NOV DEC 2024
Editor's Letter
If there’s one thing the gaming market offers right now, it’s opportunity.
Heading into 2025, the industry is united in its excitement about Brazil’s upcoming regulation of iGaming and sports betting, while Canada’s second regulated jurisdiction also beckons in Alberta.
But that opportunity is not just restricted to the online market. For land-based gaming, the UAE and Thailand offer hopeful prospects for the future – ones that could even reshape the casino landscape as we know it.
As we approach 2025, then, we felt it was the perfect time for Gambling Insider to look ahead. In our main cover section, we explore developments in the aforementioned jurisdictions of UAE, Brazil, Alberta and Thailand, also analysing India’s potential and the not-so-small matter of sweepstakes rising into a giant vertical of its own within North America.
Whatever your stance on gambling, there is no denying the revenue opportunity for an industry that is always growing, always adapting to regulation and always changing with technology.
While some traditional methods of marketing may never go away – VIP managers, a heavy reliance on bonusing and free spins etc – new innovations are developing all the time, as the industry turns its focus towards retention, loyalty and “levelling up” systems.
There is, undeniably, so much to look forward to from an industry perspective, with new technology, new partnerships and inevitable M&A to come next year.
Hopefully, attitudes towards genuinely implementing responsible gambling will progress as quickly as the desire to please shareholders with quarterly profits, and new regulated markets like Brazil can learn the lessons of now-established regions that have been through it all before.
How can we look back at 2024? It was the year of more change than usual regulation wise: in the UK, US, Canada and Brazil. It was the year the industry most embraced AI, personalisation and gamification; and, on the
trade show calendar, it was a year of lasts as iGB Live said goodbye to Amsterdam and ICE said goodbye to London.
To celebrate the end of a productive year for the sector, in this November/December issue of Gambling Insider magazine, we also look at: social betting, the Middle East’s impact on esports betting, payments & compliance, problem gambling approaches in Sweden and deposit limits.
Elsewhere, we review the SBC Summit in Lisbon, hear from a bustling range of Insiders and review an equally bustling selection of new products to hit the casino floor. Thanks for the memories 2024 – and we eagerly await our new horizons.
Facing Facts: Analysing figures from emerging gambling markets
Where is the gambling market on the rise, and are there any upcoming markets with potential to be a major contender? Gambling Insider checks out the numbers...
Taking Stock: A guide to lottery/iLottery operator and supplier prices
Gambling Insider tracks lottery/iLottery operator and supplier prices. Stock prices are taken across a six-month period (May 2024 to October 2024) – and from the close of the first available date of the month
New Horizons Cover Feature: United Arab Emirates
With its first land-based casino set to open in 2027 and a national lottery now licensed, heads have begun to turn to the UAE as an emerging gaming market. With insights from BettingJobs and IGA Group, Gambling Insider’s Beth Turner investigates...
New Horizons Cover Feature: Brazil
Brazil performed quite the feat by getting its heavily delayed ordinances back on track, only to change the goalposts again. Neil Montgomery joins Gambling Insider to unpick the market’s self-inflicted growing pains
New Horizons Cover Feature: India
India’s online gambling tax revenue has soared a year on from the 28% tax levy on iGaming; Gambling Insider takes a deep dive into one of the world’s most intriguing markets, with additional background insight provided by Manav Bhargava, Lawyer & Head of India Desk at Segev LLP
New Horizons Cover Feature: Alberta
Ontario leads, Alberta follows: Wild Rose Country is edging closer to regulated online gaming – but how much can it take from Ontario’s model for its own market? Will Underwood explores
New Horizons Cover Feature: Sweepstakes
With insights from Catena Media, IGA Group and more, Gambling Insider looks into the potential of sweepstakes and how it has thrived to a point where it is attracting regulatory scrutiny
New Horizons Cover Feature: Thailand
Thailand’s interest in a fully regulated gambling market seems to be growing each day. Gambling Insider looks at why the nation could be positioned to become a major player in the Asian gaming landscape
Exploring how those suffering from problem gambling in Sweden can be helped
Regular Gambling Insider contributor Gustaf Hoffstedt explores the current situation surrounding problem gambling in Sweden, and how those suffering can be helped
Examining deposit limits in safer gambling
Duncan Garvie, BetBlocker Trustee and Founder, and Gambling Insider contributor, writes about deposit limits in safer gambling
Finding the right balance to achieve payments success
Aeropay Founder and CEO Daniel Muller explains the key to payments success, and finding the balance between maximising acceptance rates and minimising risk
Investigating how esports betting is changing
With contributions from GG.Bet, Gambling Insider‘s Megan Elswyth examines the impact of Middle East investment on esports (much like in football in recent years) and how this is duly impacting esports betting
Looking at the reasons behind social betting's rise
Gambling Insider Staff Writer Ciarán McLoughlin explores the rise of social betting, with contributions from Flutter, Betmate and Greentube
Reviewing SBC Lisbon 2024
Gambling Insider was in attendance as the SBC Summit headed to Lisbon for the first time. Editor Tim Poole reflects...
Roundtable: Digital payments and compliance in the gambling industry
Industry experts answer Gambling Insider's burning questions on all things related to digital payments and compliance, including Blackcatcard, Paysecure, Okto, MiFinity and Paysafe
Pragmatic Play: Covering every gaming vertical
Pragmatic Play SVP of Sports Gareth Crook talks all things related to the supplier’s sportsbook, including its UK launch, cross-selling and more
iGP: Examining the growth of cryptocurrency in iGaming
Supplier iGP writes from its own perspective, examining the growth of cryptocurrency in iGaming, with contributions from its Chief Product Officer Dirk Camilleri
Betcore/TVBet: The importance of social marketing for B2B businesses in gaming
Betcore & TVBet CMO Vlad Slyusarenko sits down with Gambling Insider to discuss the power of social media marketing for B2B businesses in gaming
Bayes Esports: Exploring the relationship between esports and sportsbooks
Bayes Esports CEO Amir Mirzaee converses with Gambling Insider about the rapidly expanding esports market and the opportunities it presents for modern-day sportsbooks.
Pragmatic Solutions: How to keep up with the ever-changing iGaming market
Pragmatic Solutions CEO Ashley Lang provides Gambling Insider with the supplier's latest updates, discussing how operators can overcome current challenges in the iGaming market
Final Word: Digitain - Reflecting on what is next for personalisation
As we move through the final quarter of 2024, the Digitain Team reflects on a year defined by personalisation – and ponders the possibilities of where it may go next – in conversation with Gambling Insider
