iGaming Daily

Andrew McCarron (00:00.248)
Hello and welcome to today's edition of the iGaming Daily on what is a very exciting day for us here at SBC with the launch of our new gaming site igamingexpert.com. I'm Martin Elliott, project director for SBC Media and joining me to tell me all about iGaming Expert is our gaming editor Joe Streeter.

Joe, how you feeling about the big day? A lot of work gone into this that you've prepared for so far. Yeah, thanks, Martin. Incredibly excited, as you say. A lot of work has gone into this. I think a real needed voice for the industry, providing kind of expert analysis, the name suggests, from various global markets, from various verticals. A really exciting and important launch for the industry, I think. Yeah.

Very much so. think it's a great addition to our media portfolio, but we'll come back to that at the end. We're going to talk about a few issues before that. And obviously, before we dive into that, as always, we have to mention that iGaming Daily is brought to you in partnership with our friends at OptiMove, the number one CRM marketing solution for the iGaming industry. And OptiMove, of course, a

company that partners with many of the biggest operators and the names who you will be reading about on iGaming Expert in the months to come. So one thing about the structure of this website, it's truly global and we're looking at markets around the world with it. So before we talk about the launch, we're to talk about some of the biggest stories happening around the world in the industry, starting with Thailand. So Joe, can you tell us a little bit more about what's going on there?

Yeah, well, I mean, we've seen, as you mentioned, by the way, fittingly, we are going to kind of touch base in some of the most emerging and important and just interesting markets across the world at the moment, just in the same way that iGaming expert will do and will provide analysis on the key markets, the place where the industry wants to know what's going on, really tapping into the heart of the industry. yeah, Thailand, obviously one where we saw just continued evolution last year in terms of

Andrew McCarron (02:12.077)
the regulatory progress and it's just developed at a faster rate than anyone could have probably imagined. They've really started the year with a flurry and there was kind of this unwritten foot race going on between Thailand, Japan and Abu Dhabi and in that kind of region, all who was going to be first to kind of get an integrated resort and pursue legal framework.

And it looks like Thailand are very much taking the lead there with a legal gaming bill being passed by the cabinet and now going for deliberation and approval from Prime Minister Srinivastra. Prime Minister Srinivastra? Prime Minister Srinivastra, yes. She is the daughter of Thaksin Srinivastra, former Manchester City CEO. Who's the CEO? He was the owner for a bit. the owner, Wasn't it him who bought in Sven?

replaced Mark Hughes with Sven, I think. think so. Yeah. was a really interesting character in Or the other way around, you? Which way around that was? Was it Mark Hughes first? I think it was Hughes second, actually. I think you're right there because Hughes was in charge for the 4-3 defeat, which I think was to Man United, obviously, which was after the Ericsson era. But an interesting one, and it's fairly pertinent that she is the daughter of Dax in Shinowatra because

He was very vocal in his support for the gambling industry and potentially legalizing gambling and its benefits for the economy. when they had prime ministerial change earlier in the year in 2024, in the middle of 2024, there was kind of this nervousness from the industry and from those that had been eyeing the market that that prime ministerial change would lead

to disruption with the progress of the bill, but with his daughter coming in and I'm not going to say her name, her name is very hard to pronounce, Prime Minister Shinowatra coming in. She has also followed up and been very supportive in the cause, hence why it is being accelerated to the start of this year, the bill being passed.

Andrew McCarron (04:28.81)
Land-based or land-based? Yeah, integrated resorts. think one of the variables was... So these are entertainment venues and they allow... The purpose is not just for gambling and to boost the economy through gambling, but to boost the economy through tourism. I think they call it the fun economy. It's to boost the economy for tourism. that was one of the variables.

in this bill, one of the things that we didn't quite know was how much of the integrated resort space, floor space, was going to be allowed to be dedicated to gambling. It is 5%. Probably not, doesn't feel like a victory for the industry right now, but these venues will be spectacular, I'm sure of that, and the 5 % will very much do. Yeah, so really interesting times. The other one is just how many there will be and...

where they will be. think Bangkok right now remains the front runner, unsurprisingly, given that they are kind of aimed at being tourist hotspots and being these places where tourism thrives and you know, injects more into the economy. So yeah, Bangkok, not surprising. But I think like with many things, I think it's likely that once they are kind of brought in, we see the expansion and we see the growth and

sector evolve. a cautious approach at first, but I think it's a really positive sign for the industry in Thailand. Mason-It's an interesting approach, isn't it? Because you think about places like Vegas and Macau, you can go to the casinos and they all have other attractions there and so on. It's not quite the same as you go to a casino resort on the edge of Bangkok and you can see all the great things that Bangkok has to offer on top of going to the casino. It's a holiday destination, a tourism destination.

