Puerto Rico sports betting looks like the next legal sports betting frontier! That’s because outgoing Governor Ricardo Rosselló signed the Betting Committee Act on July 29, which authorizes betting on sports, eSports, and fantasy leagues on the island.
Likewise, now that legal sports betting is working its way through many states in the United States, check out states like Indiana and Illinois that have recently legalized sports betting. That way you can get a feel for what PR sports betting will probably look like.
Puerto Rico Sports Betting in 2019
The bill was trumpeted a few weeks ago by Ricardo Rosselló, the Governor of Puerto Rico. This bill legalizes Puerto Rico sports betting. Also, the bill includes esports betting, which is a great step forward.
A case in the Supreme Court called Murphy versus the NCAA in the United States of America back in the past year paved the way for the implementation of legal sports betting nationwide. This is also true for legal online sports betting, also nationwide. Many forget that Puerto Rico has also been a member of the USA since 1917, though not as a full state.
But, that also means it paved the way for most PR sports betting in addition to US sports betting. Sports betting in the US and its legalization are projected to rake in a revenue of $3 billion yearly to the United States by 2024.
US Sports Betting Overview
From recent data, eight states have decided to allow legal bets on sports events. Also, there are three US states plus Washington D.C. that have legislative approval. Additionally, there are 23 states that have begun the process of introducing and approving legislation to do so.
Plus, 7 of the US states have the hopes to enact their own legal sports betting. Only 9 total states still have yet to release any statements on ideas or legislation when it comes to their own legal sports betting.
Governor Ricardo Rosselló, the current Puerto Rican governor, has hopes to duplicate the profit and new success that has been found so far in the United States with his own Puerto Rico sports betting.
An Economic Windfall for Puerto Rico
The governor estimates Puerto Rico may have the chance of getting somewhere in the range of $44 million to $66 million of yearly profits from the Puerto Rico online sports betting plan. Plus, an additional independent study released by people at the office of the governor approximates an estimated $68 million of profits for the country by just the year 2023!
Concerns about this fresh plan for Puerto Rico sports betting legislation causing the cannibalization of the already operating Puerto Rican casinos have so far been brushed away. The office of the governor of Puerto Rico believes the legislation will be able to appeal to a completely new and fresh group of people than any current group already targeted by the currently operating casinos on the island.
The Puerto Rico sports betting new legislation will involve the creation of money for the Department of the Treasury. This revenue will be from new licenses to operate as well as from taxing plays as well as prizes. It also contains a potential 6 percent tax rate for any bets placed in person, plus a proposed 11 percent rate of tax for any online bets.
Puerto Rico online sports betting would fall under that umbrella. These tax rates will be as low as any rate in the United States and the governor’s office hopes that will help bolster Puerto Rico sports betting and Puerto Rico itself to become the most desirable tourist destination for legal betting.
Puerto Rico eSports Betting
The Puerto Rico sports betting legislation seeks to additionally allow esports. This would authorize Puerto Rico online sports betting on such popular games like Madden, Rainbow Six, Gears of War, and Fortnite.
Roselló stated he feelings on the betting market for legal online sports and how he feels it is not regulated properly in the current United States areas that allow legal gambling.
The governor’s office has said that approximately 400 million players enjoy video games and other electronic games. Together they make up a demographic worldwide audience of younger players. These electronic games can be considered a segment that is growing in the legal betting community.
Also, the office estimates that this faction of the ever-expanding gaming industry could have an economic impact of more than $3 billion by 2024, worldwide.
A Growing Industry
The governor does hope that his office’s proposed legislation to create legal online sports betting can and will put Puerto Rico in the position as a tourist and vacation destination that is known to promote the enjoyment of esports as well as Puerto Rico online sports betting. The hope is to attract this investment in the struggling economy of Puerto Rican.
Puerto Rico will use the money that is expected to come in from the newly formed Puerto Rican sports betting legislation and industry to invest back into the economy of Puerto Rican.
They will do this in a variety of ways. Some examples include: helping to lower the cost of retirement of all pensioners, as well as for programs that will be aiming at the promoting of youth programs like youth sports, more advanced equipment for police and other law enforcement agencies, also educational initiatives, the newly important services to help the potential rise in addiction to gambling, as well as paying for any new costs coming from the newly enacted legislation.
Puerto Rico Horse Racing
You have now read a lot about the practicalities of the process to legalize Puerto Rico sports betting. Now that you know about that, the next step is to see how it is possibly going to look when it is enacted. We could not and cannot be positive just yet how exactly things will look and work.
However, what we can do is take a gander at the way the states already allowing legal sports betting have practiced their respective sports betting legislation in action for a clue of what Puerto Rico may be headed toward.
A large part of the betting culture in the US and worldwide has been betting on horse racing. Horse racing betting in Puerto Rico will look a bit different than it does in the states already taking legal bets. This is because licenses for sports betting given to licensed horse-betting agencies who will then receive a discount of 50 percent for the first ten years.
Growing PR Horse Racing
The hope is to help Horse Racing Puerto Rico to expand in a timely fashion. An interesting fact to note concerning horse racing Puerto Rico can be looked at here: the conquistadors first brought horse racing to Puerto Rico. Surprisingly, there is a single horse racetrack located in Puerto Rico. But, that is expected to increase after this enactment of Puerto Rico sports betting legislation.
The only functioning horse track is The Camarero Racetrack, previously called El Comandante Racetrack. At the Camarero Racetrack, the owners run horse races on Sundays each week. There is also the yearly Clásico del Caribe.
