No 30 April 2009
EUROPEAN STATE LOTTERIES AND TOTO ASSOCIATION
Playing Lottery
in
Eastern Europe
The Executive Committee of
the European State Lotteries
and Toto Association
PRESIDENT
Dr. Winfried WORTMANN, Managing Director
WESTDEUTSCHE LOTTERIE GmbH & Co. OHG, Germany
1ST VICE-PRESIDENT
Mr. Christophe BLANCHARD-DIGNAC,
President – General Director
LA FRANÇAISE DES JEUX, France
2ND VICE-PRESIDENT
Mr Jussi ISOTALO, Deputy Managing Director
VEIKKAUS OY, Finland
MEMBERS
Prof Vesna BAKRAN, General Manager
HRVATSKA LUTRIJA d.o.o., Croatia
Mr. Gonzalo FERNÁNDEZ RODRÍGUEZ, General Director
LOTERÍAS Y APUESTAS DEL ESTADO, Spain
JUDr. Ales HUSAK, Chairman of the Board of Directors
and General Director
SAZKA a.s., Czech Republic
Mr Léon LOSCH, Director
LOTERIE NATIONALE, Luxembourg
Dipl. Ing. Friedrich STICKLER, Deputy General Director
österreichische Lotterien, Austria
Ms Dianne THOMPSON, Chief Executive
The National Lottery CAMELOT, United Kingdom
Mr Tjeerd VEENSTRA, Director
De Lotto, Netherlands
Contents
1.
Message from the President
3.
Editorial
4.
Playing Lottery in Eastern Europe
19. Philippe Vlaemminck EL Legal Adviser
21. Camelot
24. Members’ News
27. Premium Partners
MAY
sJoint EL/WLA Sports Betting
Seminar
Dates: 06-08 May 2009
Location:
Munich / Germany
Host: Staatliche LotterieVerwaltung in Bayern
6 - 8 May 2009
Munich / Germany
Hosted by
Staatliche Lotterieverwaltung in Bayern
sJoint EL/WLA Seminar
on Interactive Gaming
and New Media
Dates: 25-28 May 2009
Location: Hamar / Norway
Host: Norsk Tipping AS
Sports Betting Seminar
Against
all odds
Preparing the
Future
May 25 - 28 ,2009
Hamar / Norway
Seminar hosted by
NORSK TIPPING
Interactive Gaming
Seminar
Lotteries
in
Cyberspace
s2ESPONSIBLE'AMING3EMINAR
Dates: 28-30 September 2009
Location: Barcelona / Spain
Host: Loteria de Catalunya
OCTOBER
s3EMINARON)NFO3HARING%,)3%
Dates: 12-14 October 2009
Location: Lisbon / Portugal
Host: Santa Casa da Misericordia de
Lisboa
JUNE
sEL Congress
Dates: 08-11 June 2009
Location: Istanbul / Turkey
Followed by:
sEL General Assembly
Date: 11 June 2009 afternoon
sJoint EL/WLA Security
Seminar
Dates: 23-25 June 2009
Location:
Budapest / Hungary
Host: Szerencsejatek Zrt
SEPTEMBER
s%,5i%UROPEAN
Lottery University»
Dates:
30 August-04 September 2009
Location: Malta
Host: Maltco Lotteries Ltd
23 - 25 June, 2009
Budapest / Hungary
Hosted by
Security Seminar
Where
Creativity
meets Security
Registration for all our seminars
can be done online at
http://www.european-lotteries.org
31. Workshops
All events are available on our website (under events)
Announcements are made a few months in advance
General Secretariat
Bernadette Lobjois
Secretary General
Av. de Béthusy 36
CH-1005 LAUSANNE
Tel. +41 21 311 30 25
Fax +41 21 312 30 11
internet: http://www.european-lotteries.org
E-mail. [email protected]
THE MATERIAL, VIEWS, OPINIONS AND COMMENTS EXPRESSED BY THE AUTHORS, THE SPEAKERS AND THE PANELISTS ARE THEIR
OWN AND DO NOT NECESSARILY REPRESENT THE POSITION OF PANORAMA OR EL ASSOCIATION. PANORAMA ACCEPTS NO LIABILITY
FOR THE ACCURACY OF STATEMENTS MADE BY ADVERTISERS. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. NO PART OF THIS MAGAZINE MAY BE REPRODUCED WITHOUT WRITTEN PERMISSION FROM EL GENERAL SECRETARIAT.
Message from the President
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Dear friends,
With its decision of 10 March, 2009, the
European Parliament has set an important signal that corresponds to our basic
principles. It shows that we are not alone
and that it is not only the governments of
the Member States that give us guidance
on responsible gaming. By voting with
544 votes in favour and only 36 against
the resolution on online gambling, the
European Parliament has taken a very
clear stance.. This is all the more remarkable as online gambling is a very complex
and difficult subject. The rapporteur and
the IMCO committee haven taken the
time to carefully examine the subject and
give clear recommendations.
Gambling falls within the scope of the EU
Treaty. But it is a very sensitive service
that cannot be compared to other areas;
a mere self-regulation in this area cannot
be sufficient. It is also very important to
note that the Parliament considers that
the national legislation in the respective
Member State is responsible for the gambling sector. The subsidiarity principle
has to be applied. For this reason, the
Member States have the right, but also
the obligation to regulate the gambling
sector with their means – as far as they
can. And as the past has shown, they can.
Areas like internet gambling and cross
border activities (cross border betting)
however also show that the current models have to be further developed. To this
end, political solutions are needed. It is
not satisfactory to wait for decisions by
the European Court of Justice. Certainly
the European Parliament emphasizes as
well that the national levies on gambling,
our contribution to the public welfare,
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are constitutive and justified. It is remarkable how clearly the Parliament has
expressed that these resources should
not go to private pockets.
We will continue to support the European Parliament and its committees in the
development of sustainable solutions for
gambling in Europe. The 10th of March
also proved how important and right it
has been and still is to focus our strategic
work on Brussels.
Within our European Association of
State Lotteries and Toto organisations,
everything is now stepping up to the big
congress in Istanbul in June. We have
prepared an ambitious programme that
reflects the broad ranger of topics we are
currently working on. In the General Assembly, we will determine the guidelines
for the strategic work in the future. We
will elect a new team to master these activities. I would like to thank, also on behalf of the General Secretary and the Executive Committee, our host, the Turkish
National Lottery Milli Piyango, for the
kind invitation that it has extended to all
of us.
I am looking forward to the discussions
with you in Istanbul.
Yours
Winfried Wortmann
President
EL Premium Partner
Glimpsing the Future of Gaming
The maturing core player. The younger emerging consumer.
Attracting both requires products that continue to maximize lottery sales of traditional retailers as
well as solutions that leverage new sales channels, including fresh, exciting game concepts for the
Internet and mobile phones.
That’s the future. That’s the challenge. That’s our focus.
Scientific Games delivers on its commitment to be a good
neighbor and good global citizen and, as such, is committed to
socially responsible gaming and sustainable business practices.
2
PAN
©2008 Scientific Games
RAMA
Editorial
Two decades later…
This Panorama is dedicated to the Lotteries from Eastern and Central Europe.
Some of these organizations are Members
of the European State Lotteries and Toto
Association (formerly AELLE) for almost
20 years, and most have applied since 1995.
The first Lottery to have joined our Association in early 1991 was the Lottery of
the Czech Republic (formerly Czechoslovakia which included the Czech Republic
and Slovakia). This country, that joined
the EU in May 2004, currently assures
the EU Presidency. Other Lotteries also
followed in 1991, such as the Romanian
and Hungarian Lotteries.
Furthermore, in November 1993, we organized the first conference for the countries of Eastern and Central Europe. This
event took place in the city of Cracow in
Poland. Other meetings followed on an annual basis until 2001. Then, the meetings
were not organized anymore due to the
fact that the involved Lotteries in this part
of Europe reached a high technological
level and set up modern sales networks.
When some of these countries wanted to
join the European Community, our Association fulfilled its role by inviting the Lotteries
of these countries in round tables to inform
them on EU law and the various challenges
they will have to face. Our Legal Advisors
provided them with some concrete examples and answered all their questions.
Subsequently, some countries made the
step forward and entered the Euro zone.
An information meeting was consequently
held in Paris, during which different Member Lotteries of the Euro zone presented
the requirements and practical examples.
All our Members can count on EL’s support. Indeed, the Association has always
been there, throughout the years and has
even anticipated some situations.
Today, there is no need to meet our Members for the above-mentioned specificities
anymore. Nevertheless, they continue to
regularly participate in our seminars, conferences and other meetings organized
throughout the year, within a quite unique
family : the European Lotteries.
EL activities’ landscape for the coming months:
The seminars on sports betting in Munich, on interactive games in Hamar, and on security in Budapest are in progress. The related information is available in our website.
The most important event remains our Congress in Istanbul with our General Assembly which will close this major event. Mr. Biçer, CEO of Milly Piyango, the Turkish
National Lottery Administration – and his whole team look forward to welcoming you
to this magnificent city of Istanbul, where an enriching program awaits you. All information are available in the Congress website : www.el2009.org
Then, in September, we will have our usual rendez-vous : ELU – European Lottery
University, which will take place on the very beautiful island of Malta.
We hope to see many of you in Istanbul to celebrate together the fifth Congress of
our Association.
Istanbul’da görüümek üzere… (see you soon in Istanbul)
Bernadette Lobjois
Secretary General
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Playing Lottery in Eastern Europe
OLD WORLD - NEW WORLD OF LOTTERIES
Most of our Members in Eastern and
Central Europe have experienced an intertwined history. Their Lotteries have
sometimes followed a similar path but as
the countries have become independent,
they have focused on their own identities
– a trait that is obvious in their games offering. They are now making history with
a new approach and a new vision for their
State Lotteries.
We have asked our Eastern and Central
European Members to give us an overview of their experiences and the evolution of games in their respective countries. One main feature that seems to
appear in each of these countries is their
advanced level of technology and the futuristic games already in place. These
countries might belong to “Old Europe”
4
but they are definitely in sync with 21st
century mentality: Online games and wagering systems, Internet and mobile gaming processing, strong focus on business
transparency and adoption of strict social responsible gaming principles. They
are doing well in terms of pleasing their
customers; they are doing even better at
supporting good causes, social and other
government-sponsored programs and
their community by strengthening their
image and presenting an attractive, modern and clearly transparent gaming environment very well in line with the rest of
Europe.
Take a look at the following presentations sent by our colleagues from Eastern
and Central Europe, and see how they
have overcome major difficulties caused
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by a tumultuous history and how they
have found the high road to success. Still
many challenges lay ahead, due to market penetration by unlicensed offshore
game operators, liberalization of crossborder games and the difficult task to
convince their own governments of the
urgency to set up stringent gaming laws
to better protect the players.
Playing Lottery in Eastern Europe
Russia
The Lottery market in Russia
target audience to evaluate players’ preferences are not held regularly in Russia,
Interlot has researched at different times
the market to streamline its marketing
strategy. Social and demographic profile
of TV lottery players, highlighted by market research, almost completely mirrored
the social and demographic features of
the population of Russia. There were not
considerable differences in geographical
areas for most player groups.
0ERCENTAGEOFMENVERSUSWOMEN
players
Alexander Zibrov
General Director
“Interlot” Jsc., founded in 1996, is the
largest Russian operator responsible for
organizing and managing lotteries. Since
1997, Interlot has been conducting the
“Golden Key” Housing Lottery, the only
one of its kind in Russia, throughout the
country. The unique targeting of this Lottery is based on the fact that a new apartment (value at about two millions roubles) is available in every weekly drawing.
“Golden Key” is a passive lottery based
on a 30/90 scheme. Even the structure
of the prize funds of the Lottery is aimed
at providing the population with proper
social security as far as residential facilities throughout the country. Besides this,
according to Russian legislation, part of
our annual revenue goes to finance social
programmes.
!GERANGEOFPLAYERS
Our games
Interlot is a leader in Russia among TV
lotteries (with an earning share of 48 %
for 2008). The number of TV projects
has grown to three. One of them is a Card
Lottery with a winning formula of 5 plus
1 out of 36 numbers with a combination
pre-printed on the lottery ticket. The
other is a number Lottery with a formula
of 9 numbers out of 30. In 2007, Interlot launched a momentary lottery, six
projects based on the umbrella principle.
Our legislation
In accordance with our gaming law, there
are established principles controlling relations between Lottery companies and
the State in Russia since 2005. Live lotteries can be run by a state. A state prognostic game was started last year, using
lottery terminals to sell tickets. There are
some legislative restrictions for commercial companies that have to go through
a complex legal licensing process before
launching mobile lotteries.
The most popular and successful project
is ”Golden Key”. More than 700 apartments have been raffled off over the past
10 years. This Lottery is a leading game
not only among Interlot portfolio, but also
at national level. The ticket price for TV
lotteries is 50 roubles, for instant lotteries: 10 roubles.
The legal process of licensing Internet and mobile lotteries is no different
from the process of licensing traditional
games. A federal authority issues the license but only to Russian applicants. In
the Russian Federation such an authority is the Federal Treasury Department.
To get a license to run a lottery on the
territory of the Russian Federation, the
applicant must submit all documents
required by federal gaming law. Within
7HOAREOURPLAYERS
Although marketing researches with a
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two months, the applicant is issued either a license for the term not exceeding
5 years or a reasonable refusal to get the
license. A decision of reasonable refusal
is made based on the law’s stipulations.
Applicant may appeal the decision in the
order prescribed by the legislation of the
Russian Federation.
