SBC News Voice of the Sports Betting Industry
The European Gaming and Betting Association (EGBA) has released its latest Annual Activity Report highlighting the latest trends in online gambling for 2023.
Data from the report showcases the various milestones EGBA has managed to achieve throughout the year through collaboration with gambling stakeholders to raise the standards and promote greater transparency across Europe’s regulated gambling markets.
Anti-Money Laundering
AML has been a key focus of EGBA’s efforts to bring Europe’s gambling market to a global leadership position. Over the last 12 months, the organisation worked alongside its members to introduce new industry guidelines strengthening due diligence, reporting on suspicious transactions, and enhanced record keeping.
In July 2021, the European Commission (EC) presented a legislation package to toughen the EU’s AML and anti-terrorist financing measures, with the final Transfer of Funds Regulation (TFR) expected to come into effect from January 2025.
All of the new guidelines introduced by EGBA in the past year were built to fully comply with the new regulations coming into play across European jurisdictions.
Cyber Security
Another area of fostering increased collaboration between EGBA members was cyber security. 2023 saw the establishment of an expert group that oversees the exchange and sharing of best practices and intelligence between operators related to cyber threats.
Some of the security practices that the new platform enabled operators to collaborate on included strategies to combat credential stuffing, the utilisation of Web Application Firewalls, as well as the implementation of multi-factor authentication for customers.
Daniele Perrone, Senior Legal Advisor at EGBA, commented: “EGBA members are at the centre of industry efforts to promote the highest cyber security standards. In 2021, our members alone thwarted 8500 cyber-threats against their European websites.
“EGBA’s cyber security expert group supports these efforts by contributing to a more joined-up industry response and setting a benchmark for maintaining high cyber security standards.”
Industry data
According to data from the trade organisation’s members, in 2022 players decreased the value of their bets but wagered more. The total value of stakes saw a 9% YoY decrease to €184bn, while the number of stakes grew by 19% to 132 billion.
Online gross gaming revenue (GGR) declined 8% in 2022 to a total of €10.7bn. Furthermore, casino revenue overtook that of sports betting for the first time, making up 48% of EGBA members’ total online revenues.
Maarten Haijer, Secretary General for EGBA, added: “Over the past year, we have focused our efforts on raising industry standards and driving positive change within the sector. We are grateful for the trust and support of our members, who push progress forward and regularly demonstrate their commitment to being open and transparent, including by sharing their valuable industry data.
“The recent decrease in revenues could be attributed to a combination of factors, including the impact of the cost-of-living crisis on customer gambling habits and a streak of customer-friendly sports results.”
