Portugal Grapples with Unregulated Gambling Market

A report commissioned by the Remote Gambling Association (RGA) has brought light to the fact that the Portuguese legislation has not achieved one of its key objectives, namely reducing the unregulated gambling offer, and the RGA is proposing a more sensible licensing regime along with a workable taxation system based on Gross Gaming Revenue (GGR) for all online products as the best case scenario for consumers, the industry and the Government.

Two years after the first license was issued by the gambling regulator (SRIJ),and amidst scrutiny on the domestic online gambling regime, the Eurogroup Consulting report estimates that 68% of the Portuguese gambling online is carried out through operators that are not licensed in the country. Another finding was that 38% of Portuguese online gamblers gamble on unlicensed operators only and 30% gamble on both licensed and unlicensed operators.

The respondents to the survey also explain that their choice is primarily driven by better odds that offered by offshore operators. This is consistent with the characteristics of the Portuguese market where online sports betting is the most important segment and also the most restricted as a result of the Turnover tax. Importantly also, the report finds that the channeling rate expressed in turnover is very low as only 39% of the funds gambled by Portuguese online gamblers are placed on the regulated market.