Jingle Bells Bonanza

What is Jingle Bells Bonanza?

“So illegal operators undermine licensed businesses that invest in compliance, contribute to taxes and operate under regulatory oversight. We are where we are because of illegal operators. Oftentimes, licensed operators have licence conditions that they need to abide with.”

Kesitilwe highlights a recent study by Gaming Compliance International that estimated around 77% of Africa’s gambling market is offshore.

He believes the success of Africa Safer Gambling Week will largely be assessed on whether that channelisation improves by the next edition.

What is Jingle Bells Bonanza?

The objective, he argues, is to make it harder for operators to simply replace a blocked domain with another one. “If they knew there was a tool that would find those new sites as well, they might become more cautious.”

It is a philosophy that sits within a broader shift in the industry’s approach to the illegal market. Domain blocking remains important, but regulators are increasingly looking at payments, advertising, affiliate and acquisition channels and cooperation across jurisdictions.

For example, on the role of pirate sports streaming in driving traffic towards illegal gambling, while regulators in markets such as Turkey are confronting large-scale unlicensed activity. The more fragmented and technically sophisticated the illegal market becomes, the more important the intelligence behind enforcement is likely to become.

What is Jingle Bells Bonanza?

While sports event contracts are currently the tentpole category for the prediction market industry, data indicate bettors and traders are embracing other categories.

Fullstory points out that while 62% of consumers have dabbled in sports event contracts, 42% traded economic or financial derivatives on a prediction market while a comparable percentage transacted in an election or political event contract. More than a quarter traded at least one entertainment or pop culture derivative.

That widening breadth is vital for the industry at a time when some analysts estimate volume could jump to $10 trillion by 2035 – a projection that is largely rooted in other categories surpassing sports for the top spot.