Sounds like a pretty good offering. Yeah, might even replicate. actually went to Aruba one time and Aruba is a, I was very surprised by the kind of allocated space for gambling. There's a small allocated space in a lot of hotels and resorts for gambling, but they are still just hotspots for kind of gambling tourism, if you like, because of that. it kind of might, might, well represent a

Andrew McCarron (06:49.454)
may well mirror that a little bit more than kind of other regions. yeah, when you look at the others in the area, right, Abu Dhabi and Japan, who are also kind of looking to bring in integrated resorts, it's going to be fascinating to see what they do actually look like and who they cater to. But yeah, you're right. As entertainment venues, I'm sure they will be quite spectacular. Yeah, sure. And do I have any kind of time scale on this at the moment, or we just...

as we see in markets around the world for both online and Lambe stuff stuck in parliamentary discussions. Now it is in the hands of the Thai parliament. Progress has been made. The bill has been put forward and formalised. And Prime Minister Shinowatra seems like the type of PM that isn't going to hurdle, isn't going to obstruct this. She's going to try and make it as frictionless as possible. So we could be looking at the first

let's say the first half of 2025 for really developments to just continue. Well, exciting times there. we'll go into another, you know, we'll keep it global. We'll go on to another. What on the face of it is a good news story? Tell us what's been happening in India. Yeah. A good news story off the back of much political back and forth in India.

I don't think Indian operators really have had a lot of great news in terms of the regulatory framework they operate under for quite a while, but this is some respite, should we say. This is some good news. There has been a resolution period to the goods and services tax that taxes, very high tax on Indian operators and it's on deposits.

We actually had a statement as well from Anurag Saxenia, the CEO of the E-Gaming Federation, which is the industry body in the region. They described it as a win-win for both gaming operators who were facing coercive action and the government whose timelines have now been extended. And that also refers to touted back tax that was going to be implemented to Indian operators. was really tough times for...

Andrew McCarron (09:09.582)
operators in the region. this news will certainly be positive for them. And yeah, Martin, do you want to just shed a little light on just how big those taxes were too? know where you... they were utterly bonkers. If it been implemented as the particular government committee envisaged, it was going to be a 28 % tax on the full value of player deposits.

That was irrespective of whether you're talking about a game of skill or a game of chance. Quite important. The regulated market in India is very different to what we're used to here in Europe. Most of the strictly legal operators are things like rummy, poker and some of the local card games. I'm not sure if this was going to fall on the huge daily fantasy sports operators there because obviously T20, Indian Premier League,

fantasy sports is massive as well. But 28 % on deposits, that becomes very difficult to actually break even with your winnings on that. I'm not a maths genius, but what would the rake on your poker room have to be on those games if you were going to be able to make a profit after paying 28 % tax on the deposit? It's unworkable, essentially. You're almost putting a barrier in front of profitability and just

It's a gift to the black market, those rates really. So a little bit of clarity on the back tax thing has been praised on the back tax situation. That clarity is huge. That enables operators to kind of breathe for a minute and then a resolution period as well. So hopefully 2025, the good news kind of continues for the Indian market and we get to see a market that really

complements the country's economy and is enabled to grow and enable to engage players in a safe and secure way. Mason-Hill, The Daily Mail

Andrew McCarron (11:31.982)
healthy tax revenues for the provinces there. They're choosing not to do it at the minute. And things like this are really making it more attractive to operate offshore than to go within that framework. So it'll be really interesting to see how this develops moving forward. Mason-Hill

Andrew McCarron (12:00.962)
The overall goal is balance. you look at France now too, the goal is balance and that really needs to be key. It can't swing one way or the other. You need to find a balance that enables the regulated market to attract players and to grow and to be profitable, whilst also ensuring that those safeguards are there. think that's the crucial factor. Yeah, absolutely.

On our of whistle stop tour of markets we rarely talk about on iGaming Daily. So what's been going on in Africa? What's new there this week? Yeah, I actually wanted to talk to you a little bit about the Kenyan market. There was a report from the Kenyan market from iGaming Africa and Sharp Visions. A really interesting report. Obviously the African market is fragmented. It's hard to talk about the African market as one because there's various different countries all with

various different problems but sometimes you do find that an issue for one is an issue for another. There are similar sentiments felt across the region and this one in Kenya, this report from Kenya is absolutely fascinating. It showed a deeper appetite from younger players, I think 18 to 30, that are wanting to engage with gambling more, they wanted to play more and

They are also continuing to use mobile devices as well. And that's one of the key issues in Africa across the continent is the mobile networks. We hear on this side in North America and in Europe about innovation and gamification. When you're talking about mobile gaming in Africa because of limitations with the network, you kind of have to put a ceiling on that innovation.

