CasinoBeats is breaking down the numbers behind some of the industry’s biggest stories. Our latest headline reflection features the figures behind Safer Gambling Week, financial predictions in Macau and the first-ever real money multiplayer slot.
60m
The Betting & Gaming Council (BGC) has announced that Safer Gambling Week 2024 achieved more than 60 million impressions across social media platforms.
This year’s campaign, which took place between 18 and 24 November, had a 21% increase in impressions compared to the previous year, with engagement raising awareness of safer gambling taking place across X, Facebook, LinkedIn and Instagram.
Several cross-party UK MPs, peers and shadow ministers also backed Safer Gambling Week, including Gambling Minister Baroness Fiona Twycross and Shadow DCMS Secretary Stuart Andrew MP.
The campaign was also supported by the UK Gambling Commission and its CEO Andrew Rhodes, in addition to several football clubs including Aston Villa, Tottenham Hotspur and Southampton of the Premier League.
The BGC added that the Safer Gambling Week website also received more than half a million visits during the campaign, helping to provide advice on safer gambling tools such as deposit limits and time-outs and directing those who need help to the right resources.
“These outstanding and record-breaking results prove once more that our industry is serious about promoting the safer gambling tools available to customers and signposting the help and support available to those who need it,” commented Grainne Hurst, CEO of the BGC.
€8.05bn
Italy’s Customs and Monopolies Agency (ADM) has reported a drop in tax revenues from Italian gambling operations in 2024, stating that it collected €8.05bn in gambling taxes as of 30 September 2024.
This figure marks a 6% decline from the €8.2bn collected during the same period in 2023. For the entirety of 2023, ADM gathered €11.62bn in gambling taxes. If the trend continues, 2024 will be the first year ADM sees a drop in tax revenues, excluding the pandemic-hit year of 2020.
The bulletin detailed a sharp decline in Q3 2024. Gambling tax revenues fell by 16% to €2.22bn, compared to €3.3bn in Q3 2023. ADM linked this drop to a 26% year-on-year decrease in net gambling expenditure, which declined from €5.9bn in Q3 2023 to €4.35bn in Q3 2024.
While gambling revenues fell, the tobacco sector performed strongly, generating €4.18bn in Q3 2024—an increase of 5.77% compared to the previous year.
In the gambling sector, gaming machines remained the largest revenue source, contributing €910m (41%) from net expenditure of €1.26bn. Lotteries and number games followed, adding €870m (39.08%), while betting brought in €180m (8.17%), and other games accounted for €260m (11.64%).
$2.3bn
Analysts in Macau believe that the region will witness an improved December after GGR for last month stood at MOP$18.4bn ($2.30bn).
Despite November finishing relatively strong compared to a slow start, Macau’s Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau declared daily GGR of MOP$615m (US$77m) – a figure on the lower end of monthly GGR for 2024.
According to Vitaly Umansky, a Senior Analyst at Seaport Research Partners, November is typically a weak month and December should see GGR rise by around 5.2% year-on-year and 5.9% month-on-month to around MOP$19.5bn (US$2.43bn).
Carlo Santarelli, a Stock Analyst from Deutsche Bank, expects a weaker December than Umanskey, predicting a smaller 3% YoY increase in GGR to around MOP$191bn (US$2.39 billion).
He wrote: “Our December forecast represents a monthly sequential per day improvement of 0.4%, which, we note, compares to the 0.7% average sequential per day improvement in December, relative to November, over the period from 2013 through 2019.”
However, this growth could be hindered by the expected visit of Chinese President Xi Jinping for the inauguration of incoming Macau Chief Executive Sam Hou Fai on 20 December, as presidential events often lead to declines in visitation from mainland China.
1
HungryBear Gaming has celebrated a ‘game-changing’ milestone as the studio announced that SlotMasters has become the first multiplayer slot to be certified for real money gaming.
Initially launched as a free-to-play product in 2020, SlotMasters has been approved to be available to players in a real-money fashion, and will become available via the studio’s partner Yggdrasil Gaming.
HungryBear’s CEO and Founder Justin Chamberlain took to LinkedIn to make the “historic” announcement, stating that: “SlotMasters has officially become the first-ever multiplayer slot game certified for real money gaming.
“This achievement is the culmination of tireless dedication from our incredible team and the invaluable guidance and support of our friends and partners across the industry. It’s a testament to what’s possible when passion meets perseverance.
“We’ve always believed in pushing the boundaries of what slot games can be, and this certification marks a new chapter – not just for SlotMasters, but, dare I say it, for the evolution of slots.”
