It’s hard to believe that there was a time when the idea of regulated sports betting in the United States seemed about as likely as reality-TV star becoming President, or the whole world shutting down to help mitigate an out-of-control virus, but here we are. Just two years after the Supreme Court put the decision regarding sports wagering in the hands of the states, plenty of them are doing just that. Now it appears as though Puerto Rico, which is not a US state but is part of the United States, is getting in on the act.
One year after Puerto Rico’s legislature gave the OK for regulated sportsbooks to operate on the island nation, it looks as though they could be up and running within the next few months. According to a report on CalvinAyre.com, Puerto Rico residents could be legally wagering on sports and playing daily fantasy sports (DFS) legally by the end of the year. The report goes on to say that the Puerto Rico Gaming Commission (PRGC) is currently working on moving this project forward.
The PRGC, which currently oversees Puerto Rico’s casinos, will also take the lead on licensing sports betting operators on the island. Under the current draft plans, online operators will be taxed 12 percent of their gross gaming revenue, while land-based operators would be giving up six percent.
Current estimates suggest that regulated sports betting could inject an additional $62 million annually into the country’s coffers. That’s a huge amount of money for a country that was devastated by a hurricane in 2017 and is still rebuilding infrastructure that was destroyed by the storm.