Old World Europe or a new Dawn for iGaming?

European market overview

Europe is, without a doubt, the 'Godfather' of iGaming, with a long-established gambling tradition, legal market, and a wealth of consumers while being at the forefront of game development. No other area of the world can compare when it comes to size. By the end of 2022 online gaming revenue generated by European countries is expected to reach €40 billion. To put that into a global perspective, this iGaming sector accounts for nearly half of the world’s revenue.

Mainly consisting of EU countries, Europe is a group of autonomous states, free to set their own gambling rules, as long as they comply with the fundamental freedoms and general provisions as established under the EU Treaty. However, those rules can vary to such an extent that in some jurisdictions, regimes are completely open and in others monopolistic.

Western Europe is the 2nd most casinopopulated region after North America, and not counting French and U.K. casinos, hosts over a hundred casinos between Germany, Spain, and Italy.

iGaming accounts for approximately 30% of GGR with the U.K. as the largest (around 30%), followed by Germany (12%), France (9%), and Italy (8.7%). Sports betting is Europe’s most popular iGaming product, worth around €15 billion and accounting for 40% of all online income. In 2020, Sweden was the European country with the highest share of gamblers betting online (66.2%), followed by Denmark (59.4%), the U.K. (59.3%), Finland (58.5%), and Romania (56.7%).

Most countries in Europe regulate the main forms of gambling while some, like the Netherlands, only recently legalized iGaming.

The Dutch market already has an estimated 1.2 million active players, and is set to become one of the important iGaming markets in Europe.

Emerging markets

Though it is true that some countries like the U.K., Ireland, and France have been home to a thriving gambling tradition for an age, historically, this is not the case for a bunch of others. Social and economic liberalization which took place, beginning with the end of the Cold War and accelerated in recent years with legal, cultural and technological developments, has changed the landscape across the continent.

New entrants to iGaming have appeared with new opportunities for operators to expand. Bulgaria, Poland, the Czech Republic, and Germany all fit that criteria, with Switzerland and Luxembourg liberalizing alongside.

Germany lifted its restrictions for online casinos in 2021, with revenue for online gambling forecast to grow to €3.3 billion by 2024. Although land-based venues indicated a drop in earnings during 2021, the online sector, including sports betting, picked up the slack. Some forecasts report the sports betting market alone could be worth as much as €18.2 billion by 2024. Germany has every chance of becoming the largest iGaming market in Europe, but due to high taxes and strict regulations, it is difficult to consider the territory as the promised land right now.

Poland launched its legal market in 2017 and is now impressively worth more than €5 billion.

The Czech Republic market has started growing again, with revenues exceeding €1.36 billion.

Bulgaria, in the last few years, boasted an annual exponential growth of around 20% for sports betting, and a further 30% for online casinos. The Bulgarian market is worth around €350 million and, as more operators launch in this country, is on track to surpass €550 million by 2024. Localized games are currently under development by operators in order to capitalize on the local's keen thirst for casino and sports betting offerings.

Over in Switzerland, online casinos generated a GGR of more than €21 million in the first six months since their opening in 2019 and this number is still increasing.

Conclusion

A mixed bag of old and new, Europe offers something for everyone, and there's no doubt opportunities can still be found for operators. Whatever the case, the territory is a complex mix of rules and legislation, together with a myriad of technical specific requirements operators must meet to legally hosting an iGaming entity. It's always advisable therefore to engage with the relevant legal and technical experts operating in the field before jumping in.