Regulatory Retrospective Across the Globe for October and November (2019)

As usual, the massive market of the United States was the leader in the changes, with many states either officially accepting or getting yet another step closer to certifying some forms of gambling. Several significant changes took place in Asia as well.

Meanwhile, in Europe, Italy came up with some ideas to tighten control and reduce online activities. Stay tuned for another journey through the latest set of global changes in the gaming industry for October and November.

Regulatory Changes across the US

A coalition of 18 tribes filed a ballot measure to allow sports wagering in California. The proposal is subject to state-wide voter approval, but mobile betting was not included in it. As far as proposed, the bill should greenlight retail sports betting at tribal venues and racetracks with a tax rate of 10% on the gross win. If approved by the legislature, the ballot would be included in the November 2020 referendum.

On 5 November, voters in Colorado were asked to give approval to the proposed 10% gross win tax…

… on sports betting. 50.7% of voters agreed with the HB19-1327 to launch regulated sportsbooks in retail outlets, online and on mobile. According to the state’s betting rules, wagering can start as early as 1 May 2020.

Florida’s Senator, Jeff Brandes, submitted three bills to regulate sports betting in the state. The bills: SB968, SB970, and SB972 would enable sports betting to be performed by the state lottery and private licensees at retail locations and online. If the proposal es into law, Floridians could be called to vote on it via a referendum set for November 2020.

BetAmerica-branded retail sportsbook by Churchill Downs Incorporated…

… was opened at the Rising Star Casino Resort in Rising Sun, Indiana. The new betting establishment is an hour’s drive from Cincinnati, Ohio, and within two hours of Indianapolis, Indiana and Louisville, Kentucky. Subject to license approvals BetAmerica also plans to offer online sports wagering across the state.

The Montana Lottery moved a step closer to implementing its sports betting legislation by the end of the year. The rules allow sports wagering to be offered by businesses within city limits if they have all-beverage liquor licenses and those outside incorporated areas if they hold beer and wine licenses. Objections were raised regarding the legislation not referring to liquor certificates. The committee also decided not to challenge the state lottery’s plan to add sports wagering to its lottery management contract with Intralot.

The New Hampshire Lottery announced Draft Kings had been selected…

… as the successful bidder in the RFP to operate the state’s mobile and retail sports betting platforms. Nine cities in New Hampshire had ballot initiatives to determine whether sports betting should be allowed in their areas, of which five have voted in favor while four voted against.

Parx Casino launched its online sportsbook in New Jersey in partnership with GAN and Kambi. The Garden State is Parx Casino’s second-largest market after its home state of Pennsylvania. Moreover, The DGE granted sports wagering suppliers one-off approval to offer bets on the e- sports League of Legends World Championship Final which took place on 10 November 2019. Bets were capped at $1000 and in-play betting was not permitted.

The Gaming Commission confirmed the review of the New York state’s gambling industry would be delayed until Q1 2020 and set a target date of 1 April 2020 for the findings to be released. The State Gaming Commission will consider whether to scale the tax rates Indian tribal casinos and commercial casinos pay.

A decision by the Commission to equalize the rates would likely prove very contentious for the tribes, who pay 25% of their slots revenues to the state, whereas commercial casinos pay between 37% and 45% of their slots revenues and a 10% flat fee on table games.

PokerStars became the first operator of online poker in Pennsylvania…

… when it launched its platform on 4 November 2019 in partnership with its land-based licensee Mount Airy Casino. Moreover, Kindred Group launched the Unibet-branded mobile and online site in Pennsylvania through its agreement with the Mohegan Sun Pocono casino group, the same one with which they rolled out a land-based sportsbook in September.

Argentina Sets Limits for Credit Card Transactions

The Central Bank of Argentina set a US$50 limit on credit card transactions abroad, including those for gambling and betting services.

The transfer of funds to services such as PayPal…

… and to investment s outside of Argentina and the purchase of foreign exchange currencies and cryptocurrencies were all also capped at US$50. The move was ed to decrease outflows of the central bank’s foreign exchange reserves and prevent further devaluation of the Argentinian Peso.

Recaps from Asian Region

To start with the Philippines, where Representative Joey Salceda introduced a House Bill 5267, and as suggested, it aims to impose a 5% tax on operators’ gross revenues and subject foreigners to a 15% tax on salaries and other payments. The House Ways and Means Committee approved HB5267 by unanimous decision.

The measure will now go to a second reading in the plenary session and if it ed…

… it would require online gaming operators based in the country to pay a 5% tax on gross revenues. Moreover, foreign employees earning a minimum annual salary of PHP600,000 would also have to pay an additional 25% tax on their salaries and annuities. Under the of the bill, the PAGCOR would be responsible for collecting the taxes.

However, there was some uncertainty after Solicitor General Jose Calida argued that the Philippines’ government could not collect taxes from the operators and service providers licensed in the country because the activity from which they earned their revenues was carried out outside the region.

The Tokyo Metropolitan Government announced a series of consultations with private companies over its “Tokyo Bay Area Vision”, including the possibility of an integrated resort bid for the Aomi area of Odaiba. The hearings are scheduled to run from January 20 to February 14 next year. The main purpose of those is to help the metropolitan authorities decide on an initial direction for the coastal development after the conclusion of the 2020 Olympics.

Head of DICJ, Macau’s gambling regulator, Paulo Martins Chan, promised even tougher supervision of the jurisdiction’s casino suppliers despite the sector struggling with dropping VIP revenues and irregular mass-market growth.

Italy Tightens the Control

As a part of establishing more stringent control of Italy’s online gambling marketplace, the 5Star-DP coalition government aims to reduce the number of incumbents participating in the market by 2023. As far as the ’s update implies…

… 2023 online gambling licenses will be granted to limited tenders for a period of nine years. Besides the increased tax charges, Italy’s new coalition will enforce a new mandatory registry controlled by the , which will supervise all gambling-related transactions and financial exchanges.

New powers will allow the customs department to cease national banks from processing payments for gambling companies without an Italian certificate.

Source:

“H2 Gambling Capital”, October/November, 2019.