The Portuguese gambling regulator – Serviço de Regulação e Inspeção de Jogos (SRIJ) – announced on Tuesday that it has issued the eleventh iGaming license since the regulation of the nation’s market back in 2015.
The license was issued on September 22 and A Nossa Aposta – Jogos e Apostas Online, S.A. was its recipient. The newly licensed entity will be operating in the local market under the Nossa Aposta brand and will offer local customers online casino games and more specifically online slot games.
This has been the seventh license for the provision of online casino games to have been granted by SRIJ since the opening of the local market. In addition, the regulator has also issued four licenses for online sports betting services. In September only, the Portuguese iGaming market welcomed three new licensees.
Portugal’s new online gambling law came into force in 2015, but it was not until last May that a first license was issued. French online gambling operator Betclic was the first one to enter the newly regulated market by receiving a license for the provision of sports betting services.
The Nation’s iGaming Market after Its First Year
The regulation of Portugal’s iGaming market was a highly anticipated move as there has always been big demand for online gambling services among Portuguese players. Revenue from licensed operations showed stable increase in the period between May 2016, when Betclic entered the market, and March 2017.
However, the second quarter of 2017 registered a considerable decrease in proceeds. The nation’s licensed operators generated a total of €25.4 million during the three months ended June 30, 2017, down from the amount of €31.4 million reported for the previous quarter.
The plummeting revenue could to a great extent be attributed to the too high taxes the nation has imposed on locally licensed operators. Sports betting companies are taxed on turnover with the rate growing proportionally from 8% to 16%. As for online casino operations, poker included, these are taxed at up to 30% on revenue.
The higher than necessary tax rates have resulted in fewer operators expressing interest in Portugal’s regulated environment. And the limited choice of available licensed operators may have attracted players to the limitless, but unregulated, options offered by the black market.
Operators and players have called for the Portuguese government to review the nation’s gambling laws and to change the way iGaming operations are taxed. However, lawmakers have pointed out that such a review will not be carried out before May 2018 or precisely two years after the market was opened for licensed operations.
The government’s stubbornness could cost the Portuguese market some of its operators. Betclic, which received the first online gambling license, has revealed earlier this year that 66% of its proceeds from Portugal had been contributed to the nation’s coffers. The operator has pointed out that if it fails to make a profit from its Portuguese operations, it would be forced to consider leaving the local market. And other licensed brands could follow suit, once and if the French company sets a precedent.
