Regulated Online Gambling in Bulgaria

Bulgaria's parliament approved a new gambling bill last Thursday which will regulate the country's online gaming market for the first time - enabling sports betting, casinos and other forms of gambling online.

Under the new law, special licensing arrangements will be set for Bulgarian and foreign operators of online casinos, horse racing and dog betting, and other forms of gambling. Internet providers will be obligated to block access to unlicensed gambling websites, which are also to be included in a special backlist. Direct advertisement of gambling will be banned.

Parliament approved the new regulations on their second reading. According to members of the governing center-right GERB party, the reforms will ensure the earning of another 100 million leva ($67 million) in annual state revenues for the European Union's youngest member state.

The new online gambling law not only ensures extra revenues, but also helps fight illegal gambling. Online gambling and betting has until now been completely unregulated in Bulgaria, leading to the proliferation of many scam websites over the past few years.

Online gambling operators from around Europe will no doubt rush to compete for Bulgarian gambling licenses. By choosing to go down the road of licensing online casinos, the country is following in the footsteps of others like Italy, Denmark and Spain - the latter of which is set to begin issuing its first round of casino licenses by the end of this month.