Home / Poker News November 2012 / The Poker Grapevine – Bwin.party Poker Revenues Headed South
The Poker Grapevine – Bwin.party Poker Revenues Headed South
Posted by: Randy Williams - Sun, 2012-11-04 08:07
Bwin.party may be the largest online gambling/sports betting/gaming group in existence, with a solid presence in the
online poker industry too, but that doesn’t mean they’re immune to revenue losses stemming from the various adverse legal environments that have developed for the above said online activities world-over. The company has recently made an announcement regarding a 10% overall revenue drop across the board. The culprits for the drop have been identified as a new German law which has imposed a 5% tax on sports betting turn-over in the country, as well as much-reduced consumer spending. Apparently, southern European players – those hardest hit by economic woes – are much less likely to take money to the tables these days.
Compared to the same three-month period of the previous year, bwin.party’s revenue drop has amounted to a massive €175.7 million. The online poker side of the operation had its fair share in the losses too: poker revenue has dropped a staggering 29% on a year-to-year basis. The company hasn’t lost hope on poker yet though: according to some of their specialists, integrating their various dotcom poker networks will represent a major turning point in defying the trend, which seems to be a more or less general one in the industry nowadays.
Another ace up
bwin.party’s sleeve is the recent partnership they’ve struck up with Zynga. The two companies plan to begin offering online poker and casino services to operators aiming for the UK market.
Bwin.party have recently managed to unload the Ongame Poker network for €25 million to Amaya gaming, another major development, considering the fact that they had been unsuccessfully peddling the network for quite a while before reaching the above said agreement. The move however also represents a huge gamble on bwin.party’s part on upcoming US regulation and legalization.
