CasinoBeats delves into the statistics behind the most interesting stories in the gambling industry every week. This edition includes a look at the Swedish sanctions, increased UK compliance and a return of gaming revenue in Nevada.
$1.24bn
Nevada’s gaming operators returned to growth in revenue in April. Operators on the Las Vegas Strip performed well compared to the same period the year before.
The Nevada Gaming Control Board reported that the state’s gaming revenues increased by 6.95 percent year-overyear, to $1.24bn. (April 2023 $1.16bn).
This figure, although lower than March’s 1,29 billion dollars, represents a YoY increase for the Silver State operations after the prior month saw a decline of 1.65% per cent.
Nevada’s revenue for the fiscal year, July 1, 2023 to April 30, 2020 has increased by 4.67 percent YoY.
The Strip’s operations in April increased by 6.62 percent compared to the same period last year, to $666.9m ($624.7m in April 2023). Revenue for the Strip increased by 6.52 percent to $7.6bn in the fiscal year (2023: $7.1bn).
The NGCB reported that revenue from slot machines grew 5.86% YoY, to $886.8m. Multi denominations and cents generated $586.8m each, while revenue for one cent and multi denominations was $216.6m.
The revenue from table, counter, and card games increased by 9.8% YoY, to $353.4m. Blackjack and Baccarat produced $110.2m each, and $76.1m respectively.
SEK 2.66m
Spelinspektionen found that Hacksaw Studios provided games to operators who did not have a Swedish license. The slot provider was issued a warning as well as a sanction fee of SEK 2,6m (EUR 226,300).
Swedish Gambling Authority stated that on 10 January 2024 an inspection was conducted of websites operated by firms that do not have the necessary licences to be in Sweden. Hacksaw Studios, a provider for two websites under investigation was discovered. An inspection was launched into this supplier.
In the decision of the authority, Hacksaw Studios has responded to Spelinspektionen’s inspection from January 23rd 2024 by stating it had implemented geoblocking in order to ensure that its software was only accessible to licensed operators within Sweden.
Hacksaw Group legal entities do not enter into contracts with studios, but they will provide their software to those who have the required licence.
Hacksaw Studios also noted that it cannot be held responsible for the regulatory compliance of their clients. It is not possible to guarantee that an operator will refrain from attempting to bring its content into a market in which it does not hold the required licences.
$100m
Mandalay Resort and Casino announced that it has completed a $100m redesign for its 2.1-million-square-foot Convention Centre, including the upgrading of the tech infrastructure.
The resort will also benefit from a new design and dynamic digital signage that complements its tropical brand.
Ernest Stovall commented on the matter: “Meetings, conventions, and other events play an important role in Las Vegas’ success. The revitalisation and renovation of Mandalay Bay Convention Center shows our commitment to the Mandalay Bay Convention Center, which is a critical part of Las Vegas’ foundation.
Our goal is to adapt to the changing needs of modern customers by evolving with the industry. We based our design on the invaluable input from Mandalay Bay’s customer advisory board. The space we created reflects modern events, meetings and tradeshows and sets new standards in terms of excellence.
98%
The Betting and Gaming Council has revealed that its members, the Betting and Gaming Council , have achieved record-breaking compliance rates when it comes to age verification.
The BGC reported that independent data from ID and Compliance Testing Service serve Legal showed that the BGC had noted a 91.4 percent pass rate for age verification across thousands of checks each year, while casino had a 98.8 per cent pass rate.
According to the council, the rate of compliance has risen by 30% across all audit volumes since Serve Legal started working with the gaming and betting sector in 2009. Its members enforce strict age verification in order to avoid underage gambling.
BGC has also raised the age of verification from “Think 21,” to “Think 25,” in betting shops and casino, which requires anyone over 18, but who looks younger than 25 to show ID.
The council also funds Young Gamblers’ Addiction Prevention Programme and GamCare‘s 10m PS Young People’s Harm Prevention Programme which have reached over two million young people aged 11-19 years old, as well as those who work with them in the UK.
Wes Himes is the Executive Director for Standards and Innovation of BGC. He said that: “The BGC and its members are extremely proud of this compliance rate, which puts us in front of our competitors across all departments.
Bookmakers and Casinos play an important economic role in UK high streets as well as the leisure and tourist sector. The highest standard of service must be matched by the economic contribution.
DKK 5.95m
Spillemyndigheden (the Danish gambling authority) reported that gross gaming revenues across land-based and online casinos, as well as gaming machines, declined year over year in April.
The authority reported figures for the month of April 2024. GGR was DKK 595m, or EUR79.8m. This is down from DKK 640m in the same period last year.
Online casinos lead the sector in terms of gross gaming revenue (GGR) with 45.85 percent, followed by gambling with 32.79 percent, gaming machines at 16.11%, and land-based casino with 5.26.
In April, online casinos generated DKK 273, up by 6.04 percent from DKK 257m during the same period the year before.
In the vertical segment, the gaming machines accounted for the highest share in total GGR, at 76.26 percent, followed by blackjack (7.27%), roulette (7.37%), commission (3.66%), and other (3.17%), as well as bingo (2.64%).
Spillemyndigheden reported that the GGR for betting in April was DKK 195m, a drop of 20.92% compared to DKK 247m recorded in April 2023.
The mobile betting vertical was the most popular with 70.18 percent of total GGR. This was followed by the land-based sector at 15.06 per cent, and the computer segment at 14.76.
The average GGR per day for gaming machines in April was DKK 3.33m, down 7.36 percent YoY.
Restaurants produced 20,35 percent of total vertical GGR, while gaming arcades contributed 79.65 percent.
The average daily gross revenue for land-based casinos was DKK 1.1m in April, down by 1.63 percent YoY.
Spillemyndigheden reported that as of April 30th 2024 the ROFUSself exclusion service has 50 740 users, including 32 823 permanently registered individuals and 17 914 temporary registered members.
30m SEK
Kindred confirmed the second reduction in the amount of the penalty fee that was ordered by the Swedish Gambling Authority for 2020. The new figure is SEK 30m.
Kindred’s online casino brand Spooniker, which is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Kindred, was fined SEK 100m for bonus rule violations in 2019.
It was alleged that the firm offered “several unauthorised bonuses”, as well as other games (specifically lotteries) which were not covered under its licence.
The Authority decided that the SEK100m fine was necessary because of the seriousness of the violation. However, it made sure the fine would not “exceed 10 percent of the license holder’s annual turnover”.
The operator responded to the initial violations by saying: “Kindred is appealing the SGA decision in order to get judicial advice on the interpretation of the new law.” Kindred’s interpretation will remain strict until the recent warnings and fines imposed on other license holders have been tried and enforced in court.
Kindred believes that the Swedish Gambling Act, which was adopted on 1 January 2019, is vague and creates unnecessary ambiguity in the areas that relate to commercial activities. Kindred is pleased to see more clarity and will continue to enhance its operation to meet all compliance requirements.
The fee for the violation was initially reduced to SEK50m following Kindred’s complaint. However, four years later, it has now been further reduced to SEK30m.
