Girl power
Mexico looks to new president to update gaming regulations, Intralot earnings, Coljuegos investigations +Más
Mexico: Gaming industry welcomes Sheinbaum’s presidency.
In +Más: Colombians bet $20bn in 2023.
Argentinian currency depreciation hits Intralot’s Q1 revenues.
Coljuegos investigates 681 cases of illegal gaming operations.
Uruguay’s congress set to discuss online gaming regulation.
Mexico victory
High hopes: Claudia Sheinbaum’s victory in Mexico’s general election has raised hopes within the gaming industry that the existing gambling regulation – which dates back to 1947 – will be updated and that complementary rules and licensing criteria, previously prohibited by the outgoing government, will be reorganized and standardized.
Industry leaders are familiar with Sheinbaum – who won with 58% of the votes to become the country first female president – having worked with her on several initiatives prior to the elections that sought to organize the Mexican gaming market.
The current regulation does not reflect the present needs of the market and does not fully consider online or offline gaming.
The projection is that a new regulation could place Mexico, the second-largest potential market in Latin America, in a stronger leadership position.
Several gaming bills were introduced in the chambers of representatives, but their legislative progress was halted by the electoral process.
Take that: The new congress will be formed between September and December and will be a key player in the potential discussion and approval of a new gaming law by 2025.
The Mexican state collects more than $680m annually from the gaming industry.
Industry leaders estimate that with an updated law, this could grow by up to 50%, reaching nearly 1% of the country’s GDP.
Mexico gaming law ruling
Slot in: A reform to the Federal Games and Raffles Law that prohibits the authorization of casinos with slot machines has been declared unconstitutional by Mexico’s federal justice. The ruling, signed by Gabriel Regis, the Sixteenth District Judge in Administrative Matters, granted three injunctions filed against the changes brought in by outgoing President Andrés Manuel López Obrador.
Specifically, operators complained about the prohibition of ‘number draws’ (slot machines), which also impacted those machines already in existence, preventing their license renewal.
The magistrate also ruled in favor of the operation of roulette and card games in casinos.
However, for now, the reform remains in place due to the government’s quick appeal.
EveryMatrix Slot Trumps Player Behaviour Report provides operators with exclusive player behaviour insights from the world’s hottest online casino markets. The focal point of this MUST-READ series is a shareable Slot Trump country card featuring never-before-seen findings.
Discover Slot Trumps Brazil today!
+Más
Colombians wagered $20bn on sports in 2023, Coljuegos has reported, with football (soccer) accounting for 80% of the total. The average annual expenditure per player reached $800.
The Nicaraguan National Lottery delivered profits of $3.3m in May, which were allocated to the Ministry of Family, Adolescence and Childhood and the Institute of Sports.
Testing ground: With the upcoming regulation of online betting in Brazil, there is a fantastic opportunity for experimentation, Max Sevostianov, COO of Betbazar, told SBC News. He suggested the LatAm market would be a testing ground for betting on both esports and traditional sports, using platforms such as YouTube and Twitch.
Intralot earnings
Lack of appreciation: Intralot’s revenues fell by 5% to $92.8m in the first quarter of 2024, largely due to the depreciation of the Argentine peso. Despite this, the Americas continued to be the group’s main revenue source, though their contribution to total sales fell by 13% to $55m in the same period. In Europe, the Greek operator’s revenues fell by 7%, while other income grew by 8%.
Intralot derives 92.5% of its revenues from B2B/B2G operations, with B2C contributing the remaining 7.5%.
Revenues from licensed operations (B2C) dropped 43% to $6.9m, impacted by the aforementioned depreciation in Argentina at the end of 2023.
Revenues from game management increased by 8%. Technology revenues fell by 2%, also primarily due to negative currency effects in Argentina.
Lottery games contributed 56.5% of Intralot’s revenues, followed by sports betting (22%), VLT monitoring (12%) and technology contracts (9%).
GGR fell by 2% to $89.1m, while total operating expenses rose by 19% to $29.4m.
EBITDA dropped 11% to $32.7m and earnings before interest and taxes fell 34%.
However, after depreciation and amortization of $19m, net profit grew by 25% to $4.2m.
Brazil carnival: “First quarter results confirm the company’s stable course and the consolidation of key financial indicators at desired levels, while the company continues with several major projects in North America, Australia and Brazil,” said Intralot president Sokratis Kokkalis.
Coljuegos investigations
In poor health: Coljuegos’ Management Against Illegal Operations has 681 ongoing administrative sanction cases relating to games, raffles and promotions that allegedly operate without a concession contract and, therefore, fail to transfer resources to the public health system.
621 cases concern citizen reports of the alleged illegal operation of localized games, such as bingo, electronic slot machines, roulette and online betting modules.
The regulator is also investigating 25 localized game operators for the alleged operation of unregistered machines in legal casinos with valid concession contracts.
The remaining 35 inquiries relate to raffles and promotions held nationwide without authorization and “which have not paid exploitation rights and administration fees,” said Coljuegos president Marco Emilio Hincapié.
Uruguay online proposals
Coming to the surface: Legislation that would allow physical casinos to operate games online or through apps is close to being discussed in the Uruguayan parliament. The proposal was first introduced in 2021 and has resurfaced without success at various times since then.
If approved, the legislature would leave it to the Executive Branch to grant licenses that will be “precarious and revocable” and only accessible to those with an “operational and authorized physical establishment for in-person gaming.”
You shall not pass: To date, political parties have not reached an agreement and, since 2022 when it was approved by the Senate, the initiative has been stalled in the Finance Committee of the Chamber of Deputies.
At the end of 2023, the project was revived following the suggestion of a modification that would seek a certain level of investment in such initiatives.
The proposal to relax the requirements for obtaining an online gaming license, such as eliminating the obligation to have a physical casino, did not succeed.
The text will only be taken up in the coming days by the plenary without passing through the committee and as approved by the Senate.
Calendar
June 12-13: Peru Gaming Show 2024, Lima
Publication schedule
This is the English version of the LosIngresos+Mas newsletter published yesterday (June 5).
An +More Media publication.
For sponsorship inquiries email scott@andmore.media.
