Royal Panda withdrawing from the UK

**impcom** · 8 January 2020, 4:35 am

Just had the following email:

From 8 January 2020, we will no longer be accepting new UK players. On 20 January your existing UK players will no longer be able to make a deposit, and on 31 January they will not be able to play at Royal Panda anymore. Consequently, please ensure that you stop promoting Royal Panda in the UK prior to this date

Commission until 30 Jan

Please remove all UK targeted marketing content from your site and remove any links to Royal Panda that target UK players prior to this date. Any U.K. commission earned up until the period of 23:59 CET on 30 January will be paid out as normal

**MrBiggles** · 8 January 2020, 5:22 am

Another one bites the dust.

IT's crazy how fast people are pulling out the UK.

The UK has to be one of the hardest markets.

**impcom** · 8 January 2020, 5:37 am

I'm curious to know if this has any implications for LeoVegas, as they own RP.

Are they moving to withdraw all brands from the UK over time, or is the UK just becoming too expensive to have secondary brands?

**baldidiot** · 8 January 2020, 5:40 am

Originally Posted by impcom

I'm curious to know if this has any implications for LeoVegas, as they own RP.

Are they moving to withdraw all brands from the UK over time, or is the UK just becoming too expensive to have secondary brands?

Leo did a big compliance purge last year and launched a dedicated UK facing aff program.

**CCIndex** · 8 January 2020, 5:59 am

I wonder if they are moving UK players to leovegas.

**baldidiot** · 8 January 2020, 6:08 am

Doesn't look like they're moving them but the official info on the site does suggest players sign up. I wouldn't be surprised if existing players received an email with this suggestion as well.

A great UK casino alternative to Royal Panda
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**mickyfu** · 8 January 2020, 7:46 am

Wow that is really going to put a big dent in the zero they paid me for the 1000s upon 1000s of players I signed up to them. Such a shame. One casino I could not care less where they want. They are on a par with William Hill, 32Red and Video Slots. These make GVC look like the good guys.

**casinoportal** · 8 January 2020, 10:10 am

Dosn't suprise me, the UK market is still massively saturated imo, and we are going to see a lot more this year leave this market. It's just not very profitable for them with the high tax levy.

**ocreditor** · 8 January 2020, 2:53 pm

Just another ordinary day at the UK, so many operators are leaving the UK these days

**MrBiggles** · 9 January 2020, 4:19 am

Have you all seen that the UK gov are looking at removing all VIP programmes?

If this is the case the guys in the UK will only have a UK licence so they can sponsor a team, the number of companies leaving the UK will double this year.

**drifter8** · 9 January 2020, 5:27 am

Removing of VIp programs wil kille and force to an end of many other bookies/casinos.

There were times when Roayl Panda were having great bonuses, been active on conferences and many other positive activities.

I feel sad for all affiliates and players - not just losing money and income, but again, confidence and faith just sunk in the Ocean ...

**MrBiggles** · 9 January 2020, 7:45 am

Yeah I feel that the UK market will be one or two bookmakers in the future, all monitored by the UK gov.

They are killing the UK market slowly but surely.

**casionmark** · 9 January 2020, 9:28 am

And Slots Million are heading out too. And Bear Group went in December.

**Former Member 14** · 9 January 2020, 1:34 pm

Originally Posted by casionmark

And Slots Million are heading out too.

Couple of weeks back now, SlotsMillion slammed the door shut on all their AU players. A very fast decision within 24 hours or less.

The excuse was: some AU players had not been flagged by the system, and had continued to gamble, even though SM banned AU.

That would be a believable story, if not for the fact, they were sending winnings to AU bank accounts, and performing KYC on AU players, well after they'd claimed to no longer accept AU registrations, and or real-money play from Aussies.

**Juan Roman** · 10 January 2020, 3:32 am

This is a logical move by RP as they are clearly focusing on other markets. Having spoken to their AMs at SiGMA, it is clear they are doing well in some big markets such as Canada and Germany, while also seeing good results in emerging markets such as Japan and India.

I see this as a good business decision, you cannot blame a company for trying to maximise their profits.

**Former Member 14** · 10 January 2020, 6:59 am

Originally Posted by Juan Roman

I see this as a good business decision, you cannot blame a company for trying to maximise their profits.

I, like many, had BIG hopes for the UKGC. Unfortunately, as like other industries, when they're put in the hands of, and mandated to a Gov Dept., 9 times out of 10, they manage to scr#w it up. Leaving it in worse shape, than it was beforehand.

15% GGR tax was a bit too rich imo. However jacking that up to 21% was insane. That, and all the other mindless hoop-jumping compliance, not to mention, the fines and what not. I believe we're only seen a tip of the iceberg, with UK licensee's exiting. My guess (especially with Brexit), we'll see more and more igaming companies saying adios to the UK, before 2020 is out.

**MJM** · 10 January 2020, 9:41 am

I'm a bit checked out from the UK market, though still active in it - but is it accurate that the only brands leaving are small startups, single market, or white label brands? And frankly - the brands exiting seem to be the type of brands that don't have transparent ownership groups.

I'll be really worried if we start to see major operators leaving the market, which I don't see happening. I see all these closings posted on GPWA the last few months and I've never worked with any of them, knock on wood, but seems to me that sticking to promoting major operators is the best long term plan? And yes, I'm well aware we get shafted by them occasionally too.

**wolfie** · 13 January 2020, 10:55 am

Royal Panda and Slots Million are definitely not small brands.

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