G3-247 Report LATVIA MARKET REPORT
In 2006 the legal framework for all gaming operations was adopted which is the law which governs the sector at the moment.
Later in 2011 Viking Lotto was launched which is organ- ised in cooperation with AB Svenska Spel and Danske Spil and Islenska Getspa in Iceland, Norsk Tipping, Veikkaus Oy and Eesti Loto.
Games include Latloto 5 no 35, Keno, Superbingo, Viking Loto, Eurojackpot, Wild and Dzokers7 plus eight scratch cards. Today the most popular games are Sportloto and Sprints scratch card.
Instant lottery tickets can be bought at various shops and kiosks and the company has 1,130 lottery outlets and saw total revenues in 2012 of Ls10.7m. Around 43 per cent is awarded in prize money.
All revenues of the lottery go to the state budget whilst 10 per cent of instant sales and eight per cent of lottery sales is distributed as tax then earmarked for sports and cultural projects.
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At the end of the 1990s Teletoto was given the only legal licence to offer sports betting in Latvia and is set up via two brands – Optibet and Latbet – and together they manage just over 20 betting shops of which the majority are in Riga. Wagers are held on football, basketball, ice hockey and handball in the main.
In 2012 the sports betting market was worth €3m. For a company to set up a sports betting company licences are only issued to capital companies (limited liability company) or a joint stock company established in Latvia with not less than 51 per cent local shareholding (including EU investors). They require a total of €1.4m in paid up share capital minimum. A licence costs €42,690 and an annual registration fee of €42,690. Tax rate for sports betting is now 15 per cent.
SPORTS BETTING Sports betting has a long history in Latvia and in the 1950s the Hippodrome in the capital Riga was the coun- try’s main venue for betting on horse races. However this burnt down in 1965 and sports gambling became illegal until independence in 1991.
Although the first gambling regulations were introduced in 1994 sports betting as a service had almost ceased to exist due to low popularity and the new regulations just made it more complicated.
But as the late 1990s saw casino and slot halls arrive, sports betting began to become more popular and betting points were opened in the larger cities.
The rivalry between foreign online betting organisations and locals led to just one single enterprise licence to pro- vide traditional and interactive sports betting services.
At the end of the 1990s Teletoto was given the only legal licence to offer sports betting in Latvia and is set up via two brands – Optibet and Latbet – and together they manage just over 20 betting shops of which the majority
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