Partially regulated
We view this market as a monopolised market where online gambling is generally banned. The reason for our ‘Orange’ traffic light rating is that currently there is a proposed bill which is being debated at political level.

It is a largely regulated land-based industry, however, currently unregulated on the online space. The offshore online market is no longer tolerated, following a recent Supreme Court judgement declaring offshore remote gaming to be illegal. Chile is moving towards online regulation with a proposed bill that was tabled in the past year and is at its final stages of debate in Parliament.

The Bill regulates both Sports Betting and online Casinos, proposing a ‘General Licence to Operate Online Gaming Platforms.’  At present the law is not yet in force and is under discussion at political level.

The proposed legislation makes reference to technical standards, which are yet to be drafted. It also proposes gaming taxes, contributions to sports federations as well as responsible gaming principles.

Once the law is passed, operators will require a Chilean corporate entity in order to apply for a licence. Software will be required to be certified by recognised entities and must be compliant with pending technical standards. Sports sponsorships will be possible with approval from the regulator. Taxes to be  proposed are as follows:

• 20% GGR gaming tax payable on a monthly basis by the operator
• Licence fee: 1,000 monthly tax units

Players will be charged a winning tax of 15% on any online gaming gains, which must be withheld by the operator.

As mentioned, the law is not yet in force, and much is still to be seen about authorised verticals and technical regulations.

We view the situation as complicated, since the proposed law mentions that a 60-day one-time call for applications will be made after such is published. No further calls are to be made for a period of two years thereafter.

Also, the current sports betting monopoly holder in Chile is exempted from compliance in respect of the proposed law for an initial period of six months and shall automatically be given a licence for a period of eight years once the law is in force.

The land-based sector has been calling for regulation of online gambling over the past few years. This is mainly due to the fact that the majority of the 19 land-based casino concessionaires in Chile operate online platforms in other jurisdictions (e.g., Luckia). There have been discussions as regards forthcoming regulation recently gaining force due to the Covid pandemic and the closure of venues. Nonetheless, as of July 2020, the Superintendencia reiterated that online gambling is prohibited by Chilean legislation. Offshore operators at times are faced with hurdles as regards payment processing in the country, due to this prohibition.

At present the legal situation in Chile regarding gaming is as follows:

Law 19.995 from 2005 regulates land-based casinos in Chile, establishing the general basis for the authorisation, operation and control of gaming casinos. This law only authorises the offering of five categories of games in land-based casinos: slots, roulette, bingo, dice and card games. The regulation also establishes that such games may only be operational within the authorised land-based casinos and under no circumstances can they offer online. Therefore, there is currently no exception as regards online gambling, and online casinos are illegal in Chile.

Lotteries and sports betting are regulated separately. They are part of the state monopoly and are offered by two operators: la Polla Chilena de Beneficencia and la Lotería de Concepción. These operators are the only ones allowed to offer an electronic version of their games, making it possible to play lotto games, scratch cards, and sports betting (pool and fixed-odds betting) through their online platforms.

Market size
Circa EUR 1 billion annually.

It is known that online operators’ on-board Chilean players and no enforcement against the operators, or geo-blocking takes place. However, the situation is indeed an unpredictable one.

• Estimated population: 19.62 million
• Political system: Democratic Republic, Unitary State. Average Age: 35.4
• Internet penetration (January 2023): 90.2%%
• Social media users: 16.55 million
• Active mobile connections: 28.84 million (3G-4G)
• Approximately two smart phones per person
• Web traffic originating from Android devices: 80.21%
• Web traffic originating from IOS:19.33%
• Active bank accounts: 87.1%
• Active credit cards: 24.3%
• Mobile money accounts: 18,7%
• Online transactions (online bill payments and or online purchases): 29%
• Low fixed broadband penetration with a preference for mobile

Competitive landscape
A full list of operators at present in this market is unavailable since they are all offshore, however a few market players can be noted hereunder:

• Rivalo
• Bodog
• Bet365
• Betsson
• Bumbet
• com
• 1xBet
• PartyPoker
• WilliamHill

It has been stated that around nine hundred foreign licensed websites accept Chilean players.

Localisation

• Chile is described as a special case in Latin America due to players’ preference for Casino over sports betting, which is unique to the region
• Online poker is also a popular vertical
• Chile is also well known for an increased credit card presence

Top Key Attractions and Challenges

• Online Casino preference in comparison to the rest of LATAM which is sports based
• Preference for electronic payments rather than cash
• Unpredictable regulatory landscape