Well Funded Venture Pushing For Legal Online Gambling in Hungary

A very well funded venture, allegedly backed by an anonymous foreign gambling conglomerate has been working behind the scenes to slowly chip away the reluctance of key politicians to support a liberalized Hungarian online gambling market.

The anonymous group has been seeing a steady twenty two percent annual increase in revenues generated by internet betting from gamblers living in Hungary. The company begun to attempt lobbying politicians to legalize online gambling in the country.

Currently sports betting is prohibited under Hungarian gambling laws, unless it’s done through the government-owned gambling monopoly of Szerencsejáték. The reason behind recently opened dialogue between the company and the Hungarian government is the huge increase in the number of sports betters within the country.

According to statements from the company’s CEO, they are willing to pay taxes of around ten to fifteen percent of the company’s gross profit. The CEO also mentioned they recently left the French market due to high taxes on the online sportsbook operations.

The Hungarian monopoly, Szerencsejáték, is estimated to produce HUF 28.8 billion (approx. $144 million) of the country’s total annual gaming market, which is valued at HUF 50-60 billion.

Industry rumors speculate about high level talks outlining a new framework for Hungarian gambling laws. The framework has to comply with all EU regulations which are aimed at liberalizing and standardize the online gambling market throughout EU member states. The latest dialogue between Hungarian government and the large online betting group is seen as an attempt to get in on the action early.