Recent studies prove that the online gambling market in New Zealand is following the same path as other unregulated marketplaces. Although online gambling is illegal in the country and there have been no steps taken to legalize the activity, the national lottery has released plans to leverage the Internet to promote one of its most popular products.
Statement of Intent from the National Lottery Commission
Recently the National Lottery Commission released a statement of intent regarding the next two fiscal years. These plans include selling lottery tickets at supermarkets and developing a system of instant scratch tickets online. Scratch tickets are currently available at brick-and-mortar retailers and have been available for over 20 years. Each week New Zealanders purchase 900,000 instant scratch tickets with $1 million paid out.
Opposition from the Problem Gambling Foundation
On the other hand, the Problem Gambling Foundation is against this new idea. In a recent statement, the spokesman for the Foundation detailed, “You get online and start buying these things and start losing your rationality and start losing quite big money.” He further confirmed that five years ago there were only 40 problem gambling reports issued. Since then this number has significantly increased to 200.
He further stated that instant scratch tickets are typically harmless to the majority of citizens. However, the greatest issue is the uncertainty of online gambling and whether it will spiral out of control, nobody knows.
Study from the Department of Internal Affairs and Health Sponsorship Council
click here to see most Popular PagesIn a recent study by the Department of Internal Affairs and Health Sponsorship Council, 71 percent of lottery players live in poor areas with 13 percent spending more money on the activity than they want too.
Statement from the Chief Executive of the Lottery
The Chief Executive of the New Zealand lottery downplayed the recent news stating that no initiative has been enacted to introduce scratch tickets online. He further stated that permission from the government is required to make such a move. Additionally, he said that the company does plan to add products online in the future but they would also enforce responsible gaming best practices.
The greater problem of regulating online gaming sites has still not been discussed. However, it is well-known that New Zealand gamblers do wager at offshore casinos with many of them accepting deposits from New Zealand banks.
Although the government is against online gambling, this could be the first step toward legalization. The process is typically long and slow but once governments witness the extra revenue generated by the activity, they decide to slowly add new types of games to the legalized list.
