With new e-gaming laws and the prospect of EuroVegas coming soon, Spanish gambling is the up and up. This country that so loves its “juegos” is becoming a European and world capital for both online and offline betting.
Starting this week, the Spanish National Gaming Commission is issuing licenses as it tries to legitimize and tax online casinos. SmartPlanet spoke with Nilda Cerna, who works for GranViaOnline–the same name as Madrid’s lifeline–which is trying to brand Spanish e-gaming as a similar gambling lifeline for the world.
Only existing in Spain for the last ten years, “the whole (e-gaming) sector is an innovator,” says Cerna. “The changes come with the technology.”
Much of this innovation and creativity comes with the advertising. In many cases, advertising any sort of gambling in Spain is technically illegal on TV and radio and in newspapers, based on the time of day. Cerna says you can advertise during sporting events, but these spots usually have the highest cost.
One of the most visible marketing is certainly the e-gambling site “Bwin,” which is on the front of each of the white Real Madrid jerseys. This is costing Bwin a whopping 45 million euros for three years. Of course, all around Europe and even in the Spanish champion South African World Cup, the football stadium rails are lined with online gambling ads. However, there still aren’t many laws governing the online advertising of gambling.
Online gambling in Spain has seen a boost from the recession. Cerna reckons it’s because it’s more economical to place a two euro bet on a virtual table, than a 5,300 euro one to compete in this weekend’s poker tournament at Madrid’s Casino de Torrelodones. Plus, she says, with nearly a quarter of the population unemployed, online gambling “is rising for a natural reason because they have more time to play.”
With Spain’s e-gaming up 60 percent in 2011, popularity is certainly growing. She says that the industry is witnessing slightly smaller deposits into their online accounts because everyone is waiting for the new law that comes fully into effect this summer.
The contract negotiation is down to conditions like if they, like in Atlantic City, can lift the smoking ban that has only been in place for a year, within the EuroVegas grounds. There is also negotiation with unions over labor contracts.
From football to language to taxation, Madrid and Barcelona are always at odds, even when Spain won the World Cup. The Community of Madrid’s vice president Iganacio Gonzalez said last month that Adelson is certainly focused on Madrid and that the region wouldn’t “waste its time” in a bidding war with Catalonia. Madrid promises to attract 11 million tourists a year to EuroVegas and continues to be confident it will win the contract.
No matter who wins what, it’s clear that the Spanish will continue to bet.
