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Belgium's Gambling Regulator is Failing, Claims BAGO
By Shane Addinall Jun 02, 2022 IndustryBAGO has appealed to the Belgian government, claiming that many of the harsh laws on gambling are doing more harm than good.The Belgian Association for Gaming Operators (BAGO) has voiced their concern that the government is harming the gambling industry. Rather than imposing strict rules that are impractical and suffocating for operators and players, BAGO is calling for some moderation in the laws being passed.
The call for an end to extreme laws and harsh solutions has come after the release of the Belgium Gaming Commission's 2020/2021 market report.
Belgium's Harmful Gambling Changes
The pandemic was a nightmare to navigate for just about every sector and industry around the world. Gambling took a hard knock as land-based casinos closed their doors while online casinos had to find ways to cater to new laws and regulations on a whim.
Figures for 2020/2021 released by the Belgian Gaming Commission (Kansspelcommissie) revealed that the regulated gambling market's revenue dropped to €969.1 million. This was down from €1.18 billion in 2019/2020.
Across the board, online casinos and Online Slots took the crown for being the highest contributor during this period. While land-based gambling understandably took a massive knock. After closing their doors for more than 6 months, brick-and-mortar casinos lost more than half of their expected revenue and struggled to regain their footing.
While online gambling grew in numbers, BAGO claims that more than 20% of players who opted to play online (because they couldn't gamble at a land-based casino) did so illegally at offshore sites.
Gambling Ads in the Hot Seat
Another worrying statistic is that 30% of gambling ads currently running in Belgium are from unlicensed operators. In response, the Justice Minister for Belgium, Vincent Van Quickenborne, proposed yet another knee-jerk reaction – a blanket ban on all gambling ads.
Extreme responses to even the most minor of issues are not uncommon in Belgium. But it is these reactions and regulatory changes that are causing harm. Instead of educating players and holding operators accountable, the regulator pushes players towards black market gambling.
Harsh restrictions are proven to put players off of tracking down a legal online casino experience and instead opt to play where they have freedom – no matter how dangerous.
Even the regulator's proposal of forcing players to create new accounts for every genre of gambling game they want to play makes no sense. When the process of playing is too complicated, it doesn't stop players from gambling – it merely pushes them to offshore sites where betting is simple.
BAGO Appeals to the Belgium Government
BAGO has contacted the Belgian government and hopes to work alongside the regulator to create solutions that work for both players and operators. Sensible solutions that can monitor at-risk players, provide safe ways for players to engage with operators, and keep casinos accountable should all be considered.
With less than 1% of people in Belgium being at risk of gambling addiction, finding a solution to harsh laws that can drop this number further shouldn't be hard.
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