Online Gambling Markets in Mexico and Peru — Current State of Affairs and Upcoming Positive Prospects

The gambling world is expanding exponentially, and there is probably no country without this industry. We know a lot about the markets in Europe, Asia, North America, but what’s the situation like in the states of Latin America? The Brazilian government has recently made an enormous leap in developing gambling on the territory of the country. In particular, sports betting was finally legalized in December 2018. Another branch that is being actively developed in LATAM is online gambling, and we are going to have a detailed overview of some distinctive representatives of the local market.

Gambling in Mexico — Political Background

Since the very beginning of the country’s history, numerous attempts to implement gambling laws have been conducted. The primitive manifestations were successful up until 1920 as Americans were looking for the new locations of legal casino placements outside their homeland. The imposing regulations lasted until 1935, when Lazaro Cardenas instilled new laws, banning all gambling activities.

In 1947, an additional amendment was made, completely forbidding this entertainment industry around the country. Surprisingly, almost a 70-year-old law is still partially operational due to the prejudiced opinions from both a majority of citizens and the local government.

The first significant shift happened in 1989 when the authorities issued a permit for sports betting. Admittedly, it had nothing to do with complete legalization of gambling but was a huge leap, following a 40-year decay.

In 2000, the heated discussion over the subsequent betting regulation allowed some businessmen to benefit from the governmental mess and receive a permit for opening video gambling machines. The court issued an injunction, also known as Amparo, which made it possible to conduct gaming business, based on the tools that were similar to Class II slots in the US.

Finally, in 2004, the government has issued an amendment to the 1947-year law that allowed some gambling activities:

1. Slots. Since similar gambling machines are banned in Mexico, the resourceful operators offer this entertainment in the form of bingo, minimizing the influence on the result.
2. Bingo. The actual game is a leisure activity that is a popular charity-based, as well as amusement pastime.
3. Lottery. The scratch-cards have been popular in Mexico for decades. Moreover, there is even an online lottery in the country — one of the few internet gambling activities available.
4. Cockfighting and bullfighting. Even though betting on these entertainment types is forbidden, people still wager between each other on outcomes of every battle.
5. Sports betting. Another popular gambling activity that has been receiving a lot of governmental support. Both international and local events are available for the players.

Online Gambling Situation in Mexico

Back at the beginning of the XXI century, the government also issued a few online gambling licenses. However, a fun fact is that the Mexico-based internet casinos were only able to host foreigners, not the local citizens. At the same time, no restrictions were made on accessing other online gambling platforms. Since the national language in Mexico is Spanish (third used in the world), numerous operators rushed to offer their services on the local market.

The recent gambling bill that has been voted favourable by the Mexican legislature is going to change the state of online entertainment in the country. It has finally been made possible as soon as the National Action Party and the Party of the Democratic Revolution came to a mutual agreement on some key aspects of the industry.

The result of the upcoming regulation can be a transformation of the Mexican internet gambling market into a single-nation unit that can only be supported by a few operators. With this legislative reform, the local government plans to distract the players from the worldwide pool and stop the money outflow from the country.

Talking about the players in Mexico, there is a massive difference in the perception of the industry itself:

• the advocates of gambling platforms should be satisfied with the peculiar cultural adaptation of the interface, design of the games, sounds, and graphics;
• Mexican players are still experiencing some kind of betting fear through the internet since the appropriate tools have been introduced to them not so long ago;
• the e-commerce in the country is only growing, so the lack of audience can be explained by the unprepared nature to rely on your funds to the new internet environment;
• taking Mexico as a single entity is also a mistake due to the differently developed regions of the country, following the unacquaintance of appropriate tools in some of its parts;
• only 70% of the population has access to the internet (95% use smartphones, 33% use laptops, 23% use desktops).

Online Gambling in Peru

The situation in Peru is entirely different. The industry is strictly maintained on a federal level. No types of betting are restricted. There is no prohibition for the players to access foreign online gambling platforms and play there. With a personal preference, any person can choose between a government-regulated internet casino or a gaming portal outside the country. Peru is the most open country of LATAM when it concerns the choice of online gambling entertainment.

The Peruvian implementation has become a role model for some other countries since it has only been operating since 2008 and has already achieved such insane progress.

Licensing in Peru

The procedure is merely straightforward and implies the following criteria:

• the applicant company can be based outside the country to grant a fair competition;
• the world-renown brands are allowed to offer their services on a similar basis as the government-regulated platforms.

In order to start the process of efficient report-making to support a stable local gambling economy, some changes were implemented in 2011. The government set up a network of servers to monitor all money-transferring processes. It had a positive impact on the general infrastructure of the gambling industry as a whole, showing the example of power management of what others would call “an illegal activity.”

Sports Betting

One of the critical directions that the country’s government is supporting concerns bookmakers’ business. Even though it is divided by 70% land-based and 30% online, internet betting is quite popular among the residents. Moreover, the availability of virtual sports and anonymous betting diversifies the leisure pastime for the players.

For the last 5 years, the online bookmakers’ market has grown by 20%. By the beginning of 2020, the annual gross gaming revenue of the betting industry in Peru equalled $170-180 million.

Entrance on Peruvian and Mexican Market

If an operator is particularly interested in setting up an online gambling platform in these countries, it is of utmost importance to understand all intricacies of the operational process. The local gambling commissions can provide you with extensive data on the requirements, but it is still essential to perceive the peculiar organization of applying for the license, primarily Mexican.

With this in mind, Casino Market offers you a convenient turnkey business option that implies in-depth assistance on setting up an online gambling establishment for operation in Peru and Mexico. Our proficient specialists will take all the responsibility for all stages, not being limited by licensing. Just contact our support team, find out the cooperation requirements, and get ready to receive beneficial help from our professional team. Waiting for your orders.

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James Burton The Casino Market partner, the owner of the gambling establishments’ network

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