47 PUBLIC GAMING INTERNATIONAL • NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2024 they had to split the $7.8 million in prize money among themselves. A new open, competitive, regulated market soon to roll out in Alberta, Canada The expected “go-live” date is sometime in early 2025. The question now is how the market will look. What will the tax rate be? How will they handle sports betting advertising? What’s the market potential, and their plan to deal with the grey market? What’s been interesting lately has been following what Alberta Gaming, Liquor and Cannabis (AGLC) has been doing, with their Play Alberta platform, the only place one can go presently to gamble legally in the Canadian province. West Virginia Lottery introduces new NeoPollard Interactive (NPi) digital platform to allow for more user accessibility. WORLD NEWS The WLA elects its new President, Andreas Kötter, CEO of WestLotto, Germany The WLA elected its new President, Andreas Kötter, CEO of WestLotto, Germany, during its General Assembly on 24 October, which took place in Paris, France, during the World Lottery Summit. “It is a great honor for me to serve this extraordinary Association as President. The aim of the WLA is to be recognized as the global lottery and betting game authority and to support our members in contributing to society. Our new strategy includes a clear plan and is a commitment to integrity and to ethical, responsible and professional practices. I would also like to express my special thanks to Rebecca Paul, for her outstanding job of leading the WLA over the past years”, said Andreas Kötter, the new WLA President. WLA Executive Director, Luca Esposito commented on the new presidency: “We are pleased to welcome Andreas Kötter to his new role as WLA President. We will look to his leadership to drive our new strategy and initiatives, building on our strengths and values, in order to create a sustainable future for the regulated global lottery and sports betting ecosystem." Kötter has over a decade of experience in the lottery industry, holding the position of CEO of WestLotto, since 2016 and was previously a member of the Management Board. He has been the Chairman of the pan-European lottery EUROJACKPOT since 2016. Kötter has been actively involved at WLA, as a Member of WLA Executive Committee since 2017. He has been Chair of the WLA Illegal Lotteries and Betting Committee, which is dedicated to reviewing the tools and resources available to help member lotteries uphold territorial integrity with stakeholders in every region, since 2018, and Senior Vice President since 2022. Sweden mulls lowered gambling tax to fight black market OPAP begins hunt for new Chairman as Kamil Ziegler steps down as Chairman of the Athens-listed gambling group and operator of the Greek national lottery. For now, Jan Karas will take on the dual roles of Group CEO and Chairman. UKGC pledges to combat economic threat of Black Market The UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) is ramping up efforts to combat unlicensed gambling, which it views as a serious threat to society and the economy. Chief Executive Andrew Rhodes is leading this initiative as part of the Commission’s strategy to increase resources and investment to tackle illegal gambling. Unlicensed operators, who avoid paying taxes, not only undermine the legal market but also fail to protect consumers. The UKGC’s approach includes blocking access to illegal gambling sites, shutting down payment methods, and making illegal products inaccessible. So far, the Commission has issued over 750 cease-and-desist notices and referred more than 78,000 URLs to Google and Microsoft. This has led to the removal of 50,000 links and the takedown of 255 websites. As new gambling regulations come into effect in the UK, there’s concern that some consumers could be driven away from legal options. However, Rhodes stressed that the answer is not to avoid new regulations. “Avoiding new regulations is not the solution, especially when there are clear issues in the current regulatory framework that need to be addressed,” he said. Instead, the Commission aims to strengthen protections, particularly for vulnerable consumers who are often targeted by unlicensed operators. Data analytics are central to the UKGC’s enforcement efforts. The Commission has published a new methodology paper aimed at identifying illegal online operators and measuring the scale of the black market. Rhodes highlighted that this is just the beginning, stating, “Today’s methodology paper is the first step in sharing this work, and we are committed to publishing more as it develops.” He added, “The new data will, in time, allow us to publish more metrics on unlicensed gambling. Once a fuller, more robust time series is available, we will publish our findings and outline the conclusions we have drawn.” Understanding why consumers turn to unlicensed operators is another key focus for the Commission. Through its Consumer Voice programme, the UKGC is conducting research to explore the motivations behind these choices. The research will offer insights into pathways leading to unlicensed gambling, especially in cases where consumers may not realize they are engaging with unregulated operators. “One outcome of this research is to gain a better understanding of the right questions we can ask in consumer research, which will help supplement our data sources,” Rhodes explained. These findings will be included in the Gambling Survey for Great Britain to improve ongoing monitoring. Full results are expected to be published by 2025. The UKGC is also expanding its partnerships with search engines to combat illegal content. Following its successful collaboration with Google, it has now teamed up with Microsoft to remove unlicensed gambling content from platforms like Bing and Yahoo Finance. The Commission is also working with law enforcement and payment providers to disrupt illegal gambling transactions. A new cease-and-desist process will target unauthorised prize draws and competitions, a growing concern for agencies such as HM Revenue and Customs and the National Crime Agency. Rhodes emphasized the importance of collaboration and a data-driven approach: “We are committed to making it difficult to provide illegal gambling at scale to consumers in Great Britain. The partnerships we’ve built with international regulators, technology partners, and search engines are already delivering results, and we’re determined to keep up this momentum.” He added, “By using data analytics to improve our
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