SPAIN
Una Mina de Oro A
After a lengthy process Spain has finally awarded its online gambling licences. Matt Broughton caught up with some of the key players in this newly-regulated market.
fter months of delays, including a last minute request for companies to pay years of retrospective taxes (Spain has raised around 70 million euros in back taxes), the
Spanish government finally granted its first wave of online gambling licences. Not surprisingly, despite around 60 operators having applied for a licence, amongst the first companies receiving licences for the newly regulated market were
bwin.party, Sportingbet and 888 who forked out a combined €50 million in back taxes at the end May. In June Sportingbet paid €17.2m for the time it spent in the Spanish market between January 2009 and May 2012, with the grant of the eGaming license negating part of an injunction which was imposed upon Sportingbet’s Spanish business in March. 888 also carried out a self- assessment tax return and handed over €8.7 million to the Spanish government. However, it was the world’s largest listed online gaming company
Bwin.party which paid a whopping €33.6 million in back taxes for its Spanish operation between January 2009 and May 2011. Back in 2011, Spain accounted for 4% of
bwin.party’s revenues and now the company with a market capitalization of £985.12 million is eagerly anticipating re- entering the lucrative market. Commenting on the good news,
bwin.party Co-Ceos Jim Ryan and Norbert Teufelberger, said: “Our aim is to secure market-leading positions in all five products through leveraging the inherent strength of our two prime brands, PartyPoker and bwin, which has attained high consumer awareness through its sponsorship of Real Madrid, and also through a new, localized brand called Binguez.” Future income from taxing online gaming will be a useful source of revenue for Spain as it struggles to rein in its deficit. The country is a major sporting power and revenues in the sector are estimated to be over 800 million euros in 2014, according to gaming association
50 JULY/AUGUST 2012 Jdigital (previously Aedapi). DE JUEGO DE POKER
Despite having endured a frustrating wait, once the licenses were issued many companies immediately burst into life, such as PokerStars which had its
PokerStars.ES option live at 9am, with all client migration in place by 11am. Spanish accounts trying to log in to the
dot.com site were prompted to switch to
dot.ES, and were given the ability to transfer their balances and VIP points over to the new site. PartyPoker went one step further, pushing out the update and balance transfers to Spanish players automatically. Under the new gaming regulation, stakes up
to €5/10 are permitted, and most games can be spread. PokerStars chose to roll out stakes slowly, currently only offering up to €0.5/1, although all games but Badugi are available. Zoom is not present in the client, but there should be nothing in the Gaming Regulations that prevents it from being added at PokerStars’ discretion.
Ongame also successfully launched, with two
operators and four skins: Paf (who has struck a deal with Unibet to provide Spanish customers with online poker) and Goalwin, which is operating
GoalWin.es,
PokerLoco.es and
PokerMambo.es.
gambling licences issued in Germany, last month said it had reached a 10 million euros settlement with Spanish authorities. Betfair was also in a unique position as its Iberian Regional Manager, Sasha Michaud, represents the online gambling association, JDigital. Casino International Online (CIO) caught up with Sasha shortly after the announcement of the licences.
CIO: Firstly, please can you tell us about your unique position during these
negotiations?
Sasha Michaud (SM) [left]: As representative of the online gambling association Aedapi (now JDigital) my position was to defend the interests
of operators, consumers and payment and technology providers. With such a diverse membership, and considering the complex political structure in Spain, it wasn’t always the easiest task, but via proactive, progressive collaboration I believe we achieved good results.
CIO: What, as you saw it, were the fundamental points that needed addressing within this legislation?
BETFAIR Betfair said it would pay a gross gaming
revenue tax of 25 percent on its Spanish operations - a tax that the company has been paying since May 2011 when Spain’s new gambling act was introduced. The company, which recently won one of the first online
SM: For a number of years the online gambling industry in Spain had been demanding regulation that provided clarity to operators and consumers. Our aim was to end up with regulation that was sensible for all stakeholders concerned, providing sustainable fiscal contributions to the Spanish economy, safe and innovative products for Spanish consumers, and gave responsible operators like ourselves the opportunity to run viable businesses in Spain.
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