Online Casino and sports betting officially separated in Belgian license
The divorce is official: Belgian online casinos may no longer offer sports betting and online casino games together on the same platform.
This was decided by the Belgian Supreme Court, after it had already reached the same conclusion in 2018.
By now, most casinos are already using a provisional measure that was introduced in response in 2019, but for Betway it could mean the end of the online license in Australia.
Different licenses and unfair competition
Just like almost all countries with an online gambling license, Australia also has different categories for a license. A casino that wants to offer multiple ways of betting must therefore apply for a separate license for each form. In the case of online casino games, it is an A+ license, while for sports betting, an F+ license applies.
This is a familiar face online. Big names in the field of betting often also offer an online casino, while vice versa, many casinos also add a so-called’sportsbook ‘to their offer. However, the company behind Belgian gaming halls Rocoluc found this unfair and discrimination. After all, according to the law, this company is not allowed to combine these two licenses in the same establishment.
According to Rocoluc, however, an online casino was also the same establishment, so the law was not unambiguous. That idea was assessed by the court as correct in principle in 2018 and has now been confirmed again.
Anyone who has experienced a Belgian website up close knows that Unibet still offers a casino and a place for sports betting. What is always the case is that the two places are clearly different: each section on the website has its own promotions and its own URL. With this, Unibet still meets the requirements. The idea is that a domain is a brand name, while a precise URL would be the establishment.
Another story for Betway
The casino Betway opposed this, because it had been licensed under the "old rules". As a result, the license has been revoked and the company, unlike other casinos, has to re-register for both licenses. An additional disadvantage is that in Australia all online casinos must be linked to a physical casino. Because the number of physical casinos is legally limited to nine, there are also only nine online casino licenses to distribute.