The Independent Association of Recreational Machine Operating Companies of Catalonia, Europer, has published the results of its third barometer on the situation of the recreational sector. The objective of this analysis is to provide a greater understanding of the business reality in the recreational field for the economic world, the Administration and society in general.

7 out of 10 recreational companies have been harmed when requesting financing for their business because they are linked to the gaming sector.

This survey, carried out in March 2024, included the participation of 406 Catalan companies, 93% of which are SMEs. According to the results, 72.7% of companies in the recreational sector have experienced difficulties when applying for financing due to their association with gambling.

Albert Sola, president of Europer, expressed his concern about this data and noted: "We hope that these prejudices towards companies in our sector will soon disappear, since we strictly comply with the law and, therefore, we should have the same rights as any another industry”.

Regarding the evolution of business during the first quarter of the year, 54.5% of companies reported positive progress, while 36.4% remained stable and only 9.1% experienced a decline. These results represent an improvement over the previous quarter, where only 37.5% reported positive progress.

Regarding workforce growth expectations for the second half of 2024, 81.8% of companies plan to keep their staff stable, 9.1% anticipate growth and another 9.1% anticipate a decrease. These figures are similar to those of the previous quarter, suggesting a stable trend in the sector.

Albert Sola concluded: "These are encouraging data for companies in the gaming sector, and we hope that this positive trend will continue throughout 2024."

It establishes that intensive and risky players are prohibited from using this payment method when they accumulate net losses equal to or greater than €600 euros for three consecutive weeks. This initiative is part of what the ministry has called 'safe gaming environments', and although they were already approved a year ago by the Government, the standard gave gaming operators a period of 12 months to adapt the new provisions.

The objective is for players not to use credit cards to avoid generating debts that are impossible to pay and forces them to only use means of payment in their name so that they do not end up putting family or friends in debt.

The measure promoted by the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, and included in the Royal Decree of March 14, 2023, has been in force since Friday, March 15, 2024.

Who are the intensive and risky players?

In Spain, more than 70% of the population plays the lottery, bonoloto and primitive, and secondly, instant lotteries, such as the ONCE scratch cards, whose number of users has increased by 36% since 2018, according to data of the Ministry of Health of 2023. Within these, there are those called intensive or risk players.

Intensive players. These are users who accumulate net losses equal to or greater than €600 euros and in the case of young people under 25 it is limited to €200 euros, in a plan of three consecutive weeks.

Risk players. Risk players are considered to be those who maintain a debt equal to or greater than €600 euros net, for two or more years. No credit card for players and million-dollar fines for operators In addition to prohibiting players from using credit cards to avoid going into debt at levels that are impossible to pay, they have been prohibited from using payment methods that are not in their name.

The latter to avoid generating debts to family or friends when paying with their money. However, since gambling addiction is considered a disease, the Law falls heavily on the operators, mainly in taking prevention and warning measures in cases of players who lose control.

These are the highlights of the law:

• Gaming operators must control the player's time or money. That is to say, the session must be closed when one of the two runs out, whichever is the first.

• Online betting and gaming websites will be required to send at least every 60 minutes a mandatory reading message in order to continue playing, which will include the time played, the amounts of money that have been bet and the net losses. have produced.

• Companies may not send promotions to young people between 18 and 25 years old for purposes other than those of the gaming activity on the website or platform. For example: invitations to games or shows.

• They will also not be able to include this group in the loyalty program and misleading messages will be prohibited while the game is in progress, such as 'you were close' or 'you were almost right'.

• The operator will also have to send a message to the player when they win an amount of money greater than €5,000 euros. Companies will have to comply with all these measures, since if they do not, they may have to pay fines of up to €50 million euros.

General Director of the Gambling Regulation Office Martin Bohoš has warned that banning gambling will simply drive it underground.

