Recap of Gambling Regulatory Updates for March 2020

The entire planet is currently dealing with the serious pandemic of Coronavirus, and besides human lives, industries are suffering great losses as well. Land-based casinos worldwide are shutting down until the situation stabilizes.

Apart from addressing this issue, we shall recap all the regulatory changes which took place during the previous period. Let’s check out what were the novelties in Asia, the US, Europe and the rest of the world.

Situation in Europe

This part will be opened with information from Italy, as the most affected country. As part of emergency measures to stop the spread of Covid-19, the Government announced on 9 March that all betting shops, arcades and bingo halls across the country must be closed until 3 April.

Austria’s finance minister Gernot Blumel…

…has called for an independent gambling regulator to be established to take responsibility for market regulation away from the Treasury, as it already has multiple functions.

Norway’s government has proposed legislation…

…to halt overseas gambling operators from advertising on television in the country, through an amendment to the Broadcasting Act. This would give the Norwegian Media Authority the power to order local TV distributors and internet providers to prevent access to illegal marketing. At the moment, offshore companies can advertise via TV channels that broadcast into Norway from a foreign location.

As a part of health protection during Covid-19 and in response to the closure of bingo halls, the Gaming Authority greenlighted land-based bingo operators to offer games online. The permission is expected to be granted whilst containment measures are still in effect.

Serbia’s Minister of Finance…

...has introduced a new bill to replace the 2011 Gambling Act. Online gambling would be taxed at 15% for online betting and 10% for other games, as previously proposed. Moreover, this new bill also brought modifications to the land-based sector.

The Government will be able to grant a maximum of 10 licenses (currently there are only 2 certified facilities), valid for 10 years with a minimum license fee of €500,000. There would also be restrictions on the location of slot machines but applying only to new sites rather than the existing ones. Moreover, the bill also establishes a system of electronic surveillance to shut down non-licensed gambling sites.

The Turkish Government introduced legislation to expand the area of current ISP blocks to include unlicensed betting platforms targeting punters in the country.

Ahead of potential regulation in the market…

…Ukraine has announced a crackdown on illegal online operators, asking ISPs to block 32 pages. The country’s Cyber Police of Ukraine https://lcb.org/news/ukrainian-parliament-approves-online-and-land-based-gambling-legalization-bill joined forces with the Office of Strategic Investigation in the Kiev region to target several illegal online venues pretending to be legitimate IT development businesses. This follows a rigorous set of actions against illegal land-based gambling, which led to the cancellation of the Ukraine Poker Open.

What is Going on in Germany?

All 16 landers in this state approved the new regulations to govern online casino, poker and sports wagering country-wide, with the following key aspects:

• Interactive gaming machines – subject to a maximum stake of €1 per spin; no auto-play features or jackpots will be allowed
• Interactive table games – both live casino and RNG modes will be permitted but states will be limited to 1 skin per land-based venue except for poker
• Interactive sports wagering – all betting (including in-play) will be restricted to the final result and next/number of goals

Punters will be required to set a mandatory deposit limit of no more than €1,000 which will apply across all operators. In addition to this, advertising will only be permitted between 21:00 and 06:00.

Did the Netherlands Make Any Progress?

The Government published the detailed regulations to govern the establishment and operation of the countries interactive gambling market. The regulations confirmed that approvals would be awarded for five years and the KSA would issue its decision on each application within six months.

Besides this…

…operators will be subject to a “cooling-off period” of two years before the submission of their application. Advertising will be prohibited between the hours of 6 AM and 9 PM and gambling on credit will not be permitted. Sports wagering operators will be required to adhere to a blacklist of sporting events that will set out those prohibited for betting.

Novelties from the USA

Representative John Rogers has submitted HB-336 that would approve land-based and mobile sports wagering in Alabama. The bill would allow a total of 4 licenses, which would be awarded by a newly created Alabama Sports Wagering Commission and set a tax rate of 10% of the gross win.

In addition to this…

…Senator Greg Albritton introduced legislation to grant the Poarch Band of Creek Indians tribe the exclusive right to operate casino gaming, sports betting and gaming machines in the state, and develop two new facilities outside of tribal land.

Governor of Connecticut Ned Lamont stated that he favored the proposal put forward by Representative Joe Verrengia in February, which would permit retail and online sports betting at the state’s tribal casinos, off-track betting facilities, and lottery retailers, as it was simpler and more achievable in the short legislative session.

The Rivers Casino in Des Plaines…

… became the first casino in Illinois to lunch its retail sportsbook on 9 March 2020, while Detroit (Michigan) got one on March 11, powered by MGM Grand and Greektown Casinos.

A legislative panel that has been studying sports betting for the past year has submitted a bill that would legalize wagering on professional and Division 1 college sports in Massachusetts. However, prop bets on individual college athletes would be prohibited. The bill proposed a tax rate of 10% of the gross win for retail operations and 12% for online.

The Kansas state Senate has passed a bill to legalize sports betting, after two years of debate. The bill would allow wagering on professional and college sports at any of the state’s 4 casinos, as well as online. The tax is 7.5% of gross win from bets wagered in a casino, and 10% for bets wagered online.

Local media reported that Oklahoma’s Governor Kevin Stitt…

… was considering permitting commercial casinos in the state if tribal casino operators do not agree to a higher revenue-sharing agreement. The tribes currently pay between 4% and 6% of gaming machine gross win and 10% of table game win in “exclusivity fees” to the state.

Both the House and Senate gave their approval to sports betting bill SJR 501 which will allow voters in the state to decide whether to permit sports betting in South Dakota in the November 2020 referendum. The bill progressed to the Governor’s desk for final approval.

Legislation to classify types of gaming devices and define unregulated slot machines as illegal was passed by both the House and Senate in Utah and sent to the Governor for final approval.

Several gambling expansion bills in Virginia were passed by the Senate and sent to the Governor’s desk for final approval:

• HB 896 would permit retail and mobile sports betting at the state’s five proposed facilities as well as the Washington Redskins stadium with a 15% gross win tax on the activity
• HB 4 would authorize five land-based hubs in the state. The bill proposed an incremental tax rate of 18% of a gross win under $200m, 23% under $400m and 30% for all gross win above $400m

The Senate passed HB 2638 to permit sports betting at tribal casinos in Washington, while the House of Representatives in Wyoming has voted against HB-225 that would have legalized sports betting in the state (the bill has been withdrawn from the process).

Recap from Asia

The Ministry of Public Security proposed the introduction of an online gambling blacklist of operators found to be illegally targeting the Chinese market, intending to increase the surveillance of Internet payments to more effectively block those related to illegal gambling.

PAGCOR announced it was considering closing down the operations of POGOs if the industry does not resolve some issues including illegal practices. The regulator stated it was working with several agencies who have reported problems with POGOs to help resolve the situations.

Updates from the Rest of the World

The Alberta Gaming, Liquor, and Cannabis Commission has revealed that plans for a locally licensed online gaming platform are still going ahead, but that the launch will be delayed. The expectation is now that an operator will be chosen by mid-2020, with an anticipated launch in mid-2021.

The Provincial Administration of Games of Chance (AJALaR) for La Rioja province has signed an agreement with its counterpart of Misiones to develop regulations for online gambling in La Rioja, making it the second province besides Misiones to launch online gambling in Argentina.

Australian lawmakers have set an age restriction on loot boxes, perceiving them as a form of gambling targeted at minors. The new regulations require anyone purchasing a videogame with loot boxes to show ID to prove that they are aged 18 years or older.

Soure:

"H2 Gambling Capital", March 2020