The market value of the global Internet sports wagering industry is estimated to be more than $41 billion dollars, and Costa Rica is a substantial player in this field.

Many bettors who place their wagers through Costa Rica firms do so from the United States, a country where sports gambling operations are tightly regulated and limited to certain jurisdictions such as Las Vegas. For this reason, sports betting companies in Costa Rica must observe certain levels of compliance.

Pay-Per-Head (PPH) is a sports betting business model that takes advantage of Internet technology to provide bookmakers (bookies) with a solution that, unlike traditional online sportsbooks, provides various layers of compliance.

The first major technology shift undertaking by bookies from the United States took place in the mid-1990s as the World Wide Web was coming of age. The online sportsbook industry quickly flourished in Costa Rica, a jurisdiction where such business is legal. It did not take long for the long arm of U.S. law enforcement to reach our country; long before the passing of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006 (UIGEA), online sportsbooks operated by U.S. citizens were already on the radar of prosecutors due to Federal Wire Act and similar state legislation.

To alleviate the law enforcement and prosecution issues of online sportsbooks, the PPH model was pioneered by IDSca.com in Costa Rica. One of the problems with sportsbooks, aside from their questionable legal status, occurs at the customer service level. Bettors enjoy dealing with local bookies for several reasons; they are often leery of wiring money offshore (due to the UIGEA), and they are not fond of using credit cards when dealing with sportsbooks that may be shut down by U.S. law enforcement even though they legally operate in Costa Rica.

The PPH model does not run afoul of the UIGEA because money is not handled by the provider. What bookies get with PPH is what Mr. Borden of the NY Times called a sports gambling version of Quicken. Players no longer have to rely on their bookies to pick up the phone and talk about action, spreads, lines, and wagers; they can log in to a personalized website provided by the PPH service, but they can also reach a 24-hour call center.

IDSca.com has improved the PPH model beyond the online sports wagering ledger. By offering live betting and even political wagers, IDSca.com provides a value-added experience that entertains players, which makes bookies happy; in a way, it can be considered a “Sportsbook-as-a-Platform” without the money element, and this is how it is able to remain compliant.