CeJuego reviews the online game 2020 in New Zealand
With updated data and based on the quarterly and annual reports published by the DGOJ, the Spanish gaming employers' association CeJuego has reviewed the situation of online gambling during 2020 in its recently published Yearbook of the Game in New Zealand 2021. Perhaps the most surprising figure is that online gambling represents only 8.0% of total real gambling. The online gambling figures are quite stable throughout the year.
In 2020, online gambling increased by more than 13% compared to 2019 and the trend is expected to continue this way in 2021. But the digital game barely represents 8% of the total real game. © fancycrave1/Pixabay
The Business Council of the Game, CeJuego, it is the gaming business organization that groups about 70% of the private gambling in New Zealand . Cirsa, Codere, Luckia, the Orenes Group together with Recreativos Franco or Servimatic count among their partners. The association's latest publication, the 2021 Game Yearbook, to which we referred to the examine the main figures presented , it has a section dedicated exclusively to the online channel.
The relative importance of online gambling
Unlike the face-to-face game that in New Zealand is regulated by the different Autonomous Communities, the online channel is the responsibility of the State and specifically of the DGOJ . However, there are websites that are subject to the jurisdiction of certain regions such as Madrid, the Basque Country or Navarre, although their contribution to gross revenues is marginal: 32 million euros of the total of the 850 million gross revenues generated by online gambling in 2020.
The figures of the online game 2020 in New Zealand were known as of the publication of the annual report of the DGOJ which, however, was recently updated . The examination carried out by CeJuego is, in any case, interesting because it allows us to compare the data of the online game with those of the face-to-face game, which is one of the main objectives of the report.
In this regard, the most important data is the contribution of the online game that represents only 8% of the total real game . Although this figure experienced a remarkable growth during 2020, reaching 13.7%, CeJuego concludes that this is attributable to the exceptional circumstances of the pandemic, especially during the months of confinement that meant a the rise of e-commerce . Under normal circumstances, the contribution of online gambling to the total would be 7.5 to 8 percent.
The industry bosses seem interested in highlighting the importance of the face-to-face gaming industry that has been especially hit by the pandemic: casinos, bingo halls and betting shops. For example, an important indicator stands out: the amounts played online. The average expenditure per person barely grew in 2020 compared to the previous year, which for CeJuego is indicative that the restrictions on access to physical and the decrease in the face-to-face offer did not translate into a substantial increase in the amounts played online .
- Average annual expenditure : from $512 in 2019 to $533 in 2020.
- Average monthly expenditure : from $42.7 in 2019 to $44.4 in 2020.
The conclusion of Cegame is that the background trend of online gambling has hardly been affected by the COVID-19 crisis and the state of alarm during 2020.
Although face-to-face gaming has suffered a lot in the last year, this does not seem to have affected the number of available rooms, as María Fernández reported for El País Negocios last November 29th. There would even be more gambling halls open today than before, although the number of slots in bars would have decreased.
The contribution of the ONCE and the SELAE to the online game is negligible
An element of controversy has always been the role played by state lotteries and betting that the private gambling sector considers to have traditionally been treated in a more permissive way. However, their online contribution is practically negligible. The number of sales channeled online is 2.6% in the case of the SELAE and 1.9% in the ONCE . CeJuego highlights that in other European operators such as Camelot (United Kingdom) or Française des Jeux (France) online sales reach 10% of the total.
