Is Online Gambling a Viable Business to Start?
A little over two decades have passed since the launch of the first online casino. Since then, even with a series of ups and downs, the business has been constantly growing. It has gone through a boom between the late 1990s and the mid-2000s, followed by a major setback for the industry in 2006, when the US effectively pushed it out of the country. The gambling groups didn't give up, though, re-directing their effort to more welcoming markets, especially in Europe. Although it has never reached its former glory, the gambling industry has continued to grow, with new operators and content developers offering more games to play and special offers to redeem to an ever-growing number of players.
Running an online gambling business seems like an attractive direction to follow - but is it still a viable option?
Predictable regulations and territories
Europe has a clear legal framework to regulate online gambling, yet it's still far from a truly unified gambling market. Some of the member states have regulations based on the European standard but with changes that limit the access of certain operators on their market. For example, https://www.europalace.com is not accessible from Romania, an EU member state since 2007. The Euro Palace was freely accessible for Romanian players until 2014, when the ONJN (the local gambling regulator) introduced a set of harsh rules for licensing, including a provision to pay retroactive taxes. Some operators - mostly those with a limited following in Romania - have complied quickly, yet gaming venues that were popular before, including Euro Palace, were reluctant to conform. All these operators were included on a blacklist, implemented at an ISP level, blocking the locals' access to their operations.
The laws governing the gambling business are constantly evolving and changing in Europe, sometimes for the better, other times for worse.
Licensing and audits
The European market - the principal online gambling market in the world - has among the strictest rules and regulations regarding online gambling. Aside from the EU's strict customer protection regulations, they have to comply with a series of specific rules regarding security, safety, age verification, and their likes. The above-mentioned Euro Palace, aside from having to periodically renew its license, also has to undergo regular checks from authorities and third-party auditors to be able to continue to operate on the European market - not to mention keeping its good reputation with its customers.
Competition
Online gambling is a highly competitive business. The Euro Palace has to compete against over 800 other operators offering their services to the same pool of customers. The market has operators ranging from giants like William Hill, Bet365, and Unibet to smaller companies at the beginning of their road, each one trying to attract more customers with a wider range of games and better bonuses and specials. Many of them have a respectable age - the Euro Palace is among the youngest, launched in 2010, but there are others with decades of advance. Newcomers with no recognition might find it hard to break into the market.
As you can see, online gambling - despite its playful product - is a hard business to run. While it might seem profitable compared to a land-based business - the initial costs of an online casino are minuscule compared to a real life one - it involves many aspects that make it a tough nut to crack.
