Ireland's First Online Bookmaker Moves To Malta
The first Irish-based
Internet bookmaker, Luvbet.com, has been successful in its bid
to the Maltese authorities for an operating licence. From County
Cork in Ireland, Managing Director of O'Halloran bookmakers, Gary
O'Halloran, expressed his delight: 'We are extremely satisfied
and look forward to setting up operations in Malta. Malta is a
beautiful place to be, away from your own country. There are so
many characteristics that make this island so attractive. The
people, the culture, the facilities, the weather. We are simply
so pleased to be here.' The decision to relocate
Luvbet.com to Malta was influenced by the Irish government's reticence
to reduce its 5.3% betting tax. This is an issue for Luvbet which
had to pay this sum while offering tax-free bets to its customers.
And with the betting tax in Malta at 0.5%, there was no competition.
Gary O'Halloran explained that the 'Irish government has refused
to budge and reduce the tax rate. This would offer us a better
deal. Since nothing has been done to help us, we had no alternative
but to look for an offshore location. We needed better facilities
for this new medium of betting and Malta gave them to us'. In
addition, Mr O'Halloran said 'as things are, we are not able to
compete internationally, but as soon as we begin operating in
Malta, we will be on level ground with all the others.' Mr O'Halloran is
of the opinion that Malta has the potential to become a major
offshore location for on-line bookmakers. He said: 'As the number
of offshore companies increases, so does the competition. However,
I feel that Malta has fixed itself into a competitive place in
the international market. Bearing this in mind, we believe that
coming to Malta will put us in the perfect position to compete
on the world stage.' Mr O'Halloran insists
that although online betting is a relatively fledgling industry,
it will expand significantly in the near future: 'With the advent
of digital television and even more televised sporting events,
the betting industry will experience a huge global activity. I
am sure that Malta will play a central role in the conduct of
such business. Also, the Maltese market is very well regulated
and this will provide a lot of comfort to our clients all over
the world.' .
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