AIEJA Highlights Success of SiGMA North America in Mexico

SiGMA North America and Mexico's positioning

SiGMA North America 2026 gathered nearly 2,250 delegates in Mexico City, focusing on artificial intelligence, innovation, public-private sector collaboration, and the adaptation of global strategies to the specificities of local markets.

In this context, AIEJA supported the arrival of the international summit to the Mexican market through an alliance with the organizers, aiming to promote the gathering and encourage the participation of national industry representatives.

AIEJA's assessment of the first edition

Following the first edition of SiGMA North America in Mexico, what is AIEJA's assessment of its participation, and what impact do you think the event had on Mexico's positioning within the international iGaming ecosystem?

As you rightly point out, SiGMA North America 2026 held its first edition last week, with the intention of exploring the possibilities of making this event part of its regular calendar. And since they were unfamiliar with the local market, the organizers established an alliance with AIEJA to promote the event and ensure a certain level of participation from industry members. And so it was. AIEJA did not intend to have a specific role beyond reiterating the association's support for sector events that raise the visibility of our industry and foster connections between our members and new domestic and international brands.

For several years, the Mexican gaming market in general, and iGaming in particular, has been of great interest to potential investors and industry companies from every continent. SiGMA North America brought more focus to this, at a very complicated current juncture for the national industry. So I believe the impact of this event has been very positive for both the domestic and international markets, allowing us to promote a regulated, growing, and technologically innovative business sector."

Ochoa Sánchez thus highlights the value of the summit as a space to raise the visibility of an industry that, as he noted, maintains significant growth potential and innovation capacity.

The Mexican industry agenda

One of the meetings held during the summit was AIEJA's 57th Annual General Assembly, which brought together operators, licensees, manufacturers, and suppliers. This space allowed for the discussion of various topics of interest to the sector and provided insight into the main concerns of the Mexican industry players.

New law, banking, and illegal gambling

AIEJA's 57th Annual General Assembly was held within the framework of SiGMA North America, bringing together operators, licensees, manufacturers, and suppliers. What issues or concerns emerged most strongly among the Mexican industry players?

By statute, AIEJA convenes three Ordinary Assemblies per year to report back to its members, inform them about the progress of its internal thematic committees, and address current issues of interest to the association, among others. Holding this 57th assembly within the framework of SiGMA North America allowed for very high participation, in addition to allowing many prospects to witness the association's dynamics as special guests.

During the debates, the topics were diverse, but some are more recurring. The status of the new law initiative, the relationship with the banking world, the fight against illegal gambling, and the start of this new stage for AIEJA with the election of Mr. Moises Shemaria as the new President of the Board of Licensees were the most relevant.

The new legislation, the link between the sector and the banking system, and the fight against illegal gambling thus emerged as some of the main issues addressed during the Assembly.

The challenges of regulatory transition

The evolution of the Mexican regulatory framework was one of the central themes of SiGMA North America. From AIEJA's perspective, updating the rules is key to supporting industry growth and generating greater legal certainty for market participants.

Legal certainty and licenses

One of the main pillars of SiGMA North America was Mexico's regulatory evolution. From AIEJA's perspective, what are the main challenges the sector must address today to move toward a more modern, competitive, and secure market?

As is common knowledge, Mexico is in a phase of regulatory transition. The November 2023 reform decree to the Regulations of the Federal Games and Draws Law made evident the obsolete nature of our legal framework, as well as the need for a new law adapted not only to the sector's reality but also capable of offering long-term development horizons for all involved. To this end, AIEJA and the industry as a whole participated in working groups sponsored by the Ministry of the Interior in early 2025, providing thematic input for the drafting of a new bill—an initiative that, according to a statement made a few days ago by the head of that Ministry herself, is now in its final review phase.

One of the fundamental elements for building a solid sector is the foundation of the License (Permit). The new regulation must clearly specify the process for obtaining it, its validity, its scope, and its renewal mechanisms. It is the cornerstone of the legal certainty that any investor would require to bet on our country.

For AIEJA's Executive President, this highlights the need to establish clear rules regarding licenses, including the conditions for obtaining, maintaining, outlining the scope of, and renewing them.

The online market challenge

"The other element to modernize, without a doubt, is everything related to the online vertical. The accelerated growth of this segment forces us to design a flexible and attractive framework capable of competing against a global illegal market that feeds on prohibitions or restrictive regulations, as well as on the loopholes in the relevant laws and regulations.

And when we say attractive, we are referring to taxation. Our sector requires a tax reform that prioritizes expanding the taxpayer base, attracting offshore operators to the regulated market with fair tax rates, and offering players the security they deserve," he added.

Regulating the online vertical thus emerges as another key point raised by AIEJA. The association considers it necessary to move toward a framework that allows the regulated market to compete against offshore operators and reduce the spaces exploited by illegal gambling.

New opportunities for the Mexican industry

Beyond the commercial and networking components, the participation of institutional representatives at SiGMA North America helped strengthen the dialogue between the gaming industry and various Mexican authorities.

Greater institutional openness

Beyond business and networking, SiGMA also helped strengthen the dialogue between the industry and various international figures. What concrete opportunities open up for AIEJA and its members following this participation?

It is still too early to talk about concrete opportunities, but I think SiGMA North America set a unique stage for our industry. And this had the great value of highlighting a highly productive, innovative, proactive, and job-creating business sector capable of bringing together representatives from across the continent and beyond. In short, it showed our authorities that the gaming industry in Mexico has great potential and has what it takes to compete internationally. It was very satisfying for me to witness, for the first time at an event in our industry, the active participation of representatives from both the Ministry of Economy and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. After years of stigmatization, our efforts to normalize our activity in the eyes of public opinion are starting to bear their first fruits.

The executive particularly highlights the presence of representatives from the Ministry of Economy and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs as a sign of greater institutional openness toward the gaming industry.

In this sense, SiGMA North America served not only as a meeting point for operators, suppliers, manufacturers, and investors but also as a platform to showcase the potential of the Mexican industry to international authorities and stakeholders, as well as the need to move toward a regulatory framework aligned with market evolution.