Part 1: The regulatory backdrop
system might also act as a bar on
the biggest operators. As Tiago
Almeida, chief executive of the
Lisbon-based eGaming Services
points out, the doubling of the
initial 8% turnover tax rate on
revenues over €30m potentially
penalises those with bigger
player bases.
“Maybe that is one of the main
reasons why operators like bet365
and Sportingbet have not applied
for a licence here yet, because their
existing database of players would
immediately create a turnover that
would be bigger that this €30m.”
The Remote Gambling
Association (RGA) has been vocal
in its opposition to the tax regime
in Portugal, suggesting it acts
as a deterrent to further online
operators entering the market. The
obvious effect here is that contrary
to the stated purpose of licensed
regimes to limit unlicensed offshore
operations operating in the country,
it leaves a gap open to exploitation.
“The result is the government
fails to reduce the size of the
unregulated market and it does
not manage to achieve public
policy objectives which are
typically sought by online gambling
legislation,” says Pierre Tournier,
director of government relations at
the RGA.
says. “On the one hand you have
(effectively) a GGR taxation for all
gaming products and on the other
you have a turnover tax on online
sport betting. And effectively, the
lottery – Santa Casa – has never
offered any casino product. The
only product they have offered
is sports betting. So the whole
system and taxation regime was
designed to protect Santa Casa
from competition.”
Ricardo Domingues, country
manager for Betclic, agrees that
the monopoly has been protected
by the legislation and tax regime.
“(Santa Casa has) even been
able to launch an online operator
(partly-owned) with the same
name as the offline monopoly,” he
points out, referring to Placard.pt,
the new online arm of the existing
land-based betting operation.
“Keeping taxes high and limiting
the offer through regulation will
keep their offline offer seeming
more interesting.”
The net effect of this (at best
quasi-) protectionism is, as
mentioned earlier, that is leaves
licensees facing competition
not only from their fellow
regulated market entities but
also operators from offshore. The
RGA commissioned Eurogroup
Consulting Portugal to produce
a report looking into this, which
will be discussed in part three
of this report. As Domingues
points out, “there’s limited and
The affiliate sector has
not been forced to
promote offshore sites.
They do it because it’s
more profitable.
Ricardo Domingues, Betclic
Protect and survive
In the case of Portugal, Tournier
suggests the government has
designed a regime which is aimed
at protecting the market position
of the lottery monopoly operator
Santa Casa.
“I think the situation in Portugal,
for instance, is very clear,” he
Portugal: The challenges and potential in one of Europe’s most controversial markets
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