As casinos and gaming halls close their doors, online gambling and sports betting sites are proliferating.
Through a study carried out by Ladbrokes, the newspaper L'Echo recently pointed the finger at the numerous illegal, and therefore unregulated, gambling sites that are just a click away in Belgium. Gaming1 has been denouncing this unfair competition for many years now.
Pirate sites, a danger just a click away:
In a constantly changing world, the advent of digital technology has brought about a real transformation in consumer habits. The current health crisis has only reinforced this digital consumption model. In this context, the supply of online gambling has expanded considerably, also leading to the proliferation of illegal sites.
Despite the creation of a blacklist by the Gambling Commission, Belgian players are still prey to some 500 pirate operators on the market. Illegal operators who do not respect the legal obligations regarding advertising, deposit limits, minimum legal age or means of payment. These sites are a real danger for players, who no longer benefit from any protection measures and are even exposed to legal proceedings.
In practice, blocking these sites is proving to be a complicated task. At the beginning of 2020, a bailiff's study was carried out at the request of Gaming1. It revealed that most of the blacklisted sites were still active and easily accessible to Belgian players. Gaming1 denounces this situation through daily complaints.
A fight that has been taken all the way to the Belgian Chamber:
But in order to fight the illegal sphere, a strong and competitive legal sector must first be created. With this in mind, Emmanuel Mewissen, CEO and co-founder of Gaming1, addressed the Justice Committee of the House of Representatives on 13 May 2020. A valuable opportunity for the private sector to participate in the national debate on the law of 7 May 1999 on gambling, betting, gaming establishments and player protection. Emmanuel Mewissen brought the expertise of the private sector to bear in calling for a thorough reform and pleaded for collaboration between all the competent players: "Under the aegis of the regulator, under the rules of the politician and under the expertise of the operator, we must build together a system that effectively protects the players. Only by working together with a competitive private sector, the only one that complies with Belgian regulations, will we be able to continue to stem the rise of illegality."
Advertising to channel players into the legal circuit:
This commission was also an opportunity to address the ban on advertising for the private sector. Belgium has very strict legislation on the promotion of gambling. But this does not take sufficient account of the digital reality. The current market is saturated with illegal gambling sites, both Belgian and foreign. These operators are omnipresent and bombard players with advertising messages.
Emmanuel Mewissen explains: "We think that gambling advertising should be regulated and limited, but we are against a total ban. We need to channel gamblers into the legal sector, because that is where we can identify problem gambling behaviour and where we can follow up on players and help them fight any addiction.
If you weaken the legal sector, you encourage the illegal sector. Our main objective is always to protect players. But we need to think about how we want to protect them. Will a total ban on advertising, which is ubiquitous in the illegal sector, protect the player? Do we want players to be constantly exposed to advertisements for unregulated gambling sites without being able to differentiate between the legal and illegal spheres? It seems essential to maintain some visibility of the legal sector, at least where the illegal sector is present, through sponsorship, affiliation or online advertising.
At Gaming1, we recognise that the promotion of gambling activities must be done in an ethical, responsible and thoughtful manner. Through an agreement established by BAGO, we have committed to basing all of our advertising and marketing on a responsible gambling policy by complying with a series of prohibitions and obligations to inform and protect players. In 2020, we have transformed all of our advertising time into responsible gambling campaigns without any reference to our gaming brands.
The Belgian model, an example to follow:
Today, Belgium remains a true model in terms of the rate of channelling of online games. In fact, in 2020, the presence of legal operators was more than 80%, whereas it was only 17% in the Netherlands and 59% in Germany. The Belgian model has also served as an example for many countries, such as Switzerland and New York State.
Belgium has also been at the forefront with the creation of the EPIS (Excluded Persons Information System), a unique prevention tool that centralises all persons excluded from gambling by the Belgian Gambling Commission. Of the approximately 360,000 people excluded, almost 90% are excluded solely as a preventive measure. Systematic identity checks on legal gambling sites help to protect the most vulnerable players. Unfortunately, to date, only the private gambling sector uses this electronic database.
Even if Belgium is an example of player protection, illegal competition is a constant struggle and there is still a long way to go. Effective protection requires a dialogue between the relevant actors: politics, the regulator, the private sector and addiction organisations (research, health and associations). If legislation does not create a strong and competitive legal sector, channelling could fall to 79% by 2024. The fight against illegal sites therefore continues, with the protection of players as the primary objective.
