Succeeding in Spain with the right platform technology

Pragmatic Solutions CEO Ashley Lang explains what operators need from a platform provider to thrive in the Spanish market

The Spanish landscape: a fair balance between player safety and profitability

The Spanish online gaming market has matured into a success story for European regulated gambling, demonstrating its profitability and rapid evolution while maintaining full regulatory oversight to ensure player safety and fair play.

Under the supervision of the Directorate General for the Regulation of Gambling (DGOJ), the Spanish model successfully combines effective regulatory controls with commercial viability for operators. Most importantly, it ensures Spanish consumers have access to gaming entertainment products they can enjoy safely and responsibly.

According to the latest report from the DGOJ, the gross gaming revenue (GGR) in the country has reached €350.7 million in the first quarter of 2024, with a year-on-year raise of 15.1 per cent. Previously, the DGOJ had reported total GGR of €1.24 billion for 2023, following a 28.4 per cent increase from the previous year.

On top the already established market growth, several advertising restrictions have been overturned in April 2024 by the Supreme Court, enabling operators to reach wider audiences through both traditional and social media channels, while also include the presence of celebrities in advertising. This decision, very positively received by the Spanish Association of Digital Gaming (JDigital), allows the industry to anticipate even better business prospects in the near future.

However, not all of the over 70 operators licensed in Spain will be able to equality capitalise on these opportunities. Online betting and gaming business need to successfully design and execute marketing campaigns, differentiate their offerings, and provide their players the most entertaining experiences without compromising compliance, security, and performance. Additionally, they must be ready to quicky adapt to any upcoming requirements if they want to expand and solidify their position in the Spanish market.

Only with the proper platform provider as a partner they will be able to achieve these goals.

Platform requirements to succeed in Spain

The Spanish gambling market presents unique challenges, including strict regulatory compliance, responsible gambling measures, and robust data protection requirements. Pragmatic Solutions' platform addresses these challenges by providing operators with the tools and support they need to navigate this complex regulatory environment and achieve sustained success in this dynamic market.

Our Player Account Management (PAM) platform enables online gaming and betting businesses to completely control and customise their multiple operations, brands, and end-to-end player experiences, while ensuring they are obeying complex regulation, protecting customers, and minimising fraud.

The Pragmatic Solutions platform is fully compliant with DGOJ regulations, featuring real-time implementation of self-exclusions, monitoring and advanced KYC, as well as AML capabilities. It ensures efficient monitoring and reporting of all gaming activities as required by the DGOJ, helping operators maintain robust compliance and operational efficiency.

Our ISO/IEC 27001 and GLI-19 certifications highlight our commitment to high standards of information security and technical reliability, offering peace of mind to operators and safeguarding player data.

In addition, our platform is pre-integrated with +1,500 leading providers of content (iGaming and sportsbook) and services (payment providers, CRM, marketing and affiliate services, compliance, KYC, Data/BI, and geolocation), available to all our licensees via a simple configuration. The platform allows for easy integration with any third-party product or service available in the market.

This flexibility, enabled by an API-based modular architecture, ensures that operators can quickly adapt to market demands and incorporate new functionalities without compromising compliance or performance.

Commitment and experience in the region

Pragmatic Solutions is dedicated to expanding its presence in Spain by building strong relationships with leading operators in the region. Given our technology, commitment and experience, we are perfectly positioned to help them capitalise on the country’s market growth.

We are very fortunate to have garnered significant experience in the Spanish market through the provision of our platform technology to top-tier operators such as DAZNBet. We have invested heavily in the compatibility of our platform to the local regulations, having integrated with leading third-party providers, such as Docaposte for data vault services, to ensure our clients have a robust and compliant solutions to build their business.

We see the success operators are having in Spain, and we are redoubling our commitment with a strategic initiative to expand our presence in the market. For operators in the region, this means they can rely on Pragmatic Solutions' dedication and access our top-tier technology to power their business.

With Pragmatic Solutions handling platform compliance, security, and seamless integration, operators can focus on what truly matters – engaging players and expanding their operations. Our robust platform empowers businesses to drive their growth while ensuring adherence to regulatory standards and maintaining high performance.

For more information on how to upgrade your iGaming platform technology for regulated markets, download our free white paper.

To learn more about the advantages of Pragmatic Solutions, visit www.pragmatic.solutions

About the Author

Ashley Lang, CEO of Pragmatic Solutions, has over two decades of leadership experience in the iGaming industry. He is a serial entrepreneur having founded Green Room Media (marketing B2B), Odobo (technology B2B), and Lottomart (lottery betting and casino B2C). He has also held senior leadership position in established gaming companies including as a founding executive member of Mansion (sports, poker and casino B2C) and a non-executive director at bet365 (sports, casino, poker B2C) for 14 years. With significant experience leading B2B and B2B companies in the iGaming industry, he holds a comprehensive understanding of operators' needs at every level of their business.

His extensive background and entrepreneurial expertise enable him to deliver exceptional solutions for clients, fostering genuine partnerships and driving business growth.

About Pragmatic Solutions

Pragmatic Solutions provides proprietary core platform technology for gaming and sports betting operators that seek to perform at scale in a fast-paced, highly complex regulated environment.

The key component of the Pragmatic Solutions offering is a Player Account Management (PAM) platform that is modern, modular, scalable, and connected due to an open API approach, enabling its partners to have complete control over their gaming business roadmap and operations.

The platform provides a comprehensive and user-friendly set of back-office tools to ensure regulatory compliance, handle risk, and manage brands, promotions and player experiences with extensive flexibility. Pre-integrated with over a thousand providers of third-party content, payments and services, the platform also supports rapid integration of new services of the operators’ choosing.

Pragmatic Solutions, sister company of Pragmatic Play, was founded in 2014. Its expert development teams focus on functionality innovation and expansion, while efficiently providing customised services to meet the needs of the most demanding iGaming operators.

Headquartered in Gibraltar, the company holds B2B licences by the MGA, UKGC, Romania's ONJN and AGCO and supports live operators in many locally regulated markets including the UK, Spain, Germany, Ontario, Romania, Hungary, Estonia and more. The Pragmatic Platform holds certifications by ISO/IEC 27001, PCI and GLI, while being compliant with numerous regulated European jurisdictions.