Gaming environment in Russia
While official Russian operators have difficulties getting licensed to operate lottery
games on Internet and mobile phones,
there is a great deal of foreign operators
selling in our country without a Russian
license via Internet-based offshore operations. To ensure the security of our gaming
offering, Interlot has addressed a proposal
to the appropriate authorities of the Russian Federation to research the activities
of such illegal gambling sites in Russian
Web space. According to public information, as of the end of 2007, Russian Internet counted 6 894 gambling sites. The
number of visitors to those sites is staggering: For example, one of Internet-casino
gets hit 108 148 per month.
Most of the sites have no authorization for
running games and any lotteries in Russia.
The Federal Service of Financial Monitoring of Russia expressed concern on
the issue of monitoring criminal activities
through gambling sites. As of today, there
are no legislative measures, nor financial
sanctions to restrict the invasion of foreign operators in Russian Internet space.
It creates more difficulties for national
operators to promote their lottery games
on the Web.
!VIEWONOURFUTURE
However, Interlot is actively looking at
launching new lottery games on the Internet and on mobile phones. Now it has developed a range of interactive prognostic
games adapted to the Russian mentality.
They are officially registered. At the same
time Interlot is looking for new technologies to make traditional lotteries more accessible all over the country. We already
use terminals to accept payment for the
sale of pre-printed lottery tickets. We upgraded our own site to accept sales of passive lotteries on the Web and developed
active games with a range of combinations. In summary, it should also be stated
that now Interlot has moved into a stage of
intensive and extensive development.
Playing Lottery in Eastern Europe
LUTRIJA BIH: A LOTTERY WITH A HEART
Bosnia and Herzegovina
The basic activity of the Lottery of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) is to manage
games of chance and fun games all over
the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina. In 1973, the Assembly of Bosnia and
Herzegovina established an independent Lottery organization called “Lutrija
BiH” which until then had been operating
since 1951 under a Yugoslav Lottery system. Consequently, pursuant to the Law
on Games of Chance, the Government of
the Federation of BiH is a sole owner and
founder of the Lottery of BiH. Our Lottery
organization is a Member of the European
State Lotteries “EL”.
The BiH Lottery operates under the control of a Board of Directors. The President
of the Board is Zdravko Rajic. Muris Aganagic, General Manager, is the head of the
BiH Lottery. Game development continued until 1992, but then the political situation brought any new development in lottery games to an end. In 1996, there was
a renewed interest in games of chance.
Since then, we have re-established our
retail network, supported by our own investments and without any donations or
assistance from third parties. In an effort
to maintain our leading role in organizing games of chance, we are continually
monitoring any development in modern
technology, as well as the latest trends in
this field.
The BiH Lottery complies with the standards for responsible gaming activities and
it has implemented a new technology to
improve its payment process and fulfil its
obligations towards the players. Currently, we are providing service to 350 points
of sales all over the Federation, a country with 2 million inhabitants. In order to
make our games more accessible and offer a more efficient purchase and payment
process, we are planning to expand and
adapt our current retail network.
The BiH Lottery has a strong presence
on the national market thanks to its wide
range of games that are constantly reviewed and refined in order to meet the
expectations and needs of our players.
The games assortment consists of special
and classic games.
The Audi TT ticket is particularly popular among our players. There are 2 games
on one ticket. By scratching one of two
specifically indicated fields, one may win
valuable cash prize, while by scratching
the other indicated field, i.e. the car registration plate, one may win 1 of 10 Audi
TT cars. The price of this ticket is 2 KM,
while all other tickets cost 1 KM and for the
replacement of a ticket, an additional payment is required.
3PECIALGAMESOFCHANCE
s#ASINOGAMES
s3LOTMACHINESINGAMINGCLUBS
s"ETTINGGAMES
With the aim of organizing modern, attractive and diverse games of chance, special
attention has been given to the joint-venture project done in cooperation with the
Austrian Gaming Industries that allowed
the implementation of slot machines.
There are currently 40 gaming clubs in
the country. 1000 slot machines have been
installed throughout these clubs where a
very attractive jackpot is being offered.
Audi TT ticket
'RAPHOFTHETURNOVEROF"I(,OTTERYPERIOD
#LASSICGAMESOFCHANCE
s,OTOCOMBINATIONCOSTS+-
s*OKER
s46 "INGO THE MOST POPULAR GAME OF
chance in our country). The price of a
bingo ticket is 1, 50 KM for the regular
draws and 2 KM for extraordinary draws.
sInstant Tickets with merchandise and cash
prizes (Horoscope, Prati srecu /Follow your
luck, Express lottery, Bingo and Audi TT)
The BiH Lottery is an interesting employer, offering its employees a possibility of
constant professional advancement, continued improvement of working conditions and career promotion. A motivating
working environment is created through
an appropriate award system. In all aspects of our business, we have proved that
we really work in accordance with the slogan: « The BiH Lottery has a heart».
Change : 1 BAM/MK = Eur 0.51
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Playing Lottery in Eastern Europe
Bulgaria
Eurofootball was founded in 1990 and offered its first nationwide game in 1993.
The company is the first licensed sports
betting operator in Bulgaria, supported
by our shareholders, BILOT EOOD and
EUROSADRUZHIE OOD. On the international front, Eurofootball is a Member of
the World Lottery Association, the European States Lotteries and Toto Association and EFP.
Our company has adopted a policy of
corporate social responsibility practices
and, as a consequence a variety of institutions benefit from our social involvement: The arts, sports organizations and
charity events promoted throughout the
entire territory of Bulgaria. In 2007, Eurofootball received the top award in the
Annual Ranking Contest of the newspaper Pari for “Top 100 Biggest Companies
in the Service Sector“.
Our games
In August 2003, Eurofootball introduced
for the first time an on-line system based
on the IT infrastructure provided by
INTRALOT. With this system, Eurofootball
offers more than 20.000 betting options
in two weekly draws, covering more
than 20 types of sports, not counting the
Olympics. Our main products are:
Football & Sports betting program – a
combination of up to 3.000 betting events
is offered (full-time, half time, double
chance, even/odd, under/over, correct
score, goal/no goal, etc.) twice per week.
Super Jackpot – a very popular game
with 3 Jackpots, covering 10 to 14 football matches per draw.
Live Betting - Super chance – this programme offers up to 9.999 betting options, Live Betting on more than 5 matches per day and long term betting events.
Handicap – over 100 matches are offered
with this betting option in the Super
chance programme
Basketball – this programme was
launched in November 2004 and includes
81 matches.
Our retail network
Eurofootball has 850 points of sales
with attractive exteriors and interiors,
throughout Bulgaria. Each retail location comes equipped with terminals, TV
monitors and Internet connections. The
points of sales, open year round, are centrally located in towns and villages, and
a high level of professional and technical
services are offered for utmost clients’
satisfaction.
#OMMUNICATIONCHANNELS
Eurofootball’s website, www.eurofootball.bg, has been receiving a lot of hits.
According to our latest survey, the number
of one-time visitors per month reached
1.097.738 while the number of comeback
visitors amounted to 13.374.340.
Eurofootball handles a newspaper with a
weekly circulation of more than 80.000.
TV Eurofootball: The programmes are
broadcasted in all POS, during the entire
opening hours, and in some areas, they
are transmitted via satellite or cable.
Most of our players rely on their personal
knowledge, supported by the extensive
volume of statistical data provided by
EUROFOOTBALL.
Gaming Legislation in Bulgaria
Eurofootball has a full range license allowing us to provide additional games,
apart from the existing ones and to use
interactive channels for distribution such
as telephone betting that is scheduled
to be launched during the second half of
March 2009. We are also envisioning new
betting possibilities in the fall of 2009.
The company holds a license, issued by
the State Gambling Committee, for the
organization of betting on results from
sports competitions. In compliance with
the strict Bulgarian gambling rules and
laws, Eurofootball monitors its business
activities and reports on-line to the Ministry of Finance. As per the Gambling
Act, games of chance in Bulgaria can be
organized and conducted solely by operators licensed by the State Commission
on Gambling, which is the only competent state authority in the country.
Eurofootball’s policy helps support the
State Gambling Committee, thus protecting both state and consumers’ interests.
In addition, Eurofootball has been faced
with a new challenge presented by illegal local gambling operations and Internet operators and we have been gaining
ground in this fight by improving the
quality of our services and the products
we are offering.
Our player statistics
Looking at the statistics of past years,
Eurofootball is expecting more than 34
Million visitors-players in its retail establishments for the year 2009.
Clients are predominantly male - 90%
and among players, 50% are between
the age of 20 and 35 years. Players come
from all social classes, thanks to the attractiveness and variety of the products.
About 37% of the clients are visiting Eurofootball’s points of sales for entertainment. Another 21% think that Eurofootball is a nice way to spend their free time.
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Playing Lottery in Eastern Europe
SAZKA –TENDING TO GOOD CAUSES AND SPORTS
DEVELOPMENT
Czech Republic
JUDr. Ales Husak Chairman of the
Board of Directors and General Director
SAZKA was established in 1956 and since
January 1, 1957, the organization has been
owned by civic associations active in sports
and physical education. The Czech Republic has a population of about 10 million
people of which roughly 25% are members
of those associations. SAZKA has been the
largest provider of funds to good causes
in the Czech Republic for more than fifty
years. While hundreds of operators are
active in the country’s gaming market,
SAZKA makes up approximately 50% of all
contributions of the sector to good causes.
Neither the State nor any individual has
ever owned a share in the SAZKA jointstock company, and SAZKA has never
had the monopoly of the betting and lottery market in the Czech Republic. The
oldest betting game, named Sazka (Toto)
was launched in September 1956, while
the oldest number lottery, named Sportka
(lotto) has been played since April 1957.
/URCURRENTGAMEOFFER
SAZKA offers a variety of number lotteries (Sportka, ŠĨastných 10, Euromilióny)
and their optional features (Šance, Šance
milión, Královská hra), as well as instant
lotteries, fast-draw games (Keno, Kostky,
Lucky Lines), sports and odds bets. Also,
the StarPort gaming system, a central
lottery system with interactive video-lottery terminals, which the company also
operates, offers almost 30 reel spinning,
casino, lottery and betting games including accumulated jackpot.
As far as non-lottery products and services are concerned, SAZKA provides, for
example, an additional service to mobile
phones which allows to sell tickets of
sports, cultural and other events, make
payments by pay-slips, pay bills and insurance premium fees, as well as services
and goods ordered over the Internet.
8
SAZKA currently operates approximately
6,500 on-line terminals for lottery and
non-lottery services and more than 1,000
terminals of the StarPort gaming system.
Most of sales in the betting field are traditionally generated by number lotteries. StarPort and odds betting shares are
also on the rise, with those segments
growing most dynamically. The greatest
year-to-year rise was achieved in 2008
by odds betting stakes (47.3%) and StarPort stakes (26.0%), while instant lottery
stakes were up by 3.8%. Non-lottery products and services make up approximately
10% of the company’s sales.
+NOWINGOURPLAYERS
SAZKA regularly conducts surveys on betting behaviour and bettors, in cooperation
with renowned opinion poll agencies. The
surveys monitor individual player groups
by staked amounts, betting frequency and
type of games; Player profiles are monitored by game segments (number lotteries, fast-draw games, sports and odds bets,
instant lotteries, reel-spinning and casino
games…) including products the company does not operate (raffles, horseracing, bingo, telephone competitions, bar
games, general knowledge competitions,
games with no stake required) and other
leisure activities (theatres, cinemas, concerts, sports…). The last surveys indicated that 75% of the adult population in the
Czech Republic took part in games or bets
with a stake required over the last twelve
months. More than a third of them bet at
least once a week and approximately the
same number of people bet once a month,
while the others bet less frequently.
Games where a stake is required are more
often played in the Czech Republic by
men, young and middle-aged people, people with a secondary education level who
have not graduated, people with average
or slightly above-average income, and
those living in larger cities. Most people
play number lotteries (more than half of
the adult population), followed by instant
lotteries (one third of the population) and
odds bets (one fifth of the population).
Ten percent of the population play slot
machines, which SAZKA does not operate. The percentage of casino and fastdraw game players ranges between 0.5%
and 6% of the population. Measured by
the amount of stakes, people spend most
money on slot machines, technical games
(interactive video-lottery terminals), odds
bets, casinos, lotteries and bingo.
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,EGALGAMINGREQUIREMENTS
The betting and lottery industry in the
Czech Republic is governed by Act No
202/1990 Coll., on Lotteries and Other
Similar Games. At the moment, the Ministry of Finance is considering the merits of
a new bill that will reflect the changes the
sector has gone through.
The Act defines the individual betting
games and lotteries (cash or merchandise
lotteries, raffles, number lotteries, instant
lotteries, slot machines, sports and odds
bets, casinos, technical games, horseracing bets…) and the operators’ responsibilities. Lotteries and betting games may
only be operated by a legal entity with
registered offices in the Czech Republic to
which an authorised body has granted a
licence. Only people above the age of 18
may take part in a betting game or lottery.
As for the Lottery, the compulsory portion of proceeds allocated to good causes
ranges between 6% and 20 %.
The licensing bodies are the Ministry of
Finance and, for certain games, Town
Halls or City Halls. The preconditions for
obtaining the licence include providing
the company’s capital assets and security deposit, paying administrative and local fees as well as state supervision fees,
complying with the compulsory amount of
payments to good causes or obtaining an
expert opinion created by an independent
expert. Pursuant to Section 50, the Ministry of Finance may also permit betting
games and lotteries not governed by law.
In that case, the terms and conditions of
the operation are laid down in detail in the
licence, while new games are subject to
the provisions of other sections of the Act.
!COMPETITIVEENVIRONMENT
A number of Internet betting firms illegally operate in the Czech Republic from
abroad, offering their products without a
licence from the Ministry of Finance, and
thus operating at variance with the law.
