Compliance Updates
SOFTSWISS Expands to Greece
SOFTSWISS is excited to announce that the brand recently received the Greek gaming licence for Online Casino operation from the Hellenic Gaming Commission. This marks a new stepping stone for SOFTSWISS as it gains a foothold to operate in the regulated Greek market. It is the latest in a series of national licences awarded to SOFTSWISS.
In February 2021, the brand received the national licence in Nigeria The Greek gaming licence was received earlier last month with SOFTSWISS already finalising its very first project N1CASINO.GR on the Greek iGaming arena.
The licence allows for local operation in Greece for players with Greek passports and IDs as well as those holding local Greek bank accounts. This major milestone will now allow to further strengthen the SOFTSWISS market presence in Europe, as well as establish new partnerships and boost existing ones.
The very first project announced to launch very soon this year – N1CASINO Greece. The project forms a part of N1 Partners Group. The licensed online casino brand plans to integrate sports betting at later stages. The client’s team is in final stages before going live and is announced to be released in the next few months.
Ivan Montik, Founder of SOFTSWISS, notes: “It’s a tremendous landmark and an amazing achievement for us to receive the Greek gaming licence to be able to do business in a regulated national market and expand our reach! It’s even more exciting to be officially announcing our very first client for the Greek region to be N1CASINO Greece. We’ve recently made strategic moves to fast-developing markets like Nigeria and are now establishing ourselves more in the European continent. It is opening new horizons for us and we’re ready to go for it. SOFTSWISS is not only planning on doing business in Greece but also making a positive impact through charity and corporate social sustainability efforts in the country.”
About SOFTSWISS
SOFTSWISS is an international tech brand supplying widely acclaimed, certified software solutions for managing iGaming operations. SOFTSWISS holds a number of gaming licenses, providing a “one-stop-shop” white label solution by taking care of all technical, legal, and financial processes on behalf of its customers. The company has a vast product portfolio, which includes an Online Casino Platform, Game Aggregator with thousands of casino games, an affiliate platform, and a recently launched sportsbook platform. In 2013 SOFTSWISS was the first in the world to introduce a bitcoin-optimized online casino solution. The company has thus been regarded as the leading technical expert when it comes to the use of cryptocurrencies in online gaming.
Compliance Updates
Gaming CEOs Optimistic on Industry Outlook, Report Evolving Industry Challenges
Amidst an evolving economic landscape, gaming executives report a positive outlook on future industry business conditions while remaining satisfied with the current business environment, according to the American Gaming Association’s (AGA) Gaming Industry Outlook.
Nearly all gaming executives surveyed characterized the current business environment as good (44%) or satisfactory (50%), mirroring similar sentiment from Q3 2023. Meanwhile, executives are more optimistic about future conditions, with 32 percent of CEOs expecting business conditions to improve over the next six months, up from 20 percent in Q3 2023.
“Gaming’s record-setting growth over the last three years has set a new standard for industry success,” said AGA President and CEO Bill Miller. “However, as we enter a period of market normalization, continued investment and innovation in offering world-class, responsible entertainment experiences will be required to maintain industry momentum.”
Gaming Executive Panel
Gaming executives have become more positive in their views that overall balance sheet health will improve over the next 6 months (42% net positive), but they expect the pace of revenue growth (13% net negative) and new hiring (22% net negative) to slow. These expectations for decelerating growth have influenced expectations for increases in capital investment and gaming units in operation, with smaller net positive sentiments than before.
- In contrast to past Outlooks, gaming equipment suppliers are slightly pessimistic about the sale of gaming units for replacement use and new or expansion use (both 13% net negative). However, they remain optimistic about the pace of capital investment (38% net positive).
- Half of operator CEOs expect capital investments in hotels over the next year to be higher than normal, and compared to last fall, more also expect higher than normal levels of capital investment in meetings and conventions and table games (28%). Meanwhile, 44 percent of CEOs expect increases in food and beverage investment, down from 67 percent in Q3 2023.
These expectations are also informed by evolving macroeconomic challenges. Executives report that inflationary or interest rate concerns continue to be a major factor limiting operations (28%), but these have been overtaken by geo-political risk (34%) and uncertainty of the economic environment (34%) as the biggest limiting factors in the most recent Gaming Executive Panel.
