Regulation works, says Peru minister
Peru authorization requests, Rio accreditations, Chile taxes, Mexican tobacco row +Más
Peru receives 145 authorization requests to operate sports betting and gaming.
In +More: Codere Online sponsorship deal, Brazil lottery prize payments.
Brazil: Rio accredits four betting houses to operate throughout the country.
Chile: tax collections from casinos fall 6.7% in January.
Mexico: Televisa joins lawsuit to allow smoking in its premises.
Peru authorization requests
I’m in: In the first 30 days since Law 31557 came into force Peru has received 145 authorization requests to operate remote sports betting and gaming in the country, said the Minister of Foreign Trade and Tourism, Juan Carlos Mathews.
March 13 was the deadline to submit authorization requests for companies that had been operating in the country prior to the enactment of the gaming law.
Mathews also revealed that, during the same period, 144 service providers linked to these activities were registered, seven international certification laboratories were accredited and 184 requests for the homologation of technological platforms, gaming programs, progressive systems and gaming modalities were submitted by various providers.
Works for me: All these companies – national and international – seek formalization and to obtain authorization to continue working in Peru, which, according to the minister, is a clear indication that regulation has been successful.
Companies that continue to offer these services without authorization could be fined a minimum of $210k (150 UIT), in addition to facing criminal charges and permanent disqualification.
“This is an important step, not only for the economic movement and revenue it will generate but also for the need to provide security to citizens who access and use these applications,” said the minister.
It is estimated the Peruvian state will collect around $44m annually, which will be invested in reactivating tourism, including infrastructure development (40%), promoting sports (20%) and addressing mental health programs (20%). The remaining 20% will go to the Public Treasury.
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+Más
Four more years: Codere Online has renewed its sponsorship of Club de Fútbol Monterrey Rayados for a further four seasons. The company has been the Mexican team’s shirt sponsor for the past three years. It will also become the main sponsor for the women’s team.
Brazil: With the advent of internet betting, Bill 167/24 – which modifies Decree 204/67 and is being discussed in the Chamber of Deputies – will enable lottery prize payments to be made via electronic transfer. The current law stipulates payments can only be made upon presentation of the respective ticket.
Paraguay: The Commission for the Fight Against Drug Trafficking, Illicit Activities, Related Crimes, and Prevention of Addictions of the Chamber of Deputies has requested a report on electronic slot machines from the national gambling commission, Conajzar. A nationwide study by the Attorney General's Office estimates there are 150k machines operating illegally, which collect up to $40m per year.
Peru: The national border police has detained four people trying to illegally transport 53 slot machines, valued at $300k, to Ecuador.
Chile’s Comptroller General has ordered municipalities to include in their annual budgets the funds received from casinos for licenses, to ensure the resources are allocated in accordance with existing regulations.
Rio accreditations
State of mind: The government of the state of Rio de Janeiro has accredited four online sports-betting houses to legally operate throughout Brazil, according to a report by Folha de S.Paulo. The measure has caused discomfort in the affected states and within the federal government, and actions or countermeasures are currently being evaluated, said the Ministry of Finance, headed by Fernando Haddad.
To be accredited in Rio, a company must pay a fee of approximately BRL5m (~$1m) plus a percentage on bets.
To be accredited by the federal government, the fee is BRL30m.
Rocket man: During the previous government of Jair Bolsonaro, the number of betting houses skyrocketed without clear rules for operation, supervision, care for mental or financial health, conditions for advertising or a tax regime.
A fistful of dollars: The current government is discussing a rule in parliament to regulate the sector, with the aim of also obtaining the multi-million-dollar revenues the industry would generate in taxes that would allow Lula’s administration to close federal state deficits.
The state of Paraná has accredited five companies, but these can only operate in said state with geolocation blocks for users, which does not occur with the accredited houses in Rio: Apostau.com, Bestbet, Marjosports and Pixbet.
There are three other companies applying for accreditation in the state: 1XBet, Lema and Laguna.
The deadline for Rio to issue new accreditations ends this month.
Chile taxes
A drop in the ocean: Chilean casinos paid $17.87m in taxes in January 2024, representing a drop of 6.7% compared to the same month in 2023. Of the amount collected, 43% came from gambling taxes, which goes to regional governments and municipalities to finance infrastructure projects; 41.5% came from VAT payments; and 15.5% corresponds to the entrance tax to gaming halls, which goes directly to the Treasury.
As of Jan 30, the gross income of the 25 gaming casinos operating in the country fell by 8.2% to $49.9m compared to January last year.
This is partly explained by a 13% drop in visits. Although players spent an average of $80 per visit this could not compensate for the decline.
Mexican tobacco row
Smoke on the water: Televisa Group is litigating in the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation (SCJN) against the implementation of the General Law for Tobacco Control, joining the cause of entrepreneurs in the casino and gastronomy sectors, which, through legal protections, defy said law.
Televisa, which has a business unit dedicated to casinos, seeks protection against Article 27 of the law, which requires smoking areas to be located only in outdoor areas.
In its amparo lawsuit, the company argued the norm violates its freedom of trade and discriminates against it, thus undermining the principle of legal certainty.
The devil is in the detail: However, SCJN minister Lenia Batres Guadarrama has presented a project to deny amparo to Apuestas Internacionales – owner of the PlayCity brand – arguing the right to health is superior to freedom of trade and that the contested law doesn’t discriminate, given it orders the establishment of specific smoking areas rather than prohibiting it.
For the project to be approved, it requires at least three out of five votes from the Second Chamber of the SCJN.
If it obtains four votes, or a qualified majority, the ruling would set a precedent, which would make it obligatory for future similar trials to be resolved in the same direction.
About 17 casinos in Mexicali have judicial protections and, therefore, are not obliged to comply with the law.
Colombia’s healthcare benefits
Healthy profits: During 2023, Coljuegos transferred $225m to Colombia's healthcare system, the president of the regulator Marco Emilio Hincapié has revealed. “Last year, we achieved a 12% increase in transfers” he said. “With these funds, it will be possible to assist around 371,000 Colombians with scarce resources this year.”
According to the official, in-person games represented 40% of the transfers and games operated through the Internet contributed 37.6%.
He added that lotteries, games of chance and Raspa&Listo contributed $110m for health and $115m came from sales tax.
Taking action: Talking about operations in 2023, Hincapié said: “We conducted 53 control actions on commercial establishments, in which 1,137 elements of games of chance and gambling were seized, such as electronic slot machines, roulette tables, poker tables... among others, which were used for illegal betting.”
He added that Coljuegos ordered the blocking of 4,429 betting websites operating in Colombia without authorization.
He further stated that illegal betting costs the healthcare sector $385k each year.
Publication schedule
This is the English version of the LosIngresos+Mas newsletter published yesterday (March 20).
An +More Media publication.
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