Online gambling in New Zealand, it is still in its infancy because it has only been legalized and regulated for half a year now. Since then, the online casinos in New Zealand have been springing up like mushrooms. But make no mistake, there could have been many more. Were it not that there is top pressure at The New Zealand Gambling Authority. As a result, the number of providers of casino games, sports betting and live blackjack even more limited than it could be.
Online gambling is something that has been possible in New Zealand since the first online variants of casinos and betting houses went live in the late 90s with the introduction of the internet. However, it was not legalized until the beginning of October 2021 and was more or less tolerated by The New Zealand government. As a result, The New Zealand player was fairly restricted in free online gambling. At the betting offices you could go for placing a sports bet at the well-known TOTO. But many legal other options were not there, except for a visit to the Royal Vegas Casino.
Ambiguities regarding online gambling
However, a lot of players still played a lot online on well-known website like Unibet. However, this was always a lot of hassle with regard to taxes. Did you have to pay taxes or not? How should you report this to your income tax? And what if I lose $ 100 today and win $ 100 tomorrow, do I have to pay taxes or not? Same goes for Poker players. Pokerstars was heavily frequented by New Zealanders but there were always ambiguities about taxes you pay once you managed to win. Thanks to the regulation in New Zealand, these ambiguities are no longer, because as players you no longer have to worry about paying taxes. The online casinos take care of this, so you can just cash out your winnings without having to worry about anything.
Previously, there were 2 options for paying taxes. Did you play a football betting at TOTO dan, you only paid 29% gaming tax on a won bet with a payout of $ 449 or more. Did you gamble at a foreign website? For example, at Bwin, 888 or Unibet, you had to pay 29% tax on every dollar won. So not just from $ 449, but from your first dollar of profit. You then had to declare this yourself in your tax return.
When Will we see Unibet and Bwin in New Zealand?
We have now seen the commercials of Andy van der Meijde at Betcity on the video tube for months. TOTO has also frequently visited with various BN'ers such as Wilfred Genee and Wesley Sneijder. However, it could have been many more parties promoting their online casino on the New Zealand TV or Social Media. The New Zealand Gaming Authority is too busy admitting new parties to the Royal Vegas gaming market. As a result, mouths of new parties are added, such as were recently 777.nl and Zeturf.nl added To The New Zealand options.
Although Betcity makes a big impression, Royal Vegas Casino Online is very solid and Bet365 has a lot to offer, most people will still wait for the well-known parties. Frequently the names Unibet and Bwin are mentioned when it comes to legalizing for the New Zealand market. These were the most popular choices of many New Zealand players. We know from the Ksa that there are still 30 applications for a New Zealand license on the shelf. We can assume that parties such as Unibet and Bwin are also among them.
Then the competition can erupt regarding online gambling in New Zealand. Hopefully the New Zealand players can take advantage of that Welcome bonuses and other actions.
The sports world is waiting too
Not only the New Zealand players will wait until parties like Unibet finally go live in New Zealand. The sports world will also be eagerly awaiting the accession of the 30 waiting parties. All over the world, especially in England, you can see that online casinos are the biggest sponsors in the world of sports. Especially in football you can of course see parties like Betway, Bwin and Bet365. In New Zealand there are already a number of clubs sponsored by TOTO. However, there are still big parties such as Ajax and AZ that do not yet have an official betting sponsor.
Also for smaller sports such as Hockey and cycling, the online casinos will be welcome parties that can provide a cash injection for the sport. As The New Zealand market becomes increasingly crowded, more parties will sponsor to maintain or increase their brand awareness in New Zealand. So we still have a lot to look forward to.
Gambling in New Zealand
Regarding gambling advertising, the last word has not yet been said. At the beginning of the regulation in October, we were really inundated with advertisements. In the meantime, politics has already intervened and stricter rules have been introduced. For example, the advertisements may only be shown late at night. There will also be an end to all BN'ers who appeared in these commercials. As of september 2023, these types of figures will no longer be allowed to appear in advertising. Especially since they were often used to reach a young adult audience.
However, the New Zealand government wants to keep young adults out of harm's way in order to prevent gambling problems among this target group. New Zealand also has the focus on vezodiac games, it is expected that the parties will have to do more to promote this.
All in all, there are still a lot of changes emerging with regard to advertising and other expressions. Exciting times are coming for the New Zealand lovers who love a gamble.