Belgium cuts maximum number of online sports betting licences

A new Royal Decree reducing the maximum number of online betting licences available in Belgium to 30 has been published in the Belgian Official Gazette. The Decree states that the total number of permitted licences allowing for online betting, is to be snipped from 31 for a nine-year period until 31 July 2031. The measure comes after the number of sports betting licences available were reduced last year from 34 to 31. Under Belgian gambling laws, licences are classified into 10 categories, however of these only three include the ability to operate online: A (land-based casino), B (gaming arcades) and F1 (organisers of bets). Class F1+ licences run for a five-year period, requiring payment of a warranty of €75,000. These licences are renewable and all licensed operators are required to pay an annual licence fee. The move is the latest in a series of regulatory changes affecting the Belgian market which have made it a seemingly tougher place to operate for the country’s licensed operators. For instance, legislation to reduce current weekly mandatory deposit limits from €500 (£429.92) to €200 comes into effect in October. A weekly limit is designed to function as a “moving window”, which means that the week is calculated based on the last seven days and moves continuously. Players wishing to deposit more than €200 will have to contact an operator. Operators concerned about the spending of a particular player can contact the Belgian Gaming Commission, which can then check if the player has a record of defaulting on payments on the National Bank of Belgium Central Individual Credit Register. Belgium’s federal justice minister, Vincent Van Quickenbourne, has also put forward plans to ban all gambling advertising in the country by the end of the year. A Royal Decree confirming this ban has been submitted to the European Commission for approval, however this process is currently at a standstill due to a request by the Maltese government to extend the mandatory regulatory standstill period in which potential amendments to the legislation can be tabled. Belgium’s government also came under fire in April when new legislation requiring that players create a new account for each product they wanted to use at an online casino was published. The European Gaming and Betting Association (EGBA) and the Belgian Association of Gaming Operators (BAGO) have both opposed the legislation citing player protection concerns.