Greek Gambling Industry on the Rise despite Crisis

The financial reports for 2014 show considerable growth of the gaming industry in Greece.

The bankruptcy of Greece is the hottest topic in the world these days. The country is passing through a difficult period and the pressure on the Greek government imposed by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) is increasing day-by-day, gambling news report. From last Saturday the Greek banks have been closed and strict limits were placed on the cash withdrawals from the ATM’s. The Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras has called a referendum for 5 July, asking the citizens of Greece to reject the reform proposals from the IMF and EU, which he says are against European values.

• Growth of the gambling industry in Greece for 9%
• Higher taxes to be imposed
• Betting on whether Greece will exit the EU zone

However this doesn’t make Greece a less attractive destination for gambling during the summer period, nor was the economic crises a reason for the gambling industry in the country to decrease. These days when many reports about the past work of all the industries in the country are done, it can be seen that according to many economic indicators the gambling sector in Greece showed noticeable development.

The rebound of the Greek gambling industry

At the end of 2014 The National Gambling Commission in the country has submitted a report which indicated that the gambling industry in Greece has grew 9% in comparison to 2013. It was the first time in the last five years that the gambling Industry in Greece succeeded to rebound, beside the financial crisis that struck the country 12 months ago. This however, is somehow a paradoxical situation if we have in mind that due to the crisis the revenues of the gambling industry in Greece were practically cut by half from EUR 8.7 billion in 2009 to EUR 5.9 billion in 2014.

Many interpretations of these numbers lead to the conclusion that Greeks started to gamble more during the past year as the average money spent on games of chance or luck per capita rose for 7.2% in comparison to 2013: from EUR 172 to EUR 187. The greatest piece of the revenue was accounted by the Greek Organization of Football Prognostics (GOFP), which due to Greek gambling laws, holds the monopoly in Greece when lottery and sports-betting games are concerned. In 2014 the revenues of GOFP made up 64 % of the total revenues of the industry.

According to the Greek Gambling Commission this growth of the gambling industry allowed the government in Athens to collect tax revenues of EUR 525 million in 2014. The Government is planning to adopt a new legislation in the future which will significantly affect the gambling industry. It will impose higher taxes on gambling which should provide the country with additional EUR 500 million a year, almost double from what the country collects now.

Betting on “Greece staying in the euro zone”

While the Greek people are fighting with the crises these days a question on which bettors like to place their wagers is whether Greece will keep the euro in 2015 or not. The Ireland-based company Paddy Power Plc, one of the leaders in internet betting in the EU, sets the odds that Greece will stay in the euro-region in 2015 at 4/9, which means that a 9-euro wager, if successful, will win 4 euros.

Unlike Paddy Power Plc, William Hill Plc have closed its book on Greece betting, and Betfair Group Plc cut the odds of Greece going out of the euro-region this year to a minimum. According to gaming news, Betfair puts a 67 % chance on Greece to remain in the euro region this year, which is 19 % lower than what was given to the country by them in 2014.This is in accord with what Mohamed El-Erian, former chief executive at Pacific Investment Management Co., has recently stated in an interview: there is a probability of 85% that Greece will be forced to leave the euro zone in the several weeks.

A great deal in lowering the chances for Greece to stay in the region is done by the already scheduled referendum on austerity measures demanded by the country’s creditors. On 5th of July the Greeks will decide whether they will extend their membership in the euro zone or go back to their drachma. According to Michael Michaelides, a fixed-income strategist at Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc in London it is more likely that on the referendum the Yes vote will win, putting the chances of an exit at 40%.