And as much as the networks have grown, players still want to play mobile. was discovered by the report that mobile remains the number one source. So, yeah, it's an interesting one. And how operators adapt to the African market and to the Kenyan market is going to be a real challenge. You know, they want to be innovative enough to engage players, but also a clunky experience because of networks just isn't going to work.

Andrew McCarron (14:27.646)
I mean, yeah, that's right. I mean, there's a lot of work for people like games providers, platform providers to do to get the sort of quite low-code, lightweight options to go on mobile. It's a couple of years ago when we did our last Africa-focused digital conference, and the big thing there that struck me was everyone said, don't be so advanced. Don't be so fancy with things to do because

People are really worried about the cost of their mobile phone call, the cost of mobile data. And I'm sure that as we move forward, the quality of the mobile networks will be improving. You know, there's a lot of pretty strong and growing economies in Africa now. It's not what you might remember if you grew up in the 1980s from the general opinion of Africa. There's some really interesting things going on.

in the wider economy there. So we should keep an eye on what is happening there. there was a real shift as well. It's always worth noting that there was a significant post-COVID shift in Africa from players that used to bet sports. They were sole sports bettors. That was all they did. And obviously with COVID, that sport dried up and they moved on to iGaming and they did stick around. it's one of the regions more than any others.

more than any other that really felt a long-term shift, a long-term change in trends off the back of the pandemic. So it's for iGaming operators now to kind of tap into that and provide a product that works and that fits the bill in some of the African regions out there. And yeah, and obviously as the Brazilian market opens up too, we know about Brazil, the Portuguese speaking African markets. Yeah.

worth noting. It's worth something to look out for those operators that have now got all this Portuguese resource that could maybe move into those regions. sure. That's a good point. Now, you're going to be covering a lot more content from Africa, Asia and so on, on the new website than we have done at SBC in the past. But give us your elevator pitch, Joe. What is iGaming Expert? Yeah, so I think

Andrew McCarron (16:52.022)
The key is that expert, you know, we're going to tap into some of the vast industry experts that are out there. We're going to stay ahead of the trends and really try and shine a light on some of the markets that have perhaps been less well covered than they should have been in the past. And yeah, I think that's the key, just staying ahead of the trends, staying ahead of the markets and really providing a deeper analysis on the important pivotal things in iGaming.

Sure. I'm quite excited by what I've seen of it so far and the work you're doing in preparation. One of the big things is, as we mentioned, we're going round the world with the coverage. We're aiming to hit the markets where all our sponsors and suppliers and so on are interested in selling into because they're new, they're exciting, they're an open field, lot of them. But we'll also have coverage from

Western Europe, which we've always been strong on. We'll get some contributions coming in from SBC America's team as well, and the Noticias team, particularly about the Brazilian market, which everyone is talking about at minute. But one thing I'm really interested in seeing is that obviously the dates, we'll have this mix of the day-to-day news that will always bring you the big breaking stories.

which you'll be covering with alongside Danny Lee and Connor Porter, our experienced gaming team. But bringing in some of these outside experts to offer a bit of a level of expertise on things that maybe we don't have in-house. So, you know, we'll have some people talk about payments technology, the latest games, the latest trends in artificial intelligence, what's going on in the affiliate market, all these things. it's a bit of a...

always sounds quite cheap when you describe something as a one-stop shop. It's like you're not going to get the quality and the depth, but actually that is exactly where you're to get the quality and the depth from a much wider range of people than we've had before. So a big challenge for your editing and story selection skills and finding the right experts and so on to carry on bringing that content, right? hundred percent. obviously you see at SBC events, right, you see the

Andrew McCarron (19:13.134)
the vast knowledge that's on show that's just milling about some of the conversations that you had, that you have. For us, it's kind of about tapping into that and ensuring that, you know, we really bring this to the forefront of the site and put this on paper and just enable our audience to be as educated as possible when it comes to the key topics within the iGaming industry. Yeah, that's great. Well, thanks for coming and telling us a bit about the new site, And the new site's URL is...

iGamingExpert.com Correct. Well remembered. You looked a little bit surprised when I said that. Yeah. if you, you know, I would just advise everyone to check it out for, you know, today and then moving forward and see how the content is and, you know, Be sure to subscribe to the daily newsletter as well. The iGamingExpert digest and, you know, get all the new stories and the insights and the features.

sent directly to your inbox so you never miss anything at all. Anything that's pertinent to you, you really get it straight to your inbox. So be sure to subscribe to the newsletter. That's correct. And obviously, you know how to get a hold of us. If you have feedback on the new site, then please let us know. We're always open to ideas and so on.

But thanks for joining me today, Joe, and thanks for listening and join us again tomorrow for another edition of iGaming Daily.