Norsk Tipping – An Example Against Harmonization

As the EU attempts to impose equality on the markets contained within it, nearby examples of how protectionism can be beneficial are a constant thorn in their side

To read the headlines these days you’d think that it was Greece, and Greece alone, that had a problem with the way the European Union treats member states, that it was merely Athens that disagrees with some of the rules and regulations passed down through the massively complex bureaucracy of the 28 country collection. However whilst the Greeks are certainly the focus of attention at the moment they are by no means alone in their suspicion and dislike of certain pieces of Euro legislation.

The Norsk Tipping Example

• The obvious comparison with EU regs
• All profits go to charity
• New deals with big industry players

The process of harmonization across the continent has been a hit and miss affair at best, and whilst in many areas the component nations have rushed to equalize themselves with their neighbors as best they can, in some spheres there’s a good deal of foot-dragging. As the gambling news analysis columns almost continually point out one of the major points of contention is the cross-border provision of services that should, according to the EU, be unfettered by locality specific regulation, but oh so rarely are.

The provision of gambling opportunities across borders within the EU should be no different from the market supply of any other service, but in all too many cases that simply isn’t the reality as individual nations cling to anachronistic systems of gambling provision, unwilling to open up their markets to fully fledged competition and retaining some of the protected state-controlled monopolies that have for so long funneled gambling revenues into government controlled coffers.

The Ministry Of Church, Culture and Casinos?

This process is not helped at all by the nearby examples of a gambling industry that is by no means held to the same standards and, perhaps annoyingly for the EU, provides a source of revenue for the government that in these harsh economic times can make a real difference. Norway might not be in the EU but it is often brought up as an example of a gambling industry harnessed to charitable giving, something many states like to claim about their own industry despite the EU’s demands for an open shop competition between providers.

In Norway it is Norsk Tipping that has sway. Controlled by the Norwegian Ministry of Culture and Church Affairs (yes, that’s right, Norwegians consider the lottery and church very similar, the first being gambling on one’s luck during one’s lifetime, the latter merely gambling on one’s luck in the hereafter) it has a monopoly on all forms of gambling that aren’t horse racing (which is controlled by a wholly separate government controlled company) including all games one might play on the internet.

Although set up in 1948 it wasn’t until the mid-90s that the Norwegian state took complete ownership of the company, and that all but made impossible any significant changes to Norwegian gambling laws as it provided moral ammunition for those against such change, those with a vested interest in the status quo and who would completely collapse were the market opened up to competition from the likes of Bet365. Norsk Tipping give their profits to charity, to cultural and sporting endeavors in the country, their competitors (were they to have any) wouldn’t.

New Deals Herald Bright Unchanging Future For Norway

This then is why the Norwegian gambling industry remains such a closed shop, and the fact it works so well at raising funds for charity is a constant thorn in the side of the EU (of which Norway is not a member) as it is often pointed to as being the aim of other EU-member states that wish to avoid having their gambling markets opened up to outside competition. Of course opposition to these monopolies often points out that the old state-run institutions of gambling stifle development but Norsk Tipping would argue on that point too.

Norsk Tipping went online in 1999 as a static site for results and news, but it was only two years later they began offering their services online, and four years after that began to offer their games on mobile devices allowing those that like to bet on sports in Norway to do so on the go. The argument they’re not moving with the times hard to voice when they’ve developed the same system as betting sites with cashout is just about every nation with a more open market.

Just this last week Norsk Tipping has continued to develop its network of gambling opportunities by awarding and renewing contracts with Inspired, Playtech and Genera Networks, a move that will see the latest games delivered to Video Lottery Terminals across the country, and once again set an example for their European neighbors that will doubtless come up in conversation when the European Union cease to worry about Greece and get back to talking about harmonization and not just emergency measures.