Even though there is only one functioning racetrack in the country, horse racing Puerto Rico will probably be a lot like how current legal sports betting states in the US have handled their horse race betting. A significant portion of the betting on horse races tends to take place online.
There are plenty of legal online sports betting websites in the United States at the moment. And, most of these sites work with betting on horse races. Horse racing Puerto Rico potentially does not look like the best market at the moment, due to the very small amount of racetracks in the country.
However, Puerto Rico eager to jump right into the world of legal online sports betting can look online for their horse race betting needs.
Key Features of Online Horse Race Betting
The favored horse race companies that have legal online sports betting websites usually have some key features across the board. Luckily, the majority of these current sites have apps up and running, allow for them to be convenient to use when you are on the move. The most trafficked sites tend to have races that can be from many, many locations across the globe, usually hundreds.
These websites usually list the current betting odds for the competing horses in the races in an easy to digest way. They also tend to incorporate a live stream, meaning you can then enjoy any race you placed your bet on in real-time.
Additionally, the majority of the top horse race betting websites have desirable welcome offers. These usually include promos such as getting cash back as well as first-time deposit matching, usually only for customers at the time of sign up.
Football Betting in Puerto Rico
So, you’ve probably learned a lot about the arena of legal online sports betting. We’re sure you’re especially interested in Puerto Rico sports betting. Likewise, you might be wondering how to actually place legal bets. The most popular sport in the world is football (known as soccer when you’re in the United States).
Puerto Rico football betting is most likely going to account for a sizeable part of the online sports betting industry in Puerto Rico. Because of that, you are probably curious how to bet on football online in Puerto Rico.
Puerto Rico sports betting, and especially Puerto Rico Football betting will probably mirror the look and feel of the majority of the US states that have previously enacted legislation for online sports betting.
Puerto Ricans seeking answers for how to bet on football online will most likely looking into browsing the same websites as the citizens of US states that are currently up and are now running with their own specific online sports betting industries.
Sports Betting Apps in Puerto Rico
Currently running websites tend to have many interesting features in common with each other. As written above, the majority of top websites have apps for iOS and Android. These already available betting apps make it easy and attempt to teach you how to bet on football online. They attempt to keep the feel of desktop websites.
The top sports betting websites will also usually feature football (aka soccer) games taking place around the globe, adding up to dozens of matches worldwide. The websites will also feature the betting odds so you are able to decide your own maximum betting amount, but the betting odds will always be different from game to game.
Though they tend to be updated as soon as new numbers are available, so it’s important to check back on the site frequently. Excitingly, the best sites enable you to be able to bet on many college games.
And again, as I wrote before, the majority of the best websites also need to compete with all of the others to win customers’ patronage. They do this by offering such incentives as great welcome offers, like cashback or first-time deposit matches, to new customers. Additionally, many sites offer promotional offers during the sports seasons, changing from season to season. These sites should be looking to expand into the Puerto Rico sports betting action now that it has been announced.
Sports Betting Regulation in Puerto Rico
So, you have learned so much around how to do your Puerto Rico sports betting. You must wonder how this legislation will be governed.
Smartly, the Puerto Rico sports betting legislation calls for the government to create a brand new Gambling Commission. This fresh Gambling Commission has a blueprint outlined that is not dissimilar to that of the US states that have currently enacted sports betting legislation for themselves.
Puerto Rico Gaming Commission
This new commission would consist of seven persons from the public as well as the private sector. Additionally, it would also be in charge of regulating sports betting. This also includes equestrian sports such as horse racing Puerto Rico, as well as electronic games. And also anything and everything else that comes up that falls under their jurisdiction.
Once created, the Gambling Commission will be the entity in charge of sports betting regulation. However, the Financial Institutions Commissioner’s Office (OCIF) will be in charge of running the Commission. Its duty as of right now is to oversee games of chance.
PR sports betting legislation has also outlined that it will have safeguards to prevent underage gambling. This means that children who are currently under 18 will be barred from any form of sports betting.
Seeking Investment
Also, the government of Puerto Rico seeks to prevent the issue of gambling addiction. They hope to avoid a rise in addicts from the new access to legal betting. Likewise, the Puerto Rican government expressed concern about the ability for money laundering and tax evasion. Thankfully, they are seeking to combat that already.
The best sports betting sites operating in America have safeguards in place. These ensure they follow the laws of their state to the letter. Legal sites mandate you be of legal gambling age and in-state to bet. Additionally, Self Exclusion lists prevent problem gamblers from creating an account. We anticipate that Puerto Rico online sports betting will very likely have similar rules and regulations.
In Conclusion, PR Sports Betting
Of course, the PR Sports betting legislation has not yet been put into action. But, it will be enacted in the coming months. And, it might be beneficial to Puerto Rico’s struggling economy. This means that the government will want to proceed with the legislation as fast as possible. Puerto Rico is likely to become a huge player when it comes to the legal sports betting world.
But, keep in mind that the world of sports betting is constantly changing. So, it is nearly impossible to predict precisely what legal sports betting in Puerto Rico will be like.
No matter what it will be like in practice, there’s no denying that this is a great step. The tax revenue, plus a projected tourism boom, can grow the economy. Hopefully, we’ll see soon enough.
Check out which operators are planning to go live in Puerto Rico:
Metrobets with Caesars Sportsbook | Ballers Sportsbook | ZingSports Puerto Rico
