Industry News
Gauselmann Group Opens New Venues in UK
German gambling company Gauselmann group has gone one step further by investing in the high street and launching its Merkur Slots brand nationally. The company has opened three brand-new venues in Southall, Hornchurch and Lancaster on July 4.
Gauselmann group plans to open many more Merkur Slots venues across the UK this year. The company will open with three more venues in Saltash, Bolton and Wolverhampton, this month.
âThis is a very exciting time for the Merkur Slots brand. So many companies havenât survived the effects of the pandemic and we are delighted to be able to give customers a brand-new experience in locations where we donât currently have a presence. It means a lot to us to be part of kick-starting the high street again and supporting the local community with new job opportunities,â Mark Schertle, COO of Gauselmann group, said.
Merkur Slots provides the latest in digital venues. All machines and advertising are fully digitised and customers will be able to enjoy all of their favourite games, as well as the latest in Blueprint games.
All venues will be COVID-secure, with Gauselmann group implementing an âOpen, clean, safeâ campaign which will focus heavily on ensuring new safety precautions are in-place and everything is communicated effectively with customers, via social channels and the official website.
âWe look forward to welcoming customers back to gaming after a small hiatus and we feel we have a unique edge in that we can offer them brand-new, modern venues that have been designed with social distancing in mind. Customers can game with total confidence. Thank you to all our staff who have worked tirelessly to get the venues up and running ahead of opening,â Schertle said.
Industry News
MiFinity to Showcase Innovative iFrame at SiGMA 2024
MiFinity, a leading global payment services provider, is excited to announce its participation at SiGMA 2024, held in Malta from 12 to 14 November. Visitors can find MiFinity at Stand 2012, where the team will be showcasing its award winning PayAnyBank service, and the latest version of the MiFinity iFrame and demonstrating how it helps iGaming operators acquire and retain players with a seamless, flexible payment experience.
Paul Kavanagh, CEO of MiFinity, commented: âSiGMA is a fantastic opportunity for us to showcase our latest developments and engage directly with the iGaming community. The MiFinity iFrame is a game-changer for operators looking to streamline their payment processes and enhance the player experience. We look forward to demonstrating its capabilities and connecting with both existing and prospective partners.â
MiFinityâs Business Development and Account Management teams will be on-site to discuss the new iFrame features in-depth and highlight how MiFinity can optimise payments for iGaming operators. They will also be showcasing MiFinityâs innovative suite of payment solutions developed specifically for the iGaming sector, including MiFinity PayAnyBank â a powerful tool that enables operators to send payouts directly to playersâ bank accounts in multiple countries and currencies, enhancing the user experience with faster, more localised transactions and reduced FX fees.
The MiFinity Affiliates team will also be available to explain the benefits of MiFinityâs affiliate program, which offers some of the highest commissions in the industry and unique promotional opportunities via the MiFinity Bonus website.
Meet the MiFinity team at Stand 2012 at SiGMA 2024 to learn more about the companyâs solutions and how they are transforming the iGaming payment landscape. Pre-book a meeting with the MiFinity team or drop by the stand during the event to explore how MiFinity can support your business.
Book a meeting here > outlook.office365.com/book/[email protected]/
Industry News
Dutch Mental Health Care Calls for Total Ban on Online Gambling Advertising
The Dutch mental health service is calling for a total ban on online gambling advertisements in the Netherlands.
Although a ban on untargeted gambling advertisements and a ban on the use of role models has been in effect since 2023, a recent research by KRO-NCRVâs Pointer shows that (illegal) gambling companies and sports tipster platforms are still enticing young people via social media such as TikTok and Snapchat.
By using influencers and terms like âfree moneyâ, they try to attract a young audience and thus lower the threshold to start gambling. This concerns both legal online casinos and online casinos that do not have a license in the Netherlands. The Gaming Authority has started an investigation based on Pointerâs findings.
Pointerâs research shows that part of the gambling industry deliberately targets young people who are often susceptible to promises such as âfast moneyâ and the influence of role models. Ruth Peetoom, chair of the Dutch mental health service, compares this approach to that of the tobacco industry, where similar marketing strategies were used to get young people to smoke.
Despite the existing advertising ban, gambling companies continue to explore the boundaries of the law, according to Peetoom. The Dutch mental health and addiction care associations in the Netherlands therefore push for a total ban on online gambling advertising and stricter rules for the duty of care of gambling providers.
With the call for a total ban, the Dutch mental health care sector hopes to prevent further normalisation of gambling behaviour among young people and to protect them from the temptation and consequences of online gambling.
Compliance Updates
UKGC: Market impact data on gambling behaviour – operator data to Oct 2024
The Gambling Commission has published further data on the gambling industry in Great Britain.
This data, sourced from operators, reflects the period between March 2020 and September 2024, inclusive, and covers online and in-person gambling covering Licensed Betting Operators (LBOs) found on Britainâs high streets.
Comparison should not be made with the industry statistics dataset, as this dataset may include free bets and bonuses and does not include data from all operators.
This release compares Quarter 2 (Q2) of financial year 2024 to 2025, with Q2 of 2023 to 2024, looking at how the market has changed in comparative periods over a year.
The latest operator data shows:
- online total Gross Gambling Yield (GGY) in Q2 (July to September) was ÂŁ1.32 billion, an increase of 11 percent from Q2 the previous year. The overall number of total bets and/or spins increased 12 percent Year-on-Year (YoY), reaching a new peak for the third consecutive quarter of 25.2 billion, whilst the average monthly active accounts2 in the quarter increased 8 percent
- real event betting GGY increased by 6 percent YoY to ÂŁ453 million. The number of bets decreased 10 percent, while the average monthly active accounts in Q2 increased 9 percent
- slots GGY increased 16 percent to ÂŁ680 million YoY. The number of spins increased 13 percent to 23.3 billion while the average monthly active accounts in Q2 increased 16 percent to 4.4 million per month. Although this is a new peak for GGY in this dataset for the slots vertical, it should be noted that one operator has re-classified some of its products into the slot vertical this quarter, which has had an impact on the vertical data
- the number of online slots sessions lasting longer than an hour increased by 9 percent YoY to 10 million. The average session length remained at 17 minutes. Approximately 6.1 percent of all sessions lasted more than one hour compared to 6.6 percent in Q2 the previous year. The number of spins per session has fallen from 147 to 142 YOY, whilst the GGY per session has fallen from ÂŁ4.20 to ÂŁ4.13 in the equivalent timeframe
- LBO GGY decreased by 1 percent to ÂŁ533 million in Q2 2024 to 2025, compared to the same quarter last year, while the number of total bets and spins decreased by 0.1 percent to 3.1 billion.
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