The SBC Digital Summit (SDS) continues to serve as a much-needed beacon for the global gaming industry, allowing those tied to the industry to share their thoughts and views on how the current coronavirus pandemic has upended everything. While there is little doubt that the economic impact caused by the current health situation is going to be felt for a very long time, there has also been some positive activity to emerge from COVID-19’s wrath. Spain and Latin America (LatAm) gaming operations were two of the big topics at the SDS this afternoon, and what’s coming down the pipe is expected to be a bigger, stronger and more regulated gaming industry.
Some of Spain’s leading gaming operators got together for a panel discussion on how the coronavirus is reshaping the country’s gambling scene. Represented were Bettson Group, Rank Group, Interwetten and Bet Entertainment, and the general consensus was one of a unified stance in response to the pandemic, as well as government-implemented restrictions. The operators were given little notice – two days, in most cases – to put lockdown policies in place, and the operators were able to pull it off without too much difficulty.
One policy implemented by the government caught everyone off guard, though. Spain’s leaders decided to force gaming operators to turn off all types of advertising and promotions, a move that no one had anticipated, at least not to the degree to which the government took it. Whether or not legislators took advantage of the coronavirus to lock down gaming or if it was, in fact, nothing more than a response to the current situation won’t be seen until after operators are allowed to return to business. Of course, in the meantime, the legal, regulated gaming industry will once again suffer against black market operators who remain active outside the law.
Four other panels were held that addressed specifically the LatAm market, with panelists exploring the region as a whole, as well as two of the major areas currently seeing the most movement in the gaming space – Brazil and Colombia. Across the entire region, the majority of the countries have created regulations that allow for land-based gaming operators to make an easy transition into the virtual, or digital, realm. This is going to lead to a great push toward online gaming operations, provided the proper legal and legislative frameworks can be implemented.