The Hellenic Republic’s economy is staring into the abyss as the government tries desperately to tackle its cancerous fiscal deficit brought about by the sovereign debt crisis, the country is in the process of regulating online gambling by means of local licensing and reforming its existing gaming market.
avoidinG a tRaGedy due to imf
Political wrangling both internally and externally within the European Union has slowed the process of regulation to an unbearable crawl for the desperate Greek government who so badly need the cash.
The Greek online gambling sector should be highly lucrative once it is up and running and it is expected to generate just under one billion Euros in the next two to three years whilst also fuelling job creation in a country that is experiencing over 16 per cent unemployment and bringing a valuable revenue stream to a cash-strapped government.
Unpopular austerity measures in place as a result of the conditions of the €110 billion IMF and EU bailout last year have created a situation where the country has had no choice but to regulate online gambling due to the need to raise extra revenue.
Ironically, the reason why Greece is such a lucrative market is that the Greeks gamble on average, over €300 per adult per year, almost double that of Italy, and one of the highest per capita expenditure on gambling in the world.
“This has to do with our temperament and culture. The only thing one can do is set rules,” said George Christodoulakis, a senior finance ministry official. Indeed gambling is enshrined in Greek culture and has been
imposed austeRity measuRes, GReece has had no choice But to ReGulate online GamBlinG
due to the need to Raise extRa Revenue.
practiced, both illegally and legally since Ancient times. A common myth has it that even the Ancient Greek Gods gambled and Zeus, Poseidon and Hades drew lots to divide the universe with Zeus winning Olympus and the Earth, Hades the underworld and Poseidon the sea.
After a long period where gambling was prohibited under the Ottoman Empire, the Modern Greek state has embraced gambling, channelling funds to good causes and Greek sport. In 1958, OPAP (the Hellenic Organisation of Football Prognostics) was founded as a state-owned gambling monopoly.
The most popular gambling activities are sports betting, lotteries and casino gaming.
There are nine casinos operating in the country. Currently, Greece does not have a regulated online gambling market and operations are mainly carried out via dot com websites. According to data from a recent report by GamblingData, the Greek online grey market is estimated to be worth between €210 million and €260 million a year.
Sports’ betting is the most popular activity with 60 per cent of the total. The unregulated gambling market remains popular and consists primarily of offshore-based companies, which attract a large proportion of the Greek citizens’ betting activities. In fact, illegal activity may be even bigger than that of legal gaming. When one takes into account that Greece has a population of about 11 million and some of the biggest high rollers west of Bangkok, it is no surprise that large operators are already taking notice and anticipating the opening of this hugely lucrative market.
One such operator, Sportingbet, has already shown intentions to apply for a licence through a partnership with Athens-listed Company, Centric. Other large operators such as
Bwin.Party, are watching closely as developments unfold. Of course, profits will be much lower in a regulated market, at least for the short-term. Analysts are comparing the potential of the Greek market to that of Italy which has been hailed as a success with unprecedented growth and now worth an estimated €4.8 billion. Meanwhile, part-
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