The amount of funds that Czechs spend
with illegal odds betting operators is estimated at CZK 4 billion a year, i.e. one
Playing Lottery in Eastern Europe
third of this market segment. The Ministry
of Finance has confirmed that the activities of those betting firms are illegal, and
brought several legal actions associated
with them, with no real outcomes so far.
Due to the fact that illegal foreign operators are still operating Internet odds betting, not allowed by the State, outside
any regulation, control and supervision,
the Ministry of Finance has allowed five
domestic companies, including SAZKA,
to offer their odds bets over the Internet,
effective January 5, 2009. Preconditions
have been set up to obtain the licence:
Operators must have their players register in person at retail outlets, get a thorough identity check, prohibit access by
third parties, and comply with responsible gaming measures. The software used
is subject to certification by an authority
approved by the Ministry of Finance, the
server must be physically located in the
Czech Republic, the state supervision authority has on-line access to the system,
Croatia
Games of chance on the Croatian territory
have been organized since the AustroHungarian times. A lottery organization
in the Republic of Croatia began in 1951,
when a Division for Croatia was set up
within the Yugoslav Lottery. Croatia acquired legal jurisdiction over this entity in
1973 under the name of State Enterprise
of the Lottery of Croatia, which became
part of the Business Community of the Yugoslav Lottery Organizations. With the establishment of the Croatian State in 1991,
the relationship with the Business Community of the Yugoslav Lottery Organizations ended, and in 1993, the Lottery of
Croatia changed its name to the Croatian
Lottery d.o.o.
The population of Croatia is 4.5 million. In
the last five years the average GDP growth
in Croatia was about 5%, while the average annual inflation rate in the same period was about 3.3%. The average annual
growth of the lottery turnover between
2004 and 2007 was about 12%. The Republic of Croatia is the sole founder of the
Croatian Lottery d.o.o. Only the Croatian
and the operators are obliged to pay all
fees and contributions to good causes, as
set out by law. The operators who have
obtained the licence have undertaken to
follow the European Responsible Gaming
Standards.
/URFUTURE
At the moment, we can see an increasing
pressure in the Czech Republic for the
liberalisation of reel spinning and casino
games over the Internet, and for allowing bets over mobile phones. SAZKA does
not support those efforts, pointing out
the risks involved, particularly in terms
of gambling addiction and underage gambling. At the same time, the company is
taking steps to be prepared for all alternatives of future legislative developments.
Regarding its business activities, SAZKA
focuses on optimising its sales network,
supporting traditional and enhancing new
products, opening its loyalty programme
to customers of lottery and non-lottery
services, and utilising the potential of
products with the fastest growth rate, notably Internet odds bets and the StarPort
gaming system.
In recent years, our company has paid
great attention to building up a comprehensive and mutually connected system of
the corporation’s websites which include
the following portals: www.sazka.cz (information about the company, its lottery
and non-lottery services), www.sazkatip.
cz (Internet odds bets), www.sazkastarport.cz (StarPort gaming system), www.
casinosazka.cz (reel spinning and casino
games “for fun”), www.sazkaticket.cz
(event ticket sales), www.tipovani.cz (discussion server for bettors), www.o2arena.
cz (multipurpose arena), www.kpsmedia.
cz (subsidiary’s websites), www.kolby.cz
(subsidiary’s websites), Intranet for employees and Extranet for business partners, providers and terminal operators.
CROATIA: FROM THE AUSTRO-HUNGARIAN EMPIRE
TO A MODERN LOTTERY
Parliament may determine the rights and
obligations of this sole founder. A supervisory commission oversees operations of
the Croatian Lottery and a director manages the company’s operations.
Our Lottery has 1,518 full-time employees. Of this number, 753 are salespeople
and 420 are employed in casinos and
clubs offering slot machines. In addition,
the Croatian Lottery cooperates with 806
other retailers. It operates through 1185
points of sale: 379 are owned or leased
by the Lottery and 806 are regular retail
shops, mostly tobacco and newspaper
shops and convenient stores. In accordance with the Law, payments to participate in games and buying lottery tickets
are only accepted at points of sales. Remote gaming is not permitted.
In the last several years the Croatian Lottery has successfully implemented new
games and introduced important changes
– Betting (June 2004), Occasional Lotteries that combine classic and instant lotteries (November 2004), the Occasional
9
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Game ‘A for Auto’ (December 2006), A
+ (March 2008), Bingo Plus (September
2005), Keno (January 2006), two weekly
drawings for a Lotto 7/39 (May 2005), a
new revised platform for Betting games
(February 2008) and a redesign of the
Joker game (April 2008). However, the
greatest advance in our operations has
been the transition to a new communications infrastructure that provides greater
capacity and new functionalities such as
implementation of online ticket sales, a
new type of record keeping for sales and
inventory by means of an online transaction system on all terminals and the introduction of a new ERP system.
The Croatian Lottery currently offers the
following games:
Lotto 7/39: Launched in 1985, we are offering since May 2005 two weekly public
drawings that are broadcast live every
Wednesdays and Saturdays. The highest jackpot paid was about 2.5 million
EUR. This Lotto generates the highest
General Government Receipts (GGR).
,OTTO: The drawings are also public
Playing Lottery in Eastern Europe
and broadcast live on TV every Sundays.
The highest jackpot paid was 2.2 million
EUR. Our game of Joker is a supplementary game to the Lotto 7/39, Lotto 6/45 or
Toto13 – by marking the Joker play area, a
player participates in a game in which the
play slip serial number must match partly
or completely the drawn Joker number.
46"INGO: Recently created, it is a
successful TV Show watched on a regular
basis by thousands of viewers every Saturday. All age groups are attracted to the
game. Cash prizes are given to the show’s
participants and the game has a supplementary game, Bingo Plus.
Also, we offer a daily Keno, a prognostic
game 4OTO in which players bet on the
outcomes of 13 football matches. On the
instant lottery front, we have launched a
variety of games: "REAKOPEN%XPRESS,
Instant tickets and Occasional lotteries (Christmas, Easter for example.)
Betting has been implemented in 2004.
We present our bet offers through an IT
support that has given players more options, such as playing on multiple systems,
more events for one ticket, a simpler way of
filling out the play slip, as well as additional
services such as for example SMS check of
the status of players’ betting tickets, and
payment of the winnings within 30 minutes
of the end of an event. We also operate 26
slot machine venues and seven casinos.
Our most successful games are Lotto 7/39
and Sports Betting. The bingo game is in a
steady third place. Although the Lotto 7/39
is the leading game in terms of GGR, Sports
betting surpasses Lotto 7/39 if total turnover is taken into consideration. In regard
to betting, the Croatian Lottery must take
into account the strong competition from
11 registered and well-organized bookmakers that together have more than 2,200
sales locations in the Republic of Croatia.
10
The advantage of the Croatian Lottery
over other betting establishments lies in
the larger number of its own sales locations where all other lottery products are
sold, so the degree of utilization of the
sales force is greater. Since bookmakers
in our country began to develop in 2000,
and the Croatian Lottery began to organize betting only in June 2004, it must be
stated that the penetration of this protected market was difficult. However, with
the implementation of second-generation
wagering systems, the Croatian Lottery
could reach 50% more consumers in
February 2008, compared with the same
period the previous year. These systems
brought new functionalities that were
developed completely in-house, offering
players an easier access to a game.
While everyone plays Lotto (especially
7/39), Instant and Express lotteries, more
women play the promotional games, occasional lotteries and bingo. More men
bet in the betting shops and go to casinos.
Also, the promotional games, using a coupon, are more accepted by older players
and games via SMS are more attractive to
the younger population – Such a market
analysis will help us evaluate if we need to
adjust the prize fund.
Almost half of the respondents play games
of chance one to four times per month
(48%). Male, younger and not yet part of
the work force (mainly undergraduates)
respondents play more frequently compared to the rest of the respondents of
the cited groups (for betting games). The
highest number of respondents spends up
to 100 HRK per month (81%), while 1% of
those spend more than 1,000 HRK. By age
groups, the 18-34 years old spend more
than 1,000 HRK per month, and based on
gender, only men spend more than 750
HRK per month – again for betting games.
PAN
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Legal situation
Games of chance in Croatia are operated
under the provisions of Gaming Act of 2002.
The Croatian Lottery has a monopoly on organizing lottery games. The Gaming Act divides games of chance into four categories:
Lottery, Betting, Casino and Slot machines.
The Croatian Lottery is licensed to offer all
of these games. For any new games, the
Lottery must seek approval for the Rules
of the Game from the Ministry of Finance,
meaning that we must adhere to the provisions of the Gaming Act: A game of chance
- not a game of skill, structure of the game,
percentage of the payouts, ways in which
the draws are organized, etc. Remote gaming still is not permitted. We expect that a
new law, which is supposed to be passed
in the third quarter of 2009, will permit us
to operate games via the Internet, mobile
phones, ITV etc. This will be an important
point to enable to enhance the channelling
activities of the Croatian Lottery.
Unfortunately, our Gaming Act does not
recognize Internet operators as illegal operators. Only the selling of tickets is illegal.
Since Internet operators do not sell tickets,
they are not treated as criminal offenders.
The Lottery has tried to persuade the legal
authorities that there are exceptions to an
orthodox interpretation of the law, but we
have not had any success. We are expecting that the new Gaming Act will explain
precisely what a violation is or is not.
0LANSFORFUTUREIMPROVEMENTS
Many approaches can be key developmental factors for our future. Strengthening our
brand as a competent, responsible organizer
of games of chance for one; Increasing the
share of the Sports betting market; Limit
our risk with implementation of modern security systems; Migration from a selling network owned by the Lottery to a retailer network; Addition of multi-jurisdictional games
with a larger player base and therefore the
opportunity for larger jackpots; And innovation through the use of new technologies,
and new sales channels (Internet, mobile
telephones, ITV, self-service machines) for
both new and existing games.
Playing Lottery in Eastern Europe
Serbia
Tijana Andjelic General Director
The Serbian State Lottery was launched at the
end of November 2004. Presently, we are operating 5 games: Lotto, Bingo, Instant Lottery /
Scratch tickets, SMS lottery and Tombola.
Our game of LOTO has acquired legendary
status and is now a household name for
Serbian people. It is the number 1 game in
Serbia with very high brand awareness and
over 50% share of our portfolio. LOTO was
launched in January 2005 and since then,
it has been associated with “dreams come
true”, “chance for everyone” and benefits to
the whole community. Our lotto game is a
7/39 formula that is tailored to fit our players’ gaming patterns with a small number of
maximum prizes, attractive mid-tier prizes
and a high number of low-tier prizes. In
particular, the jackpot starts at e350 000
with a rollover of e100 000 added to each
draw if there is no winner during the last
draw. Last year, more than 9.7 million single
prizes, including jackpots, mid-tier and low
prizes, for a total amount of 23 million Euros in prize payouts, have been won. The TV
Game Show is broadcast on RTS 1 television
channel at 21h00, on Tuesday night. In 2007,
“Republika Srpska” joined our jackpot list.
A TV Bingo is present on the market since
September 2007 and goes live on the air
every Saturdays. Players must play during
the TV Bingo show. The numbers are drawn
from a series between 1 and 90, until a winner has been established and until 15 winning numbers have been drawn in one combination. In 2008, we re-worked the whole
TV Show, changed the communication, the
set and the airtime from 9 pm to 6 pm. The
ratings of the show jumped almost immediately. A total prize sum of e11.1 million
was awarded during 2008. Beginning of
2008, we increased the price of the Bingo
ticket by 30% from 60 Din (e0,63) to 80
Din (e0,85). As a result, sales decreased by
more than 10% leading us to the conclusion
that Serbian players are still very much interested in cheap, accessible games. Bingo
SERBIA: A LOTTERY WITH GREAT FUTURE
had a 23.90% share of the market in 2008.
Scratch cards were first launched in June
2005. They became a very popular form of
games, due to the opportunity to win instantly with a low initial investment. However, no
new instant tickets were launched for over
two years prior to 2008, thus the decline in
turnover was obvious. By mid-2008, we
started a strong product innovation process
with the launch of 4 new instant tickets: Our
instant sales improved. Presently scratch
tickets account for 15.41% of the market
share. Our plan is to grow this segment in
the upcoming period. At the moment, we offer a variety of 6 scratch tickets, with different price levels and prize structures. One of
the best selling tickets in Serbia remains the
one with an Audi A3 as the main prize, and
we also launched a «win for life» card.
Our experience tells us that there would be
a huge risk of losing customers if we were
to eliminate low price tickets. Thus the low
cost segment accounts for the major part of
the business – with ticket prices going from
as low as e0,3 up to e1,1. Last New Year, we
launched a new instant game with a price of
3,2 Euros. This more expensive instant did
not quite fulfil our expectations, mainly due
to a late launch. However, we realized there
is definitely a potential in the high ticket
cost segment and we’ll launch new tickets
in 2009 with better planning. This instant
ticket had the largest prize payout percentage – 72%, while the payout for other games
varies between 50 and 65 percent.
A SMS Lottery was implemented in December 2008 and the first round of the game
lasted 4 weeks. By sending a blank SMS to
8888 the player enters the game. Winners
are being picked on a daily and weekly basis
and once in every gaming period, the jackpot is being drawn at the Lottery via an electronic system. This lottery’s share in 2008
was 1.25% of our game portfolio.
The Tombola game is actually a classical
Bingo game operated by 53 agents in venues such as Tombola clubs across Serbia.
The numbers are drawn from a series between 1-90. 15 correct numbers make for
a winning ticket. Tombola has a share of
8.98% of the market.
