Online gaming in constant growth in Europe and Latin America

This growth forces the states to create a legislation to control this business sector which is in constant growth. This way, the Internet betting sector will offer and keep security to the citizens of those countries.

In the case of the European Union, the countries are completely autonomous with regard to the regulation. In Latin America, the situation is very heterogeneous; there are countries with a stable and specific regulatory frame, and others with no legislation at all. In the countries with no legislation, there are countries with aim to regulate gambling and others in which this activity is completely forbidden.

The online gambling market in Europe
With regard to the legal situation in countries belonging to the European Union, we have to consider that every country is autonomous and free to create their own regulation on the matter. Most of them allow Internet gambling, but legal applications vary considerably.

Just a few jurisdictions have established monopolies in order to regulate online games of chance. It is a public operator which manages those services and is controlled by each state. In other cases, this management can be held by a private operator, which will have to adjust on the base of an exclusive right. On the other hand, every time more countries set systems to grant licenses that allow more than one operator offering this type of services.

The main countries with more online gambling market in Europe are:

Italy
It is possibly the main market for online betting. Only last year, it collected 106,800 million euros, approximately a 5 % more than in 2017. In Italy, slots are the sector that has contributed the most with this increment of collection.

Spain
It is one of the European markets which more money collects annually. In this case, sportsbooks are the favorite of Spanyards, with 1.64 million people betting every day on one of the 77 licensed web pages.

France
Online games are very restricted in this country. Public company FGJ has the monopoly on sportsbooks and games of chance in France. Bets are subject to strong restrictions to the concession of a license from the French Authority of Online Gaming Regulation (ARJE).

Online betting market in Latin America

The situation of the online gambling sector in Latin America is very confusing and mixed. However, in order to combat this unstable situation, progress is being noted in several countries with regards to Internet gaming regulation.

In Latin America, numbers of this business are millionaire, and counts with more than 620 million inhabitants. It would reach a 3% of the population, it means that the number of potential players would exceed the 18 million. However, due to a lack of mechanisms of control and regulation, it is not possible to perform official reports on the sector.

This is the reason why, due to the million of dollars that online operators operate with, control measures are needed so governments may apply the pertinent taxation.

Mexico
Online gambling and betting are authorized, but not regulated in this country, which means that they are not illegal because the regulatory frame has not been validated yet. The new Federal Law of Gambling and Draws, adopted by the Chamber of Representatives in 2014, is awaiting to be debated in the Senate.

Colombia
Colombia has been the first country in all Latin America in having a regulated frame for this sector. COLJUEGOS has been created in 2012 and is in charge of regulating and managing the whole games of chance industry, which includes both online and offline games.

Peru
Peruvian people followed the steps of Colombia and have become the second country in creating norms to regulate online betting. The General Direction of Casino and Slots is the entity in charge of regulating this sector. Last year, a bill was which would allow the Peruvian government to block illegal betting platforms was pesented. It demands a specific gaming license to operate within the country, with a monthly tax payment.