Seventh iGaming licence issued in Portugal

Portuguese gaming regulator - Serviço de Regulação e Inspeção de Jogos – has issued the country’s seventh online gambling licence to sports betting operator Figueira Company Praia.

The operator will provide its sports betting offering through its CasinoPortugal.pt website, becoming the third company licensed to hold a sports betting licence in the country, joining Bet.pt and Betclic Everest.

Betclic was the first operator to launch in Portugal’s regulated online market in May 2016.

The Portuguese Council of Ministers implemented legislation in June 2015 to open up the market to international operators, bringing to an end the monopoly of government-owned charity entity Santa Casa da Misericórdia de Lisboa.

Both Betclic and Bet.pt are also licensed to offer online casino in the country, taking the total of operators supplying the vertical in the country’s regulated market to four, alongside Pokerstars.pt and Estorilsolcasinos.pt.

Online casino and poker are taxed at between 15% and 30% of gross gaming revenue, capped once annual income reaches €10m, while Portugal imposes a turnover tax on sports betting of between 8% and 16%.

The regulator revealed that the online gambling market in the country was worth €82.2m between May 2016 and 31 March 2017.