11
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0LAYERDEMOGRAPHICS
The last survey we conducted was in February 2008. The results show that 51% of
players are men versus 49% for women –
with 58% being married and 42% single. The
largest player group is among middle-aged
persons (30%), followed by young players
(22%). More than half of players have at least
a secondary education (52%) and 32% belong to the category with a primary or even
lower education level. University graduates
play the least (16%). Most players reside in
urban environment (59%) while 41% live in
rural areas. And Central Serbia comes ahead
with 50% of players while in other regions,
Serbian are less interested in games with an
average of more or less 25% of players.
Game legislation
While we have the monopoly in classical
games (Lotto, Bingo, Scratch tickets), we
also have the monopoly in Internet gaming
and mobile phones. We have the possibility
to add other games, and for each new game
we want to add, we need to get first the approval from the Board of Directors and the
Ministry of Finance.
In respect to sports betting, video lottery and
other types of games, there is an open and
very competitive market in Serbia. No measures have been taken yet against foreign
offshore-based operators of mostly Internet
games like Poker or sports betting or even illicit local ticket sales. Of course, the Ministry
of Finance and its Games of Chance Administration have assured us that all efforts will
be put in place to find a solution to undertake
these activities – an important step, especially once the State Lottery of Serbia starts
operating its games on Internet.
Regarding local competitors, currently we
have a wide range of indirect competition
coming from businesses such as newspapers, magazines, banks and others. These
private companies try to increase their revenue by offering prize games in line with the
prizes we offer. Also, some local companies
provide Internet gaming that is not allowed
nor legally authorized.
/URFUTURE
In 2009, the State Lottery of Serbia plans to
strengthen its gaming model in order to better serve the players, the government and
the society’s interests. There are 3 priorities
in this area: Reinforcing our sales network,
launching Internet and poker games, and
getting ready to enter the sports betting
market in a regulated and controlled format.
Playing Lottery in Eastern Europe
Hungary
Szerencsejáték Zrt., launched on January
1st of 1991, is the largest gaming service provider in Hungary. It has exclusive
rights to distribute number lottery games
and instant tickets throughout the entire
country. Also, the Lottery has interests in
four Hungarian casinos.
7HATWEPLAY
The Lottery institution operates a nationwide retail network, supported by an online technology. The majority of products
are available by phone, on the Internet
and via SMS, too. Currently, the Lottery
operates seven number games (5/90 lottery, 6/45 lottery, Scandinavian (7/35)
Lotto, Joker, Keno, Luxor and Puttó), four
types of sports bets (Toto Pools, Tippmix,
Tippmax and Goal Toto), and a portfolio
of 10-14 varieties of instant tickets. Instants are sold for 200-300 and 500 HUF
(from 0,66 to 1,66e).
$EMOGRAPHICSOFOURPLAYERS
Two thirds of the Hungarian adult population, evaluated at approximately five million people, are regular customers of our
Lottery. Our company has a market share
of more than 50% in the Hungarian gaming market. As a result of the company’s
dynamic growth, the average gaming revenue per resident is the highest among
the lottery companies of Central Eastern
European countries. Szerencsejáték Zrt.
has increased its turnover by nearly 70%
over the past two years.
Our market researches show that instant
lotteries are by a slight margin the preferred games for players in the age category of 30+, compared to younger players.
Regarding other demographic parameters,
women tend to buy tickets slightly more
than men. Also, players with lower educational level prefer these types of tickets
compared to players with a higher education. In terms of income, we can say that a
typical instant player has average or lower
income. These differences compared to national values are very small, though.
Legal situation
For each new game, a license must be
obtained from the Gaming Supervisory
Board, which is an agency within the
Treasury Department. The license procedure is regulated by laws: The two main
regulations are the Hungarian Gaming
Act - 1991: XXXIV Act, and its Executive
Act – 32/2005. (X.21) PM. Act. The Gam12
SZERENCSEJÁTÉK ZRT., OF HUNGARY
ing Supervisory Board is entitled to issue
the licenses. If the game documentation is
in accordance with the Hungarian Gaming Act, the license is granted within 60
days and the game can be introduced to
the market.
The main steps of the authorizing procedure are as follows:
s-ANAGEMENTSDECISION
s$ESIGNING THE NEW GAME RULES OF THE
game, calculations, figure of the game, etc.)
s0ETITION TO 4HE 'AMING 3UPERVISORY
Board and pay the fee
s/BTAININGALICENSE
Game environment
Until the end of the 1980s, the Hungarian
gaming market was characterized as a monopoly environment. The product range
consisted of traditional pools and lottery,
and a few prize draws, which were very
popular among the population. The other
segments of the gaming market, such as
horse racing and casinos, attracted only a
minor group of players.
Szerencsejáték Zrt. was founded in a period, which coincided with the liberalization of a considerable part of the market.
As a result, private and foreign operators
appeared on the markets of both drawing games and prize tickets. It resulted in
an oversupply of gaming activities. The
number of operating licenses for casinos
exceeded market demand, and the slot
PAN
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machines, formerly allowed only in exclusive casinos, were made available to the
general public in more and more public
places. The tax regulations, implemented
by the Act on Gaming Operations that was
passed in August 1991, created a detrimental position mainly for the Lottery
and pools. The purchasing power of the
population declined, and players became
less interested in traditional games. The
expansion of game management activities and the participation in the organization of horseracing bets, also showing a
decline, were not successful ideas either.
Consequently, Szerencsejáték Zrt.’s revenue in real terms kept falling until 1994.
The Lottery had to find a way out of the
pressing situation through technological
development with the aim of strengthening trust, extending the range of traditional games and modernizing its sales
network. Through the rationalization of
the business policy, the gaming profile
became clearer, and the organization
of horseracing bets was taken out of its
scope of activities. The amendments of
the Act on Gaming Operations also made
its contribution to the consolidation of the
market. The sale of draw games, sports
bets and prize tickets were assigned under the company’s exclusive competence;
Restrictions were imposed on operators
with an unclear background, stricter conditions were introduced for the issue of
casino licenses, while under the new conditions of taxation, slot machines emerging from their illicit position began to experience a dynamic development. By the
end of the 1990s, the Hungarian gaming
market had sprung into a two-commercial-pole activity.
Playing Lottery in Eastern Europe
We haven’t undertaken any special
measures against foreign operators and
local competitors. Our company has good
reputation, and we aspire to preserve it.
Our company aspires to comply with the
requirements of the market (successful
games, reliability – payments in full of
jackpot’s prizes, advertisements, etc.). We
also enhance the requirements for Corporate Social Responsibility. Szerencsejáték
Zrt pays particular attention to the security of games, in order to retain the trust of
players. Sales and data processing are exclusively performed electronically these
days, whereby any bet made at any point
in the country is entered into the central
computer system within five seconds. The
security of the system is guaranteed by
strict internal regulations, and the fairness
of the games is ensured by the presence of
a Public Notary, as well as overall control
by the Gaming Supervisory Authority. The
coverage of the network is now almost
complete. The full range of games is available at 3,600 points of sale, of which 298
are Szerencsejáték Zrt’s outlets.
Ukraine
Founded in 1971, our company has come
a long way and has followed a successful path of development. From a Soviet
state-owned enterprise to a modern lottery company, we are now the largest operator of lottery games in Ukraine. When
Ukraine became an independent nation,
our company was renamed in 1991 after a
famous Soviet number lottery, «SportLoto»
(the first edition was held in April 1971):
«MolodSportLoto», and in 1999, our company’s name became the current «M.S.L.»
Our best brands
Today, we carry almost every type of lottery games: Classic number lottery «MEGALOT», lottery bingo «Loto-Zabava»,
lottery TOTO «Sportprognoz», instant
lottery with TV draws: «Who’s There»,
lottery pick-4 «The race for money», and
more than 10 instant scratch-off lotteries.
4HEFUTURE
The future improvements focus in providing modern forms of entertainment for
the players, while maintaining a responsible approach. New sales channels, namely
mobile betting and ATMs, have recently
been added besides the traditional terminal-based sales network and Internet.
New developments are being evaluated
for self-service terminals, special mobile
games and interactive television.
In terms of instant tickets, we are planning to launch a new ’top high’ (1000
HUF – 3,33e) price category in the
near future. Also, in November 2008, we
launched “World Poker Tour”, which is
the first licensed game in Hungary. With
this scratch card, players can apply for a
second chance draw where they can win
exclusive poker merchandises over the
usual cash prize. Also, we are looking at
introducing in the upcoming years other
licensed games. This year, our new target
is a Monopoly game that could be an interesting board game type for instant tickets.
M.S.L. and the future of Lottery in Ukraine
The most successful game has been «Loto-Zabava» (a bingo game), which this
year will celebrate its 10th anniversary.
It still is the most popular game in the
country not only with the largest audience of players, but also with consistently high television ratings. Another
game has been quite successful: An unusual lottery called «Who’s There», with a
unique drawing mechanism, and a particularly captivating prize: A chance to win
an apartment. The idea of such a game
came from our company’s staff. This is an
instant lottery. One of the prizes is an opportunity to participate in the TV game
show that offers a flat as its main prize.
This lottery game is based on a popular
game that is played with a dice. Players
take turn to throw the dice and walk on
the map. The one who finishes first has
13
PAN
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won the apartment. The lottery ticket
itself shows a map and the scratch area
serves as a substitute for the dice.
This game enjoys a wide appeal because
of the many interactive competitions that
take place during the TV show, giving viewers a chance to win a flat. The lottery game
has been played for over 4.5 years and has
remained widely popular among players.
Early this year, we have chosen to present
this game «Who’s There» at the seminar
«New Colors of Advertising» in London.
7HOPLAYSWITHUS
We have studied the many categories of
players and their preferences. The results show that the ratio of men to women roughly equals: 50/50. The education
level of most players is high school or college. The most active players belong to
age groups 40 +, and 25-29. There was
Playing Lottery in Eastern Europe
no clear geographical indication for the
most active players - Each region of the
country shows zones of both slow and
high gaming activity.
4HE5KRAINIANLOTTERYMARKET
M.S.L. is the only game operator in Ukraine,
with a license to conduct all types of lotteries. Before launching any new game, and
according to the law, the lottery must go
through the approval procedure evaluated
by the Ministry of Finance.
Since 2005, Ukraine has imposed a moratorium on issuing licenses to new lottery operators. The other two operators
on the Ukrainian market are licensed to
conduct only one type of lottery: Either a
number game or instant.
In the fall 2007, in partnership with Scientific Games International, we have developed a new business approach to improve
each phase of our instant lottery business,
including production, transportation,
quality storage, optimization of distribu-
Poland
January 25, 1956 was the launch date
of Totalizator Sportowy. Since then, we
have added many new games to our mix
to better satisfy our players and their
changing preferences.
Duİy Lotek – is a lotto game that represents about 54 per cent of our total game
sales. Multi Lotek – one day keno has a
14
tion networks and new technology implementation. And in the summer 2008, we
were able to launch a new line of products
bearing the mark of the new technology.
Today, we have on the market 7 new instant lotteries, and looking at the results
of the first months in operation, these new
games have generated the highest sales
among instant lotteries in Ukraine. 6 new
lotteries are under development and will
be implemented this year.
Our plans
Today, most of the M.S.L. games are distributed via online terminals, and the online network keeps growing. By the end
of 2009, we plan to bring the number of
terminals to 4 800. By the end of 2012, we
hope to more than double that number up to 10 000.
We strive to ensure that all our lottery
games are sold only via our online terminals. Since last autumn, the most popular
lottery tickets «Loto-Zabava» are provided only by terminals (a change from the
previously printed version). Soon, we will
take an even more radical step by implementing the transfer to terminal sales of
the instant lottery tickets «Who’s There».
In the near future we intend to extend
the reach of our number games and
sports lottery, a project of great importance that needs to be put in place because it will give players the opportunity
to place bets on existing games as well as
new lotteries via the Internet. We believe
that the future of the lottery market in
Ukraine depends on a quick and successful introduction of the advanced gaming
technology in every ways.
TOTALIZATOR SPORTOWY
30% share of our portfolio while our other games come at a lower level: Express
Lotek – a lotto (3.7%), Twój SzczčĤliwy
Numerek – Powerball-type game (1.6%),
a 5 minutes Keno (3%), zdrapki –
scratchcards (7.7%), Los Milionos, a raffle lottery, a brand new product that has
just been introduced on the market.
When trying to know more about our
players’ profile, we conduct surveys
and the latest shows that our clients are
mostly men (a little bit more than 55%.)
They are mainly in the age group of 2554, with a secondary or a higher education. The groups that seem to play most
often live in mid-size to large cities.
According to the gaming law in effect in
Poland, Totalizator Sportowy can launch
new products such as number games, lot-
PAN
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teries or video lotteries. First, the Board
of Directors of Totalizator Sportowy must
approve every new product. Then, these
products are presented to the State Treasury handling all gaming regulations for official approval. For now, Internet and mobile phone games are forbidden in Poland.
Set up by our legislative system, Totalizator Sportowy has the monopoly of all
number games, money lotteries, video
lotteries and Telebingo. As of now, private local or foreign games operators
do not have any legal recourse for those
games and thus are not allowed to sell
them in the country.
Slot machines are not under the public
monopoly. There are several dozens of
companies offering slot machines on the
Polish market. According to Polish law,
Playing Lottery in Eastern Europe
Internet companies cannot operate in
Poland. Nevertheless, Internet companies have invaded the Polish e-market,
in the like of Bet-at-home, Betway, Bet24
and others that are registered in socalled tax heavens, where they put their
servers. These offshore companies do
not pay taxes in Poland.
In 2009, Totalizator Sportowy plans to
modify select number games such as
Multi Lotek, which is the second most
profitable product in Totalizator’s portfolio. We are also anticipating a new step
by expanding our game offers with new
attractive products. Totalizator Sportowy
also plans to launch about 30 new scratch
cards annually, starting in 2009.
