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Belgium Tightens Reins on Gambling in News Outlets
By Shane Addinall Mar 23, 2022 IndustryNewsagents in Belgium may still offer gambling services, but the government has helped to realign their focus. New legislation details how much news and how little gambling they may sell.Newsagents in Belgium had their smokescreens lifted by the government through amendments to the Royal Decree of 2010. On the 5th of March, news shops in the European country had their gambling allowances heavily minimised in an attempt to curb the abuse of loopholes, according to Belgian ministers.
Along with decreasing high gambling revenues in news shops, the government hopes that the new laws lead to a drop in problem gambling in the country. Gambling addiction has increased since the onslaught of the pandemic and access limitations may pave the way to lower rates.
The increased gambling numbers with newsagents came under heavy scrutiny when a gambling company, Golden Palace, scooped up a section of the state-owned postal company, Bpost.
The government signed off on the new laws in February and Belgium’s gambling regulator gave current licence holders until January 2023 to get their ducks in a row.
Smoke and Mirrors
The adoption of digital media by the masses hit retail news outlets hard across the globe. To mitigate the drop in revenues, Belgium introduced laws to allow newsagents some leeway in how they generate income. The Royal Decree of 2010 permitted retail news outlets to offer gambling on their premises as long as over 50% of their annual turnover came from selling media publications.
These newspaper and magazine shops could house up to four slot machines and accept wagers on behalf of licensed sportsbooks in the region. According to ministers, certain agents abused the practice and used loopholes. Essentially running a news shop as a gambling house.
Vincent Van Quickenborne, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Justice in Belgium, commented on current trends and said:
“There are newsagents where more than €4 million is wagered every year. These are shocking amounts.”
Because these stores do not limit customers according to age or prohibit problem gamblers, they fuel the concerning trend of gambling addiction in the country and expose minors to gambling. The new laws ensure newsagents remain media outlets predominantly and use gambling as a side revenue.
Advertising and Revenue Limits
Lawmakers, in consultation with legitimate newsagents, decided on a list of new regulations specifically linked to newsagents. Some of these are effective immediately and others must be in place by 1 January 2023. Outlets who do not wish to comply must surrender their licence or face sanctions.
Newsagents may generate a maximum annual turnover from all gambling activity in their store worth €250,000 if they offer at least 200 different and current newspaper and magazine titles. A minimum annual turnover from non-lottery products must exceed €25,000 to qualify for an F2 licence and gambling revenues may not exceed more than a 20% share of their income.
Customers may only wager in the shop between 6 am and 8 pm where a maximum number of terminals is 4, including sportsbook computers and lotto machines. They capped daily stakes accepted at news shops at €200 and agents must switch off their gambling devices when this limit is met.
A dedicated space for all gambling equipment may not exceed more than one-fifth of their shop and only 20% of their external advertising may contain gambling material. Minister Van Quickenborne said:
“One-fifth of the turnover may come from gambling, one fifth from advertising and one fifth from the shop space. No more. This is the end of the newsagent as a backdoor to the gambling industry.”
While many newsagents struggle with revenues following another drop in sales with the decrease in cigarette purchases, most of them already adhere to these stipulations. According to the Gaming Commission, approximately 17% will need to adjust systems to lower gambling revenues, but 87% of the professional association of newsagents already meet most requirements.
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