Pagcor to reduce POGO licenses

The gaming regulator from the Philippines wants to reduce the number of accredited POGO to avoid oversaturation.

Philippines.- The Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (Pagcor) announced on Monday its plans to cut the number of online gambling operators in the country to 50 in order to avoid saturation in the market.

Assistant Vice President of Pagcor’s Offshore Gaming Licensing Department, Jose Tria Jr, said that Pagcor is trying to impose the measure to limit the number of Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGO) until they’re sure that the amount of players is not growing exponentially and saturates the demand. “We need to evaluate first if the industry is already oversaturated. [The measure] depends on the evaluation. The saturation of the market can be seen in the audit system. If the income of each operator goes down from the previously reported, this means there are too much operators,” he added.

Pagcor affirmed that they’re expecting to generate approximately US$120 million in taxes annually from POGO licensees. “We are looking at more or less US$60 million in taxes, POGO alone. If we are able to streamline operations, it can go as high as US$120 million a year, in tax revenues,” he added.

Last month, Pagcor announced its plan to introduce a new type of online gambling license that will include operators that offer sports betting in markets regulated by foreign bodies. Pagcor posted a release on its website that explains the new license for “Sportsbetting on Regulated Wagering Events.”