After conducting an in-depth analysis of
our players’ demands, Totalizator has made
plans to initiate in our retail stores a new system for non-lottery services that will allow
players to also pay their bills, get pre-paid
mobile phone cards, obtain cash back and
money transfers. Also, if there is a change
in our gaming law, Totalizator intends to
launch lottery products on the Internet and
on mobile phones, and therefore is gearing
up for such a novelty. It is also planned to
launch a pilot for the sale of games that are
not related to our lottery products: Horsebetting, slot machines and Keno, in specific
wagering outlets. Also on the board, analyze
the possibility of implementing video lottery
terminals in points of sales.
ESTONIA’S VIKING LOTTO
A SUCCESSFUL COOPERATION BETWEEN COUNTRIES
and know the types of people playing our
games, we conduct surveys. The last survey
shows that women represent a little more
than half (53%) of players in Estonia. 27%
of players are in the age range of 35-49. The
other age groups have a much smaller percentage of regular players. Most of the players come from cities, with the largest group
being located in the capital city of Tallinn.
Aivar Lepp CEO
Eesti Loto was founded in February 1971.
In Estonia, many different games have
gained popularity and among them Bingo
Loto, Keno Loto and instant scratch-off
lotteries. We also have launched with great
success a coordinated lotto game, mutually organized with Scandinavian countries and Iceland: Viking Lotto. Last year,
Viking Lotto has shown a rapid increase
and is now the most popular game in the
country. Nevertheless, number games still
account for more than 80% of our sales.
!LOOKATOURPLAYERS
To better answer our players’ preferences
/URREQUIREMENTSBYLAW
A gaming operator in Estonia has to apply
for a business license if it does not have one
yet. The government issues separate activity licenses depending on the types of games
an operator is managing: Casino games, skill
games or Toto. An operator also needs to apply for an operation permit for each individual game that will be offered to the market.
.EW#OMPETITION
So far, basically nothing has been done
against Internet operators, operating
games in Estonia from abroad without
proper business license in Estonia. Although our Lottery has the monopoly of
games management in the country, our
legislators have agreed to open the gaming market to Internet games in 2010.
Under that law, an Internet operator will
15
PAN
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be required to have his/her server and
company registered in Estonia and will
need to obtain a local gaming operation
license in order to do business in Estonia.
4HEFUTUREOFGAMESIN%STONIA
In view of the latest legal situation, Eesti
Loto is looking at launching Internetbased games. However, the verdict is still
open whether Eesti Loto, having the monopoly on lotteries, will be authorized to
operate casino-type and skill games.
Until recently, casinos have been the most
popular kind of gaming in Estonia, generating from 8 to 9 times more revenues than
lotteries. With the economic downturn, in
just one year already, casinos have become
much less attractive while Eesti Loto has
been steadily increasing its revenues. With
the economy as it is now and with the help
of new legislative changes, we are hoping
that Eesti Loto will gain more equal representation in the national gaming sector.
16
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Playing Lottery in Eastern Europe
Slovakia
TIPOS, National Lottery Company a.s. is a
dominant game provider in the Slovak Republic. Established by Deed of Foundation
on December 11, 1992, the organisation
started to operate on January 28, 1993.
The Ministry of Finance of the Slovak Republic is currently the sole shareholder of
the company.
The basic aim of the company TIPOS is to
collect financial means in the most effective way through its games and to return
them to the society in a form of game revenue percentage paid to the state budget. In
compliance with the Gambling Act, funds
from the state budget are subsequently
allocated to welfare services engaged particularly in health care, social care and
assistance, humanitarian care, creation,
development, protection and renewal of
cultural values, support of arts and cultural
activities, education, training, sports development, creation and protection of the
environment.
The core business of TIPOS is the operation of a variety of games, namely in the
form of the following lines of products:
s .UMBER LOTTERIES LOTTO AND KENOTYPE
games)
s )NTERNET GAMBLING 4)0+52:3+ 4)0CLUB, e-CASINO, e-BINGO and e-TICKETS)
s )NSTANTLOTTERIES
TIPOS also offers non-lottery products in
a form of top-up for mobile phones and
through its sister company, it also operates on the Slovak gambling market in the
competitive environment of casino gaming
A LEADING GAME PROVIDER IN THE SLOVAK REPUBLIC
operators.
TIPOS performs marketing research regarding play preferences and types of players on a regular basis. Some of the results
show that:
s .UMBERLOTTERY,/4/ISPLAYEDMOREBY
men than women, in ratio of about 70% to
30%. The average age of a player is around
41 years old, and a majority of players have
a secondary education. Gradually, this
game is becoming more popular among
the younger generation. Also, men play
more the Keno-type number lotteries such
as KENO 10 and KLUB KENO. The other
number lottery EUROMILIÓNY is a popular game among young players aged 28 to
40. These players have a secondary or even
a university education and this game is
played more by men in the higher income
category.
s )NSTANTLOTTERIESARETHEPREFERREDGAME
of women 40 years old and above, a gender
group that represents more than 70% of
instant game players.
s -AINLY YOUNGER MEN WITH A UNIVERSITY
education and a higher income bracket
take part in Internet gambling.
According to the Gambling Act, operating number lotteries and Internet gambling
is considered to fall within the state lottery
activity. Also, pursuant to the same Act, only
a state lottery can be operated by a national
company whose founder and shareholder
is the Slovak Ministry of Finance. Thus, the
provisions of the Act clearly give the monopoly to TIPOS in the gaming area. Although Tipos has no exclusive right on the provision of
instant lotteries in the Slovak Republic, there
are for the moment not many operators providing these games.
Gaming activities can be operated in Slovakia solely on the basis of licences issued or
granted in compliance with the Gambling
Act.
TIPOS has been conducting games of
chance on the Slovak market for as long as
16 years and it has developed a stable position as a trustworthy business entity during this period of time. TIPOS generated
and paid to the state budget more than
EUR 246 million during its existence.
TIPOS received from players wagers
amounting to more than EUR 1.62 billion
since its origin and total payout in winnings
in all games exceeded the sum of EUR
919.6 million.
TIPOS has recorded a significant increase
of interest in its games during the past two
years, which is demonstrated by an increase in sales. And our LOTO 6/49, with
total wagers reaching over EUR 566 million
since 1993, is clearly the most successful
game in TIPOS history.
CNLR PROVIDING GAMES IN ROMANIA SINCE 1906
The Romanian State Lottery (CNLR or Loteria Romana) was founded in 1906. The
organization has established very strict
security standards to provide players with
secure and responsible games.
Successful at providing a wide variety of
games, Loteria Romana currently offers:
s ,OTTERY GAMES n ,OTO .OROC
Joker; Loto 5/40
s 4OTOGAMESn0RONOSPORT0RONO3
s &IXEDODDSSPORTSBETTINGn0ARILOTO
s )NSTANTSCRATCHOFFTICKETS
s 4RADITIONALLOTTERY0ASSIVELOTTERY
s 6IDEO,OTTERYGAMES6,4
To keep up with players’ new demands and
have a better understanding of their preferences as well as the type of people who buy
our products, we conduct regular surveys.
The results show that 61% of men play
more often, with women players representing only 39%. The average age of players is
around 45 years old. In terms of Education,
we have found that 18.2 % have a superior
education, 60.2 % a secondary education
and 21.6 % have a basic education or none.
As for the geographic areas of our players,
there is a definite larger market in the main
cities of the country.
'AMINGLEGISLATION
Loteria Romana has the possibility to add
new games to its portfolio, and must apply for a license obtained according to the
current legislation. The implementation
of a new game has to be approved by the
General Assembly of CNLR as well as the
Gaming Authorization Commission.
17
PAN
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Our legislation, that is currently governing
the gaming activities in Romania, does not
allow CNLR to undertake any measures
against foreign or local competitors. There
is however a project of a new law that will
impact all gaming operations and that will
regulate in the future all competitive aspects of the gaming activities in the country.
4HEFUTURE
The immediate goal of Loteria Romana
is to take actions to improve its current
game portfolio, in accordance with the new
gaming legislation. To start with, the Lottery wishes to diversify games distribution
through the implementation of new channels: Internet, website and automated systems installed at points of sales.
Sagem Sécurité - AG - imagesource - 59 - 04/2009
As a leading manufacturer in the gaming industry, Sagem Sécurité is active worldwide and has already
delivered more than 180,000 lottery terminals. More than our capacity to meet the market’s current needs, it is
our commitment to provide the most innovative solutions that enables us to meet your future requirements.
www.sagem-securite.com
18
PAN
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Legal
The changing European legal landscape
By Philippe Vlaemminck, Vlaemminck & Partners
I. European regulatory developments
INTHEGAMBLINGSECTOR
!%UROPEAN#OURTOF*USTICE
In the past twelve months the European
Court of Justice did receive referrals
from several Member States courts in
gambling dossiers. While most questions
are still addressing the internal consistency of the legislation, new problems
have emerged. So there is the question
in the Dutch Betfair case whether licenses in gambling need to be granted
in accordance with transparent and nondiscriminatory rules and procedures, a
point that AG BOT disputes in his opinion in the Ligua Portuguesa de Futebol
case, but there is also the question where
the potential tortuous effects of remote
gambling occur in relation to the rights of
football players and clubs in the Belgian
Real Madrid case. As such all these cases
prove that the legal disputes surrounding gambling in the different EU Member
States are creating the need for clear
regulatory solutions.
In his opinion in the Placanica case, the
Advocate General mentioned that the
Member States did already miss several
opportunities to regulate gambling services at EU level. Although the comment
was surprising and unfair, considering
the inadequacy of the solutions proposed
by the Commission, it shows that the
Court is not willing to become the final
arbitrator in what is becoming an increasingly difficult political problem. The
number of infringement cases, who are
highly controversial, do even more prove
that this is no longer a pure legal dispute,
but rather a political problem.
Notwithstanding this, one has to admit
that the European Court has acted in this
area with great respect for the sensitivities and problems at stake. The Court,
as always, took up its own responsibility
as far as the Court could go and did substantially contribute to create conditions
allowing the Member States to understand what is possible within the actual
context of the Treaty. From Schindler
to Placanica the Court has designed the
legal framework for gambling services
under the Treaty and the limits thereof.
19
PAN
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Summarized the European Court does accept that gambling services are economic
activities of “a particular nature” whereby it is perfectly acceptable for States to
maintain and introduce (new) restrictions
for reasons of public order or to prevent
the social risks of addiction. States are
permitted to channel the gambling desire
towards restricted and controlled operators offering only such games which the
concerned State considers morally, politically and legally acceptable. Such offer of games may expand into new areas
and use new formats if necessary for the
implementation of an effective and efficient policy and use several marketing
methods. States have a great discretion in
choosing their own model independently
from other states, whether it is a monopoly or a licensing model.
The European Union Treaty as such does
indeed not provide for full answers to the
complexity of the gambling issues and
the Court understands this. The recent
Ligua Portuguesa de Futebol internet
gambling case did show how far reaching
the difficulties are. None of the Member
States present, and there were many
intervening, nor the Commission does
want the gambling market to be driven
by market forces.
The opinion given by the Advocate
General BOT to the European Court in
this Portuguese case is relevant to understand the exact border line between
what States can and cannot do.
He argues that there is no obligation to
apply market rules and competition law
to gambling services as there is no additional benefit for the consumer from
such a competitive environment. By doing so, he reiterates the opinion of AG
Gulmann in the Schindler case.
However, he makes it perfectly clear that
the attitude of the States is crucial in
this regard. If the States do not operate
their lotteries as normal economic enterprises and are not searching to maximise
profits, they can escape from the market
principles. If the States operate lotteries
as normal economic activities, competi-
Legal
tion law must apply. The line is clear , at
least from a legal point of view, but not
always easy to draw in practise.
But the situation is albeit not resolved
with this opinion, the Court needs to
rule. There is no date set yet for the ruling, but we may believe that it will come
before summer. What the Court will do
afterwards is not clear neither. There
are an important number of cases where
written observations have been submitted and where at least some parties requested an oral hearing.
"4HE%UROPEAN#OMMISSION
In 2008, the European Member States understood that they were obliged to look
altogether into these questions and soon
the world will understand that a broader
reflection will be required if one wants
to come to terms with online gambling
problems. Surprisingly the Commission
did not welcome this approach and refused to participate actively in the dialogue. Both the Council and the European
Parliament did call upon the Commission
to make further studies and proposals as
may be required or even “desirable” by
the Member States. These wordings reflect what is mentioned in article 208 EC
and obliges the Commission, under the
loyalty principle, to follow up on this. The
Commission Services have over the years
acquired a substantial knowledge of the
problems and understand the sensitivities.
The Commission’s participation in the institutional dialogue is indeed the only way
to come to terms in this difficult area.
Currently the Commissioner of Internal
Market refused to enter into the dialogue. He does not believe that there is
a sufficient level playing field for a proper regulatory environment and prefers
therefore to continue to apply the Treaty
to gambling services. On the contrary he
strongly believes that the pressure issued
by the Commission through the different
infringement cases do produce more effective results. The fact that some Member States, like France, are proposing
changes to their laws is perceived by him
as the sole result of its legal actions.
20
#4HE#OUNCILOF-INISTERS
Following a meeting of the Government
Agents to the European Court on July 10,
2007, in Brussels the Member States decided to start a dialogue on this matter.
It took up until the French Presidency
in the second half of 2008 before the idea
was implemented through the “Services
and Establishment Working Group” of the
Council. Surprisingly already during the
first meeting in July, the Commissioner on
Internal Market denied even to participate
in this dialogue with the Member States
instituted by the French Presidency.. The
discussion although strongly focused on
the problems of the online gambling market, did cover all aspects of gambling.
