G3-247 Report MEXICO - PART TWO 05 OPERATOR PROFILE: COMPAÑÍA INTERAMERICANA DE ENTRETENIMIENTO (CIE)


Compañía Interamericana de Entretenimiento is Mexico’s leading live entertainment group and since 1999 has been the leader of the Latin American entertainment sector. It serves the Spanish and Portuguese-speaking markets in Latin America, the United States, and Spain. Its activities include nearly all aspects of the live entertainment industry, promoting various events such as live music, theatre productions and the management and operation of fairs, shows auditoriums and sporting events.


Before Codere bought 84.8 per cent of CIE the company owned outright betting establishments all over Mexico including those located in popular tourist hotspots such as Cancún and Tijuana. In 2006 the company had 43 sports betting shops and gaming centres in Mexico which received a total of three million visitors 50 per cent more when compared to 2005. In addition the company had a large number of slot machines in gaming centres throughout the country.


CIE also fully owned and ran the Hipódromo de las Americas race track in Mexico City. The racetrack first opened in 1943 and having been closed for three years was reopened in 1999 by CIE, through its affiliate company Administradora Mexicana de Hipódromo (AMH). CODERE now participates not only in CIE’s gaming terminals, bingo halls and betting establishments, but also in the horse racing complex in Mexico City.


SEGOB granted 300 licences to bingo halls and permits


gambling companies to operate in Mexico with ‘little interference.’


machines in operation in the 2010 and this increased with the arrival of Class III machines.


The Mexican law has always been, shall we say, ambiguous. Operators have been managing to stretch the limits of the very antiquated 1947 law and operate a host of facilities that really should not be allowed.


gaming sector and is eyeing up 50 illegal gaming centres in the north of the country.


At this moment, table games are played in casinos with Caribbean Poker being a big favourite. Slot machines are available and widely played. Video machines are legal but regulated and bingo style and number games are popular. Dice games are legal and multi progressive slots are proving popular in Mexico.


Initially Mexico only permitted Class II machines which are electronic based bingo slot machines (EBT). They have video screens, but are modified to comply with the Class II restrictions. There were around 35,000 EBTs at the time in Mexico and although popular with locals are notof much interest to tourists who do not know how to play them.


So the arrival of Class III machines came at a time when Mexico was struggling and brought a renewed source of income into empty government coffers.


Although slots did exist, as did table games, they were technically illegal. There were around 75,000 gaming


Class II was permitted in the mid 1990s and is basically an electronic platform for multiple card bingo games. These later evolved to look remarkably like slots machines although bingo was the main game.


The desire for change has been a common request and the industry wanted a ‘broader scope’ of what the elec- tronic gaming machines offered. Technically they were never prohibited. So with some legal ambiguity and a need for something new, Class III games entered the Mexico gaming market.


SEGOB gave Class III slot machines approval in August 2011 and this meant the number of slots which could now enter the market could increase.


Class III basically covers games outside of the Class II category which includes slot machines, blackjack, craps and roulette.


Meanwhile, back in 2009, the calls also began for a new Bill governing the licensing procedure. Under the previ- ous legislation only the federal government, through the Ministry of the Interior had the power to grant gaming permits. The new bill made the rules clearer with a newly formed federal gaming commission whilst


municipal and state governments were able to give their input on the granting of permits.


The Direccion General de Juegos y Sorteos (DGJS) now runs under the Secretaria de Gobernacion (SEGOB). This department works under guidelines by the NYCE or Electronics Standardisation and Certification, which operates under the guidelines set by the government with the Standard for Bingo Games. NYCE allows manu- facturers the possibility of certifying their equipment to meet the governmental standards.


It is not compulsory, but is widely recognised and in 2008 NYCE signed a business alliance with GLI to joint- ly develop testing standards.


The NYCE (Normalizacion y Certificacion Electronica) was founded in 2006 as a testing institute for the sector. They also have the cooperation of the Asociacion de Permisionarios y Proveedores de Juegos y Sorteos (APPJSAC).


NYCE recently launched a new service called Prototype Certification where a document is obtained to ensure that software or model hardware has been subjected to laboratory tests complying with the Mexican regula- tions.


The advantage of this is that manufacturers can demon- strate their prototype system and meet Mexican stan- dards before installation whilst obtaining the right to use the trademark. Alfastreet’s roulette table became the first gaming device to be certified by NYCE in Mexico.


Last year GLI gave a course on SAS protocol at the NYCE facilities and this provided information on IT Security in casinos, administration of casinos, workshops of Mexican standards and the SAS protocol to the industry.


Meanwhile, BMM TestLabs has been selected by the Verification Versatil to review and certify systems of Authorised Service Providers (PSAs) for both land- based and online gaming systems in Mexico.


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