Belgium’s Gambling Market Becomes Increasingly Online, As Figures Show 1/3rd Market Share

Online gambling has been steadily eroding the market share of offline gambling across much of Western Europe over the last decade or so. Or perhaps more accurately, online gambling has increased the overall size of the gambling sector, while shaving some of the business off traditional gambling operators.

This is a natural effect of the improved customer experience, where players can now open their laptops, swipe their tablets, or tap their smartphones to bet on a huge range of outcomes, from bingo and sportsbetting through to their casino game of choice. In some ways, it’s also representative of a growing and ever-more efficient online gambling industry, which as the tools and resources at its disposal to drive significant underlying growth in the market.

Belgium has not been isolated from this trend, and according to figures released this week for the 2015 financial year, online gambling in the country now accounts for as much as a third of total gambling revenues.

The Belgian Gaming Commission, which is tasked with the job of overseeing the domestic gambling industry and licensing providers, published its annual report for 2016 – based on final figures submitted from 2015, which demonstrated the rise in market share for the online sector.

Indeed, when you factor in the lag in producing and publishing the report, it’s very possible that based on today’s figures, the share of online gambling is even more considerable, a factor backed up anecdotally by evidence on the ground.

According to the report’s findings, which looked a Belgian-licensed gaming only, revenues topped a total of €622 million in 2015, up 17% from the 2014 figures in the previous year’s report.

Of this total market, over €211 million was attributed to online activity, which clocks in at over a third slice of the total. By contrast, land-based casino revenue was down some 7% on the period, at just over €102 million, while the same Category A licensed operators saw their online revenues grow by over 41% over the same timeframe, to €78.6 million.

The Belgian Gaming Commission offers several different classifications of licence, ranging from A to F. While the report doesn’t disclose the identity of the eight Category A licensees, the top two accounted for revenues of over €44 million from their online trade.

Category B licenses, which deal with slot machines and gaming arcade operators, saw their revenues increase by 11.6% up to €234.5 million, with a 3.4% gain from offline activities complemented by a more substantial 30.6% increase from their online activity during the same period.

Licensed operators in the F Category saw similar results for their year, with land-based activities up 21.4% and online up by 24%.

Interestingly, the BGC also fines players for playing with unregulated operators, one of the few authorities to do so anywhere in the world. Over the period, nine unlucky players were targeted with these measures, and paid fines as demanded by the Commission.

The results across the board reflect the growing trend, both in Belgium and elsewhere in the world, towards online gambling. Just as new technologies have disrupted other industries and sectors, they are similarly having an impact on the gambling industry, which continues to move from land-based to online-based gaming.

While this might initially be a cause for concern for online operators, it appears to be more of a rebalancing than a redefining. While online is expected to continue to show similar levels of growth in the months and years to come, offline operators are increasingly developing their own online offerings to compete. At the same time, offline operators will always have their place, by virtue of convenience, the experience, or just generally the distinguishing features that make their product different.

Rather than concern over these fundamental shifts in the market, operators should embrace their effect in driving up interest in gambling across the board, effectively creating a bigger pie for all operators to share in the spoils.

As for the Belgian position, it seems clear that the market is heading strongly in the direction of increasing online activity, and analysts await with baited breath the report featuring 2016 numbers, expected to be published in roughly twelve months’ time.