The percentage of German betting giant Tipico’s revenue that came from problem gamblers doubled year-on-year to 2% in 2019, according to the business’s corporate responsibility report, but remained below 2017 levels.After only 1% of Tipico’s revenue came from problem gamblers in 2018, 2% came from these customers in 2019. However, this was still 50% below the 4% of revenue that came from problem gamblers in 2017.
In addition, in a survey of its employers, Tipico found that 85% believed it was a responsible and trustworthy operator, while 76% said it sufficiently protects it employees. Among customers, meanwhile, it found that 89% believe it to be responsible and trustworthy and 73% believe it sufficiently protects them.
Tipico did not reveal how many customers or employees did not believe it was trustworthy or protects its employees, compared to those who may have said they do not know or have no opinion.
A total of 76% of online customers and 83% of retail customers said they were “greatly satisfied” with Tipico, both of these figures being an increase from 2018.
The operator said 9% of its customers set limits on deposits, stakes, losses or time spent playing, up from 2018. The number of self-excluded players, meanwhile, declined to less than 0.1% of all players.
Tipico conducted just under 125,000 online identity verifications during the year and found that 4,043 minors attempted to bet and were banned for doing so, around double the figure from 2018.
Its retail outlets conducted more than 496,000 identity verifications and 82,000 additional age checks, finding 10,508 minors who attempted to bet, down 10% from 2018.
Tipico conducted more than 757 quality audits and more than 750 internal “mystery shopper” events to test its age verification, up 152% from 2018. Meanwhile, 1,328 external mystery shopper events were conducted, up 48% year-on-year.
The number of suspicious activity reports investigated roughly doubled to around 750, of which more than 100 were reported to the relevant authorities in Germany and Malta.
In the report, the operator said it took more than 5m bets per day in 2019, an increase from 2018.
Football remained the most important sport for Tipico, bringing in 80% of turnover. Tennis followed with 7% while basketball brought in 6%, while volleyball, ice hockey and handball brought in 3%, 2% and 1%, respectively. Football made up 90% of all bets placed.
The Bundesliga was the leading sports competition for Tipico by revenue, with the Uefa Champions League second and the English Premier League third.
The three single events that produced the most turnover for Tipico were all in the knockout stages of the 2018-19 Champions League, with the final between Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur in first, Tottenham’s semi-final second leg against Ajax in second andthe second-leg of Liverpool’s Round of 16 meeting with German champions Bayern in third.
While online betting made up more than 70% of Tipico’s revenue, at the end of 2019 it operated 270 retail shops throughout Germany and Austria, an increase of more than 70 from 2018, while its betting services were also offered through 1,270 franchise partners.
The number of complaints the operator received in 2019 remained steady from 2018. It received 10 complaints to the e-Commerce And Online Gaming Gaming Assurance (eCOGRA) and four to the Malta Gaming Authority (MGA).
The operator said 98% of its customer-facing employees completed responsible gambling training. Meanwhile, 3,400 employees took part in training in preventing minors from gambling and 97% of employees received anti-money laundering training.
Among Tipico’s suppliers, 32% were based in the same country as the division of Tipico they serviced. A further 60% were based elsewhere in the EU, while 8% were non-EU. The percentage of local suppliers drastically decreased in 2019, while the percentage of EU suppliers increased.
In terms of spending, 24% of supplier contract value went to local suppliers and 73% EU suppliers.
The operator paid €315,000 to charity during the year, of which €200,000 went to gambling-related harm charities and €115,000 local community projects.
In terms of its impact on the climate, the operator reduced its emissions from its data centres by 88% and from business travel by 26%.
In 2019, the operator recorded 28 potential data breaches, but none of these were escalated to the Information and Data Protection Commissioner. In addition, it received one external data breach complaint and said it fully cooperated with this investigation.
Employees made no whistler-blower reports in 2019, down from four in 2018.
In “core business areas”, Tipico employed more than 700 people in 2019, 8% more than in 2018.
Among those employed in these areas, Tipico found that 75% of its employees were male and 25% female. Among newly hired employees, however, 68% were male and 32% were female.
Tipico noted that this disparity roughly aligns with the percentage of people of each gender who visits the Tipico careers website, of which 69% were male and 31% female.
However, among leadership positions, 90% of employees were male, something it said it is “seeking to address” whenever vacant positions in these roles open up.
Among those in key business areas, just under half of employees are aged 28-37. Just under 20% are aged 18-27 and 38-47, while around 5% are aged 48-57 and around 1% 58-67.
Staff turnover in these areas came to 14%, down from 18% the year prior.
Looking forward, Tipico said it would look to reduce the financial impact of problem players in 2020, strengthen its ability to detect potential problem players as early in the process as possible and further promote the use of tools such as limits.
In addition, it said it would complete a review of its talent acquisition process and ensure further GDPR awareness as well as implementing an internal energy audit.
The operator may face major change in the next year as Germany will implement its new state treaty on gambling, the Glücksspielneuregulierungstaatsvertrag (GlüNeuRStv), which opens up the online casino market for the first time.
The treaty is set to come into effect on 30 June, 2021, but states will begin to implement the Treaty from 15 October this year, under a transitional regime in which operators will be permitted to offer online sports betting, poker and slots.
While it offers new markets for the first time, it comes with significant restrictions. Online slot stakes will be limited to €1 per spin, while live betting will be offered only on match winner and next scorer markets.
A €1,000 monthly spending limit will be applied across all operators, but a small number of users will be able to apply to have this cap raised to €10,000 after passing certain checks. An even smaller number – no more than 1% of an operator’s customers – will be able to have spending capped at €30,000.
The operator is also looking to expand into the US, partnering with Atlantic City’s Ocean Casino Resort and selecting Scientific Games’ OpenGaming product suite for its New Jersey-facing igaming offering.
