In January, the University of Chile announced the Greek bookmaker Betano as its main sponsor for the next three years; Colo Colo did the same with the Swedish giant Betsson. On the other hand, teams such as Everton, Unión La Calera, Coquimbo Unido, Ñublense and Audax Italiano featured the subsidiary of the French Super Group, Betway, on their jerseys. The online game now dressed Chilean football. A trend that caused concern in regulated gaming casinos.

Today, the spirit of the law is clear: all gambling is illegal unless authorized by law. And the authority only gives that green light to Polla Chilena, the Concepción Lottery, the racetracks and the 21 operating casinos that exist in the country. Online gambling is unregulated...until now.

Yesterday, the government introduced a project that seeks to regulate the activity; an initiative that had been announced a year ago, but will only now see the light. “With this project we will set clear rules for an industry that is not regulated in Chile. In this way, we will protect users and regulate operators, who will now have to pay a specific tax, which will allow the treasury to collect some US$55 million per year under the regimen," Undersecretary of Finance Alejandro Weber told Pulse.

According to figures from the Superintendence of Casinos, there are more than 900 web pages and platforms that allow online gambling to be developed from Chile, hosted in countries or jurisdictions such as Malta or Curacao, generating a market of around US$150 million.

A global trend that is on the rise and of which face-to-face gaming rooms aim to be part of. And, if the government initiative prospers, so it will be.

The pandemic was the catalyst. The online betting industry reached its maximum expression after the confinement measures activated by Covid-19. The so-called iGaming grew by 138.9% in 2021 in the United States. According to the American Gaming Association, that market moved US$3.71 billion. In Europe, the increase was 19%, more than double what the face-to-face game grew. And if in 2019 they had a 26% share, by 2026 it is expected to contribute 41% of the entire European game.

During 2019 and 2020 the activity increased considerably, because the possibility of socializing was limited. “2020 was exceptional in many ways. The pandemic contributed to a faster digitization of entertainment and consequently a higher degree of conversion from physical games to online games, ”said the Betsson group in its 2020 balance sheets. Its users grew by 44%. And in 2021 the trend continued. It was a record year. Its active clients exceeded 1.1 million in the fourth quarter. The growth rate of the Betway parent company was more than 30% in income and 65% in users.

According to data from H2 Gambling Capital, the gross earnings of the gaming industry worldwide would have reached US$450 billion in 2021. Of these, online betting would have represented approximately 8.5% of the market, about US$ 38 billion. Of that amount, almost US$ 1,000 million were generated in Latin America.

“In the rest of the world, Chile together with Peru were the main contributors to the growth of the region. Activity levels continued to be high and deposits were at their highest level”, indicated the December balances of Betsson, a company whose face is former World Cup player Iván Zamorano.

"In Chile, online betting is totally prohibited and outside the regulatory framework and is an illegal and unfair competition," says the president of the Chilean Association of Gaming Casinos, Mariana Soto. "We are concerned about the proliferation of this type of actors who are not obliged to respect Chilean law," adds Dreams' corporate attorney, Carlos Silva. These platforms -indicates- do not have the duty to take actions to prevent money laundering, nor be forced by Sernac to respect consumer laws, nor to pay prizes and taxes.

In 2021, in fact, the tax contribution of authorized casinos was $90 billion, according to data from the Superintendency; a payment from which online rooms are today on the sidelines.

Globally, much of the remote betting is done via traditional casino games. However, sports betting has gained more and more ground. If in 2018, the ratio was 70%-30%, now it is 60%-40% and in some markets it is already half for each category. It is that the marketing work behind it is relevant. In the sector, they point out that the platforms allocate a significant part of their budget to advertising... and football is a great ally in this matter.

According to the latest UEFA The European Club Footballing Landscape, bookmakers became the first sponsor of European football. They represent 19% of the main shirts, 2% more than a year ago. In fact, a quarter of the 183 clubs that announced a new sponsor at the start of the season had made deals with casinos or sports betting companies. It is today the sector that invests the most in football on that continent, with 25% of total disbursements.

Such increases are inversely proportional to the restrictions that these firms have had in different markets. In fact -according to the UEFA report-, if in 2018 there were 14 European countries that regulated this link and there were 78 clubs with agreements with these companies, in 2021 there were already 21 nations with restrictions on this type of advertising, while the sponsored teams associated with these firms reached 117.

Last year, Spain banned bookmakers from sponsoring teams. Sweden, France and Italy have similar legislation. And in several other European nations, the issue is being discussed.

This, coupled with the free access that minors can have to these platforms, and the lack of control over them. “What we have seen is a change: now one finds fewer people with gambling problems in physical casinos and more on online platforms,” Pieter Remmers, president of the Global Gambling Guidance Group (G4), the main body in charge, tells Pulse. of the international accreditation on responsible gambling, and that he will present this Tuesday at a seminar in Monticello de Dreams on the subject.

Remmers clarifies, however, that studies reveal that the platforms have not meant an increase in gambling. "For example, the UK recently published a report with lower addiction figures than two years ago," he says.

Today, online platforms sponsor eleven of the 16 Chilean first division soccer teams; a figure that two years ago was non-existent. In addition to the bookmakers already mentioned, there are Juega En Línea, BetsAmerica007 and Coolbet.

It is that while in nations on the other side of the world these sponsorships are restricted, in Latin America they are on the rise. If in the first quarter of 2020 Betsson sold US$8.5 million in the region, in the last quarter of 2021 it jumped to US$27 million. The Swedish group opened an office in Colombia, bought 50% of the payment processing platform for the region, JDP Tech, and closed advertising agreements with various clubs. Among them, Colo Colo and the Primera B National Championship.

The keys of the new project
The initiative that the authority will enter will seek to correct all the apprehensions described above. It will allow companies that obtain a general license for a duration of 5 years, renewable, or a temporary license for 6 months, non-renewable, the exploitation of any betting object or game of chance, with the exception of lotteries and those that contain or transmit graphics, messages or sounds that threaten public order, national security, the honor of people, or are directed at minors.

Companies must be incorporated in Chile and report the origin of the funds necessary to operate the business, detail their shareholders and final beneficiaries, in addition to being required to report suspicious money laundering operations. Anyone who has a user account -which will require being of legal age and RUT- will be able to play. The control will fall on the SCJ, which will now be called the Superintendency of Casinos, Betting and Games of Chance.

From the government they explain that the firms that operate remote games must pay a specific tax, substitute for VAT, of 20% of their gross income; a license fee of 1,000 UTM per year for those with a general license and 100 UTM for those with a temporary license. And if the purpose of the Online Betting Platforms (PAL) is to develop sports bets, they must deliver 2% of their annual gross income to the National Federation of the sport that is the object of the bet. In addition, the operating companies must spend at least 1% of their annual gross income on actions aimed at promoting the development of responsible gaming.

Users will also be subject to a tribute: they will have to pay 15% of their income obtained in this activity, when withdrawing money from their user account to their personal account.

Today, the main national operators are waiting to be able to participate in the online game. The works and the platforms have already been designed. In fact, Enjoy already has a remote betting page, called Enjoy Win, which is active, with the virtual games loaded, but it's free... for now. "This is a good project, which we hope will speed up its pace and can be approved as soon as possible," says Weber.