The implementation of the initiative of the Russian Boxing Federation to create a new unified state regulator of the betting industry can lead to chaos in the industry, the withdrawal of operators from the legal market and a sharp reduction in targeted deductions for sports support from licensed betting shops. This was stated by the President of the SRO “Association of bookmakers” (SRO BC) Darina Denisova.According to bookmakers, there are several main pain points that the initiators of creating a new state regulatory body are attacking. Firstly, it is proposed to liquidate two betting SROs that have been actively functioning for several years already – that is, to break what works effectively. “Legal bookmaker licensees in Russia are now members of two different SROs just to avoid monopolizing the market in anyone’s interests. This is the axiom of business. The initiative of the boxing federation implies the creation of a monopoly. And, strangely enough, this new body should regulate exclusively bookmakers, without touching other segments of the gambling business,” says Darina Denisova. Secondly, the head of the SRO betting company is sure that the betting market is now actively developing, despite the imperfection of the legislation, largely due to progressive initiatives that come from the SRO. As an example, the law adopted in 2019 on the simplified identification of new customers of online betting shops, which allowed domestic operators to begin to compete more effectively for attracting users with illegal offshore offices. “Having destroyed the current status quo in the market, the initiators of the creation of a new state regulator are likely to sow chaos. The ability of the new monopoly body to set any payment commissions for betting shops, “execute and pardon” at its own discretion will return bookmaking to the times when tax revenues to the treasury from the industry were scanty, when betting shops did not want to work “in the white”, Ms. Denisov. In addition, the President of the SRO betting company is sure that at present the regulatory functions of the gambling business on the part of the Federal Tax Service, the Ministry of Finance, Roskomnadzor allow the state to exercise full control over licensed betting. “Bookmakers respect the boxing federation, as well as other national sports federations. One thing is not clear – why the structure that develops only one kind of sport considers it necessary to change the established civilized rules of the game in the whole segment of business,” summed up Darina Denisova.
