional campaign among the locals. Sweden attracts local players to register in Swedish casinos and avoid international platforms that are out of the stateβs control. As a result, Sweden has a well-regulated market that also pays taxes and replenishes the budget.
Czech Republic and Problematic Gambling Solutions
In the Czech Republic, the problem of irresponsible gambling is one of the leading problems. Thus, the country focuses on solving these issues with the help of the licensing process. The population lost almost 40 billion CZK on gambling in 2023. Each casino, registered in the Czech Republic, must provide a time warning for players. These warnings are obligatory and cannot be turned off. Moreover, the country has an easy self-excluding program. Anonymous and fast, it helps many people with addiction problems.
Trends and Forecasts
What will happen next, though? With the implementation of the online sphere in gambling, the regulation becomes much more complicated. In the near future, we can see some prominent changes in the European news:
- Mobile devices will hit the market. Mobile gambling is already in high popularity. Most new online casinos offer a mobile version or even apps for their customers. In the near future, mobile casinos can fully replace traditional ones.
- Land-based casinos should switch their focus. The idea of just gambling is no longer working. Europeans donβt need offline casinos to gamble β sports betting, slot machines, and table games are available online. This leads to new strategies for land-based casinos. They should implement entertainment mechanisms. Even now, the largest European casinos offer concerts, restaurants, hotels, and other ways to implement fun and relaxation into gambling.
- Strong ID verification. As for regulations, the non-KYC casinos are fading away. This was a nice strategy to attract more people and offer them anonymous play. However, the idea led to underage gambling and scams. More and more countries are making their ID verification processes more complicated. Most likely, casinos registered in Europe will be obligated to turn this practice back.
Finally, we can see more diversity in terms of game selections and provider offers. Together with strong local regulations and consumer demand, it shows a positive tendency. Casinos are slightly put away from the grey share and are becoming a regulated market.