Puerto Rico legislature passes sports betting bill
A bill to regulate sports betting in Puerto Rico is headed to Governor Ricardo Rosselló Nevares to be signed into law after passing the unincorporated US territory’s legislature.
Rosselló, who has previously claimed the legislation could turn Puerto Rico into a “state-of-the-art jurisdiction” for sports betting, is likely to ratify the bill.
The bill was passed by a conference committee formed of members from the Puerto Rico House and Senate, to reach a consensus on differences between the bills passed by each chamber. These differences largely centred around social responsibility concerns, such as a requirement that no point of sale can be located within 100m of a school, rehabilitation centre or religious venue.
PC2038 establishes the Gambling Commission, a body created through the legislation, which will be led by a seven-strong board of directors, and a commissioner appointed for a ten-year term. This body will replace the existing regulatory bodies, the horse racing regulator Administración de la Industria del Deporte Hípico and the Division of Gaming.
It sets out a 7% tax on gross gaming revenue from land-based betting, and a 12% tax for online operations, higher than the originally proposed rate of 6% of land-based GGR and 11.5% for online.