Online Gaming Coming to Portugal

Legal online gaming is coming to Portugal, and operators couldn't be happier.

Casino President Welcomes Online Gambling

Portuguese Casino Association President Jorge Armindo expressed his excitement, saying “It is good that online gambling is getting regulated and becomes a legal form of gambling.”

Armindo did express concerns about the propriety of the regulation in its current form, saying that for this reason the legislation remains under scrutiny, with the Casino Association favoring exclusive rights licensing.

Exclusive Rights Issue

“Our position has always rested on the right of concession holders to exclusivity in online gaming, indeed, in alignment with the concession that was attributed to us in 2001 and for which we paid many millions of euros at the time.”

The online availability of gaming and the amount of operators existing or entering the free market indicates a different market environment than the one which operators paid exclusive rights for 14 years ago.

New World, Open Market

The Internet gambling proposal under consideration in the Portuguese parliament is characterized by the Portuguese government as “an open regime, by licensing, without any concession of exclusivity.”

Whatever it's final form State Secretary for Tourism Adolfo Mesquita Nunes promised at a press conference Thursday that online gambling legislation would be in effect by the end of the year, and would further be consistent with European best practices, European Commission recommendations and studies of comparable legislation already passed in other parts of the world.

The Community Component

As far as charitable proceeds, Nunes explained that a percentage of proceeds from sporting bets would be granted to the charitable institution in charged of the state lottery, Santa Casa da Misericórdia.

More Challenges Ahead

The real regulatory challenge here seems to be not whether or not to make rights exclusive, but to ensure that funds are clearly and transparently distributed in a manner consistent with Portuguese and European Union guidelines.

As in other countries in the process of adopting online gaming regulation, the Portuguese government is about to experience a surge in revenues that must be managed properly and effectively to meet the needs of the populations they are sworn to serve.