OulalaGames has become the first B2B daily fantasy sports provider to be granted a Skill Games license by the Malta Gaming Authority. The Malta-headquartered company is known for the provision of a fantasy football platform.
Founded in 2013, the company has promoted its services broadly as ones that require skill and therefore need to be licensed separately from regular online gambling products. The newly obtained license from the Maltese gambling regulator will make it easier for OulalaGames to expand its presence across Europe and provide its offering to a wider gaming audience.
Benjamin Carlotti, Managing Director and co-founder of the daily fantasy sports provider, commented on the announcement, saying that they are happy to be taking part in the development of a regulatory framework for skill-based games. Mr. Carlotti also expressed hopes that more European iGaming regulators would create a licensing category for skill-based games, following MGA’s example.
The Maltese gambling regulator introduced its new Skill Games regulatory regime last summer. The regulatory body became the first to designate daily fantasy sports as games that required skill and should be licensed under a specific category.
Although this type of products is treated as being different from traditional gambling, the MGA said upon the introduction of the new licensing category that it still poses a certain level of risk to players and thus requires alertness and intervention from the regulator.
Daily fantasy sports in Europe are still far from reaching the popularity they enjoy in the US, but Malta’s regulatory framework is believed to help this type of offering gain a wider audience across the continent.
Earlier this year, major fantasy sports company DraftKings received a Skill Games license from the MGA. The Boston-headquartered company will thus be able to extend its European footprint. It said that it would first use its new license to expand into Germany. It is also set to target other EU jurisdictions in near future.
DraftKings also holds a license from the UK Gambling Commission that allowed it to enter the local market. However, here it is important to note that its UK license is one that is given to traditional gambling operators, as there is no specific regulatory category for daily fantasy sports under UK’s existing regulations.
