Some great betting sites, such as Parimatch, are available for online bettors. Lots of them wonder whether they can place bets on various types of sports legally. The legislation regulating the sports betting industry differs depending on the country. Let’s find out where sports betting is legal, which types of it are allowed, and how the legalization of the online gambling industry can help to fill the budget.
Countries in Which Sports Betting is Legal
By the legalization of the betting industry, countries can be divided into the following three categories:
- Countries where betting on sports is fully banned. It means that there are no types of sports players can wager on.
- Countries where sports betting is partially banned. Only certain types of sports are available for betting.
- Countries where betting on all types of sports is allowed.
The first category includes such countries as:
- Brazil. Sports betting has been banned in the country since 1946.
- Qatar. It is one of the strictest countries when it comes to all gambling activities. Betting on all types of sports is prohibited there. Moreover, locals are not allowed to play casino games as well.
The second category includes:
- Argentina. Only betting on horse racing on tracks is allowed. Online gambling is prohibited.
- India. Sports betting is allowed in certain Indian states, such as Sikkim and Goa. Some types of gambling activities that gamblers are allowed to engage in include lotteries, horse racing, and casino.
- The Philippines. In this republic, bettors can legally place bets on horse racing, sweepstakes, and lotteries.
The third category is as follows:
- The USA. Sports wagering is allowed by law in certain states. Those that have not allowed it yet are on the stage of preparing the relevant legislation.
- Australia. Initially, it legalized on-track horse racing in 1810 and then sports betting in general in 1980. Some restrictions related to the online betting industry are applied to its advertising on TV and radio at certain times of the day.
- Ghana. In this country, betting on all sports has been legal since 1960.
- Mexico. It has been legal to place bets on all types of sports since 2004.
- Nigeria. Sports betting has been legal in this country since 2005.
- South Africa. Betting on sports in this country was allowed in 1994.
- The UK. Gamblers have been allowed to place bets on all sports since 1961.
How the Legalization of the Betting Industry Can Help to Fill the Budget
This can be judged from the experience of those countries that made sports betting legal. Australia is one of the examples. Thanks to legalizing sports betting, it has managed to significantly increase tax revenue. However, there are ongoing debates on whether this brings more good than harm.
At the same time, it is important to remember that players from those countries where sports betting is banned can place bets on foreign websites in most cases. For instance, Brazilians spend about $1 billion annually on foreign betting websites.
Basically, even if sports betting is prohibited in a certain country, players can still use the services of online bookmakers, which means that they spend their money anyway without filling the government budget.
Bottom Line
Gambling is associated with a range of risks such as addiction and uncontrolled expenditures. That is why this industry should be an object for government regulations. However, due to the emergence of lots of offshore bookmakers, even players from countries where sports betting is illegal can participate in various types of betting activities. Thus, they spend their money bypassing the government budget. Therefore, necessary adjustments should be made to get the right balance.
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