With the number of smaller web shop enterprises entering the market steadily increasing, there is concern from larger operators about the adverse impact of this apparent saturation, the attorney for several of the leading web shop operators told the Bahama Journal.

Wayne Munroe said yesterday that the issue of the number of web shops in the market is one his clients hope will be addressed in the government’s legislation to regulate the industry this summer.

The attorney said it is a matter that the operators first discussed with the previous Free National Movement (FNM) administration.

“Anyone in any industry would be concerned about how other players in the industry can affect the industry and the perception of that industry, Mr. Munroe said. “This started under the FNM and at that time, the FNM spoke to web shop operators – the FNM put out a call to meet with web shop operators and at that time four operators met with them.”

Since that meeting, the industry has grown exponentially Mr. Munroe said, and added that if it continues along this track it could soon be unable to be regulated at all.

“Any number of persons have come into the market with the view that regulation was on the way to, I suppose, get your foot in the door,” he said. “How the government deals with regulating an industry will depend on the governmental approach and policy. There is a view in gaming that the more licences that you have the more difficult it is to regulate which is why we do not have a whole bunch of casinos. So the government will take a position as to how it wishes to regulate this industry.”

FML, Island Luck and Island Game are the web shops that represent the lion share of the market.

As the date for regulation nears, Mr. Munroe predicts that more enterprises will join the market.
Last month, the government defied calls from the Christian Council and other critics of gaming and announced that the web shop industry will be regulated by July 1.

The industry has existed underground though in plain sight in The Bahamas for nearly a century, according to some estimates.
It is believed that some operators collect as much as $1 million annually in revenues.