Puerto Rico Rolls Out Sports Betting Licenses
Sports betting is finally growing in Puerto Rico with the country’s Gaming Commission recently approving new licenses for in-person operators. Seven licenses were offered in total for face-to-face betting operations. This has happened nearly one year after the vertical was fully legalized. In this year, the industry has not grown as much as originally projected, but this may be a sign of growth to come.
The Puerto Rico Gaming Commission has plans to expand sports betting. Wei Zeng/Unsplash
No online betting yet in Puerto Rico
The Puerto Rico Gaming Commission issued licenses that are considered “temporary” to the following agents: CCHPR Hospitality, LLC (Casino Metro), Ballers Puerto Rico Sportsbook LLC, Continent 8 Technologies PR LLC, Liberman Media Group Gaming LLC (LMG). Swish Analytics Puerto Rico Inc. and US Integrity Inc. were given permanent licenses. Caesars Digital PR, Inc. was approved as a technology platform provider, a slightly different license type.
In order to receive these licenses and begin operating, the seven companies in question had to follow strict protocols set out by the Gaming Commission when sports betting was regulated. These include making specified payments to the state. These payments are determined by the company’s specific license type and field of operation, rather than being one blanket amount for all.
For example, operators with physical spaces where sports betting kiosks can be fixed must pay a fee of $50,000 USD. This is regardless of whether that operator is also a traditional land-based casino provider, or some other kind of gaming facility. Whatever the establishment type, all sports betting providers must also follow rules regarding the internal controls and security in place, as well as human resource management.
On the other hand, different service providers only must pay a $5,000 USD fee for their licenses. That is for those who operate gaming infrastructure and servers, rather than offering the bets themselves. Finally, a $15,000 USD fee exists for betting technology platform providers. That applies for both online and in-person platforms.
This is eight months after the island state granted its first license to the Casino del Mar, located at Hotel La Concha. The casino-resort was thus allowed to offer sports betting as well as their traditional casino offerings to local clientele and tourists alike.
The commission’s executive director, Jaime Rivera Emanuelli, offered a positive outlook for the future of the industry. He shared that it is indeed growing within the regulatory model and the commission’s supervision. He also pointed to electronic betting as a potential source of economic growth and job creation.
Rivera Emmanuelli also shared some insight about the possibility of online sports betting in Puerto Rico. He said that the commission is looking into the details now and assessing whether to make bets available on mobile devices and personal computing devices, if adequate rules are in place.
For now, in-person bets are charged at a tax rate of 7% of gross income. For future online bets, the tax rate will sit at 12%. This is due to the lower overhead costs for online operators, which means they can expand their businesses more easily than brick-and-mortar providers can.
Illegal gaming in Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico’s Gaming Commission seems set in their protocols for newly-regulated sports betting. So far, all operators have abided by rules, but if they step out of line, they may go the way of slot machine operators within the country. In the last year, the commission has issued extensive fines to illegally operating slot machine providers.
