Belgian Gaming Commission issued 23 sanctions in 2020
Belgium’s Gaming Commission has revealed that it handed out €59,958 in fines last year.
Belgium.- Publishing its annual report, the Belgian Gaming Commission (CJH) has revealed that it issued 23 sanctions in 2020.
The regulator reported that it started the year with a backlog of more than 100 cases and that 68 more cases were added during the year. It issued sanctions in 23 of the cases, handing out €59,958 in fines.
It chose not to issue sanctions for 67 of the initial cases, either because no violation of regulations was identified or because of the time that had elapsed.
The CJH’s report also published annual gross gaming revenue (GGR) for the Belgian market. It reported that GGR from casino games rose 16.1 per cent to €326.5m, with €205.1m from the online sector and €121.4m from land-based.
Of the land-based revenue from Belgium’s nine casinos, Brussels brought in the most at €47.3m, followed by Namur at €17.5m. As for online revenue, Spa casino led the way at €50.1m, followed by Blankenberge at €39.1m.
Last year, Belgium introduced a weekly deposit limit of €500 for online gaming as set out in a Royal Decree passed in October 2018.
Slots revenue reached €297.3m – €124.9m online and €163.2m at land-based gaming halls. Online sports betting generated €135.9m, while retail sports betting brought in €206.8m.
The CJH reported that the number of active licensees in Belgium at the end of 2020 stood at 15,997, up from 15,607 in 2019.
Belgian Gaming Commission launches campaign against unlicensed gambling
In April, the Belgian Gaming Commission launched a campaign to tackle unlicensed gambling under the slogan “Always Play Legally”.
Created in consultation with licensed online gaming and betting operators, the campaign will run until the start of the UEFA Euro 2021 tournament on June 11.
It aims to raise awareness of which operators are licensed in Belgium and to educate consumers so they can identify the difference between legal and illegal online gambling platforms.
The campaign has its own website, www.alwaysplaylegally.be, and operators who have received written permission from the CJH will be able to use the Always Play Legally logo.
Earlier this year, Belgium reduced its limit on the maximum number of sports betting licences allowed in the country from 34 to 31.
The Belgian Gaming Commission has also recently introduced new guidelines for gambling advertising.
