Gaming industry needs educated political leaders

The rulers have to know the industry’s character.

One of the biggest challenges in the gaming industry is to educate political leaders and those who are responsible for making the decisions on state level. This was commented by Robert Stocker - Member, Dickinson Wright PLLC/Past President, International Masters of Gaming Law (IMGL), on press conference during the 5th edition of the Eastern European Gaming Summit (EEGS) which was held on 14-15 October 2012 at the hotel “Metropolitan”, Sofia.

According to Stocker, the rulers should be aware of the true character of the gaming industry and when the regulators make decisions to create framework that facilitates removal of the grey market and to stimulate tourism and the income from that activity, announces Econ.bg. "One of the main differences between the situation in the USA and Europe, including Bulgaria, is the fact that we – in the United States - are aware of the potential that the gaming industry has as regards tourism”, commented Stocker.  According to him, Bulgaria is a wonderful country with very good seaside, great ski resorts, lovely SPA centers and complexes. Gaming industry should be developed on a way to stimulate developing of the casinos and gaming halls in the resorts including gaming halls which are situated in the big cities. Regarding this, the regulator should take few things in mind.

First – the smoking ban. Stocker explained what the ban has caused when it was introduced in some states in the US. “That ban is not a fact in all the jurisdictions in the USA - rather in a small percentage of them. In the states where such ban was introduced, the casino industry lost 10% of its income” he said. When a regulator decides to introduce a smoking ban it is better to be considered whether this ban should be applied to all public places. This specific range of places like casinos and gaming halls should be excluded, the expert thinks.

As regards to the ban of the advertising of gaming industry, Stocker said “If you will develop tourism in the country, a part of which is the gaming industry, it is better this decision to be reconsidered. In the United States there is not such ban”. The aim of this ban is to reduce the problem with the gambling addiction, but advertising is not a crucial factor according to increasing or decreasing the number of the problematic players. Such kinds of addicts are 1-2% from all the players. These people certainly know about casinos and gaming halls’ existence and do not depend on advertising to focus on them. The purpose of the advertising of such kind of activity is rather to stimulate and to attract more tourists to gaming halls. Stocker’s suggestion to the Bulgarian regulator is to reconsider his position regarding the full advertising ban.

According to taxation – in Bulgaria the taxation changes are not still finalized (talking about additional regulations (statutory instruments), which will determine the fees that operators have to pay). “When we talk about taxation of that type of activity, it should be considered that before calculating the net costs we have to deduct the loss. In the USA this is the basis on which the taxation is imposed, which means that before calculation of the tax base, the operators’ losses should be considered”, he said. In Stocker’s opinion, the taxation is related to the tourism and to that how attractive some destination would be to the tourists, who are searching for entertainment in the gaming industry.  Related to this, he gave an example with Nevada. The Windsor Casino, situated on the border between USA and Canada, manages to attract hundreds American players, basically with the fact that it has announced that the profits of the US citizens are not taxed. Thus, this casino is a very serious attraction for these players. "My appeal to the Bulgarian country is that if it will develop a comprehensive program for the gaming industry or a plan of action for the near future, is to consider the impact of taxation on tourism.

Regarding remote gaming – Stocker congratulated the Bulgarian government for the courage to regulate that issue so strictly and so early in time comparing other countries.  “It is commendable that you have realized that this huge grey market is a fact and that it is better for it to be regulated in order to be brought to the light and the state to have revenue from it”, said Stocker. "For example, in the USA we do not have a law regulating remote gaming. The only state which has introduced such law is state of Nevada. So this means that in the USA everything is made step by step. First it is expected every state to take the initiative and after that the Federal government to take a step in that way”, the expert added.

by Elitsa Elefterova