Along these lines, García Botta explains how the country is organized, the regulation, the regulatory background and what the situation was prior to the opening of online gaming in CABA and the Province of Buenos Aires, followed later by Córdoba and Mendoza. He also makes a summary of the current market situation and the similarities between Peruvian legislation and some Argentine jurisdictions.

Argentina is a federal country

It has 3 levels of government and distribution of powers: National, Provincial (23 provinces plus the City of Buenos Aires) and Municipal.

At the gaming level, it has 24 jurisdictions that have regulatory powers regarding games of chance. “On this issue, we do not have a single country, but 24 countries, each with its own gaming regulations, with its regulatory approach, with its size, its situations and requirements. In short, we have 24 countries in one. Jurisprudence has always been consistent in maintaining that the game belongs to the provinces and the City of Buenos Aires,” García Botta clarifies.

Regulatory background of online gambling

Online gambling has been regulated in some jurisdictions in Argentina for almost 20 years. Initially, some jurisdictions began to grant licenses, and along these lines, they admitted different payment methods.

“What happened in practice? The jurisdictions that did this were smaller (for example, the provinces of Misiones and Formosa) that brought in international operators that began to use these licenses to target larger markets such as CABA. The City had a very aggressive attitude regarding the persecution of this type of phenomenon. What began to happen was the initiation of criminal cases against those operators who had contraventional causes. When these cases involved international operators, in many cases those cases did not prosper, but when they involved national operators, they did prosper,” he stated.

Modification of the penal code

In December 2016, a law was passed that modifies the Penal Code of Argentina, incorporating article 301 bis, which states that “any offer of gambling that does not have express authorization from the competent authorities is a crime.”

It is a criminal offense that is subject to prison sentences of 3 to 6 years, that is, it cannot be released from prison. There were cases that ended with agreements with the judiciary that did not end in prison, but rather where other measures were adopted.

Opening process

As of December 2018, a process of progressive opening of the largest jurisdictions begins. CABA was a pioneer and in 2018 it issued resolution 321 and set the starting point for the opening of the game. The opening of the market occurred in a somewhat particular way because, under the constitution of the City of Buenos Aires, it retains the monopoly on the offer of games of chance. Therefore, it grants permissions comparable to lottery agencies, with the difference that it is an online game.

Particularities of the law in CABA

1-We talk about permits and not licenses.

2-At the regulatory level, and in order to open the market, a minimum number of applicants for online gaming agency permits was set, to give the green light for these companies to start operating. The minimum was 3.

3-The licenses are granted for a period of 5 years, renewable for another equal period.

4-The focus of the law is global, and this is a similarity in relation to the regulation in Peru.

-Contemplates the laboratories, which are extremely relevant actors in the supply of regulated games, because the laboratory is an independent entity that evaluates the products and attests that these products comply with the technical requirements of each jurisdiction.

-Contemplates game providers, and from 2023, also providers of data, odds and information for the offer of sports betting.

-Contemplates the operators: AJL or Online Gaming Agencies.

Current market situation

The start of operations was on December 9, 2021, with some companies starting on that date and others in January 2022.

Market size: 3.1 million inhabitants, 7% of the total in Argentina, according to the last census. There were 11 AJLs and currently there are 10 because one of the agencies ceased its operators in Argentina.

The monthly PGR for April 2024 is $3.3 million.

The Province of Buenos Aires

It began a path parallel to that of CABA. Together, they make up a geographical unit. In the province, at the regulatory level, a limit was established for the number of licenses, the limit was set at 7.

“The regulation brought an additional element that was incorporated as a requirement for it to be approved. This additional element was the need to have a local partner with a minimum participation of 15% in the company to obtain the license. In practice, temporary union contracts were created, a figure equivalent to that which exists in Peru between local companies and foreign companies.”

In this case, the licenses have a term of 15 years that are not renewable. Currently, of 14 operators that applied, 7 licenses were awarded. Of those 7, 6 are operating and there is 1 that is expected to begin operating in the short term.

The size of the province is much larger than CABA, and it has 17 million inhabitants (37% of the total population of Argentina).

Latest developments: Mendoza and Córdoba

Córdoba first began its operations with a regulatory framework similar to that of the Province of Buenos Aires, requiring that the licenses have a local operator, with a non-renewable term of 15 years as well. The scope of the regulation is also similar.

Current market situation: Operations began in January 2023. Of the 8 licenses originally awarded, there are 4 that are operating and the other 4 were disawarded, which means that to re-award them, bidding must be called again. The market covers 3.8 million people (approximately 8.2% of the total population of Argentina).

Mendoza has a limited number of licenses, but the idea of ​​a local partner is contemplated as an incentive in the bidding document. The duration of the licenses is 5 years. The market is smaller (2 million people) and there are currently 5 licenses awarded.

Current situation of online gaming in Argentina

Of 24 jurisdictions, there are 20 that have some type of regulation. In some cases the regulation includes casinos and sports betting, and in others, such as the province of Santa Fé, it only includes casinos.

In the 4 jurisdictions that did not regulate the game (Salta, Santiago del Estero, San Juan and Tierra del Juego), Salta has an interesting agreement with Jujuy to allow the interjurisdictional offer of the game. (In this case, the user experience is better because you can have only one account.)

The .bet.ar pages are regulated pages, and from validated operators.

Challenges

-The biggest challenge today is channeling. “Of the 100% of the market, only 15% is channeled through legal gambling. "Between 85% and 90% are illegal operators."

That is the main challenge because online gambling does not pay taxes and does not guarantee responsible gambling. It also does not guarantee the payment of prizes or responsible treatment of player data.

Added to this is the problem of sports betting among minors, who bet on illegal websites and in many cases generate addiction problems.

“This is an important point to take into account for Peru, where the market is beginning to be regulated and the channeling phenomenon is going to begin to be generated,” he adds.

A sustainable criterion to take into account has to do with geolocation to allow the player to play in the jurisdiction in which he is located at that moment.

A problem to take into account: The proliferation of influencers that promote illegal pages, to minors and giving a message contrary to responsible gaming.

-As it is a federal country with a gambling law that is managed by jurisdictions, how do these jurisdictions interact with each other? Garcia Botta highlights the actions of ALEA, which brings together the regulatory entities of the 24 jurisdictions plus private companies with different categories.

-Another challenge for Argentina is to strengthen the role of business chambers, “which, although they exist, do not have a predominant role in the discussion of common issues in the sector.”

-Coordination between national and provincial authorities.

-Another issue is the relationship with sports entities.

“ALEA becomes a federal forum to discuss the problems common to this industry,” concludes García Botta.