According to the Las Vegas Business Press, Europe is now the “world’s biggest online gambling market, accounting for an estimated $12.5 billion of the sector’s $29.3 billion in total revenue for 2010”.
Previously, the United States had held that honor, but American lawmakers’ inability to come up with a regulated online gaming system has stifled growth there.
But that’s not to say that Europe isn’t having its share of regulatory problems, too. Spain is trying to rush through an online gaming bill to generate much-needed revenue during its current financial crisis. (Sound familiar?)
A capital analyst speculates that the “stake could be worth 4.5 billion euros to 9 billion euros, based on the value of European online gambling companies,” according to Bloomberg.
Denmark’s newly regulated online gambling system is expected to go live on January 1, 2011, although that’s yet to be officially approved by the country’s lawmakers. Many non-Dutch operators aren’t thrilled with the new system’s tax rate of 20 percent of all gross winnings, per this report.
In Italy, the EU has ruled that the country must open its markets to non-Italian online casinos — a trend in Europe to keep markets open that’s controversial, but will probably be profitable.
European-facing online gaming affiliates — those smart enough to navigate the continent’s many regulatory zones — should be finding opportunities to earn like never before.