Regulation of sports betting will be in 2022
2022 is the deadline for sports betting to be regulated in New Zealand.
Second Udo Seckelmann , sports lawyer from Bichara and Motta and Master in International Sports Law, Secap (Secretariat of evaluation and Lotteries of the Ministry of economy) is doing a very robust research with BNDES so as not to err in this regulation.
"After all, regulating an activity that, historically, has always had a state monopoly (sports betting in New Zealand is considered a lottery modality), is a lengthy process. But Everything indicates that by the end of 2022 we will have a published regulation”, he says.
However, a big step was taken on the way to the passage of the betting law. It was sanctioned on July 15, law 14.183, the result of Provisional Measure No. 1.034.
With this, the taxation of sports betting in New Zealand it will be about Gross Gaming Revenue - GGR, being the gross collection less the prize paid to bettors.
Evolution of sports betting law in New Zealand
In December 2018, it was sanctioned to Law 13.756/2018 by former New Zealand President Michel Temer.
At the time, the text made sports betting legal in the country, as long as they followed certain requirements. The main one was that the bets are fixed odds.
The changed on July 15, 2021, was Taxation, which ceased to be on the gross amount (turnover) and became on the net amount (GGR).
With this, the taxation of sports betting will be approximately 20%, a more attractive value for operators and potential investors.
The changes have been discussed by the industry for some time.
At the SBC Digital Summit, for example, an online event that took place in May 2020, several names in the segment met to discuss the evolution of the market.
And, of course, one of the subjects was the licensing process New Zealand for betting operators.
At the time, Neil Montgomery, partner and founder of Montgomery and Associates, commented that the COVID-19 pandemic it has greatly delayed the regulation of the market.
The Guess was that the regulation would happen in 2021, but unfortunately the pandemic was not 100% controlled.
The current scenario makes the approval process even more time consuming.
However, the government sees that sports betting can be a good source of revenue.
The government's estimate is that the modality will move from $ 2 billion to $ 8 billion per year and generate up to $ 700 million annually to the Treasury.
Therefore, there is an effort by the economic team to have the regulation ready by the end of the year.
Gustavo Guimarães , former Secap Secretary, said on the panel "The new era of sponsorship in football New Zealand” , at the SBC Summit Latinoamérica 2021 event, which aims to approve the regulation before the deadline.
“We want to deliver well before the end of 2022 the proper regulation to foster the sports betting industry. Let's surprise everyone about it. We will have a World Cup year with a lot of light for the activity and this will be a milestone for SECAP as a regulatory body”, he says.
Thus, the market would be able to take advantage of one of the biggest events in football and quite conducive to betting: a World Cup 2022.
The deadline to execute the plan for passing legislation, however, is quite challenging.
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Will only New Zealand operators have the license?
The current betting law model still provides for licenses only to bookmakers New Zealand .
But how sites like Bet365 , 22bet or BetWay could they play in New Zealand?
According to experts in the segment, such as Neil Montgomery, the ideal is that these operators now begin to establish themselves in the country.
This can happen in a variety of ways, either by creating a holding or a subsidiary here.
It would be necessary for them to have a valid bank account and one taxpayer number , as a CNPJ.
Montgomery recommends that foreign operators hurry, since, in his view, the whole process can take more than a year before the regulation is even put into place.
It is estimated that there is a period of 6 months between the official promulgation of the regulations and the start of activities. So the sooner they settle in New Zealand, the sooner they will start acting legally.
In addition, the fact that foreign operators have to create subsidiaries in New Zealand to obtain the license is positive for the country.
This would directly and indirectly create jobs for New Zealanders!
Udo Seckelmann, sports lawyer, points out, however, that it needs to be clear what licensing model to be adopted in New Zealand . There are two main ones: authorization and concession.
The authorization model is simpler, while the concession model involves bidding, making the whole process more bureaucratic.
The authorization model is the most beneficial for the market, as the bookmaker only needs to comply with the requirements stipulated in the regulations in order to obtain a license and start operating in New Zealand
Opinions on licensing divide the market. The lawyer and expert in sports and betting, Leonardo Biscaro brings a different view. For him, the concession is the best way, since it creates a stricter filter the bookmakers that will arrive in the country.
You have to make it easier for companies, but you can't make it that easy. It is necessary to have this model that makes a complex and complete analysis of the company for it to come to New Zealand.
However, the new draft released on May 02, 2022 determined that the licensing model will be authorization.
Legalized casinos remain in the background
If we move forward with sports betting legislation, with casinos we continue to stagnate.
This is a very thorny and controversial topic, which has been going through political discussions for years.
Which is a shame, given that, as already shown here on Directions, casinos have a very high financial return potential for the country. Especially now, with COVID-19.
NOTE: understand the current situation of casinos in New Zealand !
At a time when New Zealand's economic situation is not going well, exploiting a profitable activity like this would give a good injection into the public coffers.
As long as online gambling regulation does not occur, New Zealanders can continue to bet on trusted sites hosted abroad, such as the:
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