Following suit with the recent trends growing in Europe in terms of online gambling regulations and licensing, Portugal are set to introduce their own national gaming license that will allow online-based gambling companies to operate within the country targeting European audiences. When considering the population in Portugal and the current size of their actual Portuguese gaming market you wouldn’t be surprised that this has been the most sought after legislation to be introduced to the country for quite a while. This can mainly be attributed to the high number of casino gamers living in Portugal, making them an ideal nationality to take on such a challenge.
When considering the implications of such an introduction on the gaming industry as a whole, larger gaming conglomerates have the possibility to expand their operations further by setting up new offices in a very hospitable area, the same obviously applies to smaller companies as licensing is issued with competition in mind. As gaming licenses within the European Union have slightly varying regulations and rules that apply to casinos who hold their license, there is a sense of competition in the market which can be used to incentivise existing gaming companies to move their operations to Portugal from their current licensed nation.
Distribution of licenses from the Portuguese Gaming regulation authority will begin during the first three months of 2016, but what specific country restrictions will apply for the Portuguese players is yet to be announced, only allowing speculation from us regarding what might be next for companies moving their business to the Portuguese gambling market. Expect to see brand new casino, poker, table games and Sportsbook companies holding the Portuguese gaming license coming soon!