In December 2008, the Council of Ministers decided during the competitiveness
Council that they want to continue the
work of this Working Group. Most of them
insist upon the need to approach the questions with due regard for the subsidiarity
principle, thereby emphasizing that only
those problems need to be looked into at
EU or international level that cannot be adequately resolved at national/state/regional
level. The proposals made by several governments to amend their laws goes into
this direction. However an EU chapeau will
be necessary to find legal certainty and answers to the essential transnational problems like enforcement, OC, …
$4HE%UROPEAN0ARLIAMENT
Also the European Parliament wanted to
contribute to a better solution. Indeed
also the Parliament did initially reject the
proposed solutions of the Commission
(Services Directive), but is aware that
the Treaty as such does not provide the
solution. During the debate on the White
Paper on Sport, it became clear that the
European Parliament acknowledges the
important role and contribution of Lotteries to the European sport model based
upon amateur and grass root sports.
In the meantime, the European Parliament did address the question of gambling
in an own initiative report, the so-called
“Schaldemose report” which was adopted
by an overwhelming majority of 544 MEPs
against 36 and 66 abstentions. Prior to the
vote an alternative motion tabled by the
British Conservative MEPs Heaton-Harris
PAN
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and Harbour was clearly rejected.
Although initially the European Parliament was considering to look into the
questions of the online gambling market
only, the Parliament took into consideration all consumer related aspects as well
as the public order elements of crime
prevention. The report prepared by MEP
Schaldemose provides the first serious
and correct picture of the situation at the
European Parliament level.
As such the report provides for the second political signal to the Commission to
find appropriate regulatory solutions with
due respect for the subsidiarity principle.
The report clearly rejects self regulatory
codes of conduct as the basis for regulating the online gambling sector as promoted by the remote gambling operators.
II.Conclusions
The initiatives of the European Council
and the European Parliament can only
be welcomed and show how both institutions take up their political responsibility
to find proper political and regulatory
answers, if necessary under secondary
EU law, something that the European
Court could as such not do.
Today it is clear that the Member
States cannot alone provide all answers to regulate properly the gambling sector. There are currently
several models going from total prohibition to licensing, but also monopolies are strengthened. Each of these
models has its own merits, but cannot tackle all transnational problems
in relation to OC and enforcement.
The principle of subsidiarity as outlined in the Protocol of the Amsterdam Treaty does therefore require
the European Union to look for the
essential cross border aspects of the
problem. This is the challenge for the
coming period.
Camelot Underlines Responsible Play
Commitments With New Game Design Tool
Responsible Play Measures Detailed in Camelot’s 2007/08 Corporate Responsibility Review
National Lottery operator Camelot Group
plc today released its Corporate Responsibility Review for 2007/08, in a year which
saw the company meet and exceed challenging performance standards, including:
s! RECORD OF SUPPLIERS STATING THAT
they were satisfied with their overall relationship with Camelot;
s/PERATION #HILD #AMELOTS UNIQUE TEST
purchasing scheme to promote retailer vigilance against underage players, saw 93%
of retailers refusing to sell a lottery ticket
to a test purchaser on a first visit; and
s! REDUCTION IN #/2 emissions of 36%,
and an increase in the proportion of waste
recycled, up to 72%.
This year Camelot has again been recognised for the highest standards of corporate responsibility, with separate awards
from both the World Lottery Association
(winner, Best Reporting) and Business in
the Community (highly commended, Responsible Marketing).
Dianne Thompson, Chief Executive of
Camelot Group plc, said: “I am very proud
of our corporate responsibility achievements in what was a very busy year. They
top a successful period in which we won
the licence to operate The National Lottery for a further 10 years, increased total sales to £4,996.3 million and delivered
a further £1,351.8 millioni to the Good
Causes – bringing the total now raised to
over £22 billion. On top of this, we have
been working very closely with all of our
stakeholders on the ongoing process of
transition to make sure that the lottery is
in the best possible shape for the start of
the new licence in February 2009.
“We have a proven track record of corporate responsibility – but we will not be
resting on our laurels. We will be looking
to make further improvements in all areas of our corporate responsibility work
to make sure that National Lottery sales
continue to grow in a socially responsible
way – and that even more money is raised
for the Good Causes.”
i
Direct returns to Good Causes exclude investment returns on National Lottery balances –
these are reported in May, following end of the
Financial Year.
Highlighting the company’s strong commitment to corporate responsibility and
responsible play, Camelot and The Inter21
PAN
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national Gaming Research Unit at Nottingham Trent University have launched
a pioneering new game assessment tool,
designed to ensure that all lottery games
meet very high standards of corporate responsibility prior to launch.
Camelot is the first lottery in the world to
implement GAM-GaRD (Gambling Assessment Measure – Guidance about Responsible Design), which assesses specific characteristics of all National Lottery games.
The new tool is the latest innovative player
protection initiative to be introduced by
the UK lottery operator, which is internationally recognised as leading the way
when it comes to socially responsible play.
Camelot commissioned leading gaming
experts at Nottingham Trent University,
together with an international panel of researchers and clinicians, to develop the new
GAM-GaRD tool. Used during the game
design process, GAM-GaRD is designed to
protect players by examining the basic design and features of a game, as well as other
factors which may lead people to play.
A score is then generated using a ‘traffic
light’ system to rate games with a high,
medium or low risk. This enables Camelot’s product development team to identify potential game design modifications
before development begins and in turn
make sure its games achieve excellence in
corporate responsibility standards.
Promoting responsible play and the benefits for both players and businesses remain central to Camelot’s commitments
in the area of corporate responsibility.
As well as the unique GAM-GaRD tool,
Camelot continues to see excellent results
with its unique Operation Child initiative,
and operates a range of safeguards for the
digital channels it offers to customers.
Professor of Gambling Studies at Nottingham Trent University, Dr Mark
Griffiths, who co-developed GAM-GaRD
said: “GAM-GaRD represents the very
latest expertise in game design risk assessment, and uses this to clearly and
correctly measure potential risk factors,
ultimately to the benefit of consumers.
We see opportunity.
Today’s global economic pressures have generated incredible business challenges.
In this climate, we see opportunity. Opportunity to accept, seize and manage
change—to be more competitive in the entertainment industry…and to grow lottery
sales from retail expansion, to implementing best practices, to new media games,
to exciting new business models. We see opportunity everywhere…but more importantly,
we see it for our customers.
Partnering with lotteries…for good causes.
GTECH® is an advocate of socially responsible gaming. Our business solutions empower customers to develop parameters and practices, appropriate
to their needs, that become the foundation of their responsible gaming programs.
22
PAN
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“GAM-GaRD is also available to the lottery sector and gambling industry under
licence; so far it has already been applied
by companies and regulators, enabling other lotteries and companies to benefit from
this ground-breaking tool. We commend
Camelot’s forward-thinking approach, and
hope that other lotteries follow suit.”
Geoffrey Godbold, Chief Executive of GamCare, the leading authority on the provision
of counselling, advice and practical help in
addressing the social impact of gambling in
the UK, said: “Camelot continues to demonstrate a willingness to improve on its
already robust procedures. I am confident
that GAM-GaRD will be a very effective addition to the extensive range of measures
that are already successfully in place to
protect vulnerable players.”
Anne Pattberg, Corporate Responsibility Manager at Camelot, said: “Camelot
is already internationally-recognised as
leading the way when it comes to promoting socially responsible play. We take our
responsibilities towards players seriously
and go beyond our regulatory requirements in setting and maintaining the highest standards of player protection in the
UK, as well as in the lottery sector worldwide.
“We are now actively using GAM-GaRD
to assess all new games planned for the
third lottery licence and will review its effectiveness on an ongoing basis.
“We are also very pleased that GAM-GaRD
is being applied by other lottery and gambling organisations worldwide. We have
worked to encourage other lotteries to
follow our example and have been striving
to develop global standards on player
protection, including leading the development of a global Responsible Gaming
Framework through the World Lottery
Association (WLA), and European Responsible Gaming Standards through the
European Lotteries (EL).”
GAM-GaRD is used in the beginning
stages of a game’s design process, and
alongside Camelot’s own existing tool, the
Game Design Protocolii.
For further information, please contact
Lisa Hancox, Corporate PR Manager:
020 7632 5716
Camelot Press Office: 020 7632 5711
ii
in use since 2001
23
PAN
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.OTESTO%DITORS
s#AMELOT 'ROUP PLC IS THE LICENSED OPerator of The National Lottery® and
is committed to raising money for the
Good Causes designated by Parliament.
Camelot is not responsible for distributing or awarding these funds.
s4O DATE OVER a BILLION HAS BEEN
raised for the Good Causes by The National Lottery, and more than 300,000 individual awards have been made across
the UK – the biggest programme of civic
and social regeneration since the 19th
Century. The National Lottery has given
away over £33 billion in prizes and created more than 2,200 millionaires or multimillionaires since launch in 1994.
s#AMELOTRUNSONEOFTHEMOSTCOSTEFlcient lotteries in the world, with around
5% of total revenue taken in operating
costs. At 40% of total sales (28% to the
Good Causes and 12% in lottery duty
to the Government), Camelot returns
a higher proportion of lottery revenue
back to society than any other lottery
operator in the world. National Lottery
retailers receive 5% of total revenue in
commission, and 50% of sales is paid out
to players in prizes.
s#AMELOT IS COMMITTED TO THE HIGHEST
standards in player protection and social responsibility in both the retail and
interactive environments. The National
Lottery website, Sky Active and Play By
Text services have been accredited by
GamCare, the UK’s national centre for
information, advice and practical help
regarding the social impact of gambling
– while Camelot’s approach to game
design, test purchasing and retailer
vigilance campaigns ensures player protection at retail. Camelot is ranked first
in the leisure sector in Business in the
Community’s 2007 Social Responsibility
Index.
s&OR FURTHER INFORMATION ON #AMELOT
The National Lottery and its games,
please visit the following websites: www.
camelotgroup.co.uk and www.nationallottery.co.uk.
s0LAYERS OF ALL .ATIONAL ,OTTERY GAMES
must be aged 16 or over.
s4HE CROSSED lNGERS LOGO IS THE REGIStered trademark of the National Lottery
Commission.
Members’ News
Imagination at the Point of Sale:
The success of Canal LAE in Spain
Spain
Gambling and sports betting in Spain are
one of the major components of the Gross
Domestic Product, representing approximately 4% of total GDP. The market share
of Loterías y Apuestas del Estado (LAE)
exceeds 33% and, on a weekly basis, 17
million customers (more than 30% of the
population) purchase one of the products
marketed through LAE’s 10,790 points of
sale throughout the national territory, of
which 4.089 sell only our «products».
Innovation and imagination are essential elements in an industry as traditional
as ours, which is why LAE launched the
project to renovate the technology of its
outlets. Taking advantage of new technological developments in the field of “Digital
Signage” and the undoubted skills of the
company Sistemas Técnicos de Loterías
(STL), LAE has established the largest dynamic marketing network in Europe.
In a first phase of the configuration of
the new Canal LAE, versatile television
screens were installed in 4,500 outlets that
account for 75% of total sales. The screens
are connected to STL using IP lines and
measure 42 inches, causing a high visual
impact. They not only introduce images,
motion and colour in the outlet, with all of
the advantages of television, outdoor advertising and advertising on the spot, they
also allow a system of providing and displaying information to its target audience
with greater speed, reliability and attractiveness. The screen can be divided into
several quadrants in order to communicate
different messages in short periods of time.
Furthermore, information disseminated
through the Canal LAE can be diversified
24
PAN
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and focus one or more specific areas, cities
or districts, etc., allowing localised scheduling. Information content concerns either
the management of LAE games or third
party advertising. In commercial terms,
the awareness of Canal LAE is established.
Effectively, each one of the outlets connected is visited by approximately 4,000
customers per week, so a notice displayed
in the 4,500 establishments connected to
the channel can reach a weekly average
of 17 million people. The income from the
outdoor ads substantially helps cover the
costs of the system
In the field of environmental protection,
the importance of Canal LAE is also a winner as it goes beyond the traditional display
method of posters, which entails an enormous consumption of paper, inks, plastics
and other materials, some of which do not
support recycling and are clearly harmful
to the environment.
This innovation, which is entirely managed
by the staff of LAE, can provide significant
commercial benefits to all lottery organizations that choose to adopt it. Representatives of LAE presented the system at the EL/
WLA Marketing Seminar, which took place in
London on January 28 to 30, arousing great
interest. We believe that knowledge of this
imaginative approach may result in the interest of all Members and we have therefore
requested to have some time reserved during our next Congress in Istanbul for LAE
to publicize the specific characteristics and
benefits of the channel in greater depth.
Gonzalo Fernández Rodríguez
General Director LAE
Members’ News
Sweden
Meta Persdotter CEO
In issue no 28 it was indicated in the
interview with Mrs Winberg, Chair
Svenska Spel, that a new gaming legislation would be proposed in Sweden.
Here are the main ideas.
Proposed new gaming legislation in Sweden
The new CEO of Svenska Spel , Mrs Meta Persdotter, who took up office in February will
however fight for these games, since she believes that sports betting is very much the core
business of the company and that the links with the sports bodies have been so many, so
strong and so beneficiary over the years. She also sees a risk that many retailers in sparselypopulated areas where Svenska Spel has a responsibility to offer its services even it is not
highly profitable, will have to cease selling lottery products if other operators are to take over.
Mrs Persdotter, a keen sportswoman herself, had her main training and business experience
at IKEA. Her main concern therefore is the contact and dialogue with the customers, be that
the lottery ticket buyers, be it the retailers, be it the casino visitors.
Her main job just now however is to word the Svenska Spel reaction to the proposed changes.
