The new law introduced, allows the city’s casinos to apply for an online gambling license

The Legislature of Buenos Aires has now passed the bill allowing Land-based Casinos in Buenos Aires, included bingo halls and slot halls, to be able to offer online gaming. 

According to a report from?G3Newswire, the local government will get between 10 and 20 percent of each bet from online operators. It will also receive 6 percent of the gross profits. Only people with a ‘clean record’ will be allowed to be involved in online gaming and lotteries, according to the bill. 

Online gaming licenses will run for five years, with the Ministry of Finance overseeing the regulation of the industry. 

A political science professor at Rice University in Texas – focusing on Latin American studies – Mark P. Jones told Casino.org, “The city of Buenos Aires has seen its tax revenue from the physical casinos collapse, and hopes that through online gaming, it will be able to bring in around US $5 million in tax revenue per year,”  

Jones added, “This is not a huge amount. But given the economic crisis facing Argentina, every little bit helps.” 

Gaming Innovation Group?said earlier this year that Argentina’s total gambling market is estimated to be worth $415 million, with 7 percent of the total market coming from online operations, forecasting the significant growth potential that will come from the online gaming sector, the group adds. 

Another related approved legislation – in the means to curb problem gambling risk in the country – will ban ATMs and money vending machines, as well as pawnshops, from being within a radius of 656 feet from the gaming halls, regardless of whether they own a digital license or not. ? 

We are creating a framework of controlled play,”?Mercedes De Las Casas, a legislator, said in a statement to G3Newswire,?“When gambling is not responsible, it turns into hurt and pain.” 

Another legislator, Claudia Neira, stated that it is ’It is logical to want to regulate online gaming as it exists and is installed in the world. It is also important that gambling is controlled and prevented. When we talk about gambling, we are talking about health, so we have to face it from that side.” 

SiGMA Calendar:  

SiGMA Americas and AIBC Digital Summit were launched with great success in the past week, pushing the shifting grounds of the gaming industry towards LatAm and discussing the current developments in digitalisation. In a first for SiGMA, both the gaming and the tech segments of the conference were offered in 3 languages, English, Spanish and Portuguese.   

SiGMA will launch its next series of events in 2021, with SiGMA Europe headlining next year’s calendar. Inaugural summits in Asia and Americas are also set to dominate the year, with SiGMA Asia launching in May 2021 and SiGMA Africa in 2022! Explore the full agenda here and register now!