Puerto Rico authorizes seven new licenses to operate on-site sports betting

The Puerto Rico Gaming Commission authorized seven new companies to operate sports betting on the island, according to the agency's interim executive director, Jaime Rivera Emmanuelli.

The Commission approved the recommendation of the Sports Betting Bureau to grant licenses to three operating companies and four others, which are service providers that assist in the betting process. Five of them are temporary licenses, the executive indicated.

The authorization was granted after evaluating the profile, trajectory, compliance with tax responsibilities, and financial statements of the applicants, as well as the technical and financial capacities of the companies and their principal shareholders and officers. "In this way, the Commission ensures that they comply with the requirements of the law," said Eric de la Cruz, director of the Gaming Bureau.

Rivera Emmanuelli indicated that the new licenses correspond to three operators, three service providers, and one technology provider, which facilitate the use of the betting machines. The licenses granted to the operators, all temporary, include Ballers Puerto Rico Sportsbook LLC; Liberman Media Group Gaming LLC (LMG); and CCHPR Hospitality LLC (Casino Metro).

Swish Analytics Puerto Rico Inc. and US Integrity In (permanently) and Continent 8 Technologies PR LLC, temporarily, were authorized as service providers. Finally, as a technology platform provider, Caesars Digital PR Inc. was granted permission on a temporary basis.

"The sports betting industry is growing, under the regulations and supervision of the Puerto Rico Gaming Commission. Electronic betting has the potential to be an important source of jobs and the creation of commercial spaces for entertainment. It will also generate new revenues for the Treasury," said Rivera Emmanuelli.

The Secretary of Economic Development and Commerce, who also chairs the Commission, Manuel Cidre Miranda, welcomed this new opportunity and asserted that it will represent an important boost to Puerto Rico's economy.

It should be noted that at present, sports betting is only done in person, but Rivera Emmanuelli explained that the Commission is at the stage of reviewing the internal controls of the operators interested in providing online betting.

To complete the process of issuing the seven new licenses, the companies must make a series of payments to the Government, based on the functions they will perform in the sports betting industry.

The operator, which provides the space to place the betting machines, must pay $50,000. Said operator may or may not be a gaming casino, and is responsible for adopting internal controls in the establishment, covering security aspects and use of technology, as well as the management of the human resource that will interact with the public and assist in placing the bet, he said.

The service provider to the operator must pay $5,000 for the license. The latter is in charge of providing the different services necessary for the operation and functioning of the gaming infrastructure and server programs. While the supplier of the betting technology platform must pay $15,000, it will supply the online or land-based betting platform to be used.