There has been very little debate so far in Sweden on the changes although media and politicians in general seem to support the idea of letting private operators in. These on the other
hand have fiercely objected to the proposed restrictions for them and will not accept the
conclusions of the report. The NGOs will certainly also object to not being permitted to offer
their games over the Internet.
In the last 10 years there have been quite a
few reports and proposals to change the insufficient and unsatisfactory gaming legislation in Sweden, partly due to the fast development of new technology, partly due to the
criticism from EU officials for the obstacles
for an open lottery market.
The new report handed over to the Swedish government on December 15 therefore
suggested two main solutions for the future.
EITHER to keep the present legislation but
exercise a tougher control of illegal gaming
OR to make some changes in order to make
it possible for new, private operators to get
a license for parts of the gaming market and
to establish a new authority to supervise it.
The report recommended the latter.
Following the recommendations:- The state will still keep a monopoly on
games of high risks for addiction, thus letting Svenska Spel continue to operate its 4
casinos and the 7 500 VLTs in bars and restaurants
- Internet betting will be restricted to Svenska Spel, the state-controlled horse-betting
foundation ATG and sports betting operators with a Swedish license
- Charities and NGOs will be allowed to
offer lotteries and scratch tickets and run
bingo halls
- Svenska Spel will keep numbers games
and scratch tickets but will have to give up
sports betting
- Private operators can get a license to offer book making and other sports betting
but have to be registered in Sweden, obey
to Swedish gaming legislation and pay taxes
in Sweden. No gaming transactions to accounts abroad. Taxes will also be imposed
25
PAN
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on Svenska Spel and ATG
- A
new
gaming
board,
called
Spelmarknadsinspektionen, will be established that will take over from the present
Lotteriinspektionen but also be responsible
for all licenses and all supervision of retailers and marketing
- For all games except casinos there will be
an age limit of 18 years. To visit the casinos
you still have to be 20.
Today Swedish sports federations and committees receive about 2/3 of their grants
from Svenska Spel and ATG. In another report published end of February the government proposes ‘to put a stop to this system
and replace it by a fixed sum, subject to a
means test annually, from the state budget,
thus making sports income independent of
gaming revenue. This eliminates one of the
strong arguments for Svenska Spel to keep
Oddset and Tipset.
On March 31 all reactions to the report
must be at the Ministry of Finance which
will then put a final bill together to present
to Parliament probably already this spring
Göran Wessberg
Senior Advisor to Svenska Spel
Members’ News
Torbjørn Almlid new CEO OF Norsk Tipping AS
Norway
ing Director of Norsvin (a pig breeding company) for 10 years and Managing Director of
the innovation company BioInn (a bio-innovation company) for one year before changing branches in 1999. He then accepted
the post as Managing Director of Feiringklinikken AS (The Feiring Clinic Ltd). He
was later appointed Managing Director of
Helse Øst (Health Region East), until he
took up the position as Chief Executive Officer of Sykehuset Innlandet (The Innlandet
Hospital Trust) in 2003.
Torbjørn Almlid CEO
Torbjørn Almlid, Ph.D. assumed the post as
Chief Executive Officer of Norsk Tipping AS
(The Norwegian National Lottery) on January 1 2009. Almlid is 59. He is a qualified
veterinarian, has worked as a researcher
and holds a Doctorate in genetic illnesses.
He has previously held the posts as Manag-
Mr. Almlid has ambitious objectives for
Norsk Tipping AS; “I find the intricate relationship between politics, technology and
the marked to be both an intriguing and a
challenging managerial task. Norsk Tipping builds its operations on technically
advanced solutions and we need attractive
products to offer our customers. With increased attention put on problem gaming
this is a challenging task that is very motivational”, says Almlid.
During Almlids’ short tenure at Norsk Tipping, the company has amongst other
things introduced 100 percent registered
play for all games except scratch-tickets.
Further, the company is in the midst of rolling out a new generation gaming machines,
where the combination of entertainment
and responsible gaming has been taken one
step further. “I want Norsk Tipping to be
an open and transparent company and we
must show that our games are entertaining and foster minimal problems related to
problem gaming”, says Almlid, and adds “it
is vital that we focus on innovation and renewal in the time ahead. Development of
responsible and attractive games, especially
on the internet, will be a priority for Norsk
Tipping in the time to come”, says Almlid.
Gheorghe Benea,
new CEO of the Romanian National Lottery
Romania
Since February 16, 2009, Mr. Gheorghe Benea is the new CEO of Compania Nationala
‘Loteria Romana’ S.A.
into “Somes” S.A. Dej, S.C. Pehart Tec S.A.
Petresti, “Remarul 16 Februarie”and “Metalurgica Transilvania Aiud S.A.
Qualified engineer, graduated from the Faculty of Chemical Technology/Iasi, Department of Pulp, Paper and Fibers (1979), he
took out two patents: The Method for enzymatic pulp bleaching and fixing the plastic
strainer on the plastic rotary cell filters.
His main objectives for Loteria Romana are
to form a dedicated team, to create good
working conditions and to develop the company’s influence. He also wishes to increase
the productivity and expand the sales network by implementing new distribution
channels (hypermarkets, gas stations, hotels, etc.), and diversifying the product line.
Once his studies completed in 1990, he became mayor of the town of Dej, where he
developed his management skills, specializing at the same time at the German Management Academy, in Celle, Niedersachsen/
Germany (1993) and at the Management
and Market Economy Institute at Yakko
Poyry/Finland (1996).
Gheorghe Benea CEO
The substantial knowledge and experienced
acquired allowed him, from 1983 up to now,
to hold positions as President and/or General
Director of several companies such as Pulp
and Paper Plant in Dej, subsequently turned
26
PAN
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He will pay a special attention to how the
Lottery brand is highlighted, especially in
the points of sale as, as he says: “They are
our guest houses and can tell a lot about
how diligent we are and, to enhance our image, we will increase the circulation of the
magazine Lotto Prono, the main source of
information for players”.
Gheoghe Benea also wishes to establish
fruitful collaborations with the EL Members and will support all EL activities.
Premium
Six Sigma
A contract with the GTECH Corporation
comes with many benefits- and some
highly trained Black Belts. And while they
won’t be using karate skills to fight off
your nemeses, they will be using the “Six
Sigma” quality improvement ideology to
ensure that the customer is the recipient
of the most efficient technology solutions
the gaming world has to offer.
Originated in 1986 by Motorola, Six Sigma
was formulated as a set of practices designed
to improve manufacturing on the “shop”
floor and eliminate defects. Its application
was eventually extended to other types of
business processes to achieve a higher level
of quality to reduce waste and enhance work
flow. The term Six Sigma stems from the
idea that if one has six standard deviations
between the mean of a process and the nearest specification limit, there will be practically no items that fail to meet the specifications. Borrowing ranking terminology used
by the martial arts, the hierarchy bestows
labels such as Black or Green Belt.
At GTECH, utilizing Six Sigma practices
as it pertains to gaming is an industry first
and only. The endeavor, led by GTECH’s
Vice President of Global Technology Solutions Matthew Whalen, has successfully trained over 100 GTECH employees
in the venture to eliminate wasteful resources for the end-customer in an effort
to operate at peak performance using the
methodology of “Six Sigma Lean.” The
practice of Lean is one which attempts to
27
PAN
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add value to form or function to create an
immediate improvement, generally with
results in less than 90 days.
The results are proven. For example, during business meetings between GTECH
and Veikkaus Oy, operator of the Finnish
National Lottery, our customer was so impressed by GTECH’s commitment to the
Six Sigma Lean practices that they asked
GTECH Black Belt’s to come aboard to
help them improve efficiency of software
deliveries. Lead by local GTECH Finland
leaders and supported by GTECH’s Process Engineer and Black Belt, James Bois,
the outcome resulted in increased velocity of current improvement initiatives and
solid action plans for future improvement
areas.
Ensuring that the customer receives the
most successful product in all venues of
gaming is why GTECH leads the industry,
and as for the future of Six Sigma practices, Whalen says, “By focusing on continual measurable and quantifiable goals, we
are able to deliver software and services
to our customers in a more standardized
way while ensuring superior quality.”
Premium
Merchandise in the Lottery Industry
The new model for licensed games
As the global economic crisis worsens,
sales at some lotteries have begun to flatten, which has brought increasing pressure on these organizations to find ways
to maintain and grow revenue for their
good causes. While the ebb and flow of
online terminal-generated game sales are
inextricably linked to the size of the jackpot – and thus are largely beyond a lottery’s ability to effect increases through
marketing – instant sales have proven
otherwise. Indeed, their impulsive nature
makes them much more sensitive to marketing and an ideal product for helping
lotteries stabilize their sales during this
painful economic chapter in world history.
Over the years, raising the prize payout
of games has been one of the more popular determinants of demand lotteries
have deployed to help drive instant sales.
Similarly, licensed games have proven to be
an effective vehicle for increasing instant
sales and revenues, yet lotteries are known
to shy away from them due to the high licensing fees required to secure a powerhouse brand. The MDI Merchandise Model
was developed in response to this business
reality. Today, this creative business model
gives lotteries the world over:
s 4HEABILITYTOSECUREANDMARKETTHESE
so-called “powerhouse brands” on their
tickets with no impact on the lottery’s ROI
(return on investment);
s ! PLATFORM THAT IN EFFECT CAN HELP
stretch their marketing and promotions
budget by extending the brand life and
the lottery’s goodwill for a much longer
period of time compared to a traditional
advertising campaign.
s 5NIQUE AND SOUGHTAFTER MERCHANDISE
that channels new players to the lottery.
4HE-ERCHANDISE-ODEL
As previously stated, lotteries have not had
the budget to pay the high licensing fees
required to secure a powerhouse brand,
and, thus, have been unable to incorporate
them into their marketing mix. The MDI
Merchandise Model offers lotteries a creative solution to hurdle this barrier to entry.
Very simply, it allows a lottery to allocate a
percentage of a licensed-game prize structure to unique, high quality branded prizes.
28
27
Lotteries purchase the brand merchandise
from MDI and, in turn, incorporate the
merchandise as prizes within the prize
structure. MDI pays the licensing fees.
Lotteries utilizing the MDI Merchandise
Model have quickly discovered its benefits.
For starters, the unique merchandise prizes
attract new players. Second, licensed-game
players often find themselves winning prizes they could never win through any other
consumer-goods experience; that is, they
have an opportunity to win that once-in-alifetime prize “money simply cannot buy.”
Compared to winning cash, these merchandise prizes leave a longer lasting, more positive impression with players. They also extend the lottery advertising’s effectiveness
by casting a positive halo over the entire
product line. Indeed, the positive impressions and emotions associated with a brand
often carry over to the lottery itself, generating momentum for all products.
The merchandise establishes a deep sense
of loyalty and nostalgia among players
because the prizes represent something
they can keep forever. In the past nine
years, sales trends have shown licensed
games to be among the leading contributors to the increase in instant sales in
North America.
-$)-ERCHANDISE'AMES
MDI has worked to develop unique merchandise for most of its global blockbuster
brands, including Monopoly, Pac-man,
Deal or No Deal, Jeopardy, Harley-Davidson, Indiana Jones, NHL and World Poker
Tour. Below are two recent examples that
have hit the European market.
)NDIANA *ONES GAMES LAUNCHED ALL
OVERTHEWORLD
Recently, 25 Lotteries around the world
launched Indiana Jones tickets to coincide with the movie launch. MDI incorpo-
PAN
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rated and managed all aspects of the merchandise prizes for these games launched
by lotteries in Estonia, Luxemburg, Belgium, Germany, Australia and USA.
7ORLD0OKER4OURIN(UNGARY
Szerencsejáték adopted the merchandise
model for its World Poker Tour (WPT)
tickets. No licensing fee was required
since the Lottery allocated a percentage
to merchandise prizes. MDI and WPT
even provided World Poker shirts to sales
representatives and retailers, and assisted
the lottery in hosting a hugely successful
tournament for members of the media and
press. First-week sales were 25% higher
than any previous game launched. Additionally, 35% of non-winning tickets sold
during the first weeks were turned in for a
chance to win merchandise.
-ERCHANDISE -ODEL VS !DVERTISING
Campaign
Licensed merchandise games offer lotteries a creative solution to offset declining
sales, plus provide an alternative advertising-promotions vehicle for reaching players and making an impression that is long
lasting, residual and more positive compared to a traditional advertising campaign. It is true: Licensed branded games
using MDI’s merchandise model are designed to accomplish the same goals lotteries strive to achieve through expensive
marketing and advertising campaigns. In
tough economic times, this model could
be exactly what is needed.
MDI
MDI, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Scientific Games, was founded in 1986, and
today is the world’s leading provider of
entertainment-based licensed and branded lottery games. Of all branded games
sold around the world, nine of every 10
are licensed through MDI. As the only
full-service provider of Lottery promotions and games, MDI has more than 150
marketing and licensing partnerships, including some of the more prestigious and
well-known companies in the world.
Premium
The expert in eastern Europe Lottery market
In less than 17 years of coming into existence, INTRALOT managed to establish its presence in 50 countries on all
five continents and become one of the
leading companies in its sector. Due
to the company’s European origin, the
eastern and south-eastern parts of Europe became one of the first fields for
INTRALOT’s international expansion.
In its early stages, the company invested
in the neighbouring markets of SouthEastern Europe at a time when the potential of these markets was far from
evident and the problems to be tackled
were numerous. The management’s decision to undertake this challenge certainly
paid off since INTRALOT soon became
the leading technology provider for lotteries in the region, paving the way for a
more attractive offer in the sector.
