The very beginning of 2022 was marked with the introduction of online gambling to multiple US states, with a special accent on sports betting. Following the Supreme Court’s ruling from 2018, individual states were given the right to control the legislation of this activity, and many of them embraced the opportunity and legalized it so far.
Meanwhile, Finland and Sweden are putting plenty of effort to keep players protected, by implementing a variety of responsible gambling measures. On the other side of the globe, Singapore has increased taxes on gambling.
Full report ahead!
United States Overview
Alabama: Legislators proposed a bill to establish a state lottery. If passed, it would allow this institution to offer sports wagering.
Indiana: A Bill HB1356 which aims to approve and regulate iGaming in the state was reintroduced. If approved, the legislation would permit online casinos and poker via the state’s land-based facilities, each greenlighted to offer 3 skins. The bill included a tax rate of 18% of the gross win.
Mississippi: Representative Cedric Burnett presented Bill HB184 to authorize and regulate state-wide online sports wagering. A progressive rate of up to 8% of gross gaming revenue would be imposed, which is in line with the current regime in the brick-and-mortar sector.
Oklahoma: Legislators introduced HB3008 to permit the state’s tribes to offer retail sports betting at their venues in the state. Worth noting is that previous attempts to allow this activity were deemed unconstitutional by Oklahoma’s Supreme Court.
Oregon: DraftKings unveiled its online sports betting platform in cooperation with the State Lottery on January 18, 2022.
New York: The state welcomed sports wagering on January 8, 2022, with Caesars, DraftKings, FanDuel, and Rush Street Interactive being the first companies to start operating in the market. As far as the Gaming Commission stated, five more corporations will start running a business as soon as they become compliant with the regulatory requirements.
Washington: Cardroom operator Maverick Gaming filed a lawsuit against the state’s decision to grant tribes the exclusive right to offer sports betting. A new legislation was presented, so that this activity would no longer be exclusive to tribes. Racetracks and card rooms should also be allowed to operate in-person and online sports betting on premises only at a tax rate of 10% of the gross win. Betting on e-sports and college sports that take place in the state or involve a team from the state would still be categorized as non-permitted.
South and Central America Updates
Uruguay: The ruling party announced that a bill that aims to approve online gambling will be put before parliament within the first few months of 2022. As suggested, both state and privately run gaming companies would become eligible to offer gambling via the Internet.
Argentina: Legislators in Córdoba Province approved a bill to regulate online gambling. If Governor gives the final approval, the bill would allow for online lotteries, casinos, and sports betting by ten operators. They would compete for the license via a public tender. The suggested validity period of a certificate is 15 years.
El Salvador: The Legislative Assembly passed legislation to greenlight the National Lottery the right to both supervise and run sports betting and online casino games. Introduced in December 2021, the Bill is now waiting for the President’s approval to be passed into law.
Newest Regulations from the Scandinavian Region
Sweden: Once again the government has decided to modify a weekly deposit limit for online gaming operators. The amount is reduced from SEK5k to SEK4k, due to worsened situation with the ongoing pandemic.
Finland: Amendments to the Lottery Act took effect on January 1, 2022, imposing bans on advertising for slot machines as well as payment blocking measures to all illegal online gambling suppliers.
Most Recent Updates from Asia
China: Following competitive procurement processes, the regions of Gansu, Henan, Hebei, Jiangsu, Shanghai, Tianjin, and Zhejiang awarded sports lottery terminal contracts to AGTech.
Singapore: With the amendments made to the country’s gambling legislation, taxes on various activities were increased. Premium gambling taxes grew from 5% to 8% of gross win and 12% on any gross win over S$2.4bn. Also, the taxes were increased from 15% to 18% of gross win and 22% on any gross win over $3.1bn for regular gambling.
Macau: The Assembly approved the amendments to casino legislation by a majority of 30-1 following its first reading, so the number of current casino licenses remained the same- six. It was suggested that the validity period for licenses is 10 years.
Source:
H2 Gambling Capital, January 2022
The post MAIN TITLE: Retrospective of Worldwide Gambling Regulations for January 2022 first appeared on RealMoneyAction.com.