Poll results: Portuguese sports betting market commercially unviable

Portugal is unlikely to be a commercially viable market for sports betting operators under current tax measures, according to nearly two-thirds of respondents to this week’s poll.

Last week, Betclic Everest Group went live in the Portuguese online gambling market after becoming the first operator to secure one of the country’s new sports betting licences.

Launched under its Betclic brand, the Paris-headquartered firm will be subject to a basic tax rate of 8% on turnover up to ?30m, while turnover over that figure will be taxed based on a formula (Rate=[8% x (annual gross revenue/?30m)] /100) and capped at 16%.

The decision to tax sports betting on turnover rather than revenue, as is the case for casino, has been criticised in some parts.

And despite Betclic Everest CEO, Isabelle Andres telling EGR that other operators are close to securing a sports betting licence in the region, only 36% of respondents believe the tax is manageable.

A senior figure at a major online gambling firm told EGR last year the regulated Portuguese market would end up with a “handful of licensees and a very large black market”.

And according to 64% of voters in this week’s poll, the turnover tax currently makes the market commercially unviable.