Belgium Market Report


Te Gaming Commission developed the Excluded Persons Information System (EPIS) back in 2004, which is an electronic register of all excluded


players. Players can register themselves or a third party can also submit a


request for exclusion. By mid-2025, there were 180,000+ listed on EPIS: 61,000 direct exclusions; 58,500 excluded because of their profession


(police, notaries, magistrates, etc); 7,200 because of a court decision and 61,000 because of debt.


mestic tourist numbers reached 9.3 million – a two per cent in- crease on 2019 data. International tourism is expected to increase to around 11.4 million by 2028. Te international tourist spend amounted to €10.5bn in 2024.


Te majority of visitors come from neighbouring Netherlands (26 per cent), France, Germany, followed by the UK and the US.


THE GAMBLING LAW


Belgium’s gambling market is governed by the Belgian Federal Act of 1999 which is based on the principle that the operation of games of chance is generally prohibited, with exceptions made via a licence from the Gaming Commission (GC). Te commission was created in 1999 when the law was introduced and is made up of representatives from six ministries. Land-based games of chance and bets require a licence, and these come via five categories:


1. A Licence – for casinos. A casino is classed as a Class 1 gaming establishment. Tere are only a maximum of nine casinos allowed in Belgium in certain cities/locations. Licences are issued for a renewable 15-year period. 2. B licence – for gaming arcades which can operate slots and automatic games. No table games are permitted. Gaming arcades are Class II establishments which cannot be located in the vicinity of schools, hospitals, etc. Licences are issued


144


for nine years, renewable. Te number of arcades is limited to 180 and this is currently complete. 3. C licence – Tis licence is for a Class III gambling estab- lishment (bars) and there is no limit and licences are issued for five years, renewable. A licensee can install a maximum of two bingo machines and a maximum of two machines with reduced stakes. Players must be 21 years old to play and ID is required. Tere are more than 4,000 bars with gaming in Belgium. 4. F1 licence – for betting. Te F1 licence is for the organisation of bets and F2 for the acceptance of bets. Betting shops are Class IV gambling establishments. Tere are four categories of F2 licences, including for betting shops (class IV fixed es- tablishments), bookmakers, newsagents (bookstores) and racing associations. Class IV establishments can be fixed or mobile, with a distance of 1km between each betting office. F1 licences are issued for nine years, renewable and there are 30 F1 licences at present which is the limit and more than 400 betting agencies. 5. F1P licence - for horse race betting and issued for nine years, renewable.


Tere are two further licences available for ancillary matters including the D licence issued for employees working within the sector and the E licence for the sale, rental, finance, production,


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58  |  Page 59  |  Page 60  |  Page 61  |  Page 62  |  Page 63  |  Page 64  |  Page 65  |  Page 66  |  Page 67  |  Page 68  |  Page 69  |  Page 70  |  Page 71  |  Page 72  |  Page 73  |  Page 74  |  Page 75  |  Page 76  |  Page 77  |  Page 78  |  Page 79  |  Page 80  |  Page 81  |  Page 82  |  Page 83  |  Page 84  |  Page 85  |  Page 86  |  Page 87  |  Page 88  |  Page 89  |  Page 90  |  Page 91  |  Page 92  |  Page 93  |  Page 94  |  Page 95  |  Page 96  |  Page 97  |  Page 98  |  Page 99  |  Page 100  |  Page 101  |  Page 102  |  Page 103  |  Page 104  |  Page 105  |  Page 106  |  Page 107  |  Page 108  |  Page 109  |  Page 110  |  Page 111  |  Page 112  |  Page 113  |  Page 114  |  Page 115  |  Page 116  |  Page 117  |  Page 118  |  Page 119  |  Page 120  |  Page 121  |  Page 122  |  Page 123  |  Page 124  |  Page 125  |  Page 126  |  Page 127  |  Page 128  |  Page 129  |  Page 130  |  Page 131  |  Page 132  |  Page 133  |  Page 134  |  Page 135  |  Page 136  |  Page 137  |  Page 138  |  Page 139  |  Page 140  |  Page 141  |  Page 142  |  Page 143  |  Page 144  |  Page 145  |  Page 146  |  Page 147  |  Page 148  |  Page 149  |  Page 150  |  Page 151  |  Page 152  |  Page 153  |  Page 154  |  Page 155  |  Page 156  |  Page 157  |  Page 158  |  Page 159  |  Page 160  |  Page 161  |  Page 162  |  Page 163  |  Page 164  |  Page 165  |  Page 166  |  Page 167  |  Page 168  |  Page 169  |  Page 170  |  Page 171  |  Page 172  |  Page 173  |  Page 174  |  Page 175  |  Page 176  |  Page 177  |  Page 178  |  Page 179  |  Page 180