The Belgian administration has put into effect new gambling limitations as part of a revised law that applies to the nation’s newsstands. These restrictions encompass wagering limits, betting times, and promotional constraints.
The Belgian Gaming Commission clarified that the modifications to the initial Royal Decree of December 2010 came into force on March 5th of this year, following its approval on February 17th.
The original decree permitted newsstands to accept retail wagers. However, the new regulations will restrict the degree to which gambling can become a primary source of revenue for these newsstands.
Under the new rules, newsstands can only accept wagers between 6 am and 8 pm, and the total sum of bets placed at each outlet cannot surpass €250,000 (£209,000/$276,000) per year.
Furthermore, newsstands must showcase at least 200 distinct current daily, weekly, and monthly publications and must generate at least €25,000 in yearly sales from these publications.
Each outlet cannot exceed a total advertising area of 3 square meters for betting advertisements, both within and outside the store. Betting advertisements cannot exceed 20% of the total advertising space at the outlet.
In physical newsstands, the wagering zone cannot surpass one-fifth of the overall retail space, and the total area cannot exceed 10 square meters.
For newsstands already possessing an F2 permit, officials have granted them until the first of January of the following year to adhere to the new rules. These regulations encompass: a maximum of four terminals or “electronic applications” can be provided for processing wagers, the proportion of betting income in the total annual revenue of the newsstand is limited to 20%, and new restrictions on advertising and wagering areas.
However, they must comply with other regulations immediately – including entering into non-exclusive agreements with betting operators holding F1 permits.
Establishments that do not comply are required to surrender their F2 licenses “to prevent penalties.”
According to the commission’s online platform, there are presently 1,543 newsstands offering betting services throughout the country, with over 200 in Brussels, Antwerp, and Hainaut province.
Belgium has issued various types of F2 licenses, in addition to those obtained by newsstands, betting shops, gambling companies, and horse racing organizations can also apply. F1 licenses are exclusively held by betting operators, while F1+ licenses are given to online betting operators.
