Poll results: Operators can find success in Portugal
Respondents to this week's poll says conditions of newly regulated market shouldn't stop operators from turning a profit
Portugal’s new regulatory and taxation framework represents a viable commercial opportunity for operators, respondents to this week’s eGaming Review poll have said.
Following news that Portugal’s new regime entered into law at the end of June, eGR asked whether the conditions laid down by the Portuguese authorities represented a profit-making opportunity for operators.
The country’s taxation rate has been a discussion point for many companies eyeing up a potential entry into the Portuguese market with a sports betting tax rate on turnover of 8% up to 30m and rising to 16% thereafter. Gaming, meanwhile, will be taxed on revenues up to 30%.
The tax regime has led a number of experts to predict Portugal will end up with relatively few licence applications and a substantial black market, but with new opportunities proving elusive within regulated Europe it may yet prove to be too difficult to ignore for some of the major brands.
And following a late rush of votes in what was a tight poll, 43% of respondents said the country’s new regime, which opens up current monopoly Santa Casa de la Misericordia to outside competition, would be commercially viable and would attract the attention of most major operators.
That view was backed-up the decision made by PokerStars, which last week said it would be “first in line” for a licence once they become available later this year.
However, PKR recently confirmed it would not apply for a licence in the country after describing the market as “unviable”, a view which chimed with 37% of respondents who said the high tax rates would deter operators from applying for a licence.
Meanwhile, the remaining 20% of readers were caught somewhere in the middle, believing the regime would manage to attract a small number of operators, including a handful of big brands.