Sweepstakes in focus, Latin America booms, UAE issues commercial gaming license

This week saw another fair share of news surrounding the sweepstakes model used in social casinos, with the Social and Promotional Gaming Association (SPGA) holding its first video briefing on Tuesday, and discussing what sweepstakes social casinos are, and equally importantly – what they aren’t.

The industry has come under a lot of pressure from lawmakers, courts, and even industry bodies, such as the American Gaming Association, along with stakeholders in the regulated market who have purported that sweepstakes social casinos fail to meet customer obligations and provide a form of unregulated gambling.

As these accusations mount, sweepstakes casino operator VGW now faces its 11th federal lawsuit, with one Makayla Darrielle Saulny filing a lawsuit in which the plaintiff seeks to force the company to repay her and other Mississippi players all the money they lost playing on the platform.

The stipulation is that VGW offered a form of illegal gambling, which would entitle the plaintiffs and others like her to seek reimbursement for the business. In the meantime, gambling industry trade groups from across the world have announced that they will be pooling their efforts in order to address the growing threat of illegal gambling.

In a press statement, the American Gaming Association said that it would seek to team up with the Betting & Gaming Council in the United Kingdom and the European Casino Association in Europe through a newly signed Memorandum of Understanding.

The main objective of this newly formed partnership comes down to fighting illegal gambling, involving lawmakers, enforcement authorities, and regulators. The partners will hold a meeting in January 2025 in a bid to explore strategies that they can leverage to effectively work together in combating illegal gambling, among other issues.

Meanwhile in the Netherlands, a pair of Dutch policymakers have grabbed headlines by pitching the "Gambled and Lost" motion, which focuses on introducing sweeping changes across the gambling sector in the country, the most radical of which suggests that all forms of online gambling ought to be banned.

Diederik van Dijk from the SGP and Derk Boswijk from the SDA have urged fellow lawmakers to act at a time when many citizens are "trapped at their screens" because of online gambling.

Business & Finance

When it comes to business opportunities, Wynn Resorts International comes into the spotlight this week. The company concluded a presentation to investors earlier this week and outlined plans for the United Arab Emirates’ first integrated resort, which will host a casino.

The company has been granted an official license by the General Commercial Gaming Regulatory Authority. Wynn added that the project’s budget and development costs are expected to reach $5.1bn and that the company expects up to $1.7bn in gross gaming revenue on an annual basis.

In the meantime, Stake.com has been added to the list of authorized gambling websites in Brazil.

The website, which operates through its local subsidiary, has been cleared to continue running local operations, as the company is now looking for a country manager with three years of experience.

Stake is still awaiting a full license from Brazil, but the fact it has made it thus far signifies that Stake will be an inevitable part of the gambling space in the newly regulated market.

Other rollouts of equal importance in Latin America come from bet365’s corner, which launched its platforms in Peru, as the company’s expansion in the region continues.

In other news, Barry Gibson, a former Entain heavyweight, has been inducted into the SBC Hall of Fame at a surprise ceremony during the SBC Leaders Summit.

Responsible Gambling

Florida is looking to select a dedicated vendor to manage its Responsible Gambling resources and ensure that citizens and visitors are receiving the advanced care they need and deserve. The state is looking to strengthen its RG at a time when gambling is likely to continue expanding.

In the meantime, Australia’s national self-exclusion program, BetStop, has reached more than 30,000 total registrations, although an important clarification is that a year in, not all people are still on the exclusion list, with some ending their exclusion early or simply not renewing their exclusion for another period.

The Voice of the Industry

We had several opportunities to talk with industry stakeholders this week. First, we released the video interview with Dario Leiman, Regional Business Development Manager at SOFTSWISS, which was recorded at SBC Summit 2024.

In our conversation with Leiman, we spoke about the company’s string of successes over the past 15 years, his personal career path and SOFTSIWSS’ determination.

We also had the opportunity to receive an opinion piece by Nadia Budennikova, Chief Business Officer & Co-Founder at Famesters, who discussed at length the importance of influencer marketing and what brands in the iGaming sector can do to harness it.

In a separate discussion with Dr. Marla Stafford, one of the co-authors of the Responsible Gaming Intervention Effectiveness Scale (RG-IES), a new tool that is aimed at helping companies calibrate their responsible gambling messaging in such a way that it is efficient and meets standards that prove that it is effective. We strongly recommend reading the full conversation with Dr. Stafford here.

If you are looking for more industry opportunities, in the meantime, you should check out the upcoming Gaming in Germany conference which will be taking place on November 5 at the Holte Adlon Kempinski, Unter den Linden, Berlin. You may find more details about the event here.

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