Latin America’s regulated online gambling market is set to quadruple in size and reach $6.75bn in annual revenue by 2027, according to a new report released by Vixio Regulatory Intelligence, the leading provider of regulatory and business intelligence to the global gambling and payments industries.
Although established markets in the region have plenty of headroom, the main driver of growth will be a series of new laws and regulations that are set to be adopted in the coming months in several key jurisdictions, according to Vixio’s Latin America Online Outlook report.
Brazil, Peru and Chile are all forecasted to launch licensing regimes for online gambling as soon as 2024, following in the footsteps of Colombia, Mexico, Panama, and certain provinces of Argentina.
“Latin America has long been thought of as an important emerging market by the online gambling industry, but forthcoming regulatory changes will confirm its emergence as a chief area of strategic focus on a global level,” said James Kilsby, chief analyst for Vixio and a co-author of the report.
A regulated Brazilian market for online sports betting, casino and bingo games would be worth almost $3bn in revenue by 2027 and quickly become one of the top five largest in the world, according to Vixio forecasts.
“Recent activity in Brazil’s Congress has sharpened minds across the global industry as to the potential of this major new market, but at the same time the Brazilian market is likely to be highly complex from a regulatory perspective and the final scope and scale of the opportunity will be determined by the policy decisions due to be made lawmakers and government officials, including President Lula, before this year is out,” Kilsby added.
The report is being published ahead of Vixio’s participation in the SBC Summit Latinoamerica in Miami on November 1 and 2 and includes exclusive analysis of recent events that underscore the rapid pace of regulatory change across the region.
Brazil’s Chamber of Deputies approved a bill – now pending in the Senate – to regulate online casino games alongside sports betting, while Peru has published a decree to regulate online gambling for the first time.
Mexico’s government proposed a draft decree to essentially ban all casino-style games in the country, while Chile’s Supreme Court also upheld a legal challenge seeking to block offshore gambling sites, as Chilean lawmakers formulate legislation to regulate online betting and gaming.
“Just like Europe and the United States, LatAm countries are taking radically different approaches to regulation and taxation of online gambling, meaning operators, suppliers, investors and other stakeholders need to give careful consideration to both the risks and opportunities presented in new markets while staying alert to policy changes. Again as in Europe, we are also starting to see signs of pushback in certain countries against the prevalence of betting advertising as well as accompanying concerns among policymakers and the media over risks of problem gambling,” said Kilsby.
