Betclic Everest has become the first company to be awarded a sports betting licence in the embryonic online gambling market in Portugal.
Portuguese language site Betclic.pt offers the chance for gamblers based in Portugal to indulge their desire to win money on worldwide sporting events.
The licence comes a year after new legislation was introduced to encourage applications for online gambling sites, overseen by the Games Inspectorate which is part of Portugal Tourism.
The new legislation launched on July 31st 2015 and the application process that started in September last year saw several well known companies decide to not apply to enter the newly legalised market in Portugal, with William Hill, Betfair and Amaya’s Full Tilt and PokerStars brands all pulling out.
The licensing application details revealed a Portuguese market that was viewed as over regulated, complicated and potentially unprofitable with many well known brands deciding to pull out, thus limiting customer choice.
Betclic Everest Group is a European online gaming site created in 2007 by a French entrepreneur and now is owned equally by Lov Group and La Société des Bains de Mer.
Curiously, the holder of license 001 is registered as Bem Operations Limited of Malta, an offshore location that seemed not to concern the Gaming Inspectorate that is regulating online gambling in Portugal.
