The Belgian Competition Authority issues a decision following the first application of its unique settlement procedure in article 102 cases (Stanleybet / Nationale Loterij)

From 2013 onward the Nationale Lotterij ('NL') extended its gambling services to sports betting under the name Scooore!. NL distributes Scooore! via physical channels, such as press shops (offline) and digital channels (online). Soon after the launch of Scooore!, Stanleybet et al. lodged a complaint with the Belgian Competition Authority (‘BCA’) with regard to NL’s actions during the launch of Scooore! . In two decisions - rendered on the same day - the BCA dismissed most of the complaints, except two (regarding the cross-use of customers’ data and a survey concerning its competitors; see infra). NL settled for 1,190,000 EUR. This was the BCA’s first application of the Belgian settlement procedure for an abuse of dominance, a procedure that does not exist on EU level.