13 Jul, 2022
Latvia has quite a promising gambling market. Unfortunately, over the past two years, the land-based casino sector has significantly lost revenue due to the pandemic and the banal lack of ground-based establishments. But the closure of the casino has led to an increase in the share of players online. During the pandemic, their number has increased significantly and, thereby, doubled the profits of the online sector.
The rapid growth of the online segment in Latvia has attracted such a major player on the European continent as William Hill to the country . Earlier we wrote about their entry into the Latvian market through the purchase and rebranding of 11.lv.
However, the improvement in the performance of the gambling market, instead of joy, seems to have caused concern among local politicians. For example, the Saeima of Latvia recently adopted amendments to the Law on Gambling and Lotteries , designed to increase the age limit for participation in gambling from 18 to 21 years. Politicians are confident that in this way they will be able to reduce the risks associated with gambling.
These amendments did not find a positive response from industry representatives. The Latvian Gambling Association notes that such a move may be dictated solely by populist motivation.
In order to support their arguments, the Association decided to conduct a population survey in order to form a realistic picture of how the country's residents relate to gambling. To do this, a program was launched called "Maldi par Valdi", which, in addition to researching public opinion, was also designed to inform the population about the dangers of excessive gambling.
“We still see some ingrained stereotypes in society. Over the years, the industry has changed significantly, and the habits of the players have changed, but politicians cultivate erroneous assumptions, and do not listen to the opinion of experts. Therefore, we are launching an information campaign to debunk the myths about our industry,” said Arnis Verzemnieks , president of the Latvian Gambling Business Association , commenting on the results of a study for the Latvian information resource Delfi.lv .
The study showed that 78% of respondents refer to gambling as a way of entertainment or a hobby. Only 17% of residents consider gambling as a source of making money. In 2019, these figures were at around 48%. Consequently, in recent years in Latvia there has been a reassessment of gambling in the minds of society. Of course, sports betting can be identified as one of the catalysts for such changes.
“The notion that interest in gambling is manifested only among an uneducated and poor audience is erroneous, since at least every second respondent played at least once in one of the types of gambling for money. It is also wrong to think that people will stop consuming gambling if they are banned in person and gambling halls are closed,” Verzemnieks stressed.
