This story is sponsored by PokerStarsPaddy Power, Tombola, Rank and Jackpotjoy owner Gamesys were among the 53 companies confirmed as Spanish online gambling licensees by the country’s gaming regulator today.
Paddy Power (its “Roy the Redeemer” Euro 2012 installation pictured above) is however still awaiting the award of its unique licences allowing it to launch specific products into the dot.es market, having received general licences for online betting and other games and its permit to advertise in the newly regulated territory.
The Irish operator’s London-listed rivals 888, Betfair, bwin.party (that also launched new brand Binguez.es), Ladbrokes (under LBApuestas.es), Sportingbet (Miapuesta.es) and William Hill all confirmed receipt of their general and specific licences on 1 June and went live on 5 June, meaning Paddy Power was the only major online operator not to launch in Spain ahead of this year’s most important event for European betting companies, the Euro 2012 football championships. Privately owned bet365 and PokerStars also went live in the ring-fenced market last Tuesday.
Leading UK bingo site, Tombola, now making headway in the Italian online bingo market, has also gone live with its licensed Tombola.es platform, as has Jackpotjoy owner Gameysys’ Botemania.es website, licensed to offer bingo, roulette and blackjack. Rank’s EnRacha.es website has also yet to launch, but has received its licences for roulette and complementary games.
The Spanish regulator issued 91 general licences and 186 unique licences to 53 companies, with new entrants, including media companies, outnumbering established online gaming operators by 27 to 26. Most licences - 31 - were issued for roulette, followed by 28 for blackjack, 27 for online poker, 26 for bingo and 17 for sports betting.
UK brands will have to compete against local land-based incumbents such as Codere, that has pursued legal actions against online operators Betfair, bwin, PokerStars and Sportingbet, succeeding in just the latter case, and Cirsa, with which Ladbrokes operates a land-based JV under the Sportium brand in the Madrid and Aragon regions of Spain.
As reported first on Casino Choice, the informal transition period for licensed operators to transfer player accounts, funds and loyalty points from dot.com to dot.es platforms also ends today, meaning that players not migrated by this time will have to be refunded and will then have to re-register and deposit on the dot.es sites. Affiliates will also after this time lose the right to be tagged to existing players, as the Spanish regulator’s move to sever all “pre-existing rights, obligations or eventual accounts linked under dot.com” also extends to all entities with which the operator has a commercial or corporate relationship.
A full list of operators and service providers licensed in Spain can be viewed here.
