It Takes Two To Tango For Buenos Aires Online Licenses

A number of the dozen-plus groups registering their interest as potential applicants for internet gambling licenses will involve partnerships between international operators and Argentine bingo groups, according to documents published on the website of Buenos Aires’ lottery authority.

Subsidiaries of William Hill and Paddy Power Betfair are planning to partner with local bingo-hall operators ArgenBingo S.A. and Bingo Pilar, respectively.

Representatives of the two London-listed companies did not respond to requests for comment on their plans for Buenos Aires, but William Hill CEO Philip Bowcock did not deny an interest when asked about recent regulatory changes in Argentina and Brazil during the group’s annual shareholder meeting.

“If there’s a market with attractive regulation, with appropriate taxation and a customer base that’s compatible, we’d be interested,” Bowcock told GamblingCompliance.

Elsewhere, Playtech has formed a partnership with Buenos Aires’ Hotel Casino Tandil and another Argentine company, while Greece’s Intralot has registered alongside BinBaires, the operator of three Buenos Aires bingo halls.

The Stars Group is partnering with Atlantica Juegos, the owner of Buenos Aires’ Bingo Chivilcoy gaming hall.

As previously reported by GamblingCompliance, 888 is expected to partner with casino and gaming operator Boldt, although confirmation of the pair’s registration has yet to be published by Buenos Aires regulator IPLyC.

A GVC spokesperson also confirmed the company’s interest in Buenos Aires but said the owner of Bwin and Ladbrokes had yet to reach a final decision on how to proceed.

Disclosure of the Argentine partnerships being formed by leading online gambling companies comes as IPLyC compiles a formal register of the entities that will be eligible to submit applications for one of seven licenses made available under a December 2018 law.

Submitting registration forms does not oblige companies to move forward with a final application before the June 25 deadline, but it is a necessary step to proceed.

December’s law restricts licenses to either established players in Argentina’s land-based gaming industry or international gambling firms that form a specific type of investment partnership – a "UTE" – with Argentine businesses.

Companies or UTEs filing final license applications are set to be evaluated according to various criteria, including their experience, financial standing and the number of other licenses they have in global jurisdictions.

IPLyC has reportedly received more than a dozen registrations from interested parties, with more partnerships between local gaming interests and international companies likely to be confirmed in the next week or two.

City Follows Province

Buenos Aires is by far the largest of Argentina’s 23 autonomous provinces and its new regime for online gambling is all the more notable for coinciding with a similar licensing system being set up in the neighboring federal capital district of the same name.

Unlike the province, international operators will not have to partner with an Argentine company to apply for a separate internet gambling license in the city of Buenos Aires.

There is also no fixed number of licenses in Buenos Aires city, meaning all seven operators eventually licensed in the province could theoretically obtain approvals to offer their services across the two Buenos Aires.

The city and province combined are home to around 20m people and account for a majority of Argentina’s GDP.

Following hot on the heels of the province, lawmakers in the municipal legislature of Buenos Aires voted last week to ratify a series of regulations, licensing criteria and system requirements to implement the city’s own internet gambling law that was also passed in December.

The vote was not a mere rubber-stamping exercise, however, with the city’s implementing rules approved by a narrow margin of 34-26 as opposition parties all voted against them.

One local lawmaker from the ruling bloc of Buenos Aires Mayor Horacio Rodríguez Larreta even suggested the city was still considering an additional regulatory requirement for online gambling accounts to be registered in person, rather than remotely.

Although no such requirement is included in the rules that were adopted last week, city deputy Christian Buab said officials were working on a proposal for accounts to be established at existing lottery retail agencies “so as not to affect the jobs of retailers,” according to a report published on the city legislature’s official website.

The city of Buenos Aires’ lottery authority (LOTBA) is preparing to launch its own register for potential license applicants in early June, before accepting applications from registered parties during July, Sebastian Vivot, LOTBA’s head of new technologies, said Wednesday at the Juegos Miami conference in Florida.

Vivot said that LOTBA was hopeful operations could commence as soon as October.

He also noted how regulations require at least three licenses to be awarded to ensure a competitive market, so internet gambling will not be launched in the city of Buenos Aires until a minimum of three have been granted.

Additional reporting by Kristal Rovira and David Altaner.