The lotteries in South-Eastern and Eastern Europe gave INTRALOT the opportunity to prove its strength to the world,
while the lotteries themselves entered
a whole new era of development as
INTRALOT supplied services and products that were characterized by inno-
vation, effectiveness and technological
excellence. The lotteries honoured the
company with their lasting cooperation
because they acknowledged INTRALOT’s
sincere commitment to addressing their
goals and underlying needs with tailored
solutions. These long-lasting and mutually beneficial relationships have since
become the company’s ”modus operandi”
allowing INTRALOT to gain many more
markets all around the globe.
Currently, INTRALOT’s presence in Eastern Europe covers Romania, Bulgaria,
Russia, Serbia, Slovakia, Poland, Turkey,
Cyprus, Moldova, and Greece, offering
games that range from number games to
betting and Video Lotteries.
INTRALOT is also at present the leading
Sports Betting operator in the world with
a pivotal presence in the region. In particular, it has established itself in Greece
(with its subsidiary “Betting Company”,
which has been providing OPAP with
operational services and support since
2000); Bulgaria (where its affiliate Eurofootball, holds a very strong position
in the market); Poland (where its sub-
sidiary Totolotek is the leading sports
betting operator in the country); Romania (where betting offered by the State
Lottery is provided by INTRALOT) and
Turkey (where INTRALOT participates
in the consortium INTELTEK, that operates the game Iddaa).
INTRALOT also provides its operational
and technological support and expertise to the All-Russian State Lottery,
the Romanian State Lottery and Loteria
Moldovei in Moldova. In Greece, the company is the main supplier of the two State
gaming organizations, OPAP and ODIE.
In addition, INTRALOT operates Video
Lottery networks in Serbia (through its
subsidiary Yugobet); Slovakia, (where it
is a majority shareholder in Slovenske
Loterie); Poland (through its subsidiary
Pollot) and Moldova (through Loteria
Moldovei). As far as the company’s instant gaming experience is concerned,
INTRALOT was the majority shareholder
and manager of the operating company
of the Greek Instant Ticket for the full
duration of its operation.
The revenue of the gaming market in
South Eastern Europe is estimated at
about e10 billion. The popularity of
gaming (and especially sports betting)
among a population of approximately
380 million people, coupled by the recent
entry of many countries into the EU are
the main factors that drive the growing
demand for an attractive gaming offer in
these countries.
INTRALOT has lived hand-in-hand
with the countries in the region, developing solutions and implementing
projects throughout their recent history.
It is exactly this experience that allows
INTRALOT to state with confidence that
it has the “hands-on” expertise and regional know-how to successfully assist
South-Eastern and Eastern Europe markets even further.
29
PAN
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Workshops
EL/WLA MARKETING SEMINAR
NEW COLOURS FOR ADVERTISING
London 28th to 30th January 2009
“Many a small thing has been made
large by advertising”
Mark Twain
When came the time to decide on the title, which would introduce the theme of
the first joint WLA/EL seminar, a flurry of
ideas was exchanged and came the notion
of “colours”, which became “new colours”
and finally “New colours for advertising”,
after several exchanges that included, by
the way, the Impressionists, Monet, and a
philosophical discussion on art and science.
Thus, the title and its intent: Advertising
is indeed both an art and a science. And
as the fine art of painting is based on three
primary colours that generate a myriad of
impacts, an infinity of representations, so
does Advertising. Out of some very basic
concepts, advertising represents endless
alternatives and continuing innovations.
And so, under this banner “New Colours
for Advertising”, over 115 participants,
representing some 50 organisations and
corporations, assembled in London, Jan
28 – 30 2009, to hear 25 experts from within and from without the Lottery industry
share their views, expertise and experiences on the global world of advertising in
today’s environment of fragmented markets, diverse channels of communication
and a looming severe economic crisis.
These speakers, and the panels that followed, covered diverse topics grouped
around five themes:
- An
International
overview
and
perspective,
- Creativity and innovation,
- New marketing and Advertising
concepts,
- How to reach the players in a segmented market,
- Checks and balances, Corporate Social
Responsibility, etc...
Mr. Arch Gleason, WLA President, started
the seminar with his warm opening addresses, welcoming the participants.
The first day, January 29th, featured two
inspirational keynote speakers: Mr. John
Luff, Founder “Sustainable Marketing –
UK” whose presentation stressed the concept that good Corporate Social Responsibility and Marketing/Advertising were
inseparable. Mr. John Luff was followed
by Mr. Dan Thwaites, Planning Director
H.S&P, who provided fresh and original
advertising ideas based on existing successful ads and advertising campaigns.
Mr. Francesco Parola, Lottery Director
31
PAN
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and Mr. Michael Staskin, Marketing Director, SISAL SpA, followed with an update
on the very successful SuperEnalotto
game in Italy.
Mr. Jean-Luc Moner-Banet, Director General, then overviewed the marketing and
advertising activities leading to the launch
of the Suisse Romande Lottery eventbased game “Christmas for Life”. Similarly,
Mr. Joris Van Dijk, Marketing Manager and
Sales, Nederlandse Staatsloterij, presented the concept and advertising campaign
leading to the launch of their event-based
game NewYear’s Eve 2008 draw.
“Getting real value from Advertising” was
the topic of Mrs. Marzia Mastrogiacomo,
Business Division, Lottomatica, followed
by four experienced Lottery executives on
the general topic of “How to reach players market, measuring the effects of fragmented advertising”. First, Mr. Klaus B.
Lohse, Marketing Director, Danske Spil, on
Oddset and how to survive and strive in the
current environment, then Mr. Marko Milankovic, Marketing Manager, State Lottery
of Serbia, on the launch and life in 2008 of
four scratch tickets games, followed by Mr.
Jaromir Liptak, Head of Strategy Department, Tipos Slovakia, on Marketing tools
used in the launch of their Lotto game,
finally Mr. Marc Frederix, Marketing Director Loterie Nationale Belge, presented
their econometric modeling methods for
media coverage optimization.
The rest of the day was dedicated to the
topic of “Advertising and responsible
gaming” which first saw Baroness Jean
Coussins, independent Consultant on
Corporate Responsibility, who covered
the ills and woes of irresponsible marketing drawing analogies with the alcoholic drinks industry. Baroness Coussins
concluded her remarks by stressing the
importance of a genuine commitment to
responsible marketing by the lottery organisations, thus demonstrating a shared
agenda with government and other regulatory agencies, which in turn will help
preserve a fair legal, social and regulatory
environment in which to do business.
This was followed by Mrs. Miriam Nilsson,
Project Manager, Svenska Spel, on the
Lottery case study, and Mrs. Murielle Fontaine, Senior Marketing Manager, Pollard
Banknote, on how best to support Instant
games sustainability with social medias.
The second day, January 30th, started with
a presentation by Mr. Gordon Medenica,
Workshops
Director, New York State Lottery, who covered the three key elements of the New
York State Lottery Advertising campaign,
i.e. funding, creativity and mass marketing, with the help of well-developed and
excellent advertising clips. Mr. Richard
Bateson, Director of Games and scratchcards, Camelot UK, presented how the
organisation created the right marketing
mix to reach the £1 billion in scratchcards
sales in 2007-2008. Mr. Gregor Espenkott,
Advertising Manager, Westdeutsche Lotterie, followed with an overview of the situation in Germany regarding advertising.
Later, a series of presentations revolved
around the theme of Creative advertising on different channels. First, Mr. Ari
Tuuli, Marketing Manager, Veikkaus, on
how to achieve strategic goals through
multi-channels advertising campaigns,
Mr. Xavier Cos Valero, Manager of O.A.L,
Commercial Delegate, LAE Barcelona on
the Lottery channel Canal LAE, and Mr.
Taras Lozhenko, Creative Director, MSL
Ukraine, on New Games in a New World.
Mr. Dermot Griffin, CEO, An Post Ireland,
spoke about the revitalization of An Post
and the national lottery brand.
At the end of the day, representatives of
three Premium Partners presented their
views on Licensed Products, Mrs. Carla
Schaeffer, VP, New Business Development, MDI, Advertising in a recessive
economy, Mrs. Sharon Duncalf, Senior Director, Gtech UK, and How and Why to
focus on Detail – Focus on Retail by Mr.
Vasilis Kasiotakis, Intralot.
After each group of presentations, panel
discussions allowed the participants and
the guest speakers to further explore and
exchange on these topics, the final panel
being on today’s financial crisis.
In addition, the participants had ample opportunity to network and sample
Camelot’s hospitality and the excellent organization provided by EL’s Office of the
Secretariat-General.
We wish to thank all parties involved in the
organisation of this seminar, in particular
the participants for their input, comments
and for making this event a success.
Gilbert Rehayem
Moderator
Report Legal seminar
The Hague 1st to 3rd April 2009
This years’ first EL legal seminar took place
in The Hague, the diplomatic capital of The
Netherlands. To the joy of many Members,
the timing for the seminar was chosen extremely well. We enjoyed very nice spring
weather, but even more importantly, on the
opening evening of the seminar we could
attend the football match between The
Netherlands and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. It came as no surprise
that the outcome of the match was 4-0,
and according the opening statement of
the Chairman of the Legal Affairs Working
Group, Mr. Tjeerd Veenstra, the presence
of EL counted at least for 2 of the goals of
the winning Dutch team.
32
PAN
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It was in that spirit that the Legal seminar
was opened by the Chairman on Thursday
morning. He welcomed all the EL Members
who were again numerously present and
thanked the Dutch Staatsloterij for the joint
cooperation in the organisation of this legal
seminar.
The kick-off was made by Annick Hubert,
giving an update on the recent EU legal
developments. She discussed the status
of the many court cases currently pending
before the European Court of Justice and
explained that the only news regarding the
infringement cases is the satisfactory status
quo. Currently Commissioner MC Creevy
has not enough political support of the oth-
Workshops
er commissioners, including Commission
President Barosso, to move the procedures
forward. The evolution of the Commission investigation regarding the complaint
launched by the Remote Gambling Association under the Trade Barriers Regulations
and the way forward for EL has been discussed further.
The seminar continued with a panel discussion, chaired by Tjeerd Veenstra, on the
political gambling debate within the Council initiated by the French Presidency, and
confirmed to be continued under the upcoming Swedish Presidency. After Philippe
Vlaemminck highlighted some of the important institutional elements of the political regulatory process, Dimitris Panageas
and Ana Paula Barros talked about their
participation in the Council Working group
meetings, while Bengt Palmgren discussed
the intentions of the upcoming Swedish
Presidency. Rupert Hornig, EL General
Delegate, emphasized the importance of
the contacts EL Members have with their
governments in this regard.
After a well-deserved coffee break, we
started with the traditional update on national developments with a cross border relevance. For this occasion, Hubert Sicking
gave us a comprehensive presentation on
the recent legal developments in Germany,
following the recent judgments. This was
followed by a presentation of Bengt Palmgren on the evolution in Sweden, following
the study recently published, in which he
stated that Swedish gaming regulation is
at a true cross road right now. This session
was finalised by an overview of the developments in some other countries, made by
several lottery lawyers.
The big topics after lunch were the general
legal principles defended in the lottery sector, presented by Philippe Vlaemminck and
the Commission proposal for a Directive on
Consumer Rights. Jutta Buyse gave us a full
overview of the scope and impact of the
Commission proposal and the input EL has
given together with ECA and EPMA to the
EP consultation on the matter. Ana Paula
Barros continued this topic by discussing
the risks of the low standard of the current
Commission proposal and explained her
initiative to hold a survey between the EL
Members to compare this standard with the
standards on consumer protection maintained in the different EU Member States.
The first day of the seminar was ended with
a very interesting and educational visit to
the Peace Palace, home to a number of
international judicial institutions. After-
wards, we all enjoyed a wonderful dinner in
Scheveningen.
The specific theme of the second day of the
seminar was ‘internet gambling’ and was
opened very straightforward with a very
interesting presentation of Dimos Adamos,
discussing the enforcement actions that are
taken in Greece against illegal betting services through the Internet. Specific attention was given to the action against Stanley
Bet, which opened last year two points of
sales in Greece, contrary to Greek gambling
legislation.
Afterwards, the Chairman finalised the
round table with the remaining country
reports, before taking the time to listen to
Michel Janot, presenting the very recent
French law proposal regarding a licensing
system for online gambling services. Michel
gave us a very clear overview of all the
main elements of the law proposal which
will change the gambling environment in
France significantly, while being in perfect
conformity with European law principles.
Michel gave the floor to Claudia Ricchetti,
who explained very eloquently the Italian licensing model, based on a controlled
opening organised by the Bersani Decree
and the changes proposed by the new Italian Community law of 2009. She also provided us with a clear explanation on the important difference between a public service
contract and a concession, and which rules
need to be applied accordingly.
The next session concerned the European
Parliament resolution on online gambling,
presented by Rupert Hornig. He first gave
us an overview of the main lines of the resolution and emphasized the next steps that
were recommended by the European Parliament. Although the aim of the commercial operators when they pushed for this
initiative was to move forward the infringement cases, there is no such a call in the
resolution, neither regarding the establishment of a directive on online gambling. The
resolution was adopted with an overwhelming majority on the 12th of March 2009.
The last presentation of this legal seminar
was made by Philippe Vlaemminck, who
explained us the main concerns and the
points of attention under anti trust law
when it comes to online gambling.
After two days of most interesting discussions, the Chairman, mr. Tjeerd Veenstra,
confirmed in its closing remarks that the
presentations made during the seminar
showed us the importance of the last couple of months for EL, and ensure an even
more interesting upcoming period. Before
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thanking everyone for its participation during the seminar, the Chairman raised the attention of the Members to the importance
to exchange even more information regarding the legal and political developments
in the different Member States. Finally a
warm thank you was addressed to all the
people that were involved in the organisation of this very successful legal seminar.
Annick Hubert
EL Legal Advisor