Online sportsbooks: “The question for our region is: Do we ban or do we regulate?”

Varsavsky started the conference talking about the current situation of people with regards to Internet, which is part of our habits and uses, and talked about the need to treat the issue from the State point of view and its regulation. “Internet access is more and more common every day. The collection of games that can be applied to the new technology is very big, because everything can be moved to Internet,” she affirmed. 

Then, she identified Internet sportsbooks. “It is a way to attract bets. In other types of games, for example, in casinos, a complete platform is downloaded. In the case of sportsbooks, Internet is just a medium, and the result has to do with the sports event. Although there are also fictitious sportsbooks, downloading avatars, which are developed in two minutes: one chooses a team and wins or loses, but, in fact, it is not real; it is not the same as a sportsbook.”

“In the new legislations (in force or in analysis) it is being evaluated what type of games and the motivation they have, to see if then they will generate gambling addiction or a bigger problem that the state will have to solve,” he commented, and added that the bonusing is always under analysis.

“The questioning for our region is: Do we ban or do we regulate? There are countries and opinions with regards to prohibition that are very strong. In my opinion, everything related to gambling ban cannot be maintained in time and increases the risk of clandestine or illegal gaming. Whether it is prohibited or regulated, it is important to act... Today, the approach is how to organize a traditional venue and they are not taking concrete actions on the online betting. Many of our norms state that, if a game is not authorized, it is banned. However, when nobody acts, it is a fact that gaming is already in people homes and we have illegal gaming. If the state chooses to ban, it has to solve what to do,” affirmed  Varsavsky.

With regards to this situation, he explained that, if the aim is to authorize, the most probable thing is that new laws have to be sanctioned. In some countries, such as Argentina, the issue has to be solved province by province. “We will have to plan which are the minimum considerations for the implementation. And illegal or non-authorized games have to be fought.” 

For example, he cited that the European Parliament, in March 2009, decided not to unify laws and assured that it every legislation, the most valuable is the origin of the bet, it acknowledges the right to restrict controls to underaged people and advertising, the inclusion of the right that corresponds to sportsbook federations and the fight against illegal gaming.

With regards to the actions to be performed against non-authorized sites, he said that filters must be applied. “It is not easy, but it is not imposible,” she affirmed. And said that the authorization or regulation should be implemented by the same entity or through operators.

Later, she talked about the number of sites to be authorized (a unique official site, several authorizes sites with open limits or closed), the selection of the method of authorization, the controls to be demanded, the financial system to set (pre-paid systems, financial system- banking transferences, credit cards), the limits to regulate, the ways to have access to the site (direct or access through a lottery site), the convergence of systems (use of existing channels- network sales, new channels, cope with both).

“An interesting thing we should think is: add to multiply. The entity has to listen to the private operator that knows the system. We have to search for an ideal way for the convergence of systems,” concluded Varsavsky, to close the series of conferences EY!09 Encuentro Yogonet.