Overview of Regulations in the Gambling Industry Worldwide- September 2022

Although the large market of the United States is traditionally known for being the one with the largest number of updates, September has been rather quiet. The situation is more or less similar in the rest of the world.

Macau announced the overall number of table games and gaming machines permitted in 6 casinos region-wide. South Africa is a step closer to establishing a regulatory framework for online gambling. Sweden once again tightened up its player protection measures.

The United States and South America Overview

South Dakota: Scientific Games was granted permission by the State Lottery to operate its instant games. The validity period of the contract is six years.

Kansas: On September 1, 2022, the country welcomed the retail and online sports betting market. Six online operators went live, including the giants such as DraftKings and FanDuel, while retail operations were facilitated by Hollywood Casino and Kansas Star Casino.

Chile: Polla Chilena de Beneficencia’s appeal to oblige internet providers to block access to 23 sports betting websites was rejected by the Supreme Court.

Paraguay: Conajzar (Comisión Nacional de Juegos de Azar) launched the public tender process to grant a single sports betting license, but without clarifying whether international firms would be allowed to apply for it.

Has Anything New Happened in Africa and Asia?

South Africa: Legislators presented a bill to establish a national online gambling regulatory system. Even though online casinos in South Africa are regulated on a provincial level at the time being, there’s still a need to set up an all-encoming framework.

Macau: Starting January 1, 2023, new gambling regulations ed in June this year will come into effect. This means that the region’s six casinos will be limited to a total number of 6,000 table games and 12,000 gaming machines.

Philippines: The new Chairman of PAGCOR, Alejandro Tengco, suggested the Corporation should separate its roles as a regulator and operator of gambling. To enable the institution to focus on regulations primarily, the Ministry of Finance greenlighted the idea to privatize the 40 casinos, all currently run by PAGCOR.

Most Noteworthy Changes from Europe and Australia

Belgium: As instructed by the local Gambling Commission, the maximum number of online sports betting licenses is decreased to 30, instead of 31.

Norway: Norsk Tipping, the government-owned gambling company, stopped all sports betting ads on TV.

Sweden: Spelinspektionen, the local regulator, presented a range of new measures for enhanced player protection. Two bans were introduced, one on auto-play features for gaming machines and the other on reverse withdrawals, as well as a time-out feature on online gaming sites. This option will automatically log a customer out if they are inactive for two minutes.

Australia: Following the new card-based scheme presented by the Tasmanian Government set to be launched by the end of 2024, players would be required to set spending limits. The daily, monthly, and yearly max limits would be set at $100, $500, and $5,000 respectively. Provided that a consumer proves that they meet greater affordability requirements, the measures could be revised and increased.

SOURCE:

H2 Gambling Capital, September 2022.