Internet casinos held a dominant grip on the market in terms of betting, winnings and revenue, as indicators of the overall development of gambling in the gambling market. This growing trend is related to the dynamic growth of online gambling in Slovakia. They are followed by brick-and-mortar gambling houses and a popular segment among Slovaks – odds betting.

In terms of the amount of the levy to the state budget, the online casino segment led the way with a levy of more than €93m, followed by odds betting, thanks to which €80.48m flowed into the state budget, and the trio is closed by brick-and-mortar gambling houses, which paid levies in the form of a flat-rate levy of €61.9m.

In terms of online, around 90 per cent of the revenue was generated by online betting. When it comes to number lotteries, Slovaks prefer to visit brick-and-mortar collection points in this form of betting.

According to the current legislation, municipalities have very strong tools with which they can regulate gambling in their territory, especially the so-called prohibition general binding regulations, through which they can prohibit the placement of gambling houses and casinos in their municipality, and restrictive general binding regulations, through which they can regulate, for example, the location of gambling rooms near schools or school facilities.

Due to prohibitory generally binding regulations of cities and municipalities, the Office expects a decrease of 22 per cent in the levy on brick-and-mortar gambling houses and casinos to the state budget in 2025.

Mr. Bohoš highlighted the fact that municipalities and towns do not pay enough attention to the gambling agenda, therefore there are various errors in the process of issuing generally binding regulations. Failure to comply with the 5-day statutory deadline for fulfilling the notification obligation by cities and municipalities towards the Gambling Regulation Authority results in the Office for the Administration of Gambling Regulations not taking into account the generally binding regulation issued in this way within the licensing procedure.

Every year the Victorian Gambling and Casino Control Commission (VGCCC)publishes expenditure data on legal gambling products in Victoria, including poker machines, casino games and lotteries.

The data shows that poker machine losses were $2.699 billion in 2018-19. Pokies losses decreased in 2019–20 ($1.988 billion), 2020–21 ($1.565 billion) and 2021-22 ($2.237 billion) due to COVID-19-related venue closures. Following the end of COVID-19-related closures, poker machine losses increased to $3.022 billion in 2022-23.

Casino losses (table games and pokies) were $1.679 billion in 2018–19. Casino losses decreased in 2019–20 ($1.235 billion), 2020–21 ($399 million) and 2021-22 ($645 million) due to COVID-19-related closures. Following the end of COVID-19-related closures, casino losses increased to $983 million in 2022-23.

Lotteries losses increased from $642 million in 2018-19 to $764 million in 2022-23. Lottery sales were only slightly impacted by COVID-19-related closures.

Sport and race betting

In 2019, Victoria introduced a Point of Consumption Tax (POCT) for sport and race betting expenditure. This means that all sport and race betting losses by Victorian punters are recorded in Victoria for taxation purposes, regardless of whether they bet with a Victorian bookmaker or one licensed interstate.

Data published by the State Revenue Office and the VGCCC shows that sport and race betting losses increased from an estimated $1.65 billion in 2019–20 to $2.58 billion in 2022–23.

Swedish Court Orders Refund of Losses for Gambling Addiction

In December 2023, a groundbreaking judgment was delivered by the Swedish Patent and Market Court of Appeal in favour of a former gambling addict who incurred a loss of over EUR 500,000 through gambling.

The court ruled that the individual was entitled to reimbursement from the gambling company, as the bets were deemed void under the Swedish Contracts Act. The landmark ruling allows individuals who lost money under similar circumstances to seek similar compensation from Swedish gambling companies.

In 2019, the Swedish gambling market was substantially regulated, resulting in many of the marketing tactics employed by the gambling company in this particular case being deemed illegal. As such, this case is unlikely to significantly impact the current marketing practices of gambling companies. Nonetheless, it does present an opportunity for individuals with a history of gambling addiction to seek reimbursement for money they have lost, provided that the gambling companies utilized comparable marketing strategies and were aware that the individual had gambling problems.

Swedish gambling companies face heightened financial risks in this regard.