In today’s globalised world, it would be logical to think that bookmakers would be exactly the same in every country in the world. Perhaps one might even think that the same bookmakers could be playing in one country as in another, but nothing could be further from the truth. Neither are they the same bookmakers, nor are they the same in their operation and services offered. In fact, even bookmakers operating in different markets are different in each market, adapting the gambling offer to the particularities of the market society.
The differences between markets are not only due to differences in interests and tastes of the people in those countries, but also have to do with the existing regulation in different countries.
In any case, let’s look at the most striking differences between three main markets: UK, Spain and Japan.
Sports betting in the UK
The UK is one of the world’s most mature markets in terms of sports betting, perhaps the most mature in the world. In the UK we can see in any street of the main cities of the country physical betting shops so that any person of legal age can enter to bet on their favourite sports. In the UK, in terms of regulation, it is very tough in the sense that it protects players from fraud. However, it does not attack the bookmakers’ ability to promote themselves in different media, as we will see in later regulations. Perhaps the UK regulation focuses more on the protection of funds and not so much on prohibition as in other markets due to the greater maturity of the market.
It is also the market that leads the way in bringing new products to the market, with English bookmaker sites innovating the most with new types of bets available that make it easier for players to find more fun on their websites.
The body in charge of gambling regulation in the UK is the Gambling Commission , which has been operating since 2007 (when it was created).
Toughest regulation: Spain
Spain is perhaps the toughest European regulator at the moment, with some regulations that have been highly criticised by the sector and that many professionals point out may have the opposite effect to what they are trying to achieve, making it easier for unlicensed bookmakers that are not subject to any regulation to promote themselves than bookmakers that have a gambling licence issued by the Spanish government.
On the other hand, they have banned all types of sponsorship of sports teams and competitions, which has had a negative impact on the bank accounts of Spanish first division football teams, almost all of which were sponsored by a sports bookmaker or online casinos.
In fact, in Spain they even want to regulate “loot boxes”, prohibiting their advertising in many media where they are currently advertised, as well as access to their purchase for minors.
The case of Japan: regulation only for companies
An intermediate case is that of Japan, where the focus is not on prohibiting players from accessing bookmakers and casinos, but rather on regulating (and to a large extent, prohibiting) local businesses from setting up bookmakers and casinos that offer online gambling services.
This, in practice, means that Japanese gamblers will be able to play at any online casino that offers services internationally, while Japanese companies cannot be set up to establish an online bookmaker or casino that offers services to Japanese citizens.
Global developments in the world of gambling
We can really see that at a global level the gambling sector is tending towards greater regulation within each of the markets by each of the countries. In this sense, as happens with economic policies or any other type of policy, there are countries that regulate in one way or another, rightly or wrongly, so these policies will be the ones that mark the future of gambling in each of the countries that make the decision to regulate the sector.
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