Report SPORTS BETTING - PART 3
this is now available. Licences were dished out to the top five bookmakers – Sazka, Fortuna, Chance, Synot Tip and Tip Sport plus Net and Games, Slot Group, Victoria Tip.
These eight are the only registered legal operators of internet odds betting listed via the Ministry of Finance.
There are strict rules on how the sportsbooks are operated and the most important rule is that online bookmakers must first sign up at a land based office before they can play on the internet. This reduces the chance of underage players placing bets.
The Czech market operates under the 1990 Lottery Act. Although lottery games operated via the internet are not recognised in this act the Ministry of Finance issued the licences for the operation of online fixed odds betting via a clause in the 2008 Czech Gambling Act.
Licences to operate in this field must be obtained via the Ministry of Finance for a period of 10 years.
In 2011 the amendment was added which came into force in 2012 brining in a unified 20 percent withholding tax on the gross win and a 19 percent corporate income tax. Proceeds from taxes are divided between the municipal and state budgets 30:70. The amendment gave more power to local municipalities and permitted casino games online.
National is held in October at these venues. The Jockey Club Ceske Republiky heads the sector.
Some CzK123.9bn was spent on gambling in total in 2013 in Czech whilst CzK95.3bn was paid out in winnings and revenues amount to CzK28.6bn.
The largest increase in revenues came from number and instant lotteries and card tournaments organised by the casinos for online odds betting. VLTs saw the biggest increase.
ONLINE In January 2011, after years of lobbying, the Ministry
of Finance finally issued permits to introduce online sports betting for Czech operators. This was permitted under a clause in the existing 1990 law.
In the past no form of online gaming was permitted in Czech, which included online casinos and online sports books.
With around 100,000 gamblers in Czech there is a huge interest in the online market and it is estimated that CzK4bn was spent previously on foreign online gambling sites in the Czech Republic.
Fortuna has been behind a big lobbying campaign to legalise online gambling and thanks to their efforts
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It did prohibit advertising of offshore betting operators and in 2013 an additional amendment was added so that a quarter of the 20 percent tax to be paid to the Czech Olympic Committee which is apparently under funded.
The law stipulates: l
Fixed odds betting is permitted on sports, sports competitions or other events of public interest and only issued to joint stock companies registered in Czech with a share capital of CzK100m.
Totalisator games permitted on sports and races. Permits issued to joint stock companies with a minimum share capital of CzK100m.
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Horse Racing comes under the 1990 Law on Lotteries. Betting permits again are issued only to Czech state authorised public limited companies with a share capital of at least CzK10m.
One of the problems still is illegal gambling and it is reported that operators of non registered (foreign) online lotteries and betting apparently deprive the state of around CzK1bn in taxes each year.
At the moment the legislation in Czech makes it
hard to either sanction or prohibit foreign operators providing services in Czech whilst is too draconian for domestic firms to flourish.
Saying that, there are around 474 sports betting websites which accept play from the Czech Republic which include about 19 Czech language sites from foreign bookmakers to the local .cz sites.
Popular overseas sites in Czech include Bet365 which is probably the most popular with a Czech language option. 10Bet is another popular bookmaker used online whilst Expekt offer the site in Czech whilst Ladbrokes and William Hill have a translation feature.
Betfair and Betdaq are also popular although commission rates for players were increased to 6.5 percent last year which is higher than most countries.
Players through Sazka can pay via credit card or at a local betting shop or online payment services. Fortuna has a similar option. The foreign bookmakers provide a range of debit and credit card options, bank transfers or e-wallets etc.
A new gaming law is expected by January 2016 in Czech with impacts on future revenues and turnover tax for betting operators in Czech although is unlikely to come into play until 2017. It will mean all foreign operators will have to register and pay taxes in Czech.
A new gaming law is expected by January 2016 in Czech with
impacts on future revenues and turnover tax for betting
operators in Czech although is unlikely to come into play until 2017.
At the moment the government has prepared an amendment to the current gambling law which could see an increase in the tax levy on lotteries next year from 20 percent to 25 percent. The amendment should bring the state an additional CzK2.5bn.
The new law will also include a monitoring system which will show how much money is gambled and who has the licences to operate.
At the moment the average fixed odds betting tax is between 15 and 20 percent. The Association for betting in Czech APKURS says anything above will create huge problems. Internet gambling saw a 128 percent increase in revenues between 2012 and 2013.
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