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As the shortest and darkest days of the year descend upon our London office, we at Gambling Insider wanted to look back at the bright spots of 2019.

There were certainly plenty, with two particularly large M & A deals taking the industry by storm and excitement being generated across US markets.

As always though, regulatory pressure complicated things, while several companies also saw changes in the CEO seat. All things considered, here’s

Gambling Insider

’s review of an eventful year.

History is made

As regulatory constrictions tighten and competition continues to increase, the landscape is rife for consolidation within gaming right now. Many had expected a mammoth year on this front in 2019 and, for the most part, it didn’t necessarily deliver – with a string of smaller-scale acquisitions the order of the day.

But, in just two instalments, 2019 became a year that has transformed the gaming landscape monumentally. First, in the US, we had confirmation of Eldorado Resorts’ $17.3bn acquisition of Caesars Entertainment. Later in the year – and on a much less expected note – Flutter Entertainment announced it will purchase Stars Group, in a deal that could create a company worth $11bn in market capital.

While the new Caesars will need to be carefully managed in terms of its debt structure, there is no denying the gargantuan nature of the newly formed organisation. For Flutter, meanwhile, it is simply mind-boggling to imagine Paddy Power, Betfair, Sky Betting & Gaming, PokerStars, FanDuel, Fox Bet and more under one umbrella. This will forever be the year which made it happen.

US expansion

A year and a half on from the overturning of PASPA, there is just as much optimism surrounding the US sports betting market as there was back in May 2018. The US’ online gaming market is also generating great positivity, as New Jersey and Pennsylvania set the tone for a vertical looking to blossom in new territories.

There was already plenty to celebrate in 2019 for states’ fledgling sports betting markets. New states such as New York regulated land-based sports wagering – although the opportunity to legalise mobile betting was missed in that particular instance.

In New Jersey, both sports betting handle and revenue outpaced that of Nevada at points in the calendar year. As opposed to the European regulation continuing to add to companies’ to do lists, the US truly remains the land of opportunity for gaming firms.

New faces

Something undeniable in 2019 was the rate of change in the hot seat at a number of gaming organisations, a topic

Gambling Insider

explored in July. Since that article was written, the rate of change has increased and, over the course of the year, we have seen a number of new CEOs take the reins at suppliers and operators alike. Notable changes included:

Ulrik Bengtsson succeeded Philip Bowcock as William Hill CEO

Itai Pazner replaced the long-serving Itai Frieberger as 888 CEO

Penn National Gaming’s Tim Wilmott announced his retirement and will be replaced by Jay Snowden in the CEO role

GVC Holdings hired Dean Shannon as its Australia CEO, succeeding Jason Scott

Intralot Chairman and Founder Sokratis Kokkalis replaced Antonios Kerastaris as CEO

Lucy Buckley left her position as Nektan CEO

Richard Brown replaced Robin Reed as Gaming Innovation Group CEO

Relax Gaming appointed Tommi Maijala as its new CEO, with Daniel Eskola moving into the CCO position

Tobias Fagerlund was named Global Gaming CEO, succeeding Joacim Möller

Keith Galea replaced Richard Mifsud as Helio Gaming CEO

The Betting and Gaming Council, formed in July, appointed Michael Dugher as CEO

Regulatory pressure

No year can be perfect however, and we risk sounding like a parrot here at

Gambling Insider

when stressing the extra compliance pressures operators have faced in 2019. Across Europe, markets are littered with examples. In the UK, the fixed-odds betting terminals stake limits were finally enforced but, if you thought that was the end of the matter, calls surfaced for a new £2 ($2.63) stake limit on online slot play towards the end of the year.

Nowhere was regulation – or re-regulation, to be precise – mentioned more than in Sweden. Since the market’s re-regulation on 1 January, operators have been hit with fines and warnings galore, while the channelisation of the market has caused great concern as operators’ seeming lack of opportunity to work with the Swedish Gambling Authority took its toll.

Naturally, the list of regulatory concerns grows larger than that – but we’d be here all day if we covered them all. Let’s end on a positive note and say, despite the added compliance strain, the achievements of 2019 leave plenty for gaming to look ahead to in 2020.

Academics at Swansea University have called for the NHS to establish gambling harms services in the country.

Swansea University academics have voiced concern regarding the lack of treatment services available to those in Wales vulnerable to gambling harms, and that NHS gambling harms services must be established in Wales. Moreover, they have called for the issue to be addressed by the Welsh Government.

In an article published called Frontiers in Psychiatry, academics highlighted how gambling harm referrals to the NHS have increased quarter-on-quarter, but there are still no gambling harms clinics in either Scotland or Wales, while there are 15 in England. This is despite a 2018 survey that concluded that 3.6% of individuals in Wales had experienced gambling harm – which the academics suspect has only risen alongside the growth in gambling participation, which has increased 11% between 2018 and 2022.

This is corroborated by calls for increased gambling harms services in Scotland, with

women

noted as being a particularly overlooked demographic in the area.

In 2022 Public Health Wales commissioned a Health Needs Assessment (HNA), which focused on the impact of gambling on Welsh people. The report noted that many facing gambling harms were unaware of support systems currently available, such as third-sector providers and charities, but also that there were ‘challenges surrounding the awareness, accessibility and acceptability of current gambling treatment and support provision in Wales.’

One of the academics who worked on the article, Swansea University professor and Director of GREAT Network Wales, Simon Dymond, said: “We repeat our call for the Welsh Government and key stakeholders to put words into action and give the Welsh people a specialised gambling harms treatment service that meets their needs.

“We need NHS investment in gambling harms services for Wales, now.”