Online and Land-Based Gambling Regulatory Updates For December 2020

2020’s final month also marks the end of the final quarter of one of the most turbulent years in recent human history.

Gambling industry learned to adjust and adapt in the process that involved hard shutdowns and complete cancellations in the midst of world-wide pandemic. Let us take a look into how various jurisdictions decided to close the year.

US Regulatory Updates

Michigan – Michigan Gaming Control Board expects that the online gaming and sports betting markets will launch mid-January 2021. This revelation came after 15 provisional licenses were awarded to online gaming and sports betting operators partnered with the states commercial and tribal casinos.

California – The Coalition to Authorize Regulated Sports Wagering has submitted its bill proposal to make sports betting legal in the state via the referendum in 2022. The petition was submitted to California’s officials with 1.4 million signatures.

North Carolina – Roy Cooper, the Governor of NC, approved the amended gaming compact between the state and the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians. It will allow the tribe to offer sportsbetting on their premises. The amendments now need to be approved by the Secretary of State, Attorney General and the Federal Department of the Interior.

Pennsylvania – On December 4th, BetMGM launched online casino platform.

Rest of the World Regulatory Updates

Japan – The Japanese Government delayed the scheduled launch of the country’s integrated casino resorts to after 2025. The launch was originally going to take place in 2025, but the issues caused by pandemic have caused the Government push back a number of milestones in the process.

UK – The DCMS begun its review of the country’s current gambling legislation within which it will specifically evaluate a number of areas including stake and loss limits, advertising and bonuses as well as the role of the Gambling Commission.

The Government raised the minimum participation age for the National Lottery from 16 to 18. The change will take effect from 01 October 2021 for in-person sales and from 01 April 2020 for online sales.

Canada – The legislation that authorizes single event sports betting was reintroduced by The Minister of Justice, David Lametti.

The Netherlands – Dutch National Lottery has announced that their customers will be required to separate s for lottery and sportsbetting products from 01 March 2021. This will ne necessary in order to adhere to the Remote Gambling Act regulations.

Belgium – The BGC introduced new restrictions on gambling ments related to the country’s top tier football league. Teams in the Jupiler Pro League were prohibited from entering into partnerships with operators not licensed in Belgium and must inform the commission of any sponsorship deals with gambling companies. The BGC also announced it would be imposing new restrictions on betting “on certain stages of a match” but no further details were provided at this point.

Sweden – Swedish regulatory body Spelinspektionen has confirmed several new restrictions on betting scheduled that will take effect on 01 January 2021. The restrictions prohibit the placing of bets on rules violations, non-to four tier football matches and the individual performance of sports events participants under 18. The regulator has confirmed the restrictions will only apply to Swedish events while those in which most of participants are under 18 will not be eligible for betting.

Norway – National gambling body Norsk Tipping introduced temporary loss limiting measures to the interactive gaming platform. The operator introduced a maximum daily loss limit of NOK2k and a monthly loss limit of NOK7.5 to four (4) higher risk games in its portfolio which took effect from 01 December 2020 to 01 February 2021.

Ireland – The Gaming and Lotteries Amendment Act 2019 became effective on 01 December 2020. It is a temporary measure before a complete overhaul of the country’s gambling regulatory framework happens in 2021. The amendments simplified the process application process for land-based gambling licenses, provided for a new uniform minimum gambling age of 18 and included several new consumer protection measures.

Source:

“H2 Gambling Capital”