Malta-licensed Betting and Gaming Sites Flourish

According to a new report, online sports betting and iGaming providers who operate with a Malta license saw an increase of customers in the first half of 2022. This follows declines across the industry in 2021 which, at the time, caused concerns for the online betting and gaming industry.

According to the new report, however, Malta-licensed operators saw an increase in active player, with the total number reaching some 19.3 million bettors. This represents a 8.7% year-on-year increase, and is a new record. The previous record was from the second half of 2020 and amounted to 19.0 million active players.

According to the report, the rise in active player was mainly because of an influx of new players. Online sports betting and gaming sites have seen the creation of 8.9 million new customer accounts.

A lot of the best Irish sports betting sites and online gaming providers featuring on betfree.ie operate under licenses from Malta. These include the top two websites on our list of recommended Irish betting sites for 2023 – Mr.Play and Novibet, both of which offer excellent new customer introductory offers.

According to the statistics provided in the new report, a lot of the new players who registered accounts with Malta-licensed sports betting sites were younger players. In fact, the numbers show that about a quarter of all the players were aged 18 to 24. This suggests that online sports betting and gaming has found a way to appeal to bettors of all ages, whereas before young players did not use to engage with this type of betting activity as much.

The rise in new players has been beneficial for the economy of Malta. According to the reports, the companies licensed by the Malta Gaming Authority (MGA) have contributed €573m in GVA to the economy for the first half of 2022. This comes to about 8% of the economy of the country, and is an increase of 12.4% compared to the same period in the year before. Further statistics show that the betting and gaming industry in Malta was employing 10,861 at the end of the first half of 2022, which meant an increase of 600 jobs from the year before.

Discussing the report and the statistics, the MGA stated:

“The resilience of the Malta gaming industry during these trying times is largely attributed to its ability to remain flexible and adapt to change, while being supported by the MGA’s continued efforts to ensure that Malta remains a competitive and reputable jurisdiction of establishment,”

The report does not include the total revenue of the gaming and betting industry in Malta, however it offers a very useful breakdown of revenue shares by game type. It notes that Type 1 licenses, which are used by online casinos, brought in a revenue share of 71.5% – a new record. More specifically, slots games appear to have been a favourite of online gaming customers, and were responsible for 57.1% of the overall revenue (or 79.8% of Type 1 licenses revenue). On the other hand, Type 2 licenses used by sports betting providers, saw a bit of a drop and resulted in 21.3% of the revenue. Finally, Type 3 licenses, which are used for online activities such as poker, betting exchanges, and other peer-to-peer gambling, amounted to 7.1% of the revenue and showed little change compared to the previous year.

The MGA also released some statistics on its licensing activities. According to the numbers, the country has seen a rise of online sports betting and gaming licenses, and the number currently sits at an all-high 346. This includes 199 operators. According to the MGA, they issued 6 new licenses in 2022 and rejected one license application. The regulator also cancelled 1 pre-existing license, which is low compared to previous years. For example, in 2021, seven licenses were cancelled, and the numbers in previous years were even higher – 12 cancellations in 2020, and 14 in 2019.

Instead, the MGA uses other methods to ensure compliance, and these include warnings and administrative penalties. For example, in 2021, the MGA issued 31 administrative penalties and 64 official warnings. For comparison, in 2020, the MGA issued 24 penalties and 70 warnings, and the numbers for 2019 were 28 and 20 respectively. The numbers for 2022 have not been revealed yet. Speaking about its enforcement strategy, the MGA has previously stated:

“We ensure that our enforcement processes and procedures are streamlined and effective, with adequate room for adaptation wherever necessary.”

According to experts, the rise of new players and revenue shows that the gambling industry is finally recovering from the long-lasting effects of the Coronavirus pandemic. The recovery is good news for bettors who have witness the expansion and development of their favourite online sports betting providers, which always brings new features, promotions, and opportunities.