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The head of Hungary’s regulator has said that it has not issued any of its new look post-2023 licences to foreign online gambling companies because no one has asked for one.
László Nagy of the multi-sector watchdog the Supervisory Authority of Regulated Activities (SZTFH) said that no companies outside Hungary had applied for an online sports-betting licence after the country amended its laws in late 2023 in response to years of pressure from the EU.
“New legislation came into force, so any company can now launch a website offering online sports betting and gambling in Hungary if it receives a permit. This requires meeting strict, but far from impossible, requirements,” Nagy said in comments to the Magyar Nemzet, a national newspaper in Hungary.
“The rules, which have been in force since the fall of 2023, require, for example, that companies be available in Hungary, that their servers operate here and that they take the necessary player protection steps,” said Nagy.
The regulator did not mention tough provisions in the law that make it highly challenging for many international companies to successfully obtain a Hungarian licence.
These include ruling out any company that has been offering its services illegally in the European Economic Area during the past ten years.
That definition may include providing online casino services to Hungary, which are still subject to a monopoly that some legal observers believe breaches EU laws.
Asked why Hungary had so far issued no new online sportsbook licence since changing its laws, Nagy replied: “No one has asked permission.”
That may also be because some operators are understood to be mounting legal challenges to what they see as unfair licence conditions in Hungary's sports betting regime.
Speaking at ICE in Barcelona earlier this year, DLA Piper local parter Viktor György Radics said that litigation was pending against the regime.
Meanwhile, the regulator said it continues to extensively monitor and block offshore operators from targeting Hungary.
“The situation is the same as before,” Nagy said.
He said that the regulator had blocked 600 websites so far, including some linked to well-known brands.
Many operators cycle through new web addresses to avoid blocks, "but there are also those, and this is our greatest achievement, that give up and withdraw”, Nagy said.
The SZTFH president estimated that the Hungarian black market was worth between HUF50-100bn (€125m-€250m)
He cited Curacao “or another exotic location” as the primary source of bad actors avoiding regulation and taxation in Hungary.
Nagy added that his authority will soon launch an advertising campaign to draw attention to the risks of gambling harm and that there are currently 35,000 registered on the country’s multi-operator self-exclusion system.
