OPAP monopoly chief: Greek market to open in 2011
The chief executive of giant Greek betting monopoly OPAP, Ioannis Spanoudakis, has said he expects the online sportsbetting market in Greece to open to competition as early as May 2011.
The head of Greek gaming monopoly OPAP has said he expects the online sports betting market in Greece to be open to competition by May 2011, with a regulatory framework based on those in Italy and France.
OPAP chief executive Ioannis Spanoudakis said in an earnings call on Friday: “With regards to online gaming regulation, the government has already engaged with us in discussions. A legislation that has been applied in France and Italy and in other European areas is most likely to be the kind of guiding regulations that the Greek government will be basing its framework on.”
Spanoudakis said he expected the Greek government this month to produce a draft law “for public debate and submission”¦to the European authorities,” and that he anticipated OPAP being licensed to offer sports bets online into the market by May 2011.
“We expect that by this time next year we will have completed the [legal] process. But that again is an indication and expectation from our side. We expect the official government announcement,” said Spanoudakis.
Greek monopoly OPAP has a land-based network of 5,000 outlets. Leading operators in the country’s offshore egaming market include Sportingbet, Betfair, Bwin and William Hill Online. The Greek government has not yet given any indication as to how many licences will be made available to private operators.
Find out more about regulatory changes in Europe at EGR Live, eGaming Review’s free conference and exhibition on 14 and 15 June in London.
For a breakdown of the Greek online gaming market, see the forthcoming issue of eGaming Review.