reduce offshore operators’ market share to approximately 50-60 per cent.
While the government has justified the need for the 2017 amendment to the Act by the necessity to protect consumers against crime and gambling addiction, several of the adjustments to the Act seem to rather be aimed at increasing state revenue from gaming. Te amended Act allowed the state-owned lottery company (Totalizator Sportowy Sp. z o.o.) to launch several new products, such as an online lottery ticket store, a network of land-based slot machine parlours and an online casino. Private entities may not operate any of these and these services may be considered as partial substitutes to private betting operators’ offers.
For private entities, the two main novelties introduced by the 2017 amendment to the Act were the introduction of betting on the results of virtual sports, and a slight liberalisation of betting advertising laws. Betting on virtual sports results (where competitions are
simulated, and results are instantly available) has brought betting closer to other forms of gambling. Te changes in advertising rules have encouraged operators to increase engagement in sports sponsorship. Several football clubs, leagues, and national sports teams are currently sponsored by betting operators. Betting operators have also forayed into e-sports, with the majority of companies allowing betting on the results of e-sports matches.
Te Polish betting market is currently growing at a fast pace. Operators’ turnover in 2018 is reported to have increased by 50 per cent as compared to 2017 and has doubled over the last three years. Several newcomers have recently launched services, although global players, with the exception of Betclic and Merkur Group (which in early 2019 acquired the Polish bookmaker Totolotek), have not yet expressed great interest in obtaining a licence in Poland. Some major offshore operators are trying to continue functioning without a licence by fighting the blacklisting of their websites in
courts or by circumventing the ban. Blacklisting has decreased their profits, although so far only to a degree. Te most likely factor that dissuades foreign operators from entering the Polish market in an official capacity is the current gambling tax regime. Currently, the gambling tax rate for betting is 12 per cent of the sum of wagers paid, significantly more than in several other countries where the tax is based on gross gaming revenue (GGR). Tis also has a negative impact on the sums that players can win.
Unfortunately, the local operators’ appeals for a GGR-based tax have so far not been successful.
Te 2017 amendment has already had a major impact on the market, but some of its effects are yet to be evaluated. Te first state-owned slot machine parlour was launched in July 2018, and the state-owned online casino started in December 2018. While the lottery operator reported it was satisfied by the results of these ventures, it is still too early to say what their long-term impact will be.
NEWSWIRE / INTERACTIVE / MARKET DATA P207
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