What iGaming taught me about flexibility

I first set foot into the iGaming industry when I worked as a marketing intern for one of the biggest sports betting sites in Europe. Back in 2012 I was confronted with a very different landscape than what we are seeing today and looking back it makes me excited to see how much has changed and how much is likely to evolve moving forward.

The industry is a fast-paced environment, especially when dealing with multiple markets at once and having to stay up to date with any regulatory changes and trends. I was always amazed how from one day to the next things could be completely upended, and you start your project from scratch.

I vividly remember the day of the Brexit vote and all our expectations were completely smashed. Whatever we had planned needed urgent adjustment. You need to be quick to adapt and remain flexible at every turn. That day was nerve-wrecking, exciting and unexpteced all at once. Of course, I was made to believe that the UK would remain part of the EU, just as was everybody else. But alas, no such thing happened. Instead a host of other things took place.

New laws, new challenges

Whenever a country passes a new law you need to be quick to analyse the impact it might have. One recent example is Germany, where in July 2021 the online gambling market will be fully regulated for the first time. Some say that this is long overdue. When taking the previous gambling law into consideration, one wonders why the country hasn't made the move earlier. Trends pointing towards online gambling were there for a long time.

As news broke of this impending move back in 2020, experts had to examine what will happen to each sector of the iGaming industry. From the get-go there was talk about certain limits for deposits and bets on slots which turned out to be true. Over time more details emerged which hugely affected Online Casinos providers and sports betting sites alike.

For any business such drastic changes can mean the end of it all. Therefore, it is key to always stay alert and be ready to move direction at a moment’s notice. It is never comfortable and complacency will let you hit a brick wall. Once you fail, you will be reminded of this all the time. I had such an experience before, therefore, I am alert when it comes to being ready for anything. Well, at least almost anything.

The case of Germany's new iGaming law was especially striking for me, as it didn’t follow a similar path as other countries such as Sweden or Switzerland had taken. Instead, it imposed heavy restrictions on players and operators, such as a monthly deposit limit of 1,000 Euro and a stake limit of 1 Euro per spin on slots. Any business will have a hard time turning a profit with hands tied like that. I am curious to see, how it will all turn out or if the law will be amended at some point soon.

Creativity and flexibility is key

I found that companies were creative and open to trying something different. Instead of giving up they found a way to divert traffic from German sites to internationally licensed ones. A great example is CasinoFox.de, which helps to understand the gambling market in Germany and offers alternatives to players to gamble elsewhere legally.

Surely, this was never the plan. But as circumstances change, so much your approach to your success. Many years in this industry haven proven to me time and time again, that the only way to stay in the game, is by being flexible, intuitive and open to new ideas.