Synot Cancels Sports Sponsorships

Sat, Jan 30, 2016

The largest gaming operator in the Czech Republic has announced it will cancel all sports sponsorships due to a government tax hike. Synot International is unhappy with a switch from the flat 20 percent tax rate.

Protests “populist” approach

Synot International, the largest gaming operator in the Czech Republic, announced January 21 it will pull out of all sports sponsorship agreements due to a change in the tax law.

According to SBC News, Synot made the decision after the government switched from a flat 20 percent tax on all gambling services to a new model that levies a 23 percent duty on sports betting and lottery revenues and 28 percent on slot revenues.

Currently, Synot is the title sponsor of Czech LIGA, the country’s top football league, and the shirt sponsor of AC Sparta Prague, Czech football’s most popular team. The operator is also a sponsor of national basketball and ice hockey leagues.

Synot Chairman Ivo Valenta protested that the government took a “populist and unprofessional approach” to taxation.

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