The internet fractured government control and oversight of betting & gaming, bringing gambling to consumers everywhere.
Today, the World is split into 3 states of regulatory reality:
Pre-Regulation: Jurisdictions that have a prohibition model or are yet to legislate
Regulating: The legal process towards a geo-contained marketplace has begun
Regulated: A legal market exists, with licensing, player protection and regulation. Licensed operators pay taxes on income/profits, are subject to regulation and may face fines for non-compliance
But…
Does the legal, licensed and regulated betting & gaming industry reflect the entire gambling marketplace?
What is the entire marketplace?
The view of every potential regulated marketplace should include all of the betting, gaming & lottery participation, revenue and potential taxation in a jurisdiction
- Legal revenue
- Illegal revenue
- Multi-channel participation: All source revenue including in-person, phone & internet
Yield Sec refer to this as the Total Addressable Marketplace (TAM).
Betting, gaming and lottery: The social compact
An increasing majority of societies now allow for betting, gaming and lottery to be a for-profit enterprise available to the adult public where it is:
- Legal
- Regulated
- Compliant & Contributing: Through the payment of taxation
- Responsible
- Fair
- Fun and entertaining
The betting & gaming industry – as a whole – should conform to this compact that society has evolved and intended for it. Legal industry strive to achieve this and are supervised by government and regulator. Illegal, criminal operators do not care about this and, as per the United Nations Global Report on Corruption in Sports (2021) up to $1.7 trillion per year is taken by illegal operators, undermining each jurisdiction’s marketplace and displaying the “staggering scale, manifestation, and complexity of corruption and organized crime in sport at the global, regional, and national levels”.
For those adult individuals who choose to bet and gamble, their choices must be:
- Facilitated by states and nations with control of the Total Addressable Marketplace (TAM)
- Met by a responsible & compliant group of legal, licensed operators competing for customer business
- Clearly informed as to what is - and what is not - fair, safe and legal consumer gambling
Fundamentally, betting, gaming and lottery should not fund crime. It should - through the rightful receipt of onshore, regulated revenue and consequent taxation - fund our commerce and communities.