Online gambling’s rapid rise dramatically outpaced Coljuegos’ overall revenue growth rate of 13%. Online gambling remains a fairly minor contributor (9.4%) to Coljuegos’ overall revenue.
Colombia became the first South American market to approve a regulated online gambling market in 2016 and began issuing licenses in July 2017. Coljuegos issued its 17th online permission to local firm Games and Betting S.A.S. this February.
However, the pace of these new license issues has slowed since the initial flurry – that February license was the only one issued this year so far – suggesting the Colombian market may be reaching a saturation point. Last December, Coljuegos reported that its online licensees had registered a total of 1.7m customer accounts (out of a population of 50m), a number that has grown to 2.5m as of this June.
Fecoljuegos, the association representing Colombian-licensed online gambling operators, recently welcomed Rushbet.co – the local operation of US operator Rush Street Interactive, which received its Colombian license in June 2018 – into its membership. Fecoljuegos now counts 11 of the country’s 17 online licensees among its ranks.
Colombia may have been first country of the region to move forward in this sector, but other LatAm markets appear increasingly interested in making up lost ground. Argentina’s largest province Buenos Aires is currently vetting applicants for its seven online licenses while the giant Brazil opened a public consultation last week on how to give shape to its online sports betting regulations.
Source: GMB / Calvin Ayre
