The crowd turned out for the first panel discussion of second day of the European i-Gaming Congress in Copenhagen' Bella Centre by listening to the 7 of the industry's top class executives spout to a series of issues affecting the forthcoming of the gambling industry.
Gigi Levy, the 888.com's CEO pointed out that a world of some $350,000,000,000 still encompassed only an 8% online gambling leaving a plenty of room for diffusion.
The panel be composed of Gigi Levy of 888.com, Petter Nylander of Unibet, Norbert Teufelbeger of Bwin, David Yu of the Betfair, Ed Andrewes of Ladbrokes eGaming, Jim Ryan of Party Gaming and Henry Birch of William Hill online casino. The common consent seem to be that legal and regulatory developments and the world's markets legally and "through the front door".
"Regulation, and in particular the recent ECJ verdict, is the big thing facing us, it is the one thing that could change the industry altogether on the European side." As Gigi Levy pointed out on the recent ECJ ruling in favour of state monopolies under certain circumstances in the Bwin case.
"This will benefit local operators too, and will create a very tough time for the pirates,” Norbert Teufelberger of Bwin stated that despite the fact that the face value, The ECJ ruling was not helpful to his company, instead he remain idealistic about European's regulation.
He also plead for online gambling on one factor of the court's finding, and that is the e-gaming was dangerous. Describing that this is totally off target. He also believed that by protecting the monopolies may lead on pirate operators like in Holland.
"Consumers have created the markets already," he said. "Now the [various] governments have been left to catch up." Unibet's representative, Petter Nylander says that the customers don't want monopolized state gambling as is declared by incessantly developing demands regardless of the restrictions.
They also discussed the circumstances of America, clear enough to know that if legal hindrances could be prevail over and go on to the biggest market and allured to lots of companies.
Like other members of the panel, Gigi Levi seemed to hold the view that ultimately the US market would be regulated, presenting great opportunities but the danger of a protectionist system in a commercial sense.
He also reveled that >888.com had had to undergo a tough investigation and approval processes before being chosen recently as Harrah's Interactive's software partner in Europe.
Jim Ryan of Party Gaming keep an eye on the Harrah's deal would not be the last in the American context, and in the wake of his company's exemption from prosecution deal regarding pre-UIGEA activities, he appeared confident that Party Gaming would be back in the USA through one form of deal or another in the future.
Henry Birch said the US market was appealing, perhaps through partnership deals, but that he was prudent regarding the possibility of a protectionist and discriminatory approach to licensing.
Betfair has already secured a footprint in the USA through its deal with horse-racing group TVG, said David Yu, dwelling on his company had a conservative approach to legal issues. He said that the demand from consumers was clearly there.
Ed Andrewes said that Ladbrokes focus remained on the UK market, but that it would not ignore partnerships that might open up the possibility of US business.
Norbert Teufelberger discoursed questions on the Asian market, revealing that his company was making a multi-million dollar, within a 3 year effort in the region and was trying to entice governments to regulate online gambling.
"We need to keep building - the potential is there", Gigi Levy said that online games spend in the USA was probably of the order of 15 to 20%, leaving room for supplementary development. Early generations now coming into the market had fewer moral reservations about gambling, and had a more clear-cut view of the industry especially in the poker and bingo sectors.
The panel also discussed stabilization and the ramifications of major media companies entering the industry, which bring about various of opinions.
Gigi Levy inclined towards the idea of integrated betting, Jim Ryan felt that a media strategy was momentous over the next 5 years, and Henry Birch and David Yu affirmed the possibilities but felt that online players had a strong inclination for known brands in the business.
The point was made that existing online gambling companies have had to flourish strong anti-money laundering and problem and underage gambling systems and were probably stronger in this field that most e-commerce or media companies.
The initiative, insistence on professionalism and legality and generally positive approach to industry issues was again clearly present among the panel members, providing the audience with stimulating discussion and hope for the time to come.
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