In-depth and Current State of Morocco Gambling Industry

Morocco might be a strict Islamic country, but it’s also an African state that tolerates gambling. There are seven casinos in four cities plus poker and three monopoly companies that operate the national lottery sports betting and horse racing industries. The legal regulation of gambling in Morocco began in 2002 when the then Prime minister signed a decree which meant casinos could operate legally.

But still, 90 percent of the populations are Islamist; the idea of gambling is still not embraced fully by residents. In 2012 the Moroccan Minister of Telecommunication Mustafa al-Khalfim began a campaign to introduce a ban against the advertising and the promotion of gambling via audiovisual media. He criticized TV programs’ popularity with live gambling and called for a law to ban such programs; apparently, there were around 900,000 viewers on one day, which Khalfi claimed was harming the young generation. Gambling has always been a contentious issue, and even Khalif threatens his resignation if they didn’t pass the law to ban live gambling on state-owned media.

Although despite is claim the country’s statistics shows some forms of gambling are driven by the tourism through land-based casino which is a vital sector. That work-hand-in-hand with tourism and hospitality in Morocco, and the report shows around 12 million tourists visit the nation every year. The statistics also show that approximately three million Moroccans also partake in gambling while the industry generates almost DS2.9bn for the state treasury.

Even though a decree was eventually issued that banned all lotteries and gambling advertisements from public and private radio and television broadcasts. However, operators in the gaming sectors have sought alternatives by taking their promotions online with their own YouTube channels, Social media sites such as Facebook. Despite the ban, gambling is still a big business in Morocco; in fact, the numbers of Moroccans who enjoy bet rose by five percent in 2016. However, the gambling sector activity is monitored by a mixed model of public and private companies via three ministries- Economy and Finance, Youth and Sport and Agriculture. Since 2013 the gambling market has grown by around one-third. In 2016, total betting turnover for the sector was $941million, which increased 6.6 percent on the previous year (excluding casinos).

The recent 2020 report by H2 Gambling Capital sees the Morocco GGR represents 9 percent of Africa’s gambling market, making it the second behind South Africa. Although sports betting is the dominant betting market, especially horse racetrack, the Royal Society for Horse Encouragement (SOREC) enjoys a betting monopoly. SOREC has around 30 branches and additional 500 points of sale via partnerships and saw a betting turnover of MAD 6.4bn a rise of three percent, giving it a 70 percent market share, not including the casino. In 2016 SOREC launched a mobile data app to keep players informed of Moroccan and French racing info.

Meanwhile, sports betting and instant lotteries are the sole responsibility of the Moroccan Games and Sports (MDJS). The turnover in 2017 was MAD2.44bn, which is the growth of 167 percent since 2013. MDJS was founded in 1962 and is a limited company under state control. It holds the monopoly’s concession to organize sports betting games in Morocco, plus raffles and lottery games and instant games.
In contrast, the Loteria Nationale (SGLN) is a private limited company under state control in charge of the national lottery game operation. MDJS has a 78 percent lottery market share while SGLN has 22 percent; both lotteries have operated as complementary companies and share distribution of around 1,500 points of sales.

In contrast, it is interesting to know that despite the 90percent of Moroccans are Islamist, gambling is legal and boasts huge turnover driven by tourism and Moroccans, which is quite fascinating to know that despite an Islamic nation, gambling is vividly a pass time for Moroccans and tourist.

Based by: g3newswire.com

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