After expanding in continental and southern Europe, the global gambling industry is now going east and focusing on the Balkan states and Eastern Europe for its further expansion. Especially the Balkan states are increasingly drawing a lot of interest, despite – or perhaps because – of the current global economic crisis. And the key figures of the Balkan gambling market account for this interest...

London/Munich, November 23, 2007: The gambling markets in South and Latin America have so far largely been uncharted territory on the strategic maps of many global gambling companies. But as the global market environments and regulations change rapidly, more and more eyes (e.g., Internet gambling heavyweight Bwin in Argentina and Mexico) also turn to alternative gambling markets beyond the traditional key markets in the US and Europe.

London/Munich, November 9, 2007: Lotteries are increasingly interested in benchmarking and success factors. And as the retail channel still dominates the global lottery market, retail benchmarks and success factors are the ones many eyes are foremost turning to. Key results of MECN’s new lottery benchmarking study: retail strategies differ significantly and many European lottery monopolists employ a much less aggressive retail strategy than is sometimes alleged.

London/Munich, September 6, 2007: Lotteries are increasingly interested in benchmarking and success factors, as for example the recent WLA seminar “Benchmarking Lottery Performance” has shown. In response, MECN has prepared a unique benchmarking report analysing data from more than 150 lotteries. The report also discusses best practices as well as success factors (results of a survey of lottery executives).

Munich, 29 March, 2007 – The management consultants at MECN have just completed a new study analysing developments in the German betting and lottery market following the Federal Constitutional Court’s decision, the state treaty on gambling, and the ECJ’s decision in the Placanica case. The key result of the survey of market experts and MECN’s detailed analysis: the industry counts on an opening of the market and amendment of the state treaty on gambling.

The increased focus on reducing gambling opportunities (rather than expanding sales) and the hard-to-control Internet gambling offers make the lives difficult for state-controlled operators. As a result, the strategists in many state lotteries and operators have begun thinking about future scenarios. This fact combined with tight state budgets makes a growing number of state shareholders to see the regular contribution to state budgets makes a growing number of state shareholders to see the regular contribution to state budgets in jeopardy and prompt them to consider liberalization and privatization of their gambling operations.

The consulting firm MECN’s new study “Casual Gaming and Gambling in the Internet” analyzes some of the hottest topics in the industry – skill gaming, online bingo, and fantasy sports. The study includes the results of a survey MECN conducted among more than 60 industry experts who offered their unique insights and assessments. The recent weeks were the toughest for the private online gambling industry ever: an online gambling prohibition bill (Goodlatte/Leach Bill) passed the US House of Representatives and has a chance to be passed by the Senate also...

Betting and gambling turnover in the German market amounts to ca. Euro 30-31 billion annually. The betting sector currently makes up 5%-10% of the total gambling market. Since several years many things have changed in regards to the structure of the German betting market. In the past the punter only had a chance to bet with two (more or less exiting) state offers and some heavy punters found their way to the limited number of private horse betting operators.

Nun ist es also soweit – am 8. November startet in Karlsruhe nach einiger Verzögerung die entscheidende letzte Runde im Kampf um den deutschen Wettmarkt. Der bevorstehende Prozess vor dem BVerfG ist dann wohl der finale Höhepunkt eines aufregenden Jahres für den deutschen Wettmarkt. Nie zuvor wurde soviel über das Thema Wetten in Deutschland geredet und geschrieben wie in diesem Jahr: Der Spiegel, das Capital, die Welt, … alle machten den Wettmarkt zum Top-Thema.

The time has finally come – after some delay, the final and decisive round in the fight for the German betting market will start on November 8 in Karlsruhe. The case before the Federal Constitutional Court (BverfG) will mark the final turning point in what has been an exciting year for the German betting industry. Never before in Germany has betting been discussed and written about as much as this year: Spiegel, Capital, Welt, ... all these major German news makers made the betting market one of their top subjects.

Die Größe des Wettmarktes in Deutschland wird laut Umfrage von aktuell Euro 2,2 Mrd. auf knapp Euro 5 Mrd. in 2010 ansteigen. Eine aktuelle Studie der Unternehmensberatung MECN untersucht den deutschen Wettmarkt im Detail und versucht die Vielzahl der noch offenen Fragen bzgl. dieser Branche zu beantworten.
Die Studie basiert in Teilen auf den Ergebnissen einer im Frühjahr/Sommer 2005 unter Industrieexperten durchgeführten Umfrage.

Zur Zeit sind noch eine Vielzahl von institutionellen Anlegern abgeneigt, in die Glücksspiel-Industrie zu investieren. Laut Aussage der Investoren sind die Hauptgründe dafür vor allem moralischer und ethischer Natur sowie eingeschränktes Know-how über die Industrie selbst.