{"id":29807,"date":"2015-07-08T15:18:15","date_gmt":"2015-07-08T22:18:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?p=29807"},"modified":"2015-07-08T15:18:58","modified_gmt":"2015-07-08T22:18:58","slug":"greek-financial-crisis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/greek-financial-crisis\/","title":{"rendered":"Greek Financial Crisis May Impact IGT"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Greek
Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras says that Greece is still willing to negotiate with European leaders over the nation\u2019s debts. (Image: Kostas Tsironis\/Bloomberg)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Greece\u2019s ongoing financial crisis and standoff with European leaders could have repercussions that impact the global economy.<\/p>\n

That impact extends even to the gaming industry, as Greece\u2019s attempts to avoid defaulting further on its debts may prove costly to companies like International Game Technology (IGT) and Scientific Games.<\/p>\n

Those manufacturers were hoping to provide video lottery terminals throughout Greece<\/a>, with the games just days away from a planned launch. However, the Hellenic Gaming Commission announced new lottery regulations in the wake of the country\u2019s financial crisis, leaving much uncertainty as to the short-term future of the industry.<\/p>\n

New Regulations Limit Play, Jackpot Size<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Under the new regulations, daily loss limits were to be added to the machines, and gamblers would be limited as to how much time they would be allowed to play on a machine each day. Jackpot levels would also be lower under the new regulations.<\/p>\n

That didn\u2019t sit well with OPAP, the Greek firm that operates the video lottery terminal network. In a statement, the company said that the new regulation would make operating the terminals \u201cno longer viable,\u201d and immediately stopped the deployment of 16,500 machines throughout the country.<\/p>\n

Looking at the situation realistically, the timing of the new regulations and OPAP\u2019s decision may just be coincidental, and it\u2019s hard to see how it would be directly related to the battle over Greek debt. But that doesn\u2019t mean that the ongoing crisis won\u2019t be a factor in how the lottery terminal battle is resolved.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe delay doesn\u2019t have anything to do with the current debt crises other than maybe OPAP playing hardball with the regulators hoping that they will cave because they need the new tax revenue,\u201d said Todd Eilers of Eilers Research.<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

IGT, Scientific Games Could Lose Revenue<\/strong><\/h2>\n

If this is simply a negotiating tactic on the part of OPAP, it could be an expensive one for slot machine manufacturers like IGT and Scientific Games. Both of those companies were producing terminals for the Geek market, and the delays could potentially cost those two firms millions in revenue.<\/p>\n

IGT was awarded a vendor contract to provide 5,500 lottery machines, while Scientific Games was slated to make 5,000 machines for the market. Two European manufacturers, Inspired Gaming and Synot, were also awarded first-phase vendor contracts.<\/p>\n

IGT<\/a> was expected to make up to $30 million in annual revenues from the machines provided to Greece, while Scientific Games could bring in as much as $27 million.<\/p>\n

The delays and the financial crisis have certainly brought some uncertainty to the Greek video lottery terminal market, but Eilers says that in the long term, Greece should still be a profitable market for manufacturers.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe still believe the VLT market will move forward and represents a sizable growth opportunity for vendors,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The negotiations over the future of Greece\u2019s lottery terminals comes at a time when much larger battles are being waged over the nation\u2019s financial future.<\/p>\n

Greeks voted \u201cno\u201d on the strict lending terms offered by international creditors on Sunday, with over 61 percent of voters coming out against the terms.<\/p>\n

But that vote doesn\u2019t mean that Greece isn\u2019t willing to negotiate. Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras says that the Greek government is still willing to make some changes in order to receive assistance from Europe, and requested a three-year loan from the eurozone\u2019s bailout fund on Wednesday.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Greece\u2019s ongoing financial crisis and standoff with European leaders could have repercussions that impact the global economy. That impact extends even to the gaming industry, as Greece\u2019s attempts to avoid defaulting further on its debts may prove costly to companies like International Game Technology (IGT) and Scientific Games. Those manufacturers were hoping to provide video […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":42,"featured_media":29808,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[10,13,1],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nGreek Financial Crisis May Impact IGT<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"While all eyes are on the Greek Financial Crisis, there is also a battle in the country over the future of its video lottery terminals.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Greek Financial Crisis May Impact IGT\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"While all eyes are on the Greek Financial Crisis, there is also a battle in the country over the future of its video lottery terminals.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/greek-financial-crisis\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Casino.org\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Casino.OrgNews\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2015-07-08T22:18:15+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2015-07-08T22:18:58+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/920x920.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"920\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"594\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Casino.org Staff Writer\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@Casino_Org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Casino_Org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Casino.org Staff Writer\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/greek-financial-crisis\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/greek-financial-crisis\/\",\"name\":\"Greek Financial Crisis May Impact IGT\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/greek-financial-crisis\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/greek-financial-crisis\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/920x920.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2015-07-08T22:18:15+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2015-07-08T22:18:58+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/8c48bf89dc86da77b4d856c7b3b78d77\"},\"description\":\"While all eyes are on the Greek Financial Crisis, there is also a battle in the country over the future of its video lottery terminals.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/greek-financial-crisis\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/greek-financial-crisis\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/greek-financial-crisis\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/920x920.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/920x920.jpg\",\"width\":920,\"height\":594,\"caption\":\"Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras says that Greece is still willing to negotiate with European leaders over the nation\u2019s debts. 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