Current Conditions Index
The Current Conditions Index of 102.8 for Q1 indicates solid annualized real economic growth in the industry of 2.8%. This includes gaming revenue, employment and employee wages and salaries. Notably, the Current Conditions Index shows gaming expanding faster than the overall U.S. economy which last week reported 1.6 percent GDP growth in Q1 2024.
Future Conditions Index
The Future Conditions Index stands at 102.2, indicating annualized industry economic activity, after controlling for underlying inflation, is expected to moderately increase over the next six months. This outlook reflects Oxford Economics’ forecast that the U.S. economy will slow during 2024 but avoid recession. Despite a projected economic slowdown, consumer survey results continue to indicate that more than one-third of adults expect to visit a casino during the next 12 months, consistent with prior quarter results.
About the Outlook
The AGA Gaming Industry Outlook is prepared biannually by Oxford Economics. It provides a timely measure of recent industry growth and future expectations. The Q1 2024 survey was conducted between March 28 – April 10, 2024. A total of 32 executives responded, including executives at the major international and domestic gaming companies, tribal gaming operators, single-unit casino operators, major gaming equipment suppliers, and major iGaming and/or sports betting operators.
Compliance Updates
Arizona Department of Gaming Releases February Sports Betting Figures
PHOENIX – Bettors in Arizona wagered approximately $637.5 million on sports in February of 2024, according to a new report by the Arizona Department of Gaming. This represents an approximate 4.6% increase when compared to February of 2023.
The state collected approximately $2.8 million in privilege fees in the month. You can view the full February report on the ADG website: LINK.
Arkansas
North Carolina Lawmaker to Introduce Bill to End College Player Prop Bets
North Carolina legislator intends to introduce legislation to ban college player prop bets, according to a staff member.
North Carolina State Representative Marcia Morey, D-Durham, a former Olympic swimmer, will submit a bill by the bill filing deadline on Thursday to ban these bets, Hannah Smith, Administrative Assistant, told Gambling.com on Monday.
The North Carolina Legislature began meeting in Raleigh on April 24 with the session set to end on July 31.
Recently, NCAA President Charlie Baker, a former Massachusetts governor, called upon states to ban college player prop bets, which is short for proposition bets. Baker said these bets, based on an athlete’s individual performance such as the over/under on the number of rebounds the player might record, could undermine the integrity of games and lead to harassment of players.
Former North Carolina Tar Heel star Armando Bacot is among athletes who have expressed concern about harassment. Bacot said he heard from fans angry that he didn’t get enough rebounds in an NCAA tournament game against Michigan State – a game the Tar Heels won.
College Prop Bets Allowed in Some States
Some states already ban these bets, while others including Louisiana, intend to impose a ban this summer before the college and pro football seasons begin.
In other states, the proposed ban has met with resistance.
During a recent interview on The Edge, Arkansas casino executive Carlton Saffa told Gambling.com a ban would drive bettors to unregulated offshore sportsbooks or illegal bookies. He said a better solution is to keep those bets legal in regulated markets where irregularities can be spotted.
“Sunshine is the best disinfectant,” Saffa, the Chief Marketing Officer for the Saracen Casino Resort in Pine Bluff, Arkansas, said.
College player prop bets remain legal in Arkansas.
In North Carolina, where statewide mobile sports betting became legal in March, State Representative Jason Saine, R-Lincoln, said in a story on the WNCN-TV website that a college player prop ban is ‘a solution in search of a problem’. If athletes are being harassed, he said, campus police should crack down on those making the threats and make an example of them. A ban won’t stop the problem, Saine said.
“If we ended (player prop bets) tomorrow, this kind of behavior would still continue with fanatical people,” Saine said. “Follow rules of society, you don’t threaten anybody, or you shouldn’t be. And, that’s kind of my take on it. I don’t think we need a whole new set of rules to pursue something like that.”
Morey, the lawmaker proposing the ban, said people are ‘forgetting about the individuals who are actually playing the game and having the pressure on them’.
“Let’s give them a break,” she said.
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