Online Casino And Betting In Latin America: A Market-By-Market Guide
Latin America has become one of the fastest-moving regions in global online gambling, but there is no single set of rules.
Each country from Brazil, to Mexico to Peru regulates betting and casino play on its own terms, and the picture ranges from fully licensed national markets to grey areas where the law has yet to catch up.
Brazil: The Regional Giant
Brazil despite current debates, is the market that reshaped the region. Under Law 14,790/2023, a federal framework for fixed-odds betting and online gaming took effect on January 1, 2025, with operators licensed and supervised by the Secretariat of Prizes and Bets (SPA) within the Ministry of Finance.
The launch brought scores of licensed brands into a market that had run for years on offshore operators, and it set a template, national licensing, taxation and advertising rules, that other governments in the region are watching closely.
Colombia: The Pioneer
Colombia was the first country in Latin America to regulate online gambling, with its regulator Coljuegos issuing licences from 2016 and 2017.
Its model, national online licences with contributions directed to health funding, is often cited as the region's proof of concept and has been relatively stable ever since.
Peru: A New Framework
Peru regulated online gaming and sports betting under Law 31557, with its Ministry of Foreign Trade and Tourism (MINCETUR) overseeing a licensing regime that took full effect in 2024.
It applies a specific tax to online gaming and betting and brought previously unregulated operators into a formal system.
Argentina And Mexico: Fragmented Markets
Argentina regulates online gambling province by province rather than nationally, so an operator must be licensed separately in each jurisdiction, from the City of Buenos Aires to the surrounding province and beyond. Mexico, the region's second-largest economy, still relies on a Federal Gaming and Raffles Law that dates to 1947, updated by a 2004 regulation and overseen by the Interior Ministry (SEGOB); a long-discussed modernisation of that law has yet to pass, leaving online play in a workable but ageing framework.
Where The Region Is Heading
The direction of travel is towards regulation. Chile has advanced legislation to license online betting, and other markets are weighing similar moves as governments see both consumer-protection and tax arguments for bringing offshore play onshore.
For operators and players alike, the key point is that Latin America is not one market but many, each with its own rules, and Brazil's 2025 launch has accelerated the shift.
