The Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp (PAGCOR) last week established a new gross gaming revenue (GGR) share rate for live sports betting.
In a 19 January memo, Jessa Mariz Fernandez, head of PAGCOR’s e-games licensing department, set the share rate at 15% of GGR for live sports games, down from the 17.5% rate in effect since last January. The state-run regulator maintained a 30% share rate for virtual betting.
“The share rates shall apply retroactively to the November 2025 billing period,” Fernandez stated.
The announcement comes on the heels of new minimum guaranteed fees (MGFs) to be paid by all online gaming operators. Starting 1 April and continuing through September, all licensed Philippines gaming system administrators (GSAs) offering e-games must pay monthly minimum fees of PHP9 billion. GSAs that do not offer e-games will pay PHP4 million per month. Starting on 1 October, those rates will rise to PHP10.5 million and PHP4 million, respectively.
Fernandez said the requirements will “address the gaps in the current fee structure and uphold the principles of fairness, accountability and fiscal responsibility”.
Philippines online gaming boom continues
Speaking at ICE Barcelona on 21 January, PAGCOR chief Alejandro Tengco said the new fee structures will support nation-building and promote transparency.
“Regulation is not about avoiding discomfort,” Tengco said. “It is about building a system that is resilient, accountable and worthy of public trust.”
In his keynote address, Tengco upheld the Philippines as a model of proactive regulatory reform in the digital era. He pointed to the government’s 2024 ban of Philippine offshore gaming operations (POGOs) after the industry was linked to organised crime, including fraud, money laundering and human trafficking. Since the POGO ban, he noted, PAGCOR heightened know-your-customer and ID verification protocols and imposed limits on gambling advertising, both outdoors and on TV.
Meanwhile, the country’s online gaming industry is booming. For the first half of 2025, PAGCOR posted GGR of PHP214.75 billion, up 26% over 2024. Of that, land-based gaming contributed PHP93.36 billion, down 5.85% from 2024. But e-games generated PHP114.83 billion, up a remarkable 82.67% year-on-year.
According to a Statista report cited by the Filipino Business Hub, Philippines online gaming could generate PHP103 billion by 2027, driven by a youthful, digital-native population and strong mobile penetration, particularly in urban areas. Furthermore, Gartner’s 2024 Southeast Asia digital infrastructure report ranked the Philippines second in the world in mobile gaming readiness, behind only Singapore.