Brazil
The liberalisation of Brazil’s gambling laws has been a discussion point and area of vast interest for some time, with a number of foreign companies poised to enter the market.
Meanwhile, offshore operators such as Betcris are making their presence felt via sponsorship deals with top football leagues. Indeed, online sports betting
companies now sponsor as much as 60 per cent of clubs in the top two football divisions.
Whether Brazil will finally give online and land-based casino gambling the green light is still uncertain,
however, as the government continues to waver on the issue. Either way a massive shift is on the way with the long awaited launch of sports betting.
There has been some disagreements between the
Attorney General's Office, in charge of the legal advice for the Ministry of Economy, which is in favour of a public licence tender for the operation of sports betting, and Brazil’s Secretariat of Evaluation,
Planning, Energy and Lottery (SECAP), which supports a direct authorisation model.
Sports betting regulation should be in place by July 2022. Most of the disagreement so far has been over the number of licences that can be handed out.
In February 2020, SECAP launched a third
consultation on fixed-odds sports betting, calling for public comments on a shift to a concession model, where a fixed number of licenses would be tendered.
The concession model will allow for a limited number of companies that can operate in the country. The government is heading in that direction with the government expected to grant just 30 licenses from the outset.
Peru
Peru was one of the first countries in the region to allow online gambling. Online gambling rules in Peru are unusual in that online gambling is not covered by any specific legislation, but rather operators may offer their services as long as they adhere to local business practices and Peruvian law. Online gaming may be offered either from within or from outside of Peru.
There are six companies offering their services to locals under this arrangement. In some cases
operators offer both online and retail betting. A number of foreign companies, such as
BetGames.TV and
Intralot, have recently made important inroads into the market having signed agreements with local partners, as it appears that the Peruvian market is following in the footsteps of Colombia. Meanwhile, local operator Apuesta Total has announced plans to expand its retail betting arm in as many as 200 new retail outlets by the end of this year.
New separate rules covering the industry look almost certain. Peru has made huge inroads in regulating the land-based market and online gambling will expand as a natural continuation of this process, albeit slowly.
Under current proposals, online operators will need to be formally established in Peru and unlicensed
offshore operators will be blocked from offering their services. Agreements have already been reached with the corresponding government agencies to ensure that they will not be able to offer their services locally.
Online gambling rules will now have to go through several stages, such as the Council of Vice Ministers
(an entity that has the power to endorse and comment on all projects issued by the executive) and has been delayed further by the pandemic. Laws were expected to be in place by the end of 2020.
The gaming board, which falls under the Foreign Trade and Tourism Ministry (MINCETUR), is likely to impose a tax of 12 per cent tax on net winnings and fines for
noncompliance. MINCETUR is looking at regulating the industry further in order to generate additional gaming revenue and ensure that online gaming sites meet with money laundering requirements, as well as player protection measures, especially when it comes to the protection of minors.
Colombia Colombia was the first country to pass a
comprehensive online gambling law in 2016. Since then the market has become a role model for the gambling sector in Latin America.
The market has shown rapid growth reflecting the potential of a well-regulated market in other jurisdictions and there are now over 1.9 million online registered players nationwide. Other markets in the region look increasingly likely to follow suit.
Both local and foreign companies now offer their
services online to Colombians with some of the world's leading companies represented in the market. Sports betting is very present in the market with a number of high profile campaigns and sponsorship deals with local football clubs and leagues.
In December, William Hill announced that it had
acquired a majority stake in the Colombia licensed operator, Alfabet S.A.S. The Colombian firm has been operational since 2018 and holds a gaming board (Coljuegos) licence to offer games of chance and sports betting.
There are now 17 licensed online operators in Colombia. Coljuegos has also increased the array of betting products while cracking down on unlicensed operators. As many as 2,000 unlicensed websites have been blocked thus far according to Coljuegos. Coljuegos has gradually begun to liberalise the market and has increased the number of products on offer in the territory, including pari-mutuel sports betting.
Most recently it has allowed current online-based participants in the market to offer live-dealer online casino games, betting on virtual sports and instant win games. Live casino was not originally permitted, although this development was part of the roadmap of the Gaming Board.
In May 2020, Coljuegos published regulations
regarding the launch of live dealer online casino games in the country, following legalisation in April.
efficiently regulated markets, licence processes have been beset by calls of foul play and have dragged on for years in the courts. At the same time there is very little impetus to change Chile’s online gambling rules long term.
Generally speaking, debate in the region continues over whether gambling should be regulated on a state or federal level and who should be granted the lion’s share of gambling tax revenue. Indeed, gambling legislation has often led to a much wider argument encompassing the issue of state’s rights against tighter centralised governmental control.
Even when a jurisdiction seems to be on the very brink of changing its gaming laws it often fizzles
P70 WIRE / PULSE / INSIGHT / REPORTS
out into nothing. For years Mexico and Brazil have been held up as potentially huge markets, but there has never been sufficient consensus for comprehensive gaming laws to pass. Mexico’s gaming laws go back as far as 1947. Brazil’s Criminal Contravention Act (which makes gambling illegal) dates back to 1941. Bolivia still continues to lag behind both in the land-based space as well as online. Te gaming industry in Bolivia is still largely unregulated with illegal gaming widespread. Tere are currently no laws in place when it comes to online gambling.
Although the obstacles are many there is growing evidence to suggest that operators are making new inroads into the region, especially when it comes to online gambling.
New markets are opening up in a number of key regions and gambling laws are finally seeing major reforms. Indeed, foreign companies are becoming increasingly present in the market by establishing key partnerships with local operators. New deals, coupled with the know- how of foreign operators working within newly regulated markets, will have a profound change on the market going forward. Considerable progress has already been made in jurisdictions such as Colombia and Peru, while other markets are poised to green light a much wider expansion of gambling in their space. So what are the opportunities and challenges for foreign companies looking to enter the region and how can they take the initiative to local operators and suppliers?
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100 |
Page 101 |
Page 102 |
Page 103 |
Page 104 |
Page 105 |
Page 106 |
Page 107 |
Page 108 |
Page 109 |
Page 110 |
Page 111 |
Page 112 |
Page 113 |
Page 114 |
Page 115 |
Page 116 |
Page 117 |
Page 118 |
Page 119 |
Page 120 |
Page 121 |
Page 122
