Bulgaria H1 online revenues top £12.5m
Changes to Gambling Act pay off after a raft of European operators enter the market
Bulgaria’s regulated online gambling industry was worth £12.5m in revenues in the first half of the year, according to figures released by the country’s State Gambling Commission (SGC).
The results come off the back of a number of changes made to Bulgarian gambling law in December last year in a bid to attract more foreign operators to the market.
The changes included replacing its unattractive 15% tax on stakes with a one-off licensing fee of approximately £40,000 and a 20% tax on gross gaming revenue.
Since then the Bulgarian regulator has received licence applications from European operators such as PokerStars, Betfair, NovaBet, Eurobet, and bet365.
Betfair and PokerStars are already live and taking wagers from players in Bulgaria, with the market set for further growth with bet365 likely to enter the fray in the second half of the year.
Bulgaria has not ring-fenced its online poker liquidity unlike Italy, Spain and France, meaning its players can go up against a dot.com player base.
Last year the SGC drew up a blacklist of unlicensed sites with a total of 20 operators, including bet365 and Betfair, named on the list.