Historic opportunity for the Mexican gaming industry

For the second consecutive year, Mexico will host the GAT Expo from August 26th to 28th, an event that is currently of great importance to our industry and its immediate future. Beyond the many topics that will be discussed during these days and the highly anticipated exhibition of companies in the sector, this event offers an excellent setting to bring together the entire industry and demonstrate to authorities and the general public the dynamic, innovative, and professional nature of our industry.

The Mexican gaming market is in what I would describe as a transition period. Almost 80 years after the law governing our sector was enacted, we are on the threshold of a historic opportunity that could mark a substantial leap toward the modernization of the legal framework, opening new horizons for the Mexican gaming market to finally become one of the most attractive on the continent and internationally, taking the place it deserves.

Since its creation, AIEJA and its members have focused part of their efforts on providing input to the Federal Executive Branch and legislators to assist in this long-awaited legal update. More than a dozen initiatives have been drafted, but unfortunately, they never prospered. Thus, protected by a regulation of the law that gave modern life to the sector in 2004, the industry has been maturing ever since, attempting to adapt internationally accepted best practices to our reality and complying with current regulations.  

In December 2024, a couple of months after the formal change of government, President Sheinbaum publicly announced that Mexico needed a new gaming law and tasked Secretary of the Interior Rosa Icela Rodríguez, the gaming regulator, with leading the effort. Throughout the first quarter of 2025, industry representatives and authorities worked on a thematic agenda to jointly provide input into a legislative initiative that the Executive Branch would draft and then submit to the Legislative Branch. It should be noted that, for the industry in Mexico, this is the first time the government has shown real political will to address this issue, which has been postponed so many times.

At the time of writing, the initiative, which we still don't know in its final version, appears to be ready. But not everything depends solely on goodwill. The ever-present national political climate also dictates its pace. Nevertheless, the hope that the initiative will be addressed by the Legislative Branch in its first session of next year remains as strong as ever.

The Mexican gaming market in general, and iGaming in particular, is attracting significant interest. Dozens of investors, operators, and various suppliers are waiting to learn about this new regulatory framework to invest in our country. Our authorities face a great opportunity: to offer a law that can draw on the best experiences observed elsewhere and avoid repeating the mistakes that have become evident. One of the dangers is overregulation, which, far from contributing to adequate supervision, ends up encouraging a flight to illegal and clandestine markets. Mexico can become a regulatory example for the world. History will tell us whether we were able to seize this moment or whether we will continue to watch as other neighboring nations manage to understand the full potential of a sector that remains unfairly stigmatized.

Meanwhile, AIEJA is promoting the celebration of GAT Expo CDMX 2025 by our Colombian colleagues and partners, which will take place from August 26 to 28 in our capital city, convinced of its contribution to the recognition of a thriving economic sector based on creativity and technological innovation.   

* Dr. Miguel Ángel Ochoa Sánchez is president of the Association of Permit Holders, Operators, and Suppliers of the Entertainment and Gambling Industry in Mexico ( AIEJA) . He holds a PhD in Constitutional Law from the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM). He also earned a Master's degree in Business Law from the Universidad Panamericana, where he also earned a law degree, specializing in Tax Law and Social and Political Philosophy.