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Eventus International hosted a special SPiCE India Webinar

Just after the coronavirus outbreak labelled as pandemic by the World Health Organization (WHO), the government took necessary steps regarding the travel across the globe in order to curb the deadly virus from spreading. COVID-19 has left a tremendous impact on the conferences, business, sports, and so on.

Amidst the coronavirus epidemic, the Strategic Platform for iGaming Conference and Exhibition (SPiCE) India 2020, which was supposed to be held at the Goa Marriot Resort and Spa from 25 to 27 March 2020 was postponed after the Indian government issued a travel advisory cancelling all existing visas for foreign nationals other than diplomatic and employment visas until April 2020 to limit the spread of the coronavirus.

This cancellation led to the Eventus International hosting a special SPiCE India Webinar on 17 March 2020 to discuss the recent development in the country, hits and misses in the last year and future of the industry for the year ahead. The meeting was successful as operators from all over the world joined the webinar.

The ‘Pre-SPiCE India 2020 Webinar: A Sneak Peek of 2019 Developments and What to Expect at SPiCE India 2020’ commenced with opening remarks made by Yudi Soetjiptadi, the Managing Director, Eventus International, and moderator Jay Sayta, Gaming Industry Analyst/Strategic Advisor, SPiCE India 2020.

The opening notes was followed by a panel discussion comprising of Co-Head Media Entertainment & Gaming Practice of Nishith Desai Associates, Ranjana Adhikari, Managing Partners of Krida Legal, Vidushpat Singhania, CEO of All India Gaming Federation Roland Landers, and CEO of OneBlock Technologies Ltd., Albert Climent.

Adhikari noted about the current scenario saying that the market is opening up the opportunity for the entertainment industry and India is a big part of it. Landers referred to Mukesh Ambani’s comment on how gaming will be the next big thing besides movies, music and television. After being asked to throw light on the trends and numbers in the industry, Landers explained that the real-money gaming’s Gross Gaming Revenue is about half a billion dollars with contribution from daily fantasy sports (DFS), rummy, poker and other real-money games. He also marked that the with the wake of the possibility of live matches being cancelled, online poker and other card games and e-sports will see growth.

Adhikari later added that when the audience is practicing social distancing and live events are being postponed worldwide, there is an incredible chance for operators to create innovative content like simulated and virtual products to cater to the changing needs of the users. She also pointed out that there has a lot to be done when it comes to legalization for the online gaming business that needs stability after Singhania commented upon the legality of the gaming industry. He highlighted the fantasy sports case in Supreme Court, Punjab and Maharashtra banning online lottery.

The panelists also commented on esports to have a great future in the country. Adhikari added that those looking forward for an opportunity in the industry, esports is a marvelous option. Soon after the discussion, a brief Q&A round followed, where the panelists addressed the questions raised by the attendees.

A series of questions had been raised, one was regarding the possibility of coexistence of fantasy sports and sports betting in the Indian market. The panelists predicted that the sports betting is more likely to take over the fantasy sports market, if both are legalized in the country.

The event closed with the last question about the possibility of operators running online sports betting operations in the absence of regulations in India, taking the court route. The answer to which was that it’s possibility can’t be ruled out, as the court route has been taken by horse betting and some real-money games like rummy. However, the new dates for the SPiCE India 2020 has not been announced as of yet.

To know more about the upcoming events, keep reading GutshotMagazine.com and stay tuned!

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