Territorial gains: Colombian games’ players netted $460m last year
Colombian territorial games, Uruguayan pools, Coljuegos’ shutdowns, Chile bill, Rio casino +Más
Colombia: Territorial games sales topped $920m in 2023.
In +Más: Enjoy’s reorganization date, Barranquilla raids.
Uruguayans bet more than $560m on lotteries and pools last year.
Coljuegos blocks more than 14,500 illegal betting sites.
Chile: lawyer calls online betting regulation bill “unconstitutional.”
Smile on your brother, everybody get together.
Colombian territorial games
Glittering prize: During 2023, Colombian territorial games delivered more than COP1.8trn in prizes (~$460m) to players and reported sales of over COP3.6trn last year.
According to Coljuegos’ president, Marco Emilio Hincapié, the increase in sales, transfers and prizes paid in 2023 was due to the efforts made by operators to make games more attractive through better incentives and promotions, and the multiplicity of authorized draws.
“[These figures] demonstrate that it is worth betting on legal and authorized chance outlets in each of the departments,” said Hincapié.
Take a chance: The chance game alone delivered COP1.2trn in prizes.
From these earnings, he added, COP1trn was transferred to the state to subsidize the provision of health services and investment in social projects.
Colombian territorial games are played throughout Colombia under the supervision of the National Council of Games of Luck and Chance (CNJSA).
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+Más
No joy: Chilean hotel, casino and gambling operator Enjoy will present its judicial reorganization plan on April 12, which will then be evaluated by the Enjoy Creditors’ Committee. The company has debts of $269m.
Brazil: Sports-betting site MrJack.bet is to sponsor the Sorocaba, São Paulo-based futsal club Magnus Futsal for two seasons. The site will also sponsor four football tournaments in São Paulo.
Colombia: The Barranquilla Police has seized several electronic devices and arrested six women for running an illegal gambling operation in the neighborhoods of California and Galapa. This follows the arrest last week of a man and the seizure of 17 slot machines in the municipality of Santo Tomás.
Argentina: Boldplay, a leading provider of premium iGaming solutions, has received authorization from the Lotería de la Ciudad de Buenos Aires to supply casino games to licensed operators in the city.
Also, in Argentina, the Lotería de Córdoba has announced it will sign an agreement to relaunch the Embalse gaming hall.
Uruguayan lotteries and pools
Pool of cash: Last year, Uruguayans bet more than $560m on lotteries and pools, an increase of $51m or almost 10% over the amount recorded in 2022. These games are controlled by the National Directorate of Lotteries and Pools (DNLQ).
In an interview with Subrayado, Ricardo Berois, head of the DNLQ said the pools accounted for 30% of bets nationwide, followed by Supermatch with 25%, Cinco (5) de Oro (17%) and Tómbola (just under 15%).
However, Berois noted the regulator had blocked more than 1,500 websites that have tried to operate illegally in the country.
“There are very famous multinational companies that have tried to advertise in Uruguayan territory,” he added, but the DNLQ is working to block them.
Colombian banning orders
Bill of health: The Management Against Illegal Operations, attached to Coljuegos, has reported that In the last four years it has issued 14,570 blocking orders for illegal online betting sites that have not transferred resources to the Treasury; funds that go towards healthcare for Colombians.
According to the entity, in recent months, tracking and blocking requests for unauthorized portals that promote the conduct of online games of chance and gambling have intensified.
“We are giving all the legal and technological tools to our team to fight illegal sites head-on,” said Coljuegos president Marco Emilio Hincapié.
“Once we have gathered the evidence, we make a request to the Ministry of ICT to request internet providers to block such portals.”
Take care: In Colombia, there are only 15 authorized internet gaming operators, which in 2023 transferred around $1.6bn to Coljuegos. “We invite all bettors to verify that the websites are authorized before playing,” Hincapié added.
“Otherwise, they would not only be betting illegally but also putting their own resources at risk and supporting betting houses that do not contribute resources for the health of less fortunate Colombians.”
Chile bill criticism
As it is drafted, the bill to regulate online betting in Chile orders the blocking of all companies that have operated informally in the country up to 12 months prior to the entry into force of the law (whenever it is approved) and obliges them to pay taxes for that time retrospectively.
The law is an ass: In response, lawyer Carlos Baeza, the representative in Chile for Betsson, Betano, Coolbet, Latamwin, BetWarrior and 1xBet, criticized the bill and affirmed that both measures are ”absolutely unconstitutional.”
He added that it is logical for all companies to formally incorporate themselves and start paying taxes as soon as possible.
“[In the Senate] we pointed out that those two articles lack any practical sense because the objective of this regulatory project is for the majority of operators to move from the unregulated market to the regulated market,” the lawyer told Yogonet.
“It makes no sense to affect or attack all those who were already participating in the market.”
Out of proportion: Baeza suggested the tax burden proposed in the bill of 37.8% “is absolutely disproportionate” compared to the rate of 12% in Brazil and Peru and 16.8% in Colombia.
However, he welcomed the presentation made to the senators of the Economy Commission and considered the arguments presented by the industry regarding the major problems with the project “have the necessary strength to be corrected” and he expected “that to happen in the coming months.”
Rio casino
Let’s get physical: Once the operation of physical casinos is authorized in Brazil, Rio de Janeiro will be the state to receive the first venture of this type, said the president of the State Lottery of Rio de Janeiro (Loterj), Hazenclever Lopes Cançado.
Speaking at last week’s SBC Summit Rio, he said: “We want the first [physical casino] to be installed in Rio de Janeiro. This was… the first state to offer legalized gambling in sports betting and the first [for] online poker. Here is where we will have the first physical casino.”
After highlighting the urgency of regulating casinos in Brazil, Cançado maintained that such regulation is necessary and that Brazil has missed many opportunities in its absence, blaming “cultural, social and religious radicalism” for it.
See no evil, hear no evil: “We constantly have news in the country of police operations closing down clandestine casinos. We can no longer turn a blind eye and plug our ears to reality,” he added.
He noted that casinos could create millions of jobs that translate into income for workers and their families and in taxes.
Bill PL 2234/2022, limits to one the number of casinos that a state can have, with the exception of São Paulo, which can have up to three, and Minas Gerais, Rio de Janeiro, Amazonas and Pará, which can have up to two each.
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This is the English version of the LosIngresos+Mas newsletter published yesterday (March 13).
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