Pontus Lindwall, CEO of Sweden-based Betsson, was approaching red hot last week in response to Turkey's new legislation targeting I-gaming.
The company alleged that the legislation--set to be enacted "in a short time"--aimed to protect Iddaa, the partially state-owned operator, and, moreover, that the law contravenes existing agreements between Turkey and the European Union (EU), to which Turkey is seeking membership.
"We hope the legislation can be positive to us," Lindwall said in a prepared statement. "Protectionist legislation has shown to be of our advantage, and I believe it is applicable to this case as well. We are in the middle of a phase of strong growth, where the first quarter has started out fantastic. . . . The underlying growth of online gaming will not be threatened by individual countries."
On Wednesday, Turkey's high administrative court, the Council of State, decided to block Iddaa, the only legal sports betting operator in the country, from conducting business.
Iddaa in turn called to a halt its operation to avoid conflicting with the court's decision until Turkish President Ahmet Necdet Sezer ratifies the new law, state betting association Spor Toto Director Bekir Yunus Uçar said.
The Turkish Parliament also backed a new law last week regarding the organization of legal sports betting operations in Turkey. The Youth and Sports General Directorate, which is responsible for the organization of Spor Toto, will no longer hold a tender.
In a case filed by GTECH Technical Services Inc., the court had annulled a tender held in 2003 by Spor Toto to sell the rights to organizing football-focused betting in Turkey.
The court stated in its ruling, "According to current law, this service should be provided by public institutions, and handing it over to the private sector with a tender has no legal grounds."
A second bill, also filed Wednesday, was sent to Parliament to change the law, giving the right to the government to hold a tender.
While Iddaa was the only authorized operator, competitors have also entered the Turkish market. Greece-based Intralot--which has a 45 percent interest in Inteltek--together with Libero and the Turkish Dogan Group, started offering sports betting over alternative sales channels in August 2004. In May 2006, TJK Horse Races also began offering sports betting.
Intralot announced on Feb. 23 that, in relation to the voted law of the Turkish Parliament, " . . . it is clarified that according to the final text of the provision which has been voted and came to the attention of the company, the continuation of the game Iddaa will be done through a direct award or through other suitable means, until the realization of a new tender which must be conducted within one year. The law also provides that the awarded entity which will undertake the work must start the operation of the game within six months of the contract date.”
Aided by sharp growth in 2005, the sales performance of Iddaa resulted in an impressive increase to reach $986 million, up from $167 million in 2004.
Spor Toto's share of the Turkish betting market grew from 9 in 2004 percent to 36 percent in 2005. Market research in the fourth quarter of 2005 confirmed national brand awareness of Iddaa, indicating 99 percent throughout the target group (males interested in football from ages 18 to 45 in Turkey). An average of 4.4 million coupons a week are played by an estimated 2.2 million bettors.