Debates regarding the New Zealand Gambling licensing certification have seen TAB and SkyCity request that only 5 to 7 licensing certificates be issued.
- The domestic operators fear the NZ iGaming market will be taken over by overseas multinational gambling firms.
- Brooke van Velden has said reducing licensing and offering certificates to domestic companies could violate international free trade obligations.
What is your opinion?
- Is the new licensing authority a good idea?
- As a Kiwi, will you be happy with the fact that the country will make Curacao and Malta Gaming Authority casinos illegal, thus restricting your choice of iGaming platforms to 15?
- Would you rather New Zealand companies be awarded licensing to offer iGaming services in the country?
For more context, you can read the full story here: TAB New Zealand Has Requested iGaming Licensing Reduction From 15 to 5.
The population is not as big as places like the UK. 15 seems about right. Other countries and states in the USA have a similar population and not as many 15 casinos or sport betting sites. I'm not a Kiwi so I can't speak on whether people would prefer local gambling companies or not.
I'm outraged to hear this nonsense. We should have the choice of where we want to play. I mostly play pokies and crypto sites and jump from bonus to bonus. Why does our government have to go and mess with the program? Then we have these idiots trying to gobble up all the licenses for themselves. I will still play at crypto casino no matter what they do. Even if I have to use a VPN.
It's clearly domestic sites trying to protect their market share, which is understandable. That said, with Curacao and MGA casinos getting banned, surely thats good news as they'll now compete for those players.
None of this is good from a player's point of view, though. Gone from having a wealth of choice to now having maybe 10 - 20 (depending on